Daily Bread Archives

May 24, 2023May 22, 2023

Be Not Satisfied

²⁷Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. ²⁸And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. ²⁹Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. ~ 1 Corinthians 12:27-31

Paul says not to quench the Spirit and then tells us not to despise prophecies. There are currently entire denominations that not only despise the prophets and their prophecies of our day and age, but they build an entire platform and following by only making videos bashing and degrading them. Yet, Paul tells us not to despise prophecies and not to quench the Spirit. The only way to not quench the Spirit is to embrace the Spirit by stirring up your God-given Spiritual gifts.

The Gifts of the Spirit are built on our fruit. That doesn’t mean that they’re optional. They are mandatory. We have all been given a Spiritual Gift from God, and if we refuse to use it, we will be thrown out into outer darkness as well. This is because we are quenching the Spirit. We’re stifling and putting out the flame within us when we are called to stir it up and flame it. We’re called for more than just to exist. These gifts are to build us up, as well as to build up the Church. Therefore, when we refuse to use these Spiritual Gifts, then we quench the Spirit and therefore weaken ourselves as well as others around us.

Once we stir up the Spiritual Gifts already given to us, then we keep going. We keep seeking more. Why? Because there will never be a time when the LORD will run out of levels to elevate us to. The LORD gives out of His abundance. He is eternal. His ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. Therefore, God can never run out of new things to show us, teach us, and give us.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Never Be Satisfied.

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Seek Your Gift

¹ But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. ~ 1 Corinthians 12:31

God didn’t pour His Spirit on all flesh so that He could take it away again. God didn’t fill us with His Holy Spirit so that He could remove the gifts of the Spirit. No, God poured out His Spirit so that we might be filled with Him, including His power. Why? So that we wouldn’t be left alone. So that we wouldn’t be without defense or offense. So that the people of God might be able to fight back against the enemy.

The gifts of the Spirit didn’t end with the early Church. They didn’t magically disappear because they were no longer needed. They’re still here today, but we have to pray for them. We have to desire them. We have to seek them out. Paul urged us to pray for the greater gifts so that we might build each other up.

Don’t let doctrine created by man keep you from what God has in store for you. His purpose is for you to go from one degree of glory to the next. It’s not for you to be a sitting duck in this spiritual war. Pick up your spiritual gifts. Take hold of them. And seek for wisdom and understanding that you might be used mightly in the Kingdom of God.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek Your Gift.

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Soar Like Eagles

³⁰Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; ³¹but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. ~ Isaiah 40:30-31

The LORD called us to be like the eagles, but why? What’s so special about an eagle? Apparently, an eagle has amazingly good eyesight, which allows it to spot prey from a long distance away. In the same way, a praying Christian who stays in tune with the LORD will have amazing spiritual eyesight. They will see or sense danger, deceit, or the enemy when everyone else is shouting that there is peace and safety. The Christian will have extraordinary insight into the things of God and will recognize His voice.

The length of an eagle’s wingspan will depend on its environment. Now this is interesting because it can contrast with the Christian life. The wingspan of an eagle can be compared to the mountain-moving faith of the Christian. Because the environment in which the eagle lives will determine its wingspan. Eagles living in forested areas will have a shorter wingspan than those eagles living in wide open areas.

Likewise, a Christian living in a dead, legalistic, spirit of religion type of environment who say that healing is only if Jesus wills, so everyone won’t receive a healing, or that miracles and signs and wonders ceased when the last apostle died, will never expand his/her faith like one who thrives in an environment where miracles are welcomed, and sign and wonders are expected. It all depends on your environment and how wide your wingspan of faith will grow.

The LORD called us for greater and better things. Therefore, don’t remain on the ground, never reaching your full potential. Instead, seek the LORD earnestly, and He will mount you up with wings like eagles. And you will soar to new heights. For we are to go from glory to glory, never remaining in the same spot (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Soar Like Eagles.

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Remain Until The Savior Comes

Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. ~ John 5:2-3, 5-9

The lame man had been lame for 38 years. The Bible doesn’t tell us how long he was at the pool for, but what we can gather is that it had been so long that the man had lost hope. His faith was almost completely gone, but something remained sparked inside of him. How can we be sure? He didn’t leave the pool area. He remained next to it. He didn’t leave the place where miracles happened. No, he stayed there whether he whole-heartedly believed one day he would be healed or not. He remained where hope was and where his best chance of healing rested.

By the time Jesus got there, the majority of his hope and faith had dwindled away. See, this lame man couldn’t walk, so he probably had to crawl to fight his way to get into the pool before other more able-bodied men and women could. Imagine day after day, year after year, fighting with all that you have within you to get to the pool first, but no matter how hard you try, you always fall short. Now, out of nowhere, a man walks to you and asks if you want to be healed. You don’t know who he is. You don’t know his power, so you just tell him that you can’t get to the pool. You’ve tried, and you’ve failed.

Sometimes, this is us. We have a heavy burden that we just can’t seem to carry anymore. We have a stronghold that just won’t let go. We have a spiritual enemy that just won’t relent. You have a sin that you just can’t shake. You’ve tried everything. You’ve been persistent, and now you’re at the end of your rope. Your faith is about done. Your hope is about dried up. I’m here to tell you to hold on. Remain in your place of hope. Remain in your place of opportunity because even if your faith is failing, that action of remaining in that place of hope will keep enough faith alive within you to catch Jesus’ attention when He passes by.

See, Jesus chose this man not because he had great faith. Not because he was a good man and deserved to be healed. Jesus chose him because he had been there a while but couldn’t get his healing. Jesus saw that the man couldn’t make it all the way, so Jesus carried the man. The man didn’t fall at the feet of Jesus and beg for a healing or reach out for a healing in faith as he touched Jesus. No. He didn’t even recognize Jesus. Jesus rewarded the man holding on to what little bit of faith and hope he had left.

When you’re at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on. Don’t let go. Don’t give up and leave. Stay in that place of hope. And if possible, keep fighting to get to the water. Don’t give up because soon, the Savior will be walking by, and He’ll be looking for someone to help. Don’t miss your opportunity. Don’t miss your chance at freedom.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Remain Until The Savior Comes.

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Flee Spiritual Adultery

¹³ “I will punish her for all those times when she burned incense to her images of Baal, when she put on her earrings and jewels and went out to look for her lovers but forgot all about me,” says the Lord. ~ Hosea 2:13^NLT

Israel was living in idolatry (spiritual adultery). Israel went after the Baals and sought after other idols and gods, so they forgot the LORD their God. Today, the Church is no different.

We seek after the world because we want to be accepted by the world. We give the world our devotion, love, and friendship, not realizing that we are abandoning our one true love. James asks the question, “Do you not know that to be a friend of the world is to be an enemy of God?” Christ said that He called us out of the world, so why are we so desperately seeking to be a part of it?

God understands that we’re only humans and that we will fall into temptation; this is where mercy and grace begin to work. But grace and mercy aren’t given to us so that we can go out seeking the world and expect God to not only be okay with it but accept and celebrate it. If spiritual adultery angered God in the past, then it will anger Him today. For our God does not change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

So, don’t be enticed by the forbidden fruit of this world. You have been called out of this world. You have been given the fruit of the Spirit that gives life and life more abundantly. The forbidden fruit of this world only satisfies for a moment, and then it kills like poison, but the fruit of the Spirit satisfies forever and gives eternal life.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Flee Spiritual Adultery.

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Go To Jesus For All Things

¹²And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and He overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. ¹³He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” ¹⁴And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. ¹⁵But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, ¹⁶and they said to Him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” ¹⁷And leaving them, He went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there. ~ Matthew 21:12-17

Jesus entered the temple and became filled with righteous anger. He understood what was happening in the present and what happened in the past and made a connection so that we could understand why He was so upset and why He called the temple a “Den of Robbers.” If it was just about selling, then why didn’t He just use the same terminology He did earlier, recorded in the book of John? Why didn’t He just use that same wording and call it a house of trade? Because that’s not what He was talking about. Jesus was talking about going through another way than through Him. The people there understood this. We can tell by their response to Jesus driving out the money changers.

After He drove out the money changers, the blind and lame came into the Temple to Him, and He healed them. You see the connection? Jesus said in John 10 that He was the door to the sheepfold. Everybody that tries to enter in through a different way is a thief and a robber. When He comes into the temple and sees all that’s taking place, He drives out the buyer and seller, flips money-changers’ tables and seats of pigeon sellers, and then says that they’ve made the house of the LORD which is supposed to be a house of prayer, a den of robbers. When they hear this, they come into the Temple to Jesus in order to receive a healing. They understood what Jesus was getting at. They understood the point He was making. Jesus is the only way to salvation and healing. He is the supplier of all of our needs.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Go To Jesus For All Things.

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The LORD My Stronghold

¹ The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? ~ Psalms 27:1

There will be situations that come up in your life that will invite the spirit of fear in your life, but fear not for the LORD Himself is a shield round about you. Though the world might seem dark and gloomy, He is the light of your salvation. Though the wicked threaten and rage against you, the LORD God Almighty is the stronghold in your life.

The word stronghold means a place or a means of safety. In other words, He is your protection. Now understand that God thinks in terms of eternity because He is eternal, infinite, and dwells outside of time. We live bound to time, so it’s hard for us to understand the concept with our finite minds.

But know this, though the people rage, though the enemy attacks you, though the situation seems hopeless, God is your strength, your protection, and He will deliver you. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t be caught up in your surroundings. Focus on God. Focus on His promises. Focus on who He is and who you are in Him. For greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.

Heavenly Father, thank You for being a wall and a shield around me. Teach me to lean on and depend on You. No matter the circumstances, or even the outcome, let my love for You never diminish. But rather, let me keep my eyes, thoughts, and hope turned toward eternity. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Confidently Ask Your Heavenly Father

²You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. ~ James 4:2

My initial definition of prayer was just communion with God. It was just conversing with Him. Prayer to me was just talking to God, but after looking into it, prayer is actually a very specific way of talking to God. The Word prayer here is the Greek word proseuchē (προσευχή), which means petition. Many people may think that this isn’t that big of a deal, but this is actually a really big deal.

A lot of people don’t actually like to ask God for things, they feel like they’re bothering Him, but that is the very purpose of prayer. It’s to make your petition known to God. It’s to ask for what you need. Why? Because it teaches us to depend on God and not ourselves. It teaches us to depend on God and not others. You aren’t being prideful or expecting too much from God because you ask for things from Him. Our Heavenly Father delights in blessing His Children.

Never allow the enemy to instill false humility in you because you will miss out on the good things God has in store for you. The enemy knows that the earnest prayers of the righteous will break through any stronghold that he has set up, so he tries to tell you that you shouldn’t make your requests known. Ask, and you shall receive. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. Don’t allow the enemy to trick you into missing out on your blessing.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Confidently Ask Your Heavenly Father.

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Lay Everything At His Feet

¹ Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ²So they gave a dinner for Him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with Him at table. ³Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. ~ John 12:1-3

Mary took the most valuable and expensive possession that she owned and anointed Jesus’ feet with it. But she didn’t stop there. She then took her hair and wiped His feet with it. She wiped Jesus’ feet with her hair because she was humbling herself in repentance for her unbelief. Why her hair?

According to Paul, the greatest apostle who ever lived, a woman’s hair is her glory (1 Corinthians 11:14-15). This is why Mary wiped Jesus’ feet with her hair. Martha, Mary and Lazarus’ sister, continued in her previous role, serving. She served before, and she served now. Why? Because her faith hadn’t been mutilated. Her faith hadn’t been violated. It was intact before Lazarus’ death, after Lazarus’ death, and after Lazarus was raised from the dead. She passed the test. She remained in the sheepfold. She didn’t stray, so she continued with what worked for her. But Mary returned to Jesus’ feet, except this time, she brought her most expensive and valuable possession and poured it on Jesus’ feet, then proceeded to wipe His feet with her hair, her glory. Mary understood how close she had come to walking away from her salvation entirely. She understood how close she had come to spiritual death. So, she took all that she had and laid it at Jesus’ feet. She humbled herself as low as she could.

Jesus said the one who is forgiven much loves much. We’ve all been forgiven a great deal, but for those of us who haven’t committed sins that we’ve deemed as greater or worse sins, we look down on those who have committed them. We think ourselves better than them, but in actuality, we aren’t. We need the same amount of forgiveness as anyone else. There aren’t multiple ways to God. There is only one way. One way that is for all people, regardless of the severity of their sin. So, we’ve all been forgiven much.

If only we could see and truly understand the severity of our own sins, we would each be like Mary and wipe the feet of Jesus with our glory. We would lay everything we have at His feet. We would humble ourselves as low as we possibly can because of His great love, mercy, and grace that He has shown to us. If we could only see how much God has forgiven us, we would appreciate His grace much more. If we could only grasp the price Christ paid for our sins, we wouldn’t be so quick to forget His sacrifice and fall into sin again. Never forget the price paid and the eminence mercy and grace we have been shown and given.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Lay Everything At His Feet.

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My Personal God

⁵For I have not dwelt in an house since the day that I brought up Israel unto this day; but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another. ⁶Wheresoever I have walked with all Israel, spake I a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why have ye not built me an house of cedars? ~ 1 Chronicles 17:5-6^KJV

Look at what God has said, I have not dwelt (I have not lived) in a house but have gone about with you, My people. I live among you. I move among you. I do not give Myself special treatment, but I dwell among My people wherever they go; I AM there with them.

Now, notice the next verse. I have walked with My people Israel. God did not mount up on Cherubim and fly. Neither did He just pop up to where they were going, but rather, He walked along with them, just like they walked. There is not one standard for His people and one standard for Him. God is a personal God. He will walk right beside you through the good times and through the bad times. He will not leave us, nor will He forsake us. But He will be right there beside.

So, the next time you feel like you are all alone. The next time the enemy tells you that there is no one there who cares about you, tell him he is a liar and the father of lies. Because your God is right there wheresoever you may go. God is both a Sun and a Shield. He is your rear guard, and He is your point guard, and He is your flank guard. No one can come against you except they first go through your personal God.

Jesus is our personal God. He gave His life as a ransom for many. Even for ‘whomsoever will come,’ therefore, let him or her who will come, come, and experience the up close and personal God, Who is always with us and is always for us.

Heavenly Father, thank You that You are always there beside me. Thank You that You will never leave me nor forsake me. That You care enough to walk alongside me through the hard times and through the fun times. Help me to always remember that You are for me and not against me. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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Be Not Satisfied

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