Daily Bread Archives

March 15, 2023March 15, 2023

Double Your Talents

²⁸So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. ²⁹For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. ~ Matthew 25:28–29

One of the last parables Jesus tells is the parable of the talents. There were three different people who were given three different amounts of talents. The first two doubled their talents, but the third guy hid his in the ground. He didn’t use it. He didn’t try to build it up. He simply buried it in the ground out of fear of losing what he already had.

This backfired on him because the coin he buried and refused to use out of fear would be taken away from him and given to the one who has. The one who will do something with it. So, the rewards that he would have had and should have had will be given to someone who already has. But for him, he will be cast into outer darkness. A very frightening thought.

His fear brought forth the very thing he was afraid of, rejection and punishment. It’s like Anakin Skywalker from Star Wars. He feared losing his wife the way he lost his mother, and he gave in to the darkness around him. He didn’t use the talents he was given; instead, he buried them and sought another way of survival. And in doing so, he brought forth the very thing he feared. His wife died because of him, and he lost both children.

Our fear will lie to us and try to control our destiny. But God has written a beautiful plan for our lives. A plan of hope and goodness. If we would only use the talents He gave us and put our faith in Him, we would be blessed beyond measure. So, follow your call. Use your talent(s). And never let fear dictate your life so that when Jesus returns, He may find you doing exactly what you have been called to do.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Double Your Talents.

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Only Run Your Race

¹ Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John ²(although Jesus Himself did not baptize, but only His disciples), ³He left Judea and departed again for Galilee. ~ John 4:1-3

The Messiah taught, led, performed miracles, healed the sick, and even raised the dead, but He didn’t baptize. Why? Because Jesus knew His call. He understood His purpose. Many of us would see baptizing people as no big deal, but Jesus saw it as straying from His call. He didn’t have time to stray from His call because He knew He only had a short time. We each only have a short time to fulfill our call; we can’t afford to do someone else’s job. This life is so short; never stray from your call and your God-given job.

We are each given a job to do, but we can’t try to do it all ourselves. We have to stick to our God-given call. This is because we are the body of Christ. The foot cannot try to do the work of the hand, or the body will be unable to properly function. Therefore, we each have to follow our God-planned road and run the race set before each of us, not the race set before someone else. If we are busy trying to run someone else’s race, we’re going to get burnt out and not be able to finish our own race. God uses more than just one person. Pray for discernment that He might show you your call and who you are in His Church.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Only Run Your Race.

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Lead The Sheep

³My anger is hot against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the Lord of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them like his majestic steed in battle. ~ Zechariah 10:3

We are all given different responsibilities in life. Some of us are given more responsibility than others. And when we’re put in places of leadership, it’s on us to guide the sheep to plains of green pasture regardless of whether the sheep want dry, dead lands or lush green pastures. They can always stay there, but you can’t let the 99 die in the dry, dead land because 1 wants to stay in the wilderness. You have to first get the 99 safely to lush green pasture, and then you go after the 1.

As a shepherd, you can’t sacrifice the 99 for the 1. You can’t put the entire flock in jeopardy because one wants to live in sin. You have to teach them all the Truth even if they don’t want to hear it. That’s the job of the shepherd. You’re supposed to lead the sheep. Why? To whom much is given, much is required.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Lead The Sheep.

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Live The Part

²⁶You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. ~ Matthew 23:26

One of my favorite songs is “Sometimes I Cry” by Jason Crabb. In it, he sings,

I look the part
Blend in with the rest of the church crowd

Some of us only blend into the Church, but we’re not a part of the Church. One of the scariest verses in the Bible, to me, is the parable of the goats and the sheep. See, Jesus said that at the Final Judgment, He was going to separate the sheep from the goats. The scary thing was that the goats didn’t even know they were different than the sheep. They thought they were the same, but the inside, the heart, was what separated them.

See, we can try to look the part and even act the part, but unless we live the part, it doesn’t matter. We have to do more than look like a follower of Christ; we actually have to follow Christ. We can’t live our lives one way, Monday through Saturday, catch the Spirit on Sunday, then go back to how we wanna live. Following Christ is an everyday thing that starts with the renewal of the heart and mind.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Live The Part.

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Rebuild The Temple

⁶You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. ~ Haggai 1:6

Today, the Church prays but rarely sees an answer. We’re stricken with disease, cancer, and all else the world has. There is no longer a differentiation between the world and the Church. Why? Because we no longer act differently than the world. We have our bags full of holes because we try to make the Word of God fit the world’s standards instead of trying to make the world fit the Word of God’s standards.

God told Haggai that they weren’t getting all they asked for because they lost sight of Heavenly things. They were so busy building their homes and their lives that they forgot about the Temple of God. We today are the Temple of God. God dwells in us, yet we act as if He doesn’t exist. We pray and go to Church, even read our Bibles, but we never change. We don’t believe in judging between good and evil. We don’t believe in correcting sin because it’s not love. We, the Temple of God, are in Spiritual shambles, but we don’t believe in rebuilding it because we don’t want to change.

If we want to be accepted, we have to do what’s right. If we want to do what’s right, we have to know what’s right. The only way to do that is to read the Bible unbiasedly with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. To spend time in worship and prayer in order to build our relationship with the Holy Spirit so that we can better learn His voice and discern the Truth. We have to change in order to see a change. We have to build up the Temple of God regardless of how hard, impossible, or painful it may seem because if we don’t, our lives will never change for the better, and we’ll continue to be rejected just as Cain was.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Rebuild The Temple.

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God’s Greater Things

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

Paul said to seek the higher gifts, and he would show us a still more excellent way. We can never know too much of and about God. There will never be a time when we get bored with God. His ways and thoughts are higher than our ways and thoughts. But the only way to see higher and greater things is to seek higher and greater things.

So many of us are missing out on the greater things God has in store for us because of doctrines created by men and not God. These false doctrines keep us blinded just like they kept the Pharisees blinded during the time of Jesus. They were so blinded in fact, that they couldn’t recognize God when He came as flesh and stood before them. God is standing before us with something greater in store for us, don’t miss it.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Miss Out On God’s Greater Things.

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Prepare For Your Call

¹²The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is kept in store. ¹³The pangs of childbirth come for him, but he is an unwise son, for at the right time he does not present himself at the opening of the womb. ~ Hosea 13:12-13

The LORD gives us each time to prepare for our call that He has given to us. But the strongholds that keep us bound in chains because we refuse to give up our sins will try to keep us from that call. This is the only life we have to fulfill all that God has in store for us. We can’t afford to let anything keep us from the good life God has for us.

Each obstacle is a new learning experience. It’s a new way to grow so that you’ll be ready to face what’s in store for you. Our call is sometimes bigger than we can imagine. Sometimes it’s bigger than we’re ready for because we didn’t allow the LORD to prepare us. If we allow our strongholds to keep us from preparing for our call, we’ll never be ready for it.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Prepare For Your Call.

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Walk Through Jesus

¹⁵They cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” ~ John 19:15

The Pharisees were undoubtedly some of the most anti-Jesus people to ever live. They called for His crucifixion. They even wanted Lazarus to be killed because he was alive again by the power of Jesus. They even became so anti-Jesus that they became anti-God as a whole. They declared boldly and loudly that they only had one king, Caesar. God is our king, yet they rejected God because they wanted nothing to do with Jesus.

God came in the flesh, but they didn’t recognize Him. They didn’t realize that being anti-Jesus was being anti-God. There is only one way to the Father. There is only one way to eternal life. There is only one way to God, and that is through Jesus. You can’t be anti-Jesus, but pro-God. They are one. They can’t be separated. Jesus is the door that all must walk through in order to get to God. Have you walked through Him because you can’t go around Him?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Walk Through Jesus.

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Remember God Always

⁹Though I scattered them among the nations, yet in far countries they shall remember me, and with their children they shall live and return. ~ Zechariah 10:9

The people of Israel were scattered among the nations because of their constant disobedience and refusal to repent. But even though they were scattered to distant nations, God never took Himself away from them. They always remembered Him. They were sent far away from their homes, some into slavery, but God never took Himself away from them.

No matter how far we run from God, God never allows us to outrun His memory. We can fill our minds and hearts with other gods or idols. We can try to erase the memory of God, but no matter how hard we try, the memory of God will always be there deep inside of us. The evidence of who He is will always surround us no matter where we are; this is His promise to us.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Remember God Always.

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Let Your Faith Grow

³¹It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, ³²yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade. ~ Mark 4:31–32

A mustard seed faith starts out really small. Sometimes, you don’t even know it’s there at first. But you hear the Good News about Jesus. You receive the Good News, and you believe the Good News. Then it begins to grow into the largest of all garden plants, and nothing will be impossible for you.

This faith not only moves mountains, but it ministers to the needs of others as well. Jesus has given us the keys to the kingdom of God, and He expects us to do the work, not Him. Have you ever noticed that Jesus is not moved by need? Just because someone needs clothes doesn’t mean Jesus will come down and clothe them. Or feed the hungry. Or heal the sick. Or spread the Gospel to remote areas. Why? It’s not His job. Jesus said that as long as He was IN the world, He was the Light of the World. Jesus is no longer in the world. That’s why He said we are now the light of the world. He has left us in charge, and we, the Church, are responsible for what happens and what authority rules the world.

If we want to see miracles, revival, an outpouring of the Spirit, and a change in the atmosphere, we have to have mustard-seed faith that can grow. We have to have faith that can grow beyond “I know it’s possible.” We have to have faith that can grow to “I believe it’s possible.” Our faith can’t be stagnant. Our faith has to be able to grow.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Let Your Faith Grow.

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