Daily Bread Archives

February 26, 2020February 26, 2020

Be Nehemiah

“²³About the same time I realized that some of the men of Judah had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. ²⁴Furthermore, half their children spoke the language of Ashdod or of some other people and could not speak the language of Judah at all.” ~ Nehemiah 13:23-24^NLT

When Nehemiah saw this, he was more than upset. Nehemiah wasn’t upset about seeing the next generation lose the culture, but instead, he was upset that they were losing their connection to God. They forgot who they were. In today’s Church, we have the same struggles. Our children know the world. They know each celebrity, every secular song, every secular show, yet they know nothing about God.

They don’t know His characteristics, His Word, His plan. We allow our children to join the world and leave the Church. Why does it matter? Without knowing God, you can’t have a relationship with Him. Without a relationship with Him, you can’t make it into Heaven. Teach your children from a young age, and they won’t forget who they are or who God is.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Nehemiah.

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Love The LORD Your God

“³⁷Jesus replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ ³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment.” ~ Matthew 22:37-38

The hardest thing you can do is the most important thing you have to do, love God with everything inside of you. But what does that mean exactly? Jesus simplified it for us, He described love as keeping His commands. In today’s world, that seems like an unrealistic and horrible request, but is it really? What is Jesus really saying?

Jesus was saying that if we love Him, then we won’t go to other gods. We’re in a covenant relationship with God, so when we succumb to sin, we place that above God. Our love is no longer just for God, it’s now split between Him and others. Why is this such a problem? Throughout Scripture, God compares this to sexual immorality. In other words, God is saying that we’re in a relationship, and I don’t want to share you with anyone else.

Just like most of us want a monogamous relationship, so does God. We don’t want to share our significant other with the world, why should God have to share His? Is it too much of Him to ask us to love Him the way He deserves to be loved?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Love The LORD Your God.

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Look In The Mirror

“⁵David was furious. ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’ he vowed, ‘any man who would do such a thing deserves to die! ⁶He must repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole and for having no pity.’ ⁷Then Nathan said to David, ‘You are that man! The Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul.” ~ 2 Samuel 12:5-7

David was King of Israel, had 3 wives already, and everything he could ever dream of, yet he went after another man’s wife. He then killed the man, Uriah, because he slept with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba, and got her pregnant. The LORD was angry about this, so He sent Nathan the Prophet to speak to David. When David heard what Nathan had said, he didn’t know that it was him that Nathan was speaking about, so he became furious with the man in the story.

When David found out that it was him that the story was about, he saw the error of his ways and humbled himself before God. Sometimes we forget to look in the mirror before we cast judgment upon another person. We sometimes forget that we’ve committed that same sin, without repentance, while condemning someone else. That’s what Jesus was speaking about in Matthew 7, take the plank out of your own eye before you can take the speck out of another’s.

Repent, change, and then correct. Don’t forget to first be the example before you try to correct another person’s faults.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Look In The Mirror.

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Fulfill Your Responsibility

“¹ If you see your neighbor’s ox or sheep or goat wandering away, don’t ignore your responsibility.Take it back to its owner. ²If its owner does not live nearby or you don’t know who the owner is, take it to your place and keep it until the owner comes looking for it. Then you must return it. ³Do the same if you find your neighbor’s donkey, clothing, or anything else your neighbor loses. Don’t ignore your responsibility. ⁴If you see that your neighbor’s donkey or ox has collapsed on the road, do not look the other way. Go and help your neighbor get it back on its feet!” ~ Deuteronomy 22:1-4^NLT

As a Church, have we lost our compassion? How often do we stop when we see someone in need? Or give the dollar the homeless person is asking for? Or help the older woman struggling pump gas? How often do we help our fellow man? Many excuses come to mind when these questions are asked, but the bottom line (no matter the excuse or reason for not doing it) is, where is your faith? If you have complete faith in God, then you will have the faith that God will use you and all that you do and give. Jesus compared not feeding the hungry or clothing the naked as not taking care of Him.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Fulfill Your Responsibility.

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Be A Mighty Warrior

“¹ The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. So the Lord handed them over to the Midianites for seven years. ²The Midianites were so cruel that the Israelites made hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. ³Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, marauders from Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east would attack Israel, ⁴camping in the land and destroying crops as far away as Gaza. They left the Israelites with nothing to eat, taking all the sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. ⁵These enemy hordes, coming with their livestock and tents, were as thick as locusts; they arrived on droves of camels too numerous to count. And they stayed until the land was stripped bare. ⁶So Israel was reduced to starvation by the Midianites. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.” ~ Judges 6:1-6^NLT

Judges chapter six records how the Midianites would swoop down on Israel at harvest time, and take their harvest. Are you under spiritual warfare? Is the enemy attacking you? Maybe it’s YOUR harvest time. The dreams you’ve dreamt for so long are finally here. The investment that seemed to have died a natural death is beginning to breathe again. Remember the seed you sowed so long ago? It has sprouted and the enemy knows it’s YOUR harvest time. That relationship at home that you’ve been praying for? It is about to be restored.

So don’t give up, just because the enemy has come down with great wrath wanting to steal your harvest. You are a mighty warrior, believe it, even if no one else does. Live it, even if you don’t feel like it, because God believes in you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be A Mighty Warrior.

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Live In Hope

“The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him: ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ But Peter said, ‘By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.’ And the voice came to him again a second time, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’ This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to Heaven.” ~ Acts 10:9-16^ESV

Peter was a Jew who found it difficult to understand why and how Gentiles could be forgiven and receive the same kind of forgiveness the Jews could. God sent His Son, Jesus, so that He could cover and cleanse every person, not just the Jews. Not just those we deem worthy, but all people who would accept His Son.

Often times, we forget that God is the God of anyone who will accept His Son. Ex-drug addicts, ex-cons, ex-felons, ex-prostitutes, anyone society deems unworthy, God still loves. God still deems them worthy enough to receive Jesus. No matter what you’ve done, no matter what your child has done, God is still waiting for His prodigal child to come home. There is always hope. Until that final heartbeat, don’t give up hope. God hasn’t, He continues to give opportunities even when He knows we won’t take them. God still lives in hope, so should we.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Live In Hope.

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Run To Your Safe Zone

“¹⁴And again they wept together, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye. But Ruth clung tightly to Naomi. ¹⁵’Look,’ Naomi said to her, ‘your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. You should do the same.’ ¹⁶But Ruth replied, ‘Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. ¹⁷Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!’ ¹⁸When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she said nothing more.” ~ Ruth 1:14-18

Ruth saw that if she returned to her people, she would worse off. She gave up false gods that she grew up with, the culture she was raised in, her false safe place and followed Naomi. Ruth got out of her comfort zone just so she could be close to her true safe place.

Our safe place is with God, yet we are afraid to walk out of our comfort zone to get to Him. We don’t wanna give up our traditions, our friends, our beliefs, our false gods and idols, our strongholds, our addictions, our comfort zone to be with God. All of these things will slowly kill us spiritually because we die where God isn’t, and God isn’t in any of those places.

Orpah couldn’t see past her comfort zone, she couldn’t see the life that would have come from sticking with Naomi. She missed it. But Ruth saw it. She clung to it. She obeyed it. She followed it. She served it. And she was blessed because of it. She will forever be known as one of Jesus’ ancestors. A foreigner with sin, who didn’t grow up with the law, she had foreign gods and idols, yet she saw life and chased after it, so God blessed her for it. And He saved her soul.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Run To Your Safe Zone.

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Return To God

“⁸Please remember what you told your servant Moses: ‘If you are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nations. ⁹But if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored.’” ~ Nehemiah 1:8-9

God loves His people, no matter what they do. Because of that love, God holds them accountable for doing right and wrong. When they refuse to be faithful to Him, He removes Himself from their presence, by scattering them among the nations. We are His children whom He loves, yet He will do the same to us. If we do not obey His commands and stay faithful to Him, then we will no longer be covered by His love, but instead sent out among the ungodly.

Even though we choose to leave God, God always makes a way for us to return to Him. He says to turn around, and He will bring you back to your rightful place, His arms. You could be farther away than you think it is possible to be saved, done more than can be forgiven, but nothing is too hard for our God. He is great and greatly to be praised. He is God Almighty and nothing is too hard for Him. No matter how far you’ve strayed, He will come look for you and He will find you if you let Him.

So be encouraged today, for the LORD your God will bring you back from the ends of the Earth if you return to Him. He will pick you up out of any hole, clean you up, and carry you home. You don’t have to do that yourself, you just have to allow God to do that for you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Return To God.

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February 16, 2020February 16, 2020

Build Bridges

“One day David asked, ‘Is anyone in Saul’s family still alive—anyone to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?’” ~ 2 Samuel 9:1

Because David and Jonathan had such a close brotherly bond, after he died, David wanted to show kindness to anyone that was still alive in his family. Are we building relationships like this for our future descendants? Or even just our children? Or do we allow ourselves to lose sight of the future and burn bridges? Imagine if Jonathan had taken his father’s side and tried to kill David, would David had helped anyone in his family? Probably not, why? Because he only did that because of his relationship with Jonathan.

If we build lasting relationships, we will be able to help people we care about, even if we’re not here to do it ourselves. Even though it’s easier to think of today, think of tomorrow. You may not need that person now, but what if you do in the future? What if your family does in the future?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Build Bridges.

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Do The Little Things

“If you see your neighbor’s ox or sheep or goat wandering away, don’t ignore your responsibility. Take it back to its owner. ²If its owner does not live nearby or you don’t know who the owner is, take it to your place and keep it until the owner comes looking for it. Then you must return it. ³Do the same if you find your neighbor’s donkey, clothing, or anything else your neighbor loses. Don’t ignore your responsibility. ⁴If you see that your neighbor’s donkey or ox has collapsed on the road, do not look the other way. Go and help your neighbor get it back on its feet!” ~ Deuteronomy 22:1-4

Often times we can get caught up in ourselves and what we’re going through, and we forget about those around us. We forget that there are other people who need help. Your help. Sometimes we get stuck in our own little world and miss the people around us. God said it’s our responsibility to help others, so go out and help someone even if it’s just a small thing. Sometimes it’s the little things in life that mean the most.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Do The Little Things.

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