Daily Bread Archives

August 6, 2020August 6, 2020

Listen To The Rain

“²⁴And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.” ~ Genesis 7:24

Ever get tired of waiting for a promise to be fulfilled? Of course, you do. We all do. We all pray and pray and pray and wait for an answer that doesn’t seem to come. Imagine how Noah felt when the rain stopped, but the Earth was still completely flooded. There weren’t even mountains that could be seen, only water.

That’s how it is for some of us. God has destroyed everything around us that was evil, that was bringing us down, that was keeping us from Him, and we are currently seeing nothing. We look out expecting to see life and hope, but all we see is the water that took away everything.

Sometimes it feels like it will take forever for the floods to subside, but what we don’t understand is that under all that water is a new and better life. The life God intended for us. Sure some will take longer than others, but it will never come late. For God’s timing is perfect. His will for us is perfect. If we allow God to use us, He will destroy the evil in our lives and build us a new and better replacement for the old. But we have to have patience. We have to continue to try new things, Noah sent out a bird four times before he even considered taking off the covering of the ark to look.

Sometimes we have to focus on what God has for us right now, not outside of our ark. We have to wait for the rain to stop before we can send out a dove to make sure it’s safe to move on/forward. And if you listen really closely, God will tell you when to come out and go forward.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Listen To The Rain.

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Go Before The Throne

“³In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, ⁴and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, ⁵but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.” ~ Genesis 4:3-5

Who are we when we bring an offering before the LORD? Are we Cain? Or are we Abel? I guess the easiest way to answer that question is by taking a step back and evaluating our offerings. When we do something for God, that’s an offering. When we do something for others, that’s an offering before God. When we put money in the offering plate that is an offering before God. But how do we do these things? Do we do them with love? Do we do them begrudgingly? Do we do them out of selflessness? Do we bring our very best?

But why? Why does it matter how I bring my offering, at least I brought one. At least I did this for that person. At least I did it. So what is wrong with that? What’s wrong with bringing your second best? What’s wrong with just showing up? Think about it like this, life is a test. Each opportunity is how you study for the test, and each offering is how you take the test. If you don’t study for a test, then chances are you’re gonna fail that test. If you put down an answer that is wrong, then your answer is wrong whether you wrote it down or not. The answer is still marked wrong. Why? Because there is a right answer, just like there is a right way to bring an offering.

Don’t just bring an offering before the LORD, bring your best. Why? Imagine if you constantly help someone no matter what it is, no matter how extreme it is, no matter how impossible it is. But when you ask for something from that person, they begrudgingly do it. They complain the whole time. They act as though it is the biggest inconvenience to them. I don’t know about you, but I would just tell them not to worry about it. Why? Because that is unacceptable. It’s selfish.

God gives us everything we need. He died for us. He got off His throne and became man, yet we can’t bring an offering before Him. We are living in a selfish world, but don’t allow the world we live in to dictate our actions. To dictate who we are, for we are made new. We are no longer a part of this world, but a part of the Kingdom of God. So, therefore, be an Abel, not a Cain. Be a man or woman that brings their best and sets it down before God’s throne.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Bring Your Best.

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Take It By Force

“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²‘Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the Lord your God. ³You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes.’” ~ Leviticus 18:1-3

A lot of times as Christians, we expect that when we are brought into our promise, that everything will be perfect and dandy. But that’s not the way things work. We have to continue to fight. We have to realize that with each step we take to get closer to fulfilling our calling, there will be a bigger obstacle in our way. Just because we reach our promised land, it doesn’t mean that we have fulfilled our calling. There is always something more for us to do until we are taken up, whether by death or by rapture, but until then we are to keep going. We are to keep fighting.

Why? Because we are in a real war. We are in an unseen, for the most part, war. We are in the middle of the supernatural, spiritual war. The enemy doesn’t want to see us do the will of God, so with every step, we take closer to God, the Devil throws something harder for us to overcome. We don’t just walk into paradise, and that’s it. We march into paradise as a warrior ready for the battle ahead of us. That’s why Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:12, “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.”

We can’t expect to be passive and see the Kingdom of Heaven. We have to take it by force. We have to fight for it. Just as God had to tell the Israelites to leave behind the bondage of Egypt and not get into bondage in the new land He promised them, so does He say the same thing to us today. We have to let go of our past and be careful what we allow into our future.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Take It By Force.

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Fulfill Your Promise

“¹⁵And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven ¹⁶and said, ‘By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, ¹⁸and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.’ ¹⁹So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba.” ~ Genesis 22:15-19

This promise was already promised to Abraham before Isaac was born. A lot of the time we assume that when God promises something to us that we don’t have to do anything to get it. We don’t have do anything to fulfill it, but in actuality, God has promised every one of us something, but only few of us actually see the actual promise fulfilled.

Why? It’s not because God is unwilling to fulfill His promise, but because we are unwilling to give up something. We are holding back something from God. We are placing something above God. If we hold on to other things that separate us from God, we will lose out on our promise. If we put something, even something good, above God, we will lose out on our promise.

For instance, if we are blessed with the gift of music, but we only use this gift to make us famous, or we use it for anything else than to glorify God, we will lose out on our promise. If we have been blessed with athletics, but put sports above spending time with God, we will lose out on our promise.

These things in themselves are not bad, but the way we use them will determine whether we will lose out on our promise or not.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Fulfill Your Promise.

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Follow

“¹On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, ²and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. ³Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. ⁴And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.’

⁵And Simon answered, ‘Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word, I will let down the nets.’ ⁶And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. ⁷They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.

⁸But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’ ⁹For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, ¹⁰and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.’ ¹¹And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.” ~ Luke 5:1-11

Jesus came down to their level. Jesus grew up studying in the Temple around Rabbis learning and teaching, but He came to lowly fishermen. He made His message simple and to the point that they would be able to understand. When He spoke in parables, He took the time to explain it to them so that they wouldn’t be left in the dark. He took them from being slaves to being His friends.

Jesus doesn’t try to trip us up. He doesn’t try to make the question so hard that no one passes. Jesus comes to us with something that we understand, and He turns it into something so much more. He doesn’t discriminate against your sin, your ethnicity, your race, your beliefs, your desires, your job, He comes down to all of our levels, so that He may make Himself known to us. But it’s up to us to put down our nets and follow Him.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Follow.

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August 1, 2020July 26, 2020

Find Your Identity

“¹⁸For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ ¹⁹The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.” ~ Matthew 11:18-19

Isn’t that the world? No matter what you do, the world is going to find fault with it. With John, he didn’t drink or eat, and they said he was demonized. Jesus came eating and drinking, and they said he was a gluttonous drunk. The world is not your friend. It will never be there to lift you up but to only accuse you and watch you fall.

We can’t find our identity in the world, because the world will never accept us no matter how much we change for them. But instead, we need to find our identity in Christ Jesus, for it is Him that we are molded after. We have to find our identity in the one who lifts up, instead of puts down. The one who rejoices in our successes, instead of condemns. The one who picks us up when we have fallen, instead of the one who kicks us when we’re down.

We cling to the world because we desire confirmation from those we can see. From those that seem to have it all together. From those who we look up to. In doing so, we forget that we are not a part of the world. We are not of the world. So, the world will never accept us. We have to seek acceptance from only one, Jesus. For it is better to be an enemy of the world, than an enemy of God. Why be afraid of offending he who can only kill the body, when we should be afraid of offending he who can kill the body and then the soul in the eternal flames of Hell. Find your identity in He who does not change. So that you may change for the better.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Find Your Identity.

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Eternal Praise

“¹³So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, crying out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’” ~ John 12:13

The LORD Jesus came to Jerusalem on a donkey. He was greeted with shouts of acclamation. He was greeted with love and acceptance. On this day He was chosen as the perfect sacrificial lamb of God. He entered Jerusalem as a King but would be crucified as a sinner before the week was over. Yet Jesus boldly entered Jerusalem fully knowing what would be the end result for Him. He fully knew that the same people who were blessing Him and loving Him today, would be the same people prepared to crucify Him the next, yet He continued. He didn’t stop because He knew that they needed Him. He knew that there was no other way for them to enter life unless He did this. This was the only way for the world to be saved, so Jesus continued on, and boldly entered Jerusalem.

The times have not changed in the last 2,000 years. We get really religious and love Jesus when everyone else does. We get really religious and love Jesus when we need a healing or a miracle. We get really religious and love Jesus when it’s Sunday morning, but as soon as the world turns on Him, so do we. We go from shouting ‘Hosanna. Hosanna.’ to ‘Crucify Him. Crucify Him.’ And Jesus knew that. 2,000 years ago Jesus knew we, in today’s world, would crucify Him, as they did in His day. Jesus knew 4,000 years ago that we would crucify. He knew 6,000 years ago. He knew before He even created Earth, yet Jesus still entered Jerusalem and accepted the praises of those who would soon be crucifying Him.

Today we have the chance to change our paths. We don’t have to continue the cycle of praising Him, then crucifying Him. Today we can choose to praise Him, and when He is crucified, we can take Him down. When our media, our city, or our government crucifies Him, we can take Him down by defending Him. We can take Him down by living like Him. Don’t let this day continue as just another symbolic day, let today be the day that begins your eternal praising.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Praise.

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Draw Near

“And through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross.” ~ Colossians 1:20

During this Passion Week, we remember the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross for all of us. We were once separated from God, by sin, but Jesus made a way for us through the shedding of His blood. We were destined for an eternal death with no peace, no rest, no hope, no God, but Jesus got off of His throne, set down His Godliness, and came to Earth as man.

I urge each of us this week to draw near to God. Don’t allow the things of this world to make Jesus’ sacrifice worthless to you. Don’t allow the temporary things of this world to draw you away from the eternal presence of God Almighty.

Jesus felt so strongly about us being separated from Him that He was whipped and beaten until He was unrecognizable. Jesus looked down upon us and saw that we couldn’t bear the punishment that we deserved, so He bore it for us. Don’t allow the things of this world to cause you to miss out on receiving your free gift of salvation. Your debt has been paid in full, don’t try to change that. Don’t stay stranded at sea, when God promised to pull you to shore.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Draw Near.

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Bring Your Petitions

¹¹And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? ¹²I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

¹³But Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for you brought up this people in your might from among them, ¹⁴and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, O Lord, are in the midst of this people. For you, O Lord, are seen face to face, and your cloud stands over them and you go before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.

¹⁵Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say, ¹⁶‘It is because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.’ ¹⁷And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, ¹⁸‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’¹⁹Pleasepardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.” ~ Numbers 14:11-19

How many times has God said He would blot out those wicked Israelites and start over through Moses? Yet each time Moses pleads with the LORD and is able to change His mind. Here’s the thing, we do not serve a God who changes. But we do serve a God who will change His mind depending on how well you argue your case. Why? Because God isn’t a malevolent dictator. If God wasn’t interested in Moses’ opinion, He would have never told Him what He was going to do. We see this all throughout the Bible that God will tell His plans to one whom He trusts, with whom He has a strong relationship with. And they will defend a case for why He shouldn’t do it. Moses did this must’ve been 10 times at least. But what we don’t understand is how to be a good lawyer.

We have to learn how to be a good lawyer. In order to be a good lawyer, we have to learn how the courts of Heaven work. We have to understand that the Court of Heaven has rules and specific procedures we have to follow. We can’t just speak random words of foolishness and expect God to overturn His initial ruling. Instead, we have to know the Bible. We have to know how to go before God. We have to know how to enter His courts. We have to know how to petition Him. We have to know how to quote scripture. We have to know how to defend. But how do we learn these things? We read our Bibles. We pray. We worship. Psalms 100:4 “Enter His Gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name.”

How many of our prayers start with petition instead of thanksgiving? Instead of praise? How many of us actually take the time to thank Him for what He’s done, instead of continuously just asking. I’m not saying we shouldn’t ask. I’m saying we need to understand how to ask. We need to understand how to petition. Derek Prince, one of the greatest prayer warriors of our time, said in his book, ‘Secrets of a Prayer Warrior,’ unless we first give thanks for someone or something, we have no right petitioning God for them. If we want to see something take place, we must first thank God for what He has already done. We can’t expect to say, ‘gimme gimme gimme,’ and never once take the time to say thank you.

God is not a dictator. He doesn’t want to just do things, He wants input. If He didn’t, He wouldn’t have a divine council that He speaks with. He wouldn’t come to us and tell us of His judgments. We have to understand that we are in the gap. We have to stand in the gap and petition for others. Just as Moses stood in the gap. Just as Abraham stood in the gap. Just as Derek Prince stood in the gap. We have to stand in the gap. We have to be prayer warriors, so that we may change the mind of God that He may not bring judgment on those who deserve judgment. But instead that He would show mercy. We must remind Him of His word, as the others did. We must remind Him of His character as the others did. Not because He forgets. But so that you may build a case before Him and He may see your heart through your prayers.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Bring Your Petitions.

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Clear The Room

“²³And when Jesus came to the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, ²⁴he said, ‘Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him. ²⁵But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. ²⁶And the report of this went through all that district.” ~ Matthew 9:23-26

Even Jesus needed to remove the naysayers in the room. Even the Son of God needed to have the room cleared of all doubters. If Jesus needed it, why don’t we? Why don’t we clear the doubters from the rooms? Why do we allow them to stay, slowly feeding on their doubt, until we have started to doubt, ourselves?

We expect a miracle to happen, but we are without faith. We want it to happen, but we don’t truly believe it will happen. Our faith is weak, and our doubt is strong. We hold to things that don’t help us when God is saying just clear the room. Don’t look at the current circumstance, look at what could be.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Clear the Room.

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