Daily Bread Archives

July 7, 2020July 7, 2020

Don’t Look Back

“¹⁷And as they brought them out, one said, ‘Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.’ ²³The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. ²⁴Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. ²⁵And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. ²⁶But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” ~ Genesis 19:17, 23-26

I wonder how many people become spiritually frozen because they keep looking back at their past. I wonder how many more awakened church members there would be, or how many more awakened spiritual gifts there would be if we would just let go of the past that God is trying to destroy for our benefit. But it’s hard, our flesh wants us to open that door God has shut. Or go back down that same path that just took us years to get off of. Or to look back at the past and hold on to it, instead of letting God destroy it and wipe it clean as He has promised to do. Why do we allow our flesh to dictate our lives?

Is it because we don’t truly want to change? Is it because we actually love that part of us? I think it’s because we ask God for forgiveness, but we stop there. We ask Him to destroy the past, but we don’t work towards destroying the past within ourselves. In other words, we don’t fight against our flesh because it’s hard, it’s intimidating, it’s scary, it’s tiring. But we have to fight. Imagine if Lot’s wife had fought her flesh and let go of her past, what would be different? Her daughters probably wouldn’t have gotten their father drunk and slept with him creating all those enemies for the Israelites. I wonder what would happen if we didn’t look back and spiritually freeze; I wonder how many enemies we would have saved ourselves and our children from, how many obstacles we wouldn’t have had to go through.

So today I challenge you to not look back. I challenge you to let go of the past and give it to God. And when that thought comes into your mind to just take a peek, cast it down. When that desires stirs up to step back on that path, get on your knees and pray. When the temptation to turn back to your old habits comes your way, do as Jesus did, quote scripture, and then pray. But whatever you do, don’t stop fighting.

Peace. Love. Go Forth, and DON’T Look Back.

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Don’t Be a Pharaoh

“Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!” ~ Exodus 12:32

Isn’t it kind of peculiar that Pharaoh asked Moses to bless him also when he went to sacrifice to the LORD? Whenever things go wrong who do people go to…? Christians. And what do they ask for…? Pray for me for this, pray for me for that, ask the LORD to bless me at this job interview. Yet they refuse to bow their knee and worship HIM. I find that kind of crazy, you expect someone else to go before God and plead for you, but you don’t believe He’s real, or you don’t believe enough to follow Him and ask Him yourself.

Don’t be like Pharaoh seeing the power and wonders of God, but still refuse to bow your knee. Still refuse to give up false gods and idols that have done nothing for you. Still refuse to give up that relationship. Still refuse to give up that TV show. Still refuse to give up that alcohol. Still refuse to give up that cigarette. Still refuse to give up that drug. Still refuse to give up that sin that keeps pulling you farther and farther away until you can no longer hear the gentle voice of the Holy Spirit. Don’t be Pharaoh refusing to go to the LORD, but desiring prayer and blessings. Instead be as those who followed Moses to the LORD that you might also worship and sacrifice to LORD God and repent, saving your life and your family’s lives.

Tomorrow is promised to no man. Tomorrow is promised to no woman. Tomorrow is promised to no child. Tomorrow is promised to nothing that has breath. At any moment any one of us could lose our lives. Imagine standing before Jesus, and He says to you, “Depart from me, for I never knew you.” Imagine the fear. Imagine the distress. Imagine the sorrow that that would cause.

You see that He is the only way. Deep down you believe He is the only way, but the stronghold of your past keep you down. The strongholds that have kept your family down for generations have continued to hold you down. The strongholds that have kept you from bowing your knee before God Almighty, just as it kept Pharaoh from bowing his knee in submission before God Almighty.

Make the decision today whom you shall serve. Joshua 24:15, “¹⁵And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Make a stance today whom you shall serve, but as for me and my house, we shall serve the LORD.

Peace. Love. Go forth and Don’t Be a Pharaoh.

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Let Your Light Shine

“And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.” ~ Luke 1:80

“He was in the wilderness until he made his public appearance to Israel.” John wasn’t in the world hanging out with everyone, filling his head with distractions and temptations, but instead, he was in the wilderness being prepared for his public appearance. John knew exactly what his calling was, and he chased after it. He sought after it. He lived for it. How many of us can say we do that? Then again many of us don’t even know what our calling is… so let me rephrase, how many of us can say we daily seek God and ask for Him to not only show us His will for our life but also guide us so that we can achieve it to the best of His abilities?

How many of us do that? I know I don’t. But imagine if we did. Imagine if we put away all our distractions, and focused on God and His plan. Imagine how much easier life would be for us. How much more people we would reach. And no, I’m not implying that God has called us all to be pastors, missionaries, group leaders, etc. But He did call us all to be witnesses to the lost sheep. To be an example to them, so that when they see our good deeds, our good works, our good fruits, they will praise our Father in Heaven. Jesus said, “you don’t light a lamp and then cover it up, but instead you let it shine.”

Imagine if we put away all the worldly foolishness and just lived for God wholeheartedly like John did. Imagine if we just separated from the world, until we were ready to go out into the world and fulfill our calling. Imagine if we just let our light shine. Imagine what would happen. We have to prepare before we enter our calling so that we have light to shine to show the world the way to Jesus. If we don’t prepare, our little light will be very easily dimmed.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Shine.

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He’s Not a Tame Lion

“Then their father Israel said to them, ‘If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry a present down to the man, a little balm and a little honey, gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds.’” ~ Genesis 43:11

This was a mere man that these men were going before, yet they brought him the best they could of what they had. Why don’t we do this with God? I mean we bring half offerings to God all the time: half prayers, half worship, 1-minute conversations, etc. Why? Why don’t we fear God the way they feared Joseph? I guess it’s because we constantly talk about how good God is and how merciful.

Though He is all of these things, we have forgotten that He is not safe. Let me explain… in the movie Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, Susan asked if Aslan was safe and Mr. Beaver responded with “Safe? Who said anything about safe? He’s not safe… he is good.” Again at the end of the movie when Aslan goes away, Mr. Thomnas looks at Lucy and says, “You have to remember He’s not a tame lion.”

We don’t serve a tame or safe God. We need to bring back the fear of God. Until Isaac died when Jacob spoke about who God was He would say “The God of my Father Abraham. The Fear of my Father Isaac.” Why? Because Isaac feared the LORD, it kept his paths straight. It kept him in the favor of the LORD. What would happen if we stopped making excuses like, ‘God understands,’ ‘God will have mercy,’ ‘God forgives,’ ‘God loves me.’

Yes, God does all of these things, but don’t get it twisted if you live your life only giving half of you, half of what you are capable of, half of your beliefs, God will NOT forgive you on Judgement day. Stop making excuses. Stop living in deceit. Stop lying to yourself. What would happen if we stopped these things and just surrendered our all to Him? What would happen to the Church? What would happen to our relationships? What would happen to our jobs? What would happen to our lives? What would happen to our relationship with God?

Peace. Love. Go forth and Fear the LORD.

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Check Your Desires

“¹What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 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. ³You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. ⁴You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” ~ James 4:1-4

This begins by addressing that our passions and our desires are at war within us because we want what the world is offering, yet still want what God is offering. Then when our desires feel overwhelming, we put God to the side and go after our desires. We do anything to achieve the desires of our heart when in reality God will give you the desires of your heart if you ask correctly.

We have this idea that God will change His law to appease our desires, but that is not the case. We want worldly things to satisfy our flesh. It’s like you’re thirsty and instead of asking for water we ask for poison. God is saying that we are wasting our prayers and our time on worldly things that will not last. We ask for things out of envy and jealousy, we must have what they have, just better. God is saying that’s silly, we should be proud and happy for them. Every day our flesh and Spirit are in conflict, they’re at war, but we must crucify our Flesh every day. Genesis 4:7 tells us, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”

We have to separate ourselves from the world so that our desires will not be of the world. So that our desires will be of God. So that our desires will follow God’s plan. Yes, we are supposed to go out into the world and witness and make disciples, but we aren’t supposed to become a part of the world. Why? Because we are the salt of the Earth, and what good is salt if it loses its saltiness? Jesus said in John 15:19, “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” We aren’t of the world because we were chosen out of the world, we can’t act as the world acts. We have to check our desires so that our desires don’t lead us astray, but instead, lead us closer to God.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Check Your Desires.

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Be Like Ishmael

“Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre,” ~ Genesis 25:9

Even though Ishmael and Hagar were sent away, Ishmael came and buried his father with his brother. Even though he was sent away by his father’s wife with his father’s permission, he didn’t allow that to stop him from burying his father. He didn’t allow that to stop him from multiplying and becoming great as his blessing promised. He didn’t allow anything to stop him. Imagine if we had that mindset. Imagine if we forgave and moved on. What would The Church be capable of?

We hold on to the past too much. We allow the past to keep us held up. We allow the past to keep us from our future. Ishmael was sent away by his own father, yet he came back, and he honored his father. He fulfilled his destiny. He did not let hurt and pain hold him back, but instead, he forgave. He let go. He moved forward. He overcame.

If we overcame as Ishmael did, we would see the glory of God in our day as in the day of Jesus. It was promised to us, but how long will it take us to attain this promise? We must break the strongholds of hurt, pain, suffering, anger, rejection, etc. if we ever want to move forward. We must break the strongholds of depression, pessimism, distrust, etc. if we ever want to attain the promise.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Like Ishmael.

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Are You Faithful?

“And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” ~ 1 John 2:17

Ever notice how it is never ‘whoever loves God will abide with Him forever’? It’s always whoever does the will of God. We always say we love God and we put God first, but we don’t follow all of His commandments. We make exceptions and excuses for those we love, we make exceptions and excuses for those we admire, and we make exceptions and excuses for ourselves.

We play the “God loves everyone” card. We play the “judge lest you be judged” card. We play the “I go to church” card. We play the “I love God” card. But what does that matter? What does any of that matter, if you aren’t obeying His commands? Jesus said in John 14:15 “if you love me you will keep my commands.” Do we do that? How can we truly love Jesus when we constantly cheat on Him with sin? If this is like a marriage, would you stand for your spouse, or spouse-to-be, constantly cheating on you with another person? What if every time they do it, they remind you that they love you? What if they say, “it’s no big deal because you’re an understanding and loving person”?

If you wouldn’t stand for it, why do you think God would? Because you have spiritually fallen asleep. Now your flesh has taken over, and sin wants to control you, so together they help your brain rationalize why the things that God calls sin isn’t actually sin. They paint a negative picture of God in your head. They make Him out to be the too strict parent that doesn’t want their child to have any fun or enjoy life. They paint Him as a buzz kill. Or they paint Him as an overlooking, non-spanking, God loves everyone, everything goes kind of parent. God loves us, that’s indisputable, and He wants us to love Him. But God wants us to love Him and show Him we love Him by staying faithful to His Son, Jesus.

That means giving up each and every sin that you have. That means giving up alcohol. That means giving up drugs. That means giving up cigarettes. That means giving up pre-marital sex. That means giving up each and every idol you worship. That means reading your bible every day. That means praying every day. That means worshiping every day. That means having quiet time every day. That means putting God first, above everything, even yourself. Don’t allow the things of this world to keep you from reuniting with Jesus Christ.

The things of this world will pass away. Even the Earth itself will pass away. Don’t allow the temporary temptations of a temporary world keep you from the everlasting love of Jesus Christ, His Father, and The Holy Spirit. Choose today whom you shall serve, for tomorrow, is promised to no man.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be FAITHFUL.

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Abraham’s Faith

“¹After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ ²He said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.’ ³So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.” ~ Genesis 22:1-3

The first thing I noticed was that it didn’t seem like Abraham told Sarah anything about this. He didn’t tell anyone. He heard from God and just automatically stepped out on the branch in faith. He didn’t tell all these people so that they could talk him out of doing what God told him to do. He just did it, no questions, no second-guessing, he just stepped out in faith and did as he was told.

How many of us hear from God, know it’s what we need to do, but talk too much? We talk to others and ask their opinions, and soon their opinions seem better than God’s, so we let them talk us right out of it. We take advice from everyone else, except God. The one who created Heaven and Earth. The one who created each and every one of us. The one who wants what’s best for us. The one who knows what’s best for us. Yet we still listen to man, over God.

We don’t fulfill what He wants from us, which doesn’t hurt Him. It hurts us. How many Christians refuse to sacrifice their jobs so that God can give us a better, more stable one? How many Christians refuse to give up their time so that God can give us more efficient time? Imagine how strong the church would be if we all just did as God tells us instead of talking amongst ourselves bringing doubt. We would be unstoppable. We would be exactly where God wanted us. We would be exactly who God planned us to be.

Peace. Love. Go forth and Have Faith.

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The Household Is Blessed Together

“³¹When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. ³²And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, ‘Because the Lord has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.’ ³³She conceived again and bore a son, and said, ‘Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon. ³⁴Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.’ Therefore his name was called Levi. ³⁵And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, ‘This time I will praise the Lord.’ Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she ceased bearing.” ~ Genesis 29:31-35

Isn’t the LORD good? Leah was not a part of Jacob’s plan, but God still honored their marriage and tried to help her be loved as Rachel was loved. Even though we may have unexpected people join our families, we don’t have to wonder if they will share in the blessing because the blessing is for the whole household and God will honor that, whether it was His will or not. He turns what the Devil did for evil to good. Romans 8:28 says, “²⁸And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Jacob worked 14 years for Rachel. Rachel was the one Jacob loved, but because Leah was the one that Jacob married first. Leah was the one that he made the original covenant with, and God was faithful to that covenant. Though Jacob was tricked into that relationship, God still honored that covenant and the promise came through Leah’s son, Judah. Even though she wasn’t a part of the plan, God wrote her into the plan. God honors His covenants. Households shall be blessed together, for they are under one covenant together. They are blessed together.

Peace. Love. Go forth and Be Blessed Together.

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The Potter

“⁴And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. ⁵Then the word of the Lord came to me: ‘⁶ O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.'” ~ Jeremiah 18:4-6

Even though we’re broken, even though we’re flawed, even though we have pieces missing God still looks at us and says, “I can fix that, don’t worry.” No matter how destroyed and broken we are our God can fix us. He takes the time to heal wounds and mend broken hearts if we would just allow Him to. But why?

Why would the God of this entire world want to take the time to fix me? Want to take the time to mend me? Because we are His greatest masterpiece. As the potter refuses to throw away any of His work, so does God. As the potter loved his creation, so God loves His creation. If only there were words to describe Him and His entirety. All I can say is, He is good and He loves you.

So don’t allow how cracked, bruised, broken, or messed up you feel, our Heavenly Father still loves you and waiting for you to come home, so that He can heal you and fix all your brokenness. When God is done, you will be a brand new creation in Christ Jesus. The old has passed away and the new has come.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Let The Potter Remake You.

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Tag: Daily Bread

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