Daily Bread Archives

May 24, 2020May 18, 2020

Cling To The Old Rugged Cross

“¹⁸The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.” ~ 1 Corinthians 1:18 NLT

During chaos, pain, suffering, and fear, we cling to that Old Rugged Cross. The cross that brings us hope. The cross that changes everything. The cross that people look at with disgust, jest, judgment is our saving grace. What was meant to destroy, brought life and we will cling to that cross. No matter the pain that we are in or the fear that overwhelms us can ever take away from the promise and hope that that cross symbolizes. For once our Jesus was dead, but now He is alive forever. And because He is alive, He will one day return for us, and we will be alive forever with Him.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Cling To The Old Rugged Cross.

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Enter Into His Grace

“¹⁵But the Lord said to him, ‘Not so; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.’ Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. ¹⁶So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.” ~ Genesis 4:15-16

Cain killed his brother Abel out of jealousy, then lied to God about it, and even in all of that, God still had mercy on Cain. Before there was The Law. Before there was redemption, Cain sinned, but God didn’t leave him there. He was punished, but God still had mercy on Cain. We live in a time of grace when God can still be found. When God has already paid for your sins and offered you forgiveness. He has paid the price and taken the weight on His shoulders.

Cain lived in a time that had no law. Had no way to be justified, yet God still found a way to give him grace. Don’t be ashamed to come to God. Don’t be ashamed of what you have done, for your Heavenly Father’s arms are opened, and He is waiting patiently for you to return home to Him. There is nothing you can do that is too hard for God to forgive and cleanse you of, so return home for His mercy is great, and His love for is never-ending.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Enter Into His Grace.

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The Spirit of Slumber

“¹⁰ For the Lord has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes (the prophets), and covered your heads (the seers). ¹¹ And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, ‘Read this,’ he says, ‘I cannot, for it is sealed.’ ¹² And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, ‘Read this,’ he says, ‘I cannot read.’¹⁸ In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.” ~ Isaiah 29:10-12, 18

Could it be a spirit of slumber that has covered the whole world? In the day and age that we live in, where prophecies are being fulfilled and the days are grower more and more evil, people don’t seem to recognize the signs of the times. Isaiah says that God will pour out upon those who refuse to believe, or to obey, a spirit of deep sleep.

We need to wake ourselves up and prepare for battle. For Satan, our adversary, is prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Seek the LORD so that your eyes may be opened, and your ears may be uncleared so that you may see the signs of the time. For Jesus didn’t leave us unaware of when He would return, but He promised that we would see the signs and we would know that our redemption is near.

LORD God, please open our eyes that we may take notice of the signs that are happening in our day and age. Open our ears that we may hear and differentiate between true and false prophets. Guide us, LORD Jesus, so that we may one day hear you say, “Well done my good and faithful servant.” Teach us to see the truth in all situations. In the precious and Holy name of Jesus, I pray, Amen.

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Despite It All

“²¹Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: ²²Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. ²³They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ²⁴I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.’” ~ Lamentations 3:21-24

Let me set the scene for you. Jeremiah watched as Jerusalem was ransacked, the Temple was destroyed, Israelites were taken into slavery, people were getting sick from poisonous water, and the people of Israel turned to other gods instead of God Almighty. While all of this is happening, Jeremiah doesn’t lose faith in God. He doesn’t blame God; instead, he finds his hope in God.

When Babylon took his people as slaves, he didn’t curse God. When God allowed them to drink poisonous water because of their sin, he didn’t blame God. Jeremiah knew who his God was. He had a relationship with his God. He cried out in pain, depression, and mourning, but he didn’t stay in those emotions. He refused to allow them to control him. After he cried out, he would then call to mind the hope that is in our God. His never-ending love, His compassion that renews each and every morning, and His undying faithfulness.

During this pandemic, we need to remember whom we have faith in. We need to return to the Rock that is higher than us. Our comforter. Our God. Our Good Shepherd. Our Loving Father. When stress, depression, fear, discouragement, pain, grief try to overtake us, call to mind who your God is. Place your faith in Him, and you will not be broken.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Call To Mind.

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Rekindle The Flame

“⁶Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: ‘No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.’ And so the people were restrained from bringing more, ⁷because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work.” ~ Exodus 36:6-7

While building the Sanctuary, the people were told that if they were willing, they should bring freewill offerings of gold, silver, bronze, fine linen, different colored yarn, etc. This was not too long after they had been struck with a plague because of their worship of a golden calf, but it helped them remember who their God was. That passion that they had allowed to die while waiting for Moses to return with the Stone Tablets, was rekindled when God displayed His might, His power, and His glory shown upon Moses face.

We the Church are currently like the people of Israel in the Wilderness. God has delivered us out of our sin, yet we complain. We desire to return to our sin, our slavery that God has delivered us out of. The passion that we felt at the beginning when we first received Salvation has slowly died, what’s it going to take to kindle the flame? During this time of confinement to our homes, have we finally made time for God? Or are we still lusting after the slavery we were once in? Have we rekindled the flame, or have we strayed farther away?

Now is the time to rekindle the flame. Now is the time to seek the face of God Almighty, for tomorrow is promised to no man or woman. No one is guaranteed a long life, so let’s seek God, while He can still be found. While Jesus is still knocking at the door, let us answer Him. Let us rekindle the passion that we once had. Let’s remember our first love.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Rekindle The Flame.

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Return To Your Good Father

“⁵You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you” ~ Psalms 86:5

The Psalmist describes God as forgiving and good. He goes on to say that God abounds in love. What does that mean? God is love. His love cannot and will not ever run out. Because God is infinite, His love is infinite. No matter how far we’ve run. No matter how much debt we’ve collected, when we call on Him, He is faithful to answer. He is faithful to forgive us. He is faithful to love us. We are His children, so let us all return to our Heavenly Father, for He is forgiving, good, and abounding in love.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Return To Your Good Father.

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A Mother’s Comfort

“I will comfort you there in Jerusalem as a mother comforts her child.” ~ Isaiah 66:13

When broken and distraught, there is nothing like the comfort of your mother. A mother’s embrace can comfort any broken heart or crushed spirit, so much so that when explaining how God would comfort His people, He compared it to the comfort of a mother. In other words, God was saying that a mother’s embrace is second only to our Heavenly Father. It’s built inside of each and every one of us to run to our mother for comfort. When she isn’t there, we can run to our Heavenly Father, and He will hold us and ease the emptiness that the lack of her presence brings.

So, this Mother’s Day, let us take the time to thank our mothers for always comforting and loving us. For the tears they wipe away, and the hugs and kisses they give. As well as to honor our mothers who have passed on. Happy Mother’s Day and thank you mothers everywhere.

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Don’t Lose Hope

²²The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;his mercies never come to an end; ²³they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ²⁴“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore, I will hope in him.” ~ Lamentations 3:22-25

The LORD’s love never ceases, no matter what you do, no matter how far you stray, you can’t run far enough away from His love. But don’t misunderstand, this isn’t a free pass to do whatever you want. This is hope that no matter where you go trying to get away from Him He’ll always be waiting for you to turn around and return to Him.

During times of tribulation, remember His mercies never come to an end. That’s sure easy to say when you aren’t the one going through tribulation at this time. When you aren’t the one suffering, but yet, His mercies still never come to an end. He will give you rest whether it’s today or tomorrow, but rest was promised to us.

The LORD is my portion; therefore, I will hope in Him. Because I have God, I don’t need to live hopeless. I don’t need to live every day depressed or downcast, but I can live with hope because I know who I serve. I know that I am loved. I know that I will have peace, either today or tomorrow, peace will come.

Don’t lose hope when times of tribulation come upon us. When we feel unworthy to return to Him. Or we feel we’ve gone too far and are too dirty to even call upon His name. Don’t lose hope, for He is hope. He leaves 99 for the one. His love never fails. So don’t give up.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Lose Hope.

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Put On Your Gospel of Peace

“¹⁵and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.” ~ Ephesians 6:15

Paul tells us to put shroud our feet with the gospel of peace, but why our feet? Why not our mind? Could it be because Jesus gave us the gospel of peace so we can walk on stable ground in an unstable world? Even if everything else around us is in chaos, at least the ground we walk on is sturdy, never changing. So we don’t have to worry about the troubles of the world, but instead we can literally walk with/on peace. In this time of fear, anxiety, and panic we can hold to the promises of God and put on the Gospel of Peace as Paul instructed.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Put On Your Gospel of Peace.

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Choose Life

“²²When I led your ancestors out of Egypt, it was not burnt offerings and sacrifices I wanted from them. ²³This is what I told them: ‘Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do everything as I say, and all will be well!’” ~ Jeremiah 7:22-23

Sin now and repent later, is what a lot of us live by. Often times we feel if we try, we’ve done enough. If we intend to follow Jesus, but don’t, that’s okay He understands. Or maybe just tithe a little extra this week if we mess up. But that’s not what God wanted. From the beginning God didn’t want to establish burnt offerings and sacrifices, He wanted to establish a relationship with us. When He created Adam, He gave Him a command, not so He could control Adam, but so He could protect him from death. God didn’t come down and order Adam around, no, instead He walked and talked with him. God desired a relationship with His creation and He still does, but we demand sacrifices and burnt offerings, because we refuse to stay alive.

Through Jesus, there is life; through sin, there is death. Yet we choose death each time and then present burnt offerings and sacrifices, instead of simply accepting the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross. Why don’t we accept His sacrifice? Why would we rather death? Eternal Life has been bought for us and freely given to us, so why do we keep choosing death? God never wanted us to die, He even sent His one and only Son to take our punishment so that we may live. So live.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Choose Life.

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