Daily Bread
gtcotr/ws050306
Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem, which means ‘House of Bread’. He declared Himself to be the Bread of Life. He was that manna which came down from heaven in the wilderness. (John 6)
Jesus is also clearly understood to be the Living Word of God. He was in the beginning with God and was used by God to create all things. (John 1)
1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
Jesus is the Living Word of God and the Word of God is the Bread of Life.
When Jesus spoke to the multitudes on a Galilean hillside, recorded in Matthew 5;6;7 & 8, He included instruction on how to pray.
Years later, on another hill outside the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem, Jesus was asked by His disciples to teach them to pray.
In both cases: early in Jesus’ ministry, teaching the multitudes and late in His ministry instructing His closest disciples, Jesus used the same model prayer.
We know it by heart:
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Notice the petition “Give us this day our daily bread.”
This speaks of provision. God wants us to petition Him for daily provision. Not only financial provision, but also and much more, daily spiritual provision.
This is the Bread of Life - The Living Word of God.
This bread comes from heaven but must be gathered daily.
{I want to share a simple, yet profoundly impacting approach to gathering the daily bread which God makes available each morning.
After the pattern of the Children of Israel in the wilderness, God rains down His Word on the earth each day. Fresh morsels of sweet sustenance, without which, we could not be strong to survive this world’s wilderness.
It was a custom of Abraham, David and Jesus, (Genesis 19:27; Psalms 5:3; Mark 1:35), along with countless other men and women of God throughout the pages of the bible, to rise fresh each morning to meet with God. In fact the scriptures speak of this as instruction for life coupled with a promise.
Proverbs 8:17 I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.
For the balance of almost 30 years now I have followed a course of gathering the fresh manna of God each morning. It is a practice which both Brenda and I have found to be irreplaceable in our lives.
Long ago I realized that I just did not have the wisdom it would take to lead the church God had called me to pastor. I needed help. My constant prayer has been that, like Solomon, God would give me the wisdom necessary to come in and go out before a people so great that He would call them His own.
It was a result of this constant prayer that I was led to a simple daily bible study.
So often people want to be consistent in their time with God but really don’t know where to turn in their bibles or what to read. Aimlessly they thumb through their bibles, haphazardly stopping and reading disconnected scriptures, never settling on a real bible study plan.
This would be the same as trying to learn a new language by thumbing through the pages of a text book, picking out words here and there, never building a foundation or developing a system to follow.}
There are basically two groups of believers.
* Those who need to be convinced of the value of daily time with God and His Word.
* Those who are already convinced of the importance of time with the Word, and only need to be shown an effective way to gather their daily bread.
Tonight, I want to speak to this second group. Since this a Wednesday evening service, I have pre-supposed that you are serious about your walk with God and only need some direction from your Pastor in how you can be transformed into the image of Christ.
If you do not have a consistent early morning approach to God’s word I have something I want you to try … and, if you already do have a morning ritual of gathering fresh manna from God’s Word, then I am going to ask you to consider adding this to your daily routine.
Lets turn to the book of Proverbs.
Proverbs is a book of wisdom ascribed to King Solomon, son of David, said by God to be the wisest man who would ever lived. (2 Chronicles 1) Endowed with wisdom by God, Solomon penned these nuggets of truth, inspired by the Holy Spirit, which have become guide to generations since.
There are 31 chapters in the book of Proverbs, basically one chapter for each day of the month. Each chapter contains an average of less than 30 verses. It takes hardly any time to read through one chapter each morning.
Here is the plan. Each day, depending on which day of the month it is, you read the corresponding chapter of Proverbs. On the first of each month you read Proverbs, Chapter one. And on the 12th of each month, chapter 12 and so on. This way, even if you miss a day or two for some reason, you always have a plan of attack and know exactly where to go to gather fresh manna from God.
If you will be consistent, you will end up reading through the book of Proverbs 12 times each year. You will be surprised just how this will affect your spirit and mind. Answers to the questions of life will become readily available from this book of wisdom. You will build a reservoir of wisdom and knowledge to guide you even in the most difficult of times.
I can’t tell you the numbers of times I have needed a word from God only to find it right where He knew I would be, gathering my daily bread from His Living Word.
Now this does not have to be your only source of bread each day, but it can sure become your staple and rich supply.
To add to this dynamic, in accordance with:
Joshua 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
I attempt to zero in on one scripture or one thought for the day and meditate on it as my ‘Proverbs for the Day’.
Let me show you how it works.
Today is May 3rd. So, this morning I read Proverbs 3, one of my favorite chapters in Proverbs. Reading through, my spirit was especially drawn to verse 7.
Proverbs 3:7 ¶ Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
So today I have been meditating on this scripture. I have taken it apart and looked at it in several different applications of life. Sometimes these scriptures reveal what God is speaking to me while at other times what God wants to speak through me. Nonetheless, I rehearse it and commit to its wisdom.
So, what does this scripture mean to me? More importantly, What does this scripture mean to you?
Make the Word of God your Daily Bread. God is waiting to speak to you. Seek Him early and find Him.
