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What happens when we leave out bread?

Luke 11:3 (AMP) Give us each day our daily bread.

Today bread is one of the foods we like to take out of our diet to lose weight. There are those with gluten or wheat allergies and have to abstain or their bodies will not feel good. In ancient Israel bread was a essential at every table, as it was what provided the calories for daily life. Bread played a central role in Jewish life, symbolizing nourishment, divine care, togetherness, and spiritual meaning, making it both an everyday staple and a sacred tradition. It was considered a gift from God and a divine blessing.

Deuteronomy 8:3 (AMP) He humbled you and allowed you to be hungry and fed you with manna, [a substance] which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, so that He might make you understand [by personal experience] that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.

Which bread is Jesus referring to in the Lord’s prayer? Was it literal bread or was it figurative bread? How about both. God does care about our physical needs. We cannot be so spiritually minded that we are no earthly good. God does not just care about spiritual matters. He cares about your entire self. Here is the thing, we get so caught up in tomorrow that we cannot focus on today. In Exodus 16, manna was provided with instructions.

Exodus 16:16 (AMP)  This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Let every man gather as much of it as he needs. Take an omer for each person, according to the number of people each of you has in his tent.’”

This was to be done daily, and only the day before the Sabbath were they allowed to collect for two days. What would happen when they did not follow and tried to do it their way? The bread would start to smell sour and have worms in it. God desired for them to come before Him daily. They were still in the habit of seeking Him when they needed something. He does care about our needs. Here are some scriptures that I want you to ponder:

John 3:35 (AMP) Jesus replied to them, “I am the Bread of Life. The one who comes to Me will never be hungry, and the one who believes in Me [as Savior] will never be thirsty [for that one will be sustained spiritually].

John 6:48-51 (AMP) I am the Bread of Life [the Living Bread which gives and sustains life]. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the Bread that comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the Living Bread that came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this Bread [believes in Me, accepts Me as Savior], he will live forever. And the Bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh (body).”

Jeremiah 29:13 (AMP) Then [with a deep longing] you will seek Me and require Me [as a vital necessity] and [you will] find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

Psalms 27:8 (AMP) When You said, “Seek My face [in prayer, require My presence as your greatest need],” my heart said to You, “Your face, O Lord, I will seek [on the authority of Your word].”

Psalms 105:4 (AMP) Seek and deeply long for the Lord and His strength [His power, His might]; Seek and deeply long for His face and His presence continually.

Matthew 6:33 (AMP) But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.

What happens when our bodies go without food for a long time? I am not talking about a spiritual fast from food. I am talking about a time when you just do not feel like eating. I recently took a trip to Disney World with my husband. I skipped breakfast because I planned to ride a roller coaster first thing, and it usually gives me motion sickness. I am not usually hungry until lunch anyways, so no big deal. Huge mistake! We had water, but I forgot the electrolyte packets, which is a benefit in July heat. It was the hottest day with a heat index of 102 degrees. I had a fan and some snacks for when we got hungry, like granola bars and cheese crackers. The ride was down when we got there and did not come back up until around noon. I felt the hunger pangs but ignored it to try to make it until we could get on (another mistake).

I got the notification that the ride was back up, but we were in line to take a picture with a character. That is one of my joy’s about visiting Disney is all the character meet and greets. I know I am a grown woman; I still like to be a kid sometimes. What was this ride? Rockin Roller Coaster and had just been redone with the Muppets band, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. We have watched all the Muppet movies and grew up watching The Muppet Show. I know, we are just big kids! We get in line and it is a ninety-minute wait, which ended up being two hours. We chose to wait it out because this ride has had multiple closures, as I had been following, and this was probably our only chance. Most of the cue for the line is outside, there are fans and shade umbrellas, but it was hot. I was doing pretty good until I was not. Here I am in a crowd of people, and I start to get dizzy. Then the nausea and sweat. What just happened? No electrolytes and no food. I had become weak and needed to sit down. I had a granola bar, could that help? Nope. I needed something with lots of sugar and fast. I called out looking for hard candy. Some sweet people helped me find some and even helped me up when the line started moving. Within minutes, with a cold towel around my neck and some candy, I was back on my feet. I let John (my husband) continue on the ride without me. I did not need the concussion from takeoff to be added to our adventure. We went back to our room and rested a few hours, then went back to the park to finish out our day.

What has this got to do with daily bread? It reminded me that trials and tribulations are going to come in our lives (heart waves). Do we have the sustenance from our daily bread to withstand them. If I had eaten that granola bar in the morning, like I did the next park day, I probably would not have had that sugar crash in line with the heat wave. The bread was not needed after the heat; it was needed before to prepare my body. We often look at our times with God as something we can fit in later. I can read my Bible another time. Then when we have times of trials, we become exhausted and want to fall down in defeat. If we are feeling the exhaustion more than we are feeling the abundance of joy, then we need to look at what we are not feeding on. Read John 15. It is true that Jesus never leaves us nor forsakes us, that does not mean we do not seek His face. I learned a very humbling lesson that day. It did not keep me from enjoying our week though.

Abba, Father, our Banner, You are Marvelous and Wonderful. You are Holy and worthy of all honor and praise. Thank You for Your Son Jesus and His steadfast love. Thank You for the Holy Spirit, our Friend and Teacher. Thank You for Your Word. We repent for not going before You and reading Your Word as if it was the best meal that You ever offered us. We are sorry for taking it for granted as if it does not nourish us more than the lusts of this world, with what we see, taste and smell. Let us come back to You with humble hearts, seeking Your face. You desire to fill us with everything You have and we so often look at Your hands and not Your face. We repent for looking at our circumstances and people as meeting our needs, when we should be seeking after Your righteousness first. You call us the trees of righteousness, on that tree is good fruit. Let us have good fruit, starting with the fullness of Your love, joy and peace. Let us no longer ignore the hunger pangs and turn back to Your face. We choose forgiveness today. We choose love today. We choose surrender today. We choose hope today. We choose joy today. In Jesus Name, Amen.

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Joy of the Now

1 John 1:5 (AMP) This is the message [of God’s promised revelation] which we have heard from Him and now announce to you, that God is Light [He is holy, His message is truthful, He is perfect in righteousness], and in Him there is no darkness at all [no sin, no wickedness, no imperfection]. 

I was pondering on what to write this week and remembered the peace that came upon me when I thanked God for His daily bread yesterday. It brough back to remembrance what I felt when I read the first few verses of 1 John 1 this week. So much peace and joy.

1 John 1:1-4 (AMP) [I am writing about] what existed from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life [the One who existed even before the beginning of the world, Christ]—  and the Life [an aspect of His being] was manifested, and we have seen [it as eyewitnesses] and testify and declare to you [the Life], the eternal Life who was [already existing] with the Father and was [actually] made visible to us [His followers]—  what we have seen and heard we also proclaim to you, so that you too may have fellowship [as partners] with us. And indeed our fellowship [which is a distinguishing mark of born-again believers] is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.  We are writing these things to you so that our joy [in seeing you included] may be made complete [by having you share in the joy of salvation].

There is a peace that comes that Who was at the beginning of everything is the Word of Life. Not too long ago I wrote about Now, is eternal life. If we are Christ, then eternal life is now.

John 17:3 (AMP) Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true [supreme and sovereign] God, and [in the same manner know] Jesus [as the] Christ whom You have sent.

1 John 5:12 (AMP) He who has the Son [by accepting Him as Lord and Savior] has the life [that is eternal]; he who does not have the Son of God [by personal faith] does not have the life.

Jesus is not just the Savior of my life; He is the Lord of my life. I have invited Him into every aspect of my life, not to be a spectator, but to lead. Holy Spirit have your way and Lord search are my heart are not just words of lip service to make me “feel” good. What is our true heart intent? Mine is of surrender. If I keep striving for my way I have learned that peace is absent and usually that is also removes joy from my life.

1 John 5:10-11 (AMP) The one who believes in the Son of God [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies confidently on Him as Savior] has the testimony within himself [because he can speak authoritatively about Christ from his own personal experience]. The one who does not believe God [in this way] has made Him [out to be] a liar, because he has not believed in the evidence that God has given regarding His Son. And the testimony is this: God has given us eternal life [we already possess it], and this life is in His Son [resulting in our spiritual completeness, and eternal companionship with Him].

Why not live a life like you are in eternal life? Love God. Love People. We know that we have passed out of death into Life, because we love the brothers and sisters. He who does not love remains in [spiritual] death (1 John 3:14). When I still love me more than I love others, I am not living life like it is eternal. We have a small church. However, we make a big impact. Why? Our love for people. People have a preconceived idea of what it means for someone to love them. Some it is that we are there for their every need. That is not the purpose of the church. We are to point them to Him who can supply all their needs and do what we can with what we have. Some it is that we agree with everything that they feel. Our feelings are deceptive because when we do not renew our minds in the Word, they will overtake us. We are to point them back to the Word and allow growing moments.

I love the time I get to spend daily in the Word. It truly is my daily bread. The Word of God is nourishment to my soul. Everything about my time in the Word is about Him. I am living in the eternal. So why not live like it! Give Glory to our God, our Eternal God!!

Abba Father, You are worthy of honor and praise. We are in awe of Your majesty. Thank You for sending Your Son, the Word of Life. Your Word is a light to our lives, and we trust in You. Forgive us for not spending time in Your Word and giving Your Word first place in our lives. We’ve let the busyness of life keep us from focusing on Your Word, choosing instead to dwell on our worries. We repent for letting deception into our minds and allowing our own truths to overshadow the Truth of Your Word. Thank You for reminding us through Scripture that You love us, desire us, and want us to live free and whole. Thank You for sending Your Son to redeem us and restore our relationship with You. Your Word is life, truth, and power, and today I choose to abide with Jesus—the Word, the Truth. You are the source of our joy. You are our Eternal God. We choose hope today. We choose forgiveness today. We choose love today. In Jesus name, Amen.

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Waste of 30 minutes?

Psalms 90:12 (AMP) So teach us to number our days, that we may cultivate and bring You a heart of wisdom.

Monday I spent a little too long at the house before heading to the gym. Usually that was not such a big deal but I have been wanting to catch Aldi when it opened to see if there were any half priced meat. I also had to fill up on gas before going anywhere because the tank was just about empty. So there I am contemplating on what to do. I could walk the track for thirty minutes to say I showed up. Then I had another thought, what could I do in the thirty minutes that would give my body the most impact? I started with a pre-workout drink, then I hit the weight room. I lifted weights that would target the zones that I decided to focus on (chest and triceps). I decided to finish it off on the track, but I was not going to just walk it this time. A girl my age and size we have to be cautious of injury, but that should not keep us from getting better. I jogged some of the track and gave it my all. In the thirty minutes I was at the gym that morning, I did not just show up, I was intentional with my time.

God planted a word within me at that moment. What if the body of Christ was intentional when they sought me in my Word? So many just read to check it off their daily to do list or to get their streaks (if you have YouVersion). I have been listening to Hearing God by John Bevere and the MessengerX team. Two scriptures came back to my remembrance. The first is found in Hebrews.

Hebrews 11:6 (AMP) But without faith it is impossible to [walk with God and] please Him, for whoever comes [near] to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He rewards those who [earnestly and diligently] seek Him.

He rewards those who earnestly and diligently seek Him. What is the point in our quiet time with God? What is the end result of our time in reading His Word? What is the motive in our prayer lives? We should be seeking Him. Not just seeking Him for our needs or for answers. We should be seeking to behold Him. God is omnipresent, but He also desires to be more than that in our lives. The second comes from Romans and this in from the Message Bible.

Romans 13:11-14 (MSG) But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed. We can’t afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight. Get out of bed and get dressed! Don’t loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!

We can squander our time. You may say that you do not have time to read the word for thirty minutes. How much time do we have to scroll on our phones or other devices to look at videos? It is ridiculous how many notifications my phone will give just so that I pick it up and look at it. I have to be intentional during my time with God that I put it away from me. Can you encourage your spouse to take time? That is something my husband and I do for each other. If we see that each other is studying the Word, but we want to talk about something, we will wait. We will take care of something for each other so that there are no distractions. When I am off focus, I stop, pray, and begin again. How long would you go without food for your belly? That is what it should feel like when we miss time in His Word.

James 4:8 (NKJV) Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. I have to draw first. As believers we do the chasing. Again, it is not to get something from God. Do not be double minded in this relationship. If our motive is to seek Him to get Him to move in our lives then we will be disappointed when things do not happen like we think they should. When we dive into His Word, when we start to imitate Him, the desires of our heart starts to change. You will begin to know a deeper level of love like never before. Joy will not be something you cannot wait for, you will be clothed in it. Peace will abound in your life, especially in the times of struggle. Your attitude with start to change. Thankfulness will be just dripping from your lips.

After my workout on Monday, I felt the effects of it as I was leaving the gym. I lasted until the next day when I went again. For transformation to happen, I have to be consistent with anything. Just like I make it a choice to go to the gym every morning. I make it a choice to spend time in His Word daily. I make it a choice to know the person of the Holy Spirit. The joy of reading His Word is what I look forward to. The time in my daily studies is far better than the effects of my daily workouts at the gym. Both are necessary. One is better.

Lord God, our Jehovah, our Banner, You are more precious than all the riches of the world. You are Holy. You are Mighty. Thank You for Your Son, the Redeemer. Thank You for the Holy Spirit, He is our Teacher and Friend. Thank You for Your Word. We repent for the times we have squandered away moments that we could have in seeking after You. Your heart and face are what we long for. Holy Spirit, help us to be mindful of Your need for us. Your Word says that if we draw near to You, then You will draw near to us. We want Your kingdom expansion in the hearts of others, so that means we need to be prepared to share our faith with others. How can we do that if we do not know You? We choose to know You more. Thank You for leading us out of temptations of making this life about just our needs. We surrender daily to You. Thank You for knowing what we need and filling us to the full. Your desire if for us to be complete in Your joy. We choose forgiveness today. We choose hope today. We choose love today. We choose joy today. In Jesus Name, Amen.