Our Daily Bread

 

We pray “Give us our daily bread” and God supplies us with this and an abundance!!! Jesus taught us to pray for our daily bread...not monthly or yearly or lifetime but just for today. We have become so used to so much that we have lost our contentment with today. We are driven by not the tyranny of the urgent, but by “the tyranny of our desires.” I must have more....not satisfied that I have enough for today. Lord, teach me to be content today and not be grasping and greedy for more and more.

What Precept Bible Study Means To Me

I have been studying the Bible Precept method since 1977. It has made a huge difference in my life. In fact my life revolves around Precept....How? It is my present homework. I am looking always to see how it ties to things I’ve learned in past studies and constant watching for God’s leading in what to lead our group to study next. I have repeated some courses but love the freshness of a new workbook even if I have done it before. It amazes me that the next time around I see new truths that I’ve never seen before. The Word of God cannot be exhausted. I see everything I read with new eyes because I have been trained by Precept to really see words, repeated words, which meant emphasis—synonyms, which often give greater understanding. I am eager to get into God’s Word for it is like a treasury to me....rich resources for living, for dealing with circumstances and relationships. God’s Word influences every aspect of my life—my time, relationships with friends, family, strangers, my finances, my responses to difficult circumstances and losses: plus a greater appreciation of the blessings I have received. The immersion of my life in God’s word via Precept is like dipping a cloth into dye. It comes out a new color, if I have allowed it to be receptive, spread out before Him, unfolded from myself, ready to absorb and be saturated with His truths.

 

Puzzels

The Puzzles of Life

I love jig-saw puzzles. I have one that has pieces that look like they fit, but are slightly wrong. This puzzle also has a pattern on the back that makes it easy to see if you are putting it in the right place.  It has been a help to look on the back and know if it fits the other pattern.

I began to see how easily it is, in life to fit things into the wrong place....to make decisions that look right but don’t fit God’s big picture. For life is not that easy. We cannot ” look on the back”  of each decision or choice we make to know if it is the right one. But we can go to the Lord for guidance and direction. Sometimes the direction is not easily found or we are not ready to see it and we must wait....wait until another “piece” is put into place. If we are patient and do not run ahead, if we persevere and do not give up asking, seeking, knocking we will be given directions. ...”Place it here.” “Wait a while.” “Look for another piece.”  He is always ready to answer. Are we always ready to ask?

Seeing

Seeing

There is much in the natural world that corresponds to the spiritual world. This was brought to my attention recently as I had cataract surgery. I came away from that experience with the words to a song skipping around in my head---”I can see clearly now---” I had not realized how much true vision I had lost  because it was so gradual. My new world has color magnified, greater depth----I can judge distance between things instead of seeing a flat “paper doll” world--- and everything has sharply  defined lines.

In the same way we can gradually lose spiritual sight and discernment. God’s ways can become faded and flat and we see things from the world’s perspective and not His. At these times we need to go to the Great Physician and ask for  a new “lens.”  A lens that sees as He sees with sharp delineation between right and wrong- true color and not faded or “off color-”and discernment to see how far we are from our goals.

The words from “Amazing Grace” are so true for the believe---.”Was blind, but now I see.”

God’s Word speaks to spiritual blindness. In  Isa 6: 9  And He said, "Go, and tell this people:  'Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.'  10  "Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Lest they see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed." 

 Jesus had the remedy for that spiritual blindness in Rev. 3: 18  I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and [that] the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see.

Eph 1:18  [I pray that] the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.

What Will Our Generation Do?

Recently while on an ocean liner I watched the swells in the ocean. They came continuously---never stopping---never a break. I began to liken them to the generations of man---a continuous flow of life. Some were larger than others. Some were even so large they broke into white at the crest. I thought of the generations of mankind. Some have been mild generations where life was placid. Others have been filled with turmoil. Some were "crests" in history. The generation of Moses, the generation of Daniel, the generation of Jesus which gave a new direction to history, the generation of Martin Luther. I can see the generation of 1776 made a large crest as did the generation of WWII. What will our generation do? Just barely make a swell or will we crest and truly make a difference?

Tree by the Rivers of Waters

In Psalm 1:3 the blessed man is described as a tree by the rivers of waters, which yields its fruit in season. Whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

I  keep seeing a principle in scripture about being rooted and  grounded. It reminds me that great trees do not appear overnight, but through steady, daily, yearly growth...growth brought about by extending their roots deep into the ground, searching for food and water. This root system creates stability. Paul uses this metaphor in his letters. Col 2:7...”rooted and built up in Him;” Eph 3:17 ...rooted and established: Col 1:23...”continue in the faith, grounded and settled.” This demands time. Time to extend our minds deep into His Word; to draw nourishment from it; to feed our souls with it; to draw on it when calamity strikes; to turn to it for comfort; to search it out for guidance and direction when choices loom before us; to look into it for encouragement when we get weary.

The tree of Psalm 1 is planted by the water. When winds of adversity blow, it anchors itself against the onslaught. It may become gnarled from the fight but it stands and is strengthened because of its deep roots. This tree produces fruit. It becomes mature and reproduces itself. There is no shortcut to this kind of tree or this kind of fruit.

The Bread of Life

I came home yesterday from a conference, led by a godly young woman of God, in a state of awe. I had just observed a supernatural event. She broke the Bread of Life of just a few verses and fed hundreds of women just what each one needed.  It is amazing what God’s Word accomplishes in the hearts of those who are instructed by it. We are led, comforted, challenged, admonished, humbled, exalted and taught by it. Just as Jesus when He fed the 5000, she took what she had, asked God to bless and multiply it and fed us to satisfaction. 

What a gift to be called to feed others with god’s Word. 

What a calling. 

Women of all ages, cultures, backgrounds heard the same words expounded and each took to herself a different meaning and application for her own life. God Word speaks to every situation of our lives, no matter our age, position, circumstances or maturity.