Tag Archives: God’s provision

May 20
Leave a comment
Uncategorized

“Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.'” (John 6:35, NIV)

Whether in the physical sphere — or in the spiritual sphere — hunger and thirst are normal. We feel the pangs of hunger and the dryness of thirst in reaction to need.

The challenge for all of humanity is to properly satisfy this need — whether physical or spiritual.

Only Jesus permanently and properly satisfies the hunger of the human spirit.  Only Jesus permanently and properly satisfies the thirst of the human soul. The other things, activities, and people we rely on to meet our spiritual needs are only temporary and a diversion when time is critically short.

As disciples of Jesus, we must guard against the temptation to consider anything other than God’s provision to satisfy any spiritual need. God has given us His only begotten Son — Jesus.  He is the bread of life.  He is the living water.  – Luther

Tagged , , , ,
April 11
Leave a comment
Uncategorized

“These are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience): The five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath. They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the Lord’s commands, which he had given their ancestors through Moses.” (Judges 3:1-4, NIV)

In the life of a disciple of Jesus, even one’s enemies are a part of God’s plan.

In today’s scripture reading from the book of Judges, enemies existed to teach the descendents of the Exodus how to defend themselves, and to test their devotion to God. (Please see Judges 2:20-22.)

Today, our biggest threat is not the sword (although physical threats do, indeed, exist); it is, instead, all of the influences and agents that oppose the Spirit of God within us. Even here we must pray for our enemies as we utilize the weapons of the Spirit, which are: Truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the holy scriptures (word of God).

So, do not curse your enemies. Pray for them. Resist them with the weapons of the Spirit, which are exclusively adequate for spiritual warfare.  – Luther

Tagged , ,
February 23
Leave a comment
Uncategorized

“Then he said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.'” (Mark 2:27, NIV)

We need to challenge the thought that God’s laws and commandments are designed to spoil the joy of living, in the same manner that Jesus challenged the thought that God created humanity to obey a predetermined set of rules that are independent of our benefit.

All of God’s laws and commandments have two distinct purposes: To provide for us; and to protect us.

From the day that Adam and Eve were in the garden, humanity has resented God-imposed limits or boundaries without seeking to appreciate the benefits. It is akin to resenting traffic laws without considering the benefit to order and safety that such laws provide to both motorists and pedestrians.

As our heavenly Father, God wants only to protect us from unnecessary trouble and grief so that we might have life, and have it in all of its abundance.

We were not created to keep “the rules.”  The “rules” were created to keep us. Therefore, obey the Lord with faithfulness, joy, and thanksgiving!  – Luther

Tagged , , , , ,
← Older posts
Newer posts →