Are you following the Lord?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded.
(Exodus 17:1a (NIV))

I hope that I am not the only one who finds the intricacies within God’s Word to be fascinating. I love the little things like the way God uses and reinforces meanings. He paints word pictures in order for us to understand Him better. One example is how Jesus is the Bread of Life and that He was born in Bethlehem, the place of bread.

Consider this passage from Exodus.

The Desert of Sin is another great example. Sinning is missing the mark. It is falling short of what God expects. It often leaves us barren and desolate. If you look up the word desert in a dictionary, it will probably be defined as a barren and desolate place. When we are trapped, when we are lost in sin, we are not capable of finding our way out of our desert. We cannot save ourselves. We need the Lord to guide us. What is described in this passage from Exodus is a perfect picture of how humanity is lost in a desert of sin and the only way out is to trust and follow the Lord. This is true collectively as well as individually.

Have you taken the steps to trust the Lord to lead you out of your desert? Have you turned your eyes upon Jesus and repented of the sins that left you barren and desolate? Have you recognized the meaning of the word picture that God has shown us? Without Jesus, each of us are left stranded and dying in the desert. With Jesus, we are lead to safety and righteousness.

Have you left your Desert of Sin?

Are you following the Lord?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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What is the source of your sustenance?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”
(Matthew 4:4 (NIV))

We spend so much time thinking about what we eat. We spend so much time worried about eating the rights things in the right amount so that we don’t put on weight, or so that we will lose weight. It seems like every day we hear about new diets or nutrition supplements that are designed to make us the best possible physical specimen that we can be. The things that we put into our bodies are important, but why do we spend so much time and effort with this aspect of our lives while we neglect a very important aspect of our growth and maturity? Why do we ignore the spiritual aspects and focus on the physical when the physical is here today and gone tomorrow?

We need to focus on feeding our spiritual side. We need to feed on the very Word of God.

Jesus IS the Word made flesh.

Jesus IS the bread of life.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Bethlehem means house of bread.

I find it interesting that in order to receive salvation, each of us must accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. We must embrace Jesus as the bread of life. But, we are not to stop there. We are to immerse ourselves in God’s Word in order to become like David, a man after God’s own heart. We can’t know the Father without spending time in His Word. We can’t truly know the Son, without spending time with the Word. We can’t mature in our faith without knowing the very heart of God! They go hand in hand.

We eat physical food to strengthen our bodies. We must also strengthen our spiritual nature. We need more than milk. We need to mature in our faith!

In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.
(Hebrews 5:12-13 (NIV))

Are you acquainted with God’s Word?

What is the source of your sustenance?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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In case that you forgot, Jesus is the bread of life!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: `Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
(Matthew 4:1-4 (NIV))

I realize that we live in a physical world and that we need physical nourishment for our bodies, but our society has removed a vital aspect of what it takes to sustain us in a healthy manner. We need God. We need a close relationship with God.

It is this close relationship with God that enabled Jesus to rebuke the devil. If Jesus had not been the Son of God, then the close relationship with God the Father would not have been in place, and the temptation could have been too strong to avoid. Before you explode at that last statement, I want you to think about what I just said. Perhaps I should phrase it like this? If you had been in the situation that Jesus was in, would you have been able to resist the devil? Do you have a close and strong relationship with God the Father so that you can lean on Him for strength when the devil tempts you?

How do you strengthen your relationship with God?

Read and study His Word! The books of the Bible are often referred to as God’s love letters to humanity. They tell of His desires and His love at the same time that they tell of the history of God’s creation, the fall from grace, and God’s plan for redemption.

I want to ask a rhetorical question.

Are you ever tempted?

If you are honest with yourself, then the answer is going to be yes.

How do you resist temptation?

God has a plan for that. He has a plan for anything and everything that we can and will go through in life. That plan calls for us to rely on Him and His Word. We need to feed ourselves spiritually on the very heart of God!

In case that you forgot, Jesus is the bread of life!

Copyright 1998 – 2016 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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The Bread of Life was broken for you!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
(Matthew 26:26 (NIV))

All people who claim their faith in Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior recognize these words. They know that these words are a portion of the words that we now know as the Last Supper and we remember when we take Holy Communion.

I have recently only begun to understand the full meaning of Jesus as the bread. The Jewish Passover feast calls for the middle loaf of bread to be hidden or buried for a while. This is exactly what happened to Jesus. Jesus (the Bread) was crucified between two thieves. He was the middle loaf. He did not stay buried, just as the middle loaf does not stay hidden,

Another interesting tidbit of information is that in Hebrew, Bethlehem means “House of Bread.” Jesus refers to himself as the “Bread of Life.” Isn’t it interesting that the “Bread of Life” should be born in the “House of Bread” and that the middle loaf should be hidden for a short time. God has a sense of humor. He is probably laughing at us for not recognizing the obvious. At the same time, He is crying for those who do not recognize and partake of the “Bread of Life.”

The Bread of Life was broken for you!

Copyright 1998 – 2015 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Spend time in God’s Word and be amazed!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
(Hebrews 4:12 (NAS))

God’s Word never ceases to amaze me.

It is alive!

And what is even of greater importance is that God is not dead. He is alive. He is in control.

Are you upset with the events as they are unfolding in this world? Are you upset with how it is rapidly becoming politically incorrect to express a faith in Jesus? Are you upset by how the world has turned against Israel and the Jewish people? Are you so upset with the world that it is causing you to lose focus, your focus on Jesus?

I know that God’s time table is based on things that happen according to the Jewish calendar, which is God’s calendar. I have been amazed at how God has unfolded recent events according to His calendar. Rabbi Jonathan Cahn has pointed things out in his book The Harbinger. He has also pointed some things out in his book The Mystery of the Shemitah. I was just floored by some more of his teachings. I have always been fascinated by prophesy and how God works. I don’t understand it, but I have learned to be amazed at what He is doing and when He is doing it.

I find it fascinating that Jesus, who is the bread of life, was born in Bethlehem, which is the house of bread. I just learned from Rabbi Cahn that Jesus, who is the Lamb of God, was born in the area where the lambs that were to be sacrificed at the Temple were born.

Jesus, our sacrificial lamb, was born where the lambs that were to be sacrificed to God were born!

I could go on and on about how amazing God’s Word and God’s plans are, but I don’t have the words, the time or the space. I am learning every day just how amazing, how alive and how in control our God is.

I have been pierced so many times with God’s Word. It has brought me insight. It has made me aware of things that have made me literally gasp out of amazement.

The Bible is not something that you read just once and sit on a shelf.

Spend time in God’s Word and be amazed!

Copyright 1998 – 2014 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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