Fresh Bread
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In
the past decade, Krispy Kreme, Inc.,
became an American success story
because of the company’s
commitment to bake fresh doughnuts
early every morning. Rather than
selling any stale product, they
dispose of it.
Fresh
bread is also crucial for
Christian’s development. Morning
is the best time for getting to know
God. This principle was deeply
impressed on the children of Israel
through God’s gift of manna. It
rained down from heaven early in the
morning, six days a week. If they
waited too long, the manna would
evaporate. “So they gathered it
every morning, every man according to
his need. And when the sun became
hot, it melted.” (Exodus 16:21).
Likewise, if we wait too long to have
our devotions, the cares and
pressures of the day will grab our
attention before we turn it to the
Lord. So, do not let the manna melt!
And remember, the busier we are and
the more we have to do, the greater
our need to take the time to study
God’s Book and pray.
Jesus,
our perfect example, followed the
practice of having morning devotions.
He considered it as essential to life
as is physical food-and in some
senses, even more important.
“’I have treasure the words
of His mouth more than my necessary
food’” (Job 23:12). If you
are late for work and must choose
between your raisin bran or personal
devotions, I say while fiber is
important, it will not keep you from
sin. “Your words were found, and
I ate them, and Your word was to me
the joy and rejoicing of my
heart” (Jeremiah 15:16).
The
Lord’s Prayer contains the line,
“Give us this day our daily
bread.” We should consider that
line as applying more to the
spiritual bread than the baked
variety. When Jesus was tempted in
the wilderness after a forty-day
fast, He told the devil,
“’It is written, “man
shall not live by bread alone, but by
every word of God”’”
(Luke 4:4).
I cannot
explain it, but it seems that
spiritual food gave Jesus not just
spiritual strength, but also physical
strength. John 4:31, 32, records,
“His disciples urged Him,
saying, ‘Rabbi, eat.’ But
He said to them, ‘I have food to
eat of which you do not
know.’”
Elijah
also received supernatural strength
from eating heavenly bread that an
angel prepared. “The angel of
the Lord came back the second time,
and touched him, and said,
‘Arise and eat, because the
journey is too great for you.’
So he rose, and ate and drank; and he
went in the strength of that food
forty days and forty nights as far as
Horeb, the mountain of God” (1
Kings 19:7,8). You might also find
that if you wake up a little earlier
for more devotional time with God,
you will have increased energy
throughout the day.
Although
we covered some of this in the last
section, it bears repeating: If we
want to defeat the enemy who is
always ready to assail us, we need
the same secret weapon Jesus used. It
is described aptly in Ephesians 6:17:
“Take … the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of
God.”
We all
desperately need and want to have
Jesus abiding in our hearts. How do
we get Him there? Another name for
Jesus is “the Word.” When
we are reading the Word, we are
directly inviting Jesus into our
hearts and minds. “Your word I
have hidden in my heart, that I might
not sin against You” (psalm
119:11).
Since
Jesus is the Word, He is also the
secret weapon! Again, the principle
is that as we spend more time with
Jesus through prayer and Bible study,
we will know Him better and therefore
love Him more. And just as our
natural reaction is to talk about
those we love, both enemy and friend,
about our Lord. Then, as we share our
faith with others, our faith will
become stronger-just as a muscle is
strengthened by activity.
More
love, more witnessing, better
surrender, more energy, even less
depression-all this and much more
comes in a direct chain reaction that
begins when we use the secret weapon
of personal devotions. “For the
word of God is quick, and powerful,
and sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing even to the dividing asunder
of soul and spirit, and of the joints
and marrow, and is a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the
heart” (Hebrews 4:12, KJV).
“If you ask
anything in My name, I will do
it.” –John 14:14
Jesus Answers Prayer
A
man asked Alexander the Great to give
him a dowry in exchange for his
daughter’s hand in marriage. The
ruler consented and told him to
request of his treasurer whatever he
wanted. So he went and asked for an
enormous amount.
The
treasurer was startled and said he
could not give him that much without
a direct order. Going to Alexander,
the treasurer argued that even a
small fraction of the money requested
would more than serve the purpose.
“No,” replied Alexander,
“Let him have it all. I like
that fellow. He does me honor. He
treats me like a king and proves by
what he asks that he believe me to be
rich, powerful, and generous.”
Jesus
answered the demoniac’s unspoken
plea for deliverance. He answered the
prayers of the Gadara townsfolk when
they asked Him to leave. He even
answered the “prayers” of
the devils when they requested to go
into the pigs. It makes me wonder:
Why do we pray so little?
“Likewise the Spirit also helps
in our weaknesses. For we do not know
what we should pray for as we ought,
but the Spirit Himself makes
intercession for us with groanings
which cannot be uttered” (Romans
8:26).
One of
the best observations about prayer
comes from the book Steps to
Christ:
The
darkness of the evil one encloses
those who neglect to pray. The
whispered temptations of the enemy
entice them to sin; and it is all
because they do not make use of the
privileges that God has given them in
the divine appointment of prayer. Why
should the sons and daughters of God
be reluctant to pray, when prayer is
the key in the hand of faith to
unlock heaven’s storehouse,
where are treasured the boundless
resources of Omnipotence? Without
unceasing prayer and diligent
watching, we are in danger of growing
careless and of deviating from the
right path. The adversary seeks
continually to obstruct the way to
the mercy seat, that we may not by
earnest supplication and faith obtain
grace and power to resist temptation.
*
A fellow
who had grown up in the city bought a
farm and a milk cow. While in the
feed store one day, he complained
that his cow had gone dry. “Are
you feeding her right?” asked
the storeowner.
“I
am feeding her exactly what you have
been selling me,” said the man.
“Are you milking her at regular
times every day?”
“Not exactly. If I need six or
eight ounces of milk for breakfast, I
go out and get that and just let her
save it up.”
Of
course, it does not work that way.
When you are milking cows, you take
all that is there or eventually you
have nothing. That is true of
God’s presence too.
We must
pray God’s Spirit will fill our
hearts until they are
“overflowing with a good
theme” (psalm 45:1).
_________
*Ellen
G. White, Steps to Christ
(Hagerstown, Maryland: Review and
Herald, 1908), 94.
“They… found
the man from whom the demons had
departed… clothed and in his
right mind.” –Luke 8:35
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