BREAD OF HEAVEN

I preached last Sunday from the Christmas story.  In Mary's song, found in Luke 1: 46-55, I used verse 53, "He has filled the hungry with good things...".  I then traced the concept of Jesus being the Bread of Life from Genesis all the way to Revelation.  If you remember, in John chapter 6, he told his disciples his flesh was real food and they had to eat of it or have no part with Him.  Look at verses 48-51, "Yes, I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died.  However, the bread from heaven gives eternal life to everyone who eats it.  I am the living bread that came down out of heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; this bread is my flesh, offered so the world may live."

For you and I, that doesn't sound so strange, because we understand that Jesus is the Word of God. The word became flesh and dwelt among us.  By faith, we believe that to ingest the word of God, the Bible, we are eating His flesh.  That is why it is so important to read our Bibles every day and study it, meditate on it, memorize it!  It is our source of food, spiritual food!  The more you eat, the more strength you have to make it through a day!

Recently, praying the Lord's prayer model, I got this little revelation.  I have always been taught that when we pray "give us this day our daily bread", that is where we begin to ask for the things we need.  But now I believe this is where I ask the Holy Spirit to give me something from the word that will effect my day!  Give me some special insight from your word, some revelation, that will help me in what comes my way.  Give me my portion, from what I read today, of sustenance and fulfillment. Jesus at one point told the disciples he had food they didn't know about.  The food? To do the Father's will.  Don't you want to be so filled with the word, that you are able to walk obediently in all that the Holy Spirit is speaking?  I do!  My daily bread.

Another thing I saw was in the letter to Pergamum, found in Revelation chapter 2.  Here the believers are living in the city of Satan!  A very rich city, with everything they needed.  He commended the Christians for being faithful and loyal, yet cautioned them not to give into worldliness or compromise.  No immorality, no false ideologies, but keep the Word of God as the standard for life.  He concluded the letter by saying, "to him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna...". To me this says, as I keep Biblical standards and morality in my life, with no compromise, Jesus will fulfill the promises of his word I have been waiting for!

Lord, help each of us to eat your word every day and look for the opportunities to share it with others! Amen

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