Man Does Not Live on Bread Alone
Luke 4:4
And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word of God.
My Experience, Strength
& Hope
Did you know that as a
Christian, God’s word is your daily bread? Without a balanced meal every day,
we would starve to death in the physical realm. The same is true spiritually.
Kids do not grow up to be healthy well-balanced adults without proper training,
instruction, correction and nutrition. And we as children of God cannot grow up
without those same things – all of which we can partake of in God’s precious
and powerful word.
We know that when people
are turning to things like drugs, alcohol, sex, food, gambling, shopping, and
so many other addictions, it is because they are not feeding on the rich meat
of the word of God. Jesus said it Himself in the opening verse noted in our
main text for this message. If we try to live on the things of this world
without feeding on His word, we will starve. We will be malnourished, sickly,
broken down and remain broken hearted. There is no food that this world can
offer anywhere at any time that can take the place of God in our lives.
If we invest in the
things that our flesh desires, such as the things we just named above, like
food, alcohol, etc., then what those things produce is the results we will get
– the hangovers, overweight and sickly bodies, etc. We can’t pour a coke into the
gas tank of a car and expect to have a good running car. We can’t put alcohol,
drugs or unhealthy food into our bodies and expect to have a strong healthy
body. How we invest in our time, money, and our bodies is what we will get in
return.
When we invest in
spiritual things, like feeding daily on the rich word of God and spending time
in His presence, then we walk according to spiritual things. We think
differently, we respond to life’s pressures differently. Turning to worldly
means to get our needs met never brings the results we need. We will always get
back what we put into anything. It applies to friendships, marriages, family
relationships, work relationships, work performance, and on we could go.
We will never be able to
withdraw something we did not put in. It’s just like our bank accounts. If we
only tossed in two cents now and then, we certainly couldn’t expect to go pull
out hundreds of thousands of dollars, could we?
When we live by the
Spirit of God, we are not looking to satisfy the sinful lusts (passionate
desires) of our flesh. We can have a passionate desire for anything. An
alcoholic has a passionate desire for that next bottle of booze when they are
allowing their flesh to lead them. The food addict goes for all the food they
can stuff in their mouth – anything that sounds good when they are allowing
their flesh to lead them. But if we are following the leading of Holy Spirit
and being sensitive and attentive to His leading, then we will bypass those
desires of the flesh and seek the Lord instead. That will always produce
positive results.
If a person truly belongs to Jesus, then they
will desire to crucify, (kill, annihilate) the desires of the flesh. It may
hurt and the flesh may scream a bit, but a truly godly person will have the
strong desire to lay those things aside and honor God with their hearts, their
minds and their bodies. They will be dead to those destructive things and alive
to the will of God. With God living in us, we have everything we need to do
this successfully. Believe it!
Friend, when we are paying attention to the words
of the Lord every day, we will be reminded, (and we need it!) to walk away from
the bondage mindset. We will no longer be living like we are a slave in our own
minds and bodies. I will give you an example. The weekend before I wrote this,
I posted a blog about some personal revelation I was getting from the Lord at
church and in my time alone with Him. He was showing me that I could go out to
eat and handle it properly, and I would not have to give these things another
thought.
He was showing me that I can have self-control
and not go overboard when I order food at a restaurant. I can eat sensibly and
enjoy my food without feeling like I am a constant prisoner where food is
concerned. The enemy wants us to stay in a place of bondage in our minds. He
wants us to think that we have to live like prisoners chained to the addictions
all of our lives. But he is a liar. We can choose to live as slaves or to live
free in Christ Jesus because He has already set us free – indeed!
Friend, if you are born
again, you have already been set free. The only one who is making you a
prisoner is you. Why? Because you are allowing yourself to listen to the lies
of the enemy (or your flesh!) far more than you are listening to the word of
God. Ask me how I know this. Been there far too long and done it far too much!
So how do we apply the word of God in our lives? By picking it up and speaking
it out loud over ourselves. We cause it to come to life in our hearts by having
faith that God’s promises will come to pass in our lives. We are the ‘just’ of
the Lord, and this is how we are to live – by faith.
It is knowing that the
truth sets us free. It is having faith that brings God’s promises to pass in
our lives. Depending on and meditating on God’s word in our lives each day
works 100% of the time when we apply it by faith. His word will never fail. We
do not have to live as slaves any longer – we are free! Hallelujah! Be
encouraged today to walk as the new born-again spirit man that you are. Let’s
purpose to grow up in Christ by spending time in the Lord’s presence in
worship, praise and thanks along with prayer and meditation on His words to us
every day. His word is Bread indeed! We will be blessed and become a blessing
to others. Praise His name forever!
Scriptures from This Message…
John 6:22-58 (NKJV)
On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other
side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which
His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with
His disciples, but His disciples had gone away
alone— however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place
where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks— when the people
therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into
boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. And when they found Him on the
other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?”
Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the
signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for
the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life,
which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on
Him.” Then they said to Him, “What
shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to
them, “This is
the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we
may see it and believe You? What work will You do? Our fathers ate the
manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to
eat.’”
Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from
heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread
of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread
always.” And Jesus said to them, “I
am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who
believes in Me shall never thirst.
Then
they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread
always.” And Jesus said to them, “I am
the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes
in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet
do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one
who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven,
not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will
of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing,
but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who
sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have
everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
The
Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I
am the bread which came down from heaven.” And they said, “Is not
this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then
that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
Jesus
therefore answered and said to them, “Do not
murmur among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent
Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in
the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone
who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. Not that anyone has
seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. Most
assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.
I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the
wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven,
that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down
from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread
that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”
The
Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give
us His flesh to eat?”
Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I
say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you
have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal
life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food
indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My
blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live
because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This
is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and
are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
*The Christian life in a “nutshell”
Galatians 2:20
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of
the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Your Assignment for This Week Should You Choose
to Accept It:
· Spend time focusing on
the verses in this message. Say them out loud each day. Make them
personal.
·
Write down the ways you
see this program changing your thinking.
·
If you have deep inner
questions about your own healing you can take it to the Lord in prayer. He is
waiting to talk with you.
·
As always, pay close
attention to the thoughts you are allowing to remain in your mind. Toss out the
junk and replace it with the word of God.
·
Choose to rejoice no
matter what.
·
Stay in a position of
praise and worship, thanks and adoration of your heavenly Father, regardless of
how you are feeling or what your circumstances may look like.
·
Trust Him to bring His
word to life in your heart as you place your trust in Him. He is faithful and
His words and promises to you will never fail in our lives as long as we
continue to place our trust in Him.
**If you would like to join our weekly call, please send an email to the following:
The3rdJohn2Program@yahoo.com
Be blessed!
Hanny Stearns
