The Lord's Prayer Is A Spiritual Request.

 Matthew 6:11 - Give us this day our daily bread.

New King James Version   Change your email Bible version

"This is apparently the only material request in the entire model prayer; all the other requests are for spiritual aid such as forgiveness, protection, and guidance. With this in mind, is Jesus telling us to ask for physical food every day? A literal meaning is often the most likely understanding, yet the continuing context of the chapter suggests He had more spiritual matters on His mind. Just a few verses later, in Matthew 6:25-26, 31, He teaches:

• Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? . . . Therefore do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we drink?" or, "What shall we wear?"

"The close proximity of these instructions makes it clear that, in telling us to ask God for our daily bread, Jesus does not have physical food foremost in His mind. What, then, is this "bread" that we are to ask for? John 6:35provides  an answer: "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.'"

"The Bible uses the word bread to mean "that which is taken into the body and provides nourishment." Scripture presents two basic types of bread, leavened and unleavened. Leavening consistently symbolizes the corruption of sin (for instance, I Corinthians 5:8, "the leaven of malice and wickedness"). Thus, a Christian has a choice of spiritual nourishment that he can take into himself: He can choose sinless, healthful bread or sinful, corrupting bread. This latter bread comes in a range of varieties from sinful and unhealthy to evil and downright poisonous bread.

"The manna with which God fed the Israelites while they journeyed through the wilderness was symbolic of Christ, the Bread of Life (John 6:49-51). The account of the giving of the manna in Exodus 16:4, 14-21, 26 shows that the Israelites had a part to play in receiving nourishment from it. They were required to rise early and gather their daily amount before the sun "became hot" and melted it away, or they would go hungry for that day—and perhaps for the next day, if it were a Preparation Day for the Sabbath.

In "the Lord's Prayer," Jesus is instructing His followers to rise early every day and ask God to send the unleavened, sinless Bread of Life to dwell in them. Without the indwelling of Christ through God's Spirit, there is no spiritual life in us (John 6:53, 55-58).

"Why is it important that we ask each and every day for this? It is important because God, in His concern to preserve our free-moral agency, will not enter in and live in us uninvited. God is not like an evil demon that will possess us and take control of our lives against our will. He wants us to choose willingly to believe and obey Him and to seek a relationship with Him.

"Like a boat trying to dock against the tide, if we do not actively pursue God, then we will slowly drift away from Him (Hebrews 2:1). The cares and pulls of the world seem to distract us easily, and we lose our focus on God. If we are ignoring Him, God may soon become unsure whether we are still choosing to walk with Him. He will try to get our attention back where it should be—on Him and His righteousness—through trials or other circumstances.

"Yet ultimately, in order not to override our choice in the matter, God will allow us to slip away unless we repent and actively seek Him and  ask for His Spirit. Without God's Spirit in us, we are trying to live and overcome on our own. If Jesus Himself says, "I can of Myself do nothing" (John 5:30), what chance does an individual have to overcome without Christ in him?"  (http://www.theberean.org/http://www.theberean.org/, Daryl White, 03/13/2017)

This Easter Week Christians Need to Remember....

 

Jesus Christ’s Promise; He said, “I will come again”!

“I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:2-3).

“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:” “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:” (Matthew 25:31,34).

“So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” (Hebrews 9:28).

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”  (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

“Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11).

“For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be... And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24:27-31).

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ;” (Titus 2:13).

Just remember what the Easter season is all about.  It is about Jesus saying, “I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:3).

THE IMMORTALITY OF MANKIND, MATTHEW 25:46.

 

There are many Bible verses that are taken out of the context of the passage they are found in to support various Christian doctrines.  In order to understand passages, the entire passage needs to be read, and then it has to be related to the time period that the passage is referring to.  We then need to be sure that our interpretation can be verified and not denied by other passages in the Bible.  

Matthew 25:46 is one of these passages.  It reads, “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”  Several questions immediately come to mind.  What time period is this talking about?  Who are “they”?  What is meant when is says that the righteous will “go away…to eternal life”? 

The chapter Matthew 25 is describing the future judgment of the “nations”.  This judgment will take place immediately after the second coming of Jesus Christ.  During this time period there will be mortal human beings, on earth, who survived the tribulation.  Christ is on the earth. 

There will be people living on the earth at this time who started believing in Christ during the tribulation during the tribulation period.  There will be other people who still do not believe.  These two groups of people are represented by the sheep, (the ones who believe in Christ), and the goats, (the ones who do not).  The people will be judged on how they treated each other during the tribulation period.  (Matthew 25:37-45).

There will also be a group of people on the earth who will be resurrected at that time.  These are people who died during the tribulation period believing in Christ.  Revelation 20:5-6 says “This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.”  Revelation 20:5-6 is referring to Matthew 25:46.

Revelation 20:5-6 indicates that before these people were judged at this point in time, they were subject to “The second death…” (Revelation 20:6).  If that is the case, these human beings are not yet immortal because they can die.  It is here that the righteous people, those who survived the tribulation and those who were just resurrected, are judged and receive eternal life, immortality. 

Matthew 25:46 confirms this where it states clearly that, “Then they will go away…the righteous to eternal life.” (emphasis added).

 

CHRISTIAN LIVING FOR GOD - TODAY AND BEYOND.

Living By Faith.

Proverbs 29:25, “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe”. The verse says that the confusion and wretchedness we have in the fear of what a person can do to us, is contrasted with the security of the one, who not only "fears" the Lord, so as to avoid offending Him, but trusts in Him as his protector and guide by faith alone.

Man, on his own cannot know what is right or what is wrong.  To understand the truth of what is right and what is wrong, man must first understand and obey God’s Universal laws as found in the Bible.  Jesus Christ gave strict instructions on how man can understand the truth to gain what we need to live in this life and secure eternal life.  Jesus Christ said, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33). 

Trusting God and following His commandments instead of our own wishes, needs to be our first priority.  If we do not learn and follow God’s commandments, we are actually committing idolatry.  A Christian must choose to do what God has told us to do and then have the faith to let whatever happens to us, in the hands of the Lord.

Keeping the Law and having Faith, is living by the commandments of God and Obeying His laws as written in the Bible.  It is not living by the doctrines of man, and trusting in the consequences of your own actions.  The Bible says that if you keep God’s law, you are actually waging war on the wicked. 

The people who keep the law are actually considered wise by God and do not run the risk of shaming their parents.  But, if you turn away from the law and refuse to obey it, and then pray to God, your prayer is as much an abomination to God as any other sin a person could commit.  (Proverbs 28:4, 7, 9).   

The acquisition of wisdom is not done by some intellectual or spiritual exercise.  Wisdom comes from an obedience to a law that comes from outside of our own existence, personal psychology, desires, and culture.  It comes from God’s eternal law as written in the Bible.  You are justified to eternal life by your faith in the eternal law of God which ultimately points to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  (Romans 1:16-17).

Seek the Lord in your daily life.  It is the very law of God that identifies sin and if you cannot identify what sin is, you are in danger of committing sin against God and this ultimately leads to an eternal death. (Romans 7:7-13).  What makes the commandments of God, as written in the Bible, different is that they come directly from God and by living by these laws, you are effectively living a life with God.  The law points us to Jesus Christ and by following it we are then justified by faith.  (Galatians 3:24).  By obeying the law we are drawn closer to the Lord and to the salvation He offers us through our faith in Jesus Christ.

People who do not understand and follow God’s law do not understand the fact that they will be judged by the same standards that the people who follow the law are judged.  People who do understand and follow the law, have a complete understanding of what is at stake, eternal life.  There is no such thing as blind faith.  True faith comes from the knowledge of God’s law.

There are strong words for the Rich who feel they are blessed by God.  If you do not abide by the words of the Bible and follow the commandments of God, it says that the love of God is not in your heart.  This person, no matter how rich he is, will perish like all worldly things will perish, he will lose eternal life.  People are warned not to gain their riches at the expense of those who have less than they do. (Proverbs 28:8).  You will be blessed if you give to the poor. (Proverbs 28:27).  Your riches should come to you as a result of hard work and not by chance.  (Proverbs 28:19).

The Bible also has a handbook for the Poor.  Both the poor and the rich who oppress the poor in order to gain their wealth, were created as equals.  God will shine the light of truth equally in both their eyes. (Proverbs 29:13).  God tells us that you are to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44-45).

Proverbs 28:3 goes on to point out that rain is supposed to be a blessing and be fruitful.  It also says that a driving rain can destroy the crops.  People who are blessed by riches should be careful that they do not become likewise destructive by taking advantage or oppressing those who have less in life.  “Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness, than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich.” (Proverbs 28:6).  God will reward a righteous poor person far more than any physical wealth that can be obtain in this world.

It is more important for any person to have faith, that by understanding and obeying the laws of God, they are far richer than if they would or could obtain all the wealth that this world has to offer.  This world and all its wealth will perish, along with all the unrighteous.  But, the knowledge of God’s law and obedience to it give us eternal life.  It was King Solomon who said that the only real progress a person can make in this life is by understanding and obeying the laws of God as written in the scriptures and, with the help of God, living by them.