MasterTruth

Bread Makes Christianity Stand Out

You’re talking to someone of another religion who asks you why you believe Christianity is the only way. “Every religion is the same,” they say. “How come you are so dogmatic about yours?”

Here’s one solid response. Every other religion is man’s attempt to reach God. Christianity is God’s attempt to reach man in order to solve man’s problem. Part B is all the prophesies of Christ in the Old Testament that came to pass, that were written hundreds of years before Christ was born.

We are looking at some pictures and types of Christ in the Old Testament. The Bible is 3D. The stories in the Old Testament contain great history and lessons we can learn from. That’s the single dimension. But many of the stories are also there to point to the future Christ.

That’s the case with God providing the Israelites manna when they were wandering in the wilderness, complaining because they had no food.

God responded by providing them with this manna that rained down from heaven. Manna was a kind of bread, a heavenly bread. Why did God do that? Because it pictured Jesus, who is bread from heaven. Jesus even said so himself. We’ll see below.

 

Old Testament

Notes

Exo 16:11-18  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  (12)  I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God.  (13)  And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.  (14)  And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground.  (15)  And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.  (16)  This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents.  (17)  And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.  (18)  And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating…. Exo 16:35  And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan…. Deu 8:3  And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

Jesus said that he is the bread of life. Joh 6:35  …I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst…. Joh 6:41  The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. Joh 6:47-51  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.  (48)  I am that bread of life.  (49)  Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.  (50)  This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.  (51)  I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. This makes the manna so important. It was one of three things kept in the Ark of the Covenant. Everything in that ark represented Christ and/or the Word. Exo 16:33  And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations. Heb 9:4  Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; But manna is also the word of God. Not a problem, because Jesus (the bread from heaven) is also the word of God. Joh 1:1&14  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God….  (14)  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us… When Satan tempted Christ to obey him in Matt. 4, Jesus said It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Mat.4:4

Adjust or Self Destruct

God is in control. We are not. The more we know him, the more we will bring ourselves in line with the way he thinks and with his expectations, and that will be good for us.

Anyone who is a parent grasps the difference between a relationship with a compliant child and with a rebellious one. There’s more joy and freedom for the compliant child and more grief for everyone for the rebellious one.

Let’s aim to be compliant children of God.

Psa. 119:117 Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.	It’s fair to reason with God, as long as we do it with God’s interests at the center and not our interests. Let me paraphrase this verse backwards. “God, I know I will better adhere to your prescribed tasks if you will hold me up and keep me safe.” You see, it’s to God’s benefit to come to our rescue, because then we’ll be in a better position to follow and obey him. Here’s another, Save me, and I shall keep thy testimonies. Psa. 119:146b
(118)  Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit is falsehood.	Why do bad things happen to some people? No matter who the bad things happen to, God is in control. God uses hardship to draw his children close to him and/or to discipline them. But for the unsaved, this verse answers it. Hard circumstances are the result of sin. We reap what we sow. The wages of sin is still death (Rom 6:23).
(119)  Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies.	There is justice. We know that from reading God’s testimonies, or the stories written in the Bible that show us how God acts and responds. My absolute favorite example of this is the testimony of Haman in Esther. If you’re familiar with Esther, here are the concluding verses that show God puts away the wicked: And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon.  So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified. (Esther 7:9-10) I love God’s testimonies!
(120)  My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.	If there’s something to be afraid of, it’s God’s judgments (his acts of dealing with a case). While God is loving, he is also just. We have barely seen a blip of God’s judgments. We are living in the age of grace where the goodness of God is leading us to repentance. But from the book of Revelation, we know God’s wrath is as triumphant as his love. We should fear him.

Have a Mind Makeover

Do you ever find that you get in a rut with your thoughts? You default to worry or small, petty gripes? That gets old fast, not only to yourself, but to those who are subjected to you (your family).

Today’s lesson from Ps. 119, as we work through it, has a lot to do with your thoughts and what to do with them. God’s word is a balm to the savage mind. Learn how to direct your thoughts rather than be led by them. You’ll see as you go through these verses. Find one to memorize and meditate on. It won’t be hard. The verses are short.

Psa 119:113- I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love.	Vain thoughts originate from our minds and imaginations. God’s law originates from God. Turning away from self and toward God is what our faith is all about.  The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity. (Psa 94:11) In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul. (Psa 94:19)
(114)  Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.	The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe. (Prov18:10). Can we learn how to hide in God?Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. (Eph. 6:16) Faith in God is a shield. I want to be hidden and shielded in God. The key is to discover and hope in his word. Find a verse for the day and cling to it.
(115)  Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.	Instead of succumbing to thoughts of defeat when bullied, criticized or otherwise mistreated, choose to let those effects bounce off of you as you determine to keep God’s commandments. What commandments? How about this one: Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, (2 Chron. 20:17a) OK. Today, I’m giving my battle to the Lord and I’m standing still and watching how he saves me.
(116)  Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope.	Got it. This verse is an example of a prayer that holds God to his promises. We can do the same. For example, “Lord, you said Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee… Please fulfill that in me today, and don’t let me be ashamed for hoping in your word.” My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word. (Psa 119:81)

Keep Cool

David lays out the steps he takes to keep from becoming a basket case. Any of us in his shoes could certainly come undone.  Much of his life that we read about, he’s either running for his life from Saul or from his son Absalom. These people are hunting him down to kill him, and for what? He didn’t deserve it. He was running from jealous men who wanted to secure themselves as king.

I once had a job that a coworker wanted, and she had me in her crosshairs. She was a scrapper, and I kept my eye on her, fearing a bit that she would pull something to get pieces of my job.

That is only minor compared to what David went through. He uprooted his life and physically ran, taking a group of men with him. And this was after God had already promised David he would be king. God keeps his promises. But for David, not immediately.

How did he reconcile this in his mind? In fact, what went through his mind?

Ps. 119:109  My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law.	In other words, David was always in danger. In spite of it, he didn’t forget God’s law. The law requires right behavior. David set his life to behave properly. We see that when he had the opportunity to kill Saul, and he didn’t. He left Saul’s demise up to God.
(110)  The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts.	We know that wicked Saul was continuously after David, but David could rest at night knowing he didn’t violate God’s precepts. As long as he was right with God, he knew God would take care of him. Like God’s law, precepts are codes of wisdom or principles to live by. We have more precepts at our disposal than David did. And interestingly, David’s son Solomon wrote many of them. Here’s one: When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him (Prov 16:7).
(111)  Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart.	How could David know God’s faithfulness except for his testimonies or stories in the amount of the Bible he had at the time (the first 5 books of the Bible). He had God’s description of himself that served as the rejoicing of his heart. We know because he repeats the description in several of his Psalms. Here’s the original: And the LORD passed by before him [ Moses ], and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; Ex. 34:6-7a These verses are our heritage too. We should take them down off the shelf and use them every day.
(112)  I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end.	I think the key to David being a man after God’s own heart was his inclination to know and obey. We have so many other inclinations. Can we at least determine to read God’s word every day and find a verse to set our heart and life on?

Not Another Manic Monday

It’s Monday. How are we going to make it through this week? Hopefully better than we made it through last week if we resolve to stay close to the Lord. We learn how to do that in the four verses below from Ps. 119.

No doubt, challenges will come. But they don’t have to derail us if we’ve determined to hang on to God’s word. All I can say is David was able to hang on to God much of the time (we never forget Bathsheba) and we see how he did it from the verses below.

Psa 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.	Who doesn’t need life direction? Who couldn’t use a little discernment—a little light shed on the matter, or on all matters? God’s word brings that direction, discernment and light. Get in the habit of reading and meditating on it every day. Be accountable to someone if it’s tough for you to be faithful each day. Ask God to show you who that person should be. I did one time and that person called me within 2 minutes of just thinking of her name, and she asked me first if she could be accountable to me!
(106)  I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.	Next, determine that you will obey that light you get from God’s word. David swore he would keep it. That’s pretty serious. “Whatever you want, God, that’s what I promise I’ll do.” When thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee. (Deut. 23:21) I hope it’s still possible, in our day and age, to be as serious about obeying God as David was in his day.
(107)  I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O LORD, according unto thy word.	If you have a lifestyle of reading, meditating on and obeying God’s word every day, then when you face challenges or afflictions, you have an arsenal of instructions, promises and comforts that God can use to quicken or enliven you. You can ask God to use the salve of his word to touch your soul. That is how you encourage yourself in God, without the need to run to others.
(108)  Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments.	Let praise be ever present in your communications with God as you read his word expecting him to teach and enlighten you. By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. (Heb.13:15)

Untie the Knots in Your Stomach

Anyone with a stomach tied up in knots over anything going on right now will enjoy the four verses from Ps. 119 today.  They address focus, which is what we need to work on in order to untie the knots.

Understand that there is nothing going on in your life that God doesn’t address in some way, as long as you have an open heart and a willingness to follow where God directs in his word. Before you read the verses below, pray this prayer from your heart: Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. (Ps. 119:18)

Ps. 119: 101  I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word.	This verse is an example of surrendering self-will for the sake of obeying God’s word. Is there anything in my life God could point a finger at as disappointing to him? If so, will I eagerly give it up in order to obey him? Any habits, pleasures, thoughts, attitudes?  Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:  And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Ps. 139:23-24
(102)  I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me.	We learn God’s judgments (his acts of dealing with a case) the same way we learn about his testimonies (stories of how he works in people’s lives)—from reading examples in the Bible and learning from them. One example of his judgments is Psa 66:18  If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: There are consequences to sin; one is unanswered prayer. The point of Ps. 119:102 is to notice God’s judgments as we read them, and meditate on them and learn them, so we can avoid sin and thus its consequences as much as possible.
(103)  How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!	The Bible is compared to honey in a few places. (See Ps. 19:9-10 and Prov 24:13-14.) It would be an interesting study to examine the characteristics of honey and how it compares to God’s word. For one, it is 100% natural with no additives. It stands sweet by itself apart from anything man can do to it. God’s word is like that. It is pure by itself. Its sweetness is a pleasant characteristic, universally appealing. But to enjoy it, you have to eat it. It can turn a bitter soul sweet. Take a few bites and see.
(104)  Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.	Precepts are codes of wisdom or principles to guide our lives. When we see them in God’s word, we should notice and get understanding for how to handle our situations.  God’s precepts are separate from man’s ways, so when we see God’s codes of wisdom or principles, they are likely to be in stark contrast to what we naturally know, and we will learn to recognize and despise the world’s ways. For one, God sells nothing with sex appeal. The world hardly sells anything without it. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. (1 John 2:15-16)

What Made David Great?

I just returned from a missions trip to India, where it was my privilege to teach the characteristics of David to a group of women who had never sat under a woman and learned the word of God. I hope they were as rejuvenated by the spirit of David as I was. We looked at the fact that he had the Spirit of God in him (as we do if we know the Lord), and he had a fearless trust in God, was fair and kind, was often a quiet warrior, was spiritually dependent and independent at the same time, and he encourage himself in God. There were more lessons, but those certainly stand out.

I encourage anyone to study David’s life from 1 and 2 Samuel and from the Psalms. We’ve had a good look into the mind of David in our study here of Ps. 119.  These verses show what made him a great character. They serve as his testimony, and we know that we learn great things from God’s testimonies. Today, join me in looking at Ps. 119:97-100.

 

Psa 119:97 O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.	The best thoughts we can have all day are the ones focused on God’s word. David loved to meditate on God’s law—all day.  We tend to meditate on things all day, usually whatever is top of mind, whether that be problems, projects or people, etc. I think it’s a great idea to find some verses in the morning and think on them all day. Wonderful go-to verses are Prov. 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  (6)  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
(98)  Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.	David also thought on God’s commandments, and he recognized that a good understanding of them made him wiser than his enemies. He said “for they are ever with me.” Did he mean God’s commandments were ever with him, or his enemies? I suspect he meant God’s commandments were ever with him. He looked at them as treasures to guide him through the minefields of his enemies. That’s how he had the grace to go through what he did with Saul pursing him relentlessly. We also can be wiser than our enemies if we will focus on God’s solutions rather than our problems.
(99)  I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.	We can be on top of the world when we understand and grasp God’s testimonies. We can live encouraged, not because we read “Our Daily Bread” in the morning for a boost, but because we ponder God’s ways shown in his word, and we trust him. It gives us more understanding than our teachers.
(100)  I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.	Not only can we have better spiritual understanding than our teachers, we can have more understanding than wise people of old. Think of any famous philosopher through the ages. They knew nothing truly unless it was God’s precepts. David certainly had a life-altering grasp of God through his word, and that’s where he found his strength and his glory. I think he had that level of understanding because of his enemies. They drove him to seek God. When we have challenges, may they drive us to God and his word and not to despair.