Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread! Do We Need To Pray This Prayer Today?

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

(Is this Petition Relevant Today?)

                                                      

                                                     by George V Thiruvanathapuram

Picture Credit: www.imagekind.com

In Mathew Chapter 6 verses 9-13, we have what is generally called as the Lord’s Prayer.”  In using this title, however we should remember that Jesus never prayed it Himself.  It was given to the disciples as a model after which they could pattern their prayer.  In some Christian groups this prayer is often used, as a matter of routine, without knowing the real meaning of each petition.  Out of the seven petitions here, the first three concerns the name, kingdom and will of God.  The Lord must occupy the highest place, and indeed in our whole lives.  The four petitions for ourselves rise by degrees from “bread” up to “deliverance from evil”: teaching us that we ought to grovel in prayer, but to increase in spirituality while we pray. (C H Spurgeon)  “Give us this day our daily bread.” Give us necessary food, bread for the day; our own bread, yet thy gracious gift; give it not only to me, but to all of us thy children.  Is this petition needed today when our purses are thick, bank balances sufficient, and our store houses and fridges are full with food materials from salad to chicken?  There was a time when our forefathers and evangelists like George Muller or M E Cherian and many others fully depended on our gracious Lord for each meal?  I still remember a time when a friend of mine, was examining the rooftop of their wooden house to check, whether he could get few pieces of dried Tapioca, which was stolen by rats from them.  Such was the hard time!  Now the situations have changed!  Who needs such a prayer when many could join with that fool in Luke 12 who said, “soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink and be merry”! (v. 19).  

Let us examine this Lord’s teaching on the basis of the Scriptures:

Picture Credit: www.slideshare.net

Physical Needs:

“Our daily bread” refers primarily to the supply of our temporal needs.  With the Hebrews,  bread was a generic term, signifying the necessities and conveniences of this life.  (Gen: 3:19; 28:20), such as food, raiment and housing.  Inherent in the use of the specific term bread  rather than the more general term food  is an emphasis, teaching us not to ask for dainties or for riches, but for that which is wholesome and needful.  Bread here includes health and appetite apart from which food does us no good.  It also takes into account nourishment:  for this comes not from the food alone, nor does it lie within the power of man’s will.  Hence God’s blessings  on it is to be sought.  “For every creature of God is good, and on it is nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:  For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer”  (1 Tim. 4:4,5).

Spiritual Needs:

Mathew Henry has correctly pointed out that the reason for this request for the supply of our physical needs heads the last four petitions in this prayer is that “our natural well being is necessary for our spiritual well being in the world.”  In other words, God grants to us the physical things of this life as helps to discharge of our spiritual duties.  And since they are given by Him, they are to be employed in His service, and not for our selfish activities for making money.  What gracious consideration God shows toward our weakness: we are inept and unfit to perform our higher duties if deprived of the things needed for the sustenance of our bodily existence.  We may also rightly infer that this petition comes first, in order to promote the steady growth and strengthening of our faith.  Perceiving the goodness and faithfulness of God in applying our daily physical needs, we are encouraged and stimulated to ask for higher blessings (Cf. Acts. 17:25-28).

Solomon’s Attitude

In begging God to give us our daily bread, we ask that He might graciously provide us with a portion of outward things such as He sees will be best suited to our calling and station.  “Give me neither poverty nor riches;  feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny Thee and say, Who is Lord? Or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain (Prov. 30:8,9).  If God grants us the superfluities of life we are to be thankful, and must endeavor to use them to His glory; but we must not ask them.  “And having food and raiments let us be therewith content.   We  are to ask for “our daily bread”  (1 Tim. 6:8)  It is to be obtained not by theft, nor by taking force or fraud what belongs to another, but by our personal labor and industry.  Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty, open thine eyes, and thou shall be satisfied with bread”  (Prov. 20:13)  “She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness”  (Prov. 31:27)  Is this request restricted to our daily bread)   No.  First, we are reminded of our frailty.  We are unable to continue in health for twenty four hours, and are unfit for the duties of a single day, unless constantly fed from on high.  Second, we are reminded of the brevity of our mundane existence.  None of us know what a day brings forth, and  therefore we are forbidden to boast ourselves of tomorrow (Pro. 27:1)  Third, we are taught to suppress all anxious concern for the future and to live a day at a time one day at a time.  “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought of the things of itself.  Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Matthew 6: 34) Fourth, Christ inculcates a lesson of moderation.  Finally, observe that our Lord’s word “Give us this day our daily bread” is appropriate for use each morning, whereas the expressions, He teaches in Luke 11:3 “Give us day by day our bread” ought be our request every night.  Then the question that comes before us is “Do we have family worship (prayer) every morning and evening?  Let us all re-confirm this in our lives during this year, to have family altar.  Let me conclude this by quoting our Lord’s words from Matthew Chapter 6:25-28  “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?  Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?  Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:  It then came to the ground to pick up a crum and rising merrily again seemed to repeat its simple song “Mortals, cease from toil and sorrow, God provideth for the morrow.”  This greatly comforted the Reformers heart”  (C.H. Spurgeon)  

Let us cheer our hearts by reading that delicious song of contentment: Psalm 23:  The Lord is my shepherd is ENOUGH:   “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:  and  I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.”  The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge (Ps. 46:11).  It is good to sing this twice; It is a truth of which no believer wearies, it is a fact too often forgotten.  

John Wesley was sick and could not be understood.  He attempted to speak.  At last, with all his strength he cried.  “The best of all is, God is with us.”  Again, raising his hand and waving it in triumph, he exclaimed with thrilling effect,  “The best of all is, God is with us.”  These words seem to express the leading feature of his life.  God had been with him from early childhood.  His providence had guided him through all the devious wanderings of human life.  Now when he was entering the “valley of the shadow of death,” the same hand sustained him (Spurgeon: “The Treasury of David”).  

Beloved, is the Lord on your side?  

Is Emmanuel, God with us, Your Redeemer? 

(An adaptation from Harvest Times, Mumbai.  A GLS publication. Used by permission)

Source: 

Back to the Bible, Secunderabad.

Gospel Literature Service (Harvest Times, Mumbai)

Confident Living Magazine

Christianity In Concrete

Christianity In Concrete

 by Warren W. Wiersbe (President Back to the Bible Intl.)

Dwight L. Moody was certainly one of the most practical preachers who ever ministered the Word. He had been a successful salesman prior to becoming an evangelist, so that might explain his down-to-earth approach to Christian service. "Every Bible ought to be bound in shoe leather!" he said, a statement that summarizes his philosophy of Christian living.

Moody was attending a YMCA convention in Indianapolis, and there he met Ira Sankey, who was later to become his associate in ministry. He asked Sankey to meet him at a certain corner late one afternoon. When Sankey arrived, he discovered that Moody had planned a street meeting and Sankey was supposed to sing!

Soon a crowd gathered, and Moody began to preach. He spoke for less than 30 minutes and then invited the growing crowd to follow him to the opera house. In a few minutes, the opera house was full. Moody mounted the platform and preached another sermon to the attentive congregation. At the close of his message, Moody said, "Now we must close, as the delegates to the convention wish to come to discuss the topic 'How To Reach the Masses.' "

That was D. L. Moody! While others were discussing a subject, he was achieving an object! He believed in Christianity in the concrete, not in the abstract.

This was our Lord's approach to life and service. A lawyer wanted to discuss "Who is my neighbor?" but Jesus said, "To whom can you be a neighbor?" The lawyer wanted to travel in the abstract heights of theology and law, but Jesus brought him down to earth and told him about a man dying by the side of the road.

 Abstract Christianity never won a soul for Christ, never dried a tear, never fed a hungry child and never encouraged a fainting heart. While there certainly is a place for committees, conventions and the frank discussion of "abstract" issues and problems, unless those discussions produce concrete ministry, we have wasted valuable time and money avoiding the real issues.

Let me share with you some areas of Christian life and ministry that need to be dealt with in the concrete, not the abstract.

First, there is this thing we call "the world." You hear about it especially at missionary conventions where speaker after speaker reminds us of the needs of "the world." Quite frankly, I can't conceive of seven billion people, even when the speaker dramatizes this number in some pictorial fashion. Seven billion people! The world!

But God doesn't want me to get concerned about "the world" in the abstract. He wants me to start with my world, right where I am. Dr. Oswald J. Smith has often reminded us, "The light that shines the farthest will shine the brightest at home." It is difficult to believe that a committee member is burdened for Africa when he has no concern for his own neighborhood.

"Abstract Christianity" will enable you to keep up your reputation for dedication without having to pay too great a price.

Whatever "the world" may be, it begins at my front door. What good is it for me to use my missionary prayer list each morning and intercede for my friends overseas, if I am not burdened for the people I meet day after day?

While attending a convention, I missed a friend of mine who was not in the session on personal witnessing. I saw him at lunch and told him what a great session we had enjoyed. "Where were you?" I asked him. He replied, "I was out in the lobby leading one of the bellhops to Christ." Believe me, I felt very small.

Second is the matter of "the home." I hear zealous speakers telling me that we must do some-thing about "the home." They tell me "the home" is deteriorating, and no doubt it is. But I can do very little about "the home" in the abstract. I can do something about my own home, and you can do something about your home.

It is frightening to realize that today we have more books on marriage and the home, more films, more CDs, more lectures, more radio and TV programs and more seminars and conferences, and yet we seem to have more marital and family problems! We seem to have a great deal of information but not enough motivation. I wonder if the time hasn't come for us to move "the home" out of the abstract and into the concrete.

One way we sometimes deal with "the home" in the abstract is by putting the blame for our failures on the church and the public schools. We forget that nobody can replace father and mother or assume their responsibilities. If my children didn't learn to enjoy the Bible at home, they aren't likely to enjoy it at Sunday school or church. If they didn't learn to study, obey and work at home, they will probably not learn it on the Christian school campus. A Christian family is built at home, not someplace else. The Christian school and the church can only fortify what is built at home, and we thank God for their ministry.

During one of my pastorates, I was counseling a couple who were also seeing a Christian psychiatrist. One day the wife said to me, "Can you recommend another Christian psychiatrist?" When I asked her why, she replied, "Our psychiatrist just left his wife and ran off with one of his patients." He knew a great deal about "marriage" in the abstract, but he wasn't keeping his own home in good repair.

A third abstraction that needs to be dealt with in the concrete is "the church."

As a lifelong student of the Bible, I know what people mean by "the Church." Or I think I know. They mean that great host of people who have trusted Jesus Christ and belong to the family of God. Some of these people are on earth, and many more of them are in heaven. Some preachers and teachers talk about "the invisible church," a term I dislike, especially when I used to count the crowd on Sunday evenings. "The Church universal" is another term.

Let's stop avoiding responsibility by talking in the abstract about "the Church." Let's get busy and support the local church we belong to, the ministry that is concrete.

One Sunday our congregation was singing "I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord," a beautiful hymn that magnifies the importance of God's church. As I stood on the platform singing, I looked across the congregation and thought to myself, "How many of these people really love this church?" How easy it is to sing about some spiritual abstraction! How difficult it is to get involved in a real fellowship where there are needs and problems!

I must tread softly as I share this fourth area, because I may be misunderstood; but I think the time has come to quit talking about "the victorious Christian life" in the abstract and start dealing with the needs in our own lives individually. To be sure, there is such a concept as "victorious Christian living," although I find that not all "deeper life" speakers agree on what it is. But what good does it do me to study the books and attend the conferences if I am not honestly facing and solving the problems in my own personal life?

 Perhaps my pastoral experience has prejudiced me, but I have met many people who live in a dream world of "victorious living" only because they have isolated themselves—and insulated them-selves—from the realities of life. If they would get out in the real world and start witnessing to people who hate God, or if they would visit the nearest hospital or rest home where people hurt and bleed, they would discover that their "spiritual abstractions" just don't work.

A young minister attended a "deeper life" convention and was so "blessed" that he visited the great Scottish preacher, Alexander Whyte, to share the excitement. Dr. Whyte listened patiently and then said, "Aye, laddie, it's a battle all the way to the gates of glory!" And it is! "The victorious Christian life," said Whyte, "is a series of new beginnings." It takes battles to have victories, and you don't fight battles in the abstract. They are very concrete!

The way to enjoy a "victorious Christian life" is to handle it in the concrete, moment by moment, and one day at a time. We will not change everything immediately; we must tackle our weaknesses and problems one at a time. Yes, by a sincere act of faith and surrender, we can enter into a deeper relationship with the Lord; but if that one act is not followed with new attitudes and actions, nothing will be changed.

We need to say to ourselves, "Today, with God's help, I want to be victorious in my discipline. I'm going to watch my eating, I'm not going to waste time, and I'm going to get up early enough to read my Bible and pray." Or perhaps we need to focus on some other personal challenge—not gossiping, for instance, or (to be positive) making it a point to encourage others and witness for Christ. A victory in one area usually encourages victory in other areas, and when small "concrete victories" are combined, they lead the way to a "victorious Christian life."

 Nothing is so safe as an abstract idea that shelters me from reality. But nothing is so dangerous! The Christian who deals only in the abstract is living in a fool's paradise. He is also missing exciting opportunities to grow and to serve others.

We had better start practicing our Christianity in the concrete. After all, the Judgment Seat of Christ is not an abstraction. CL

Source:

Back to the Bible India,

Confident Living Magazine

The Story Behind the Song “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus” And The Amazing Christian Music Videos From Kaoma Chende And Team

Amazing Christian Music Videos 

From Kaoma Chende And Team 

Kaoma in a singing session (How Great Thou Art)

Anyone remember this chorus? This version Originally done by The Haven Quartet. It's a song i grow up singing, still do and am so glad to have done this cover version. Blessings!

The Story Behind the Song “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus”

About 150 years ago, there was a great revival in Wales, England. As a result of this, many missionaries came from England to northeast India to spread the Gospel. The region was known as Assam and comprised hundreds of tribes. The tribal communities were quite primitive and aggressive. The tribesmen were also called head-hunters because of a social custom which required the male members of the community to collect as many heads as possible. A man’s strength and ability to protect his wife was assessed by the number of heads he had collected. Therefore, a youth of marriageable age would try and collect as many heads as possible and hang them on the walls of his house. The more heads a man had, the more eligible he was considered. Into this hostile and aggressive community, came a group of Welsh missionaries spreading the message of love, peace, and hope of Jesus Christ. Naturally, they were not welcomed. One Welsh missionary finally succeeded in converting a man, his wife, and two children. This man’s faith proved contagious and many villagers began to accept Christianity. Angry, the village chief summoned all the villagers. He then called the family who had first converted to renounce their faith in public or face execution. Moved by the Holy Spirit, the man sung his reply, “I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back.”

Enraged at the refusal of the man, the chief ordered his archers to arrow down the two children. As both boys lay twitching on the floor, the chief asked, “Will you deny your faith? You have lost both your children. You will lose your wife too.”

But the man replied, again singing, “Though none go with me, still I will follow. No turning back.”

The chief was beside himself with fury and ordered his wife to be arrowed down. In a moment she joined her two children in death. Now he asked for the last time, “I will give you one more opportunity to deny your faith and live.”

In the face of death the man sung, “The cross before me, the world behind me. No turning back. No turning back.”

He was shot dead like the rest of his family. But with their deaths, a miracle took place. The chief who had ordered the killings was moved by the faith of the man. He wondered, “Why should this man, his wife and two children die for a Man who lived in a far-away land on another continent some 2,000 years ago? There must be some supernatural power behind the family, and I too want that supernatural power.”

In a spontaneous confession of faith, he declared, “I too belong to Jesus Christ!” When the crowd heard this from the mouth of their chief, the whole village accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior.                                                                     — Kaoma

Watch this video and others developed by Kaoma and Team:

Thank you Kaoma for these wonderful and amazing music 

you rendered through these videos.  

May God continue to bless and keep you safe for His Glory.

To Subscribe Kaoma Chende. Muzik's video

Please Click HERE

His Facebook Page: KAOMA


Source: Paul Raj, Kaoma Chende.

J for James (Staying at Home) Dr. Kroll Writes......

James

Staying at Home 

Pic. Credit. A to Z Blog challenge 14

Dr. Woodrow Kroll

I grew up in the rolling hills of western Pennsylvania.  Nearby lived a simple, godly family named Hershey with five children.  One by one they left home to go to the mission field.  All but one, who stayed home to serve the Lord.

  

NAME: “Supplanter” ("Jacob” in Hebrew)

DATE: 1st Century AD

IDENTIFICATIONS: Oldest son of Mary and Joseph, author of the Book of James

STORY LINE: James was the oldest of Jesus' four younger brothers

READ IT IN THE BIBLE:  Matthew 13:53-58; Acts 15:1-21

Not all of God's servants are called to leave home in answer to God's call.  When Isaiah said, "Here am I! Send me," God sent him to his own people in his own land (Isaiah 6:8-9).  And when the demoniac of Gadara wanted to go with Jesus after the Savior healed him, Christ told him to go home and tell his friends what the Lord had done for him (Mark 5:19).

  

While Thomas was going to India, Philip to Asia Minor, and Paul to the rest of the Roman world, someone had to remain behind in Jerusalem to faithfully lead the flock there.  That someone as James, the younger brother of the Lord Jesus.

Like the rest of Jesus' brothers, James did not come to faith in Jesus until after His crucifixion.  But in the Book of Acts James emerged as a leader of Jerusalem church.  His younger brothers also became believers and traveled to foreign places (1 Corinthians 9:5), but James knew the home front was his mission field (Galatians 2:9).

If you long for a passport filled with stamps from foreign countries, but instead you just have a class of junior high boys, be encouraged by James.  It was his junior high boys who were the next generation of those sent out to capture the world for Christ.  Your home job is important.  Be proud of it. CL

This post is posted as part of  A to Z Blog Challenge 2014 

Source: 

Back to the Bible Intl.

Confident Living Magazine

Pic. Credit: A to Z Blog Page/ Back to the Bible Int.

The People Behind the curtain of  A to Z Challenge [2014]

Arlee Bird -The Founder: Tossing it Out

Alex J. Cavanaugh: Alex J. Cavanaugh
Stephen Tremp: Author Stephen Tremp
Tina Downey: Life is Good
Damyanti Biswas: Amlokiblogs
Jeremy Hawkins: [Being Retro]
Nicole Ayers: The Madlab Post
M. J. Joachim: M. J. Joachim’s Writing Tips
Heather M. Gardner: The Waiting is the Hardest Part
AJ Lauer: Naturally Sweet
Pam Margolis: An Unconventional Librarian

G for Gamaliel

G for Gamaliel

Unstoppable

Pic. Credit: A to Z Blog Challenge 2014

“If God be for us, who can be against us?”

Paul’s logic in Romans 8:31 was inspired, but it may have reflected his training as well.  Another great rabbi also believed this.

NAME: “Recompense of God”

DATE: 1^st Century AD

IDENTIFICATIONS: Famous member of the Sanhedrin, teacher of Paul

STORY LINE: Advised the Sanhedrin to use moderation on the apostles

READ IT IN THE BIBLE:  Acts 5:17-42

Gamaliel was a Jewish scholar in the first century AD.  He had a particularly bright and eager student named Saul of Tarsus (Acts 22:3) from Gamaliel Saul learned the Law and the traditions of the rabbis. Two influential Pharisaic rabbinical schools had evolved by this time, one by Hillel and the other by Shammai.  Gamaliel is considered to be the grandson of Hillel.

Gamaliel was not only a member of the Sanhedrin, but he served as its president during the reigns of Roman emperors Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius.

Once when the high priest hauled the apostles before the Sanhedrin and ordered them to quit preaching in Jesus’ name, Peter said, “We ought to obey God rather than men.”  Incensed, the Sanhedrin wanted to kill the apostles until the cool-headed Gamaliel rose and advised,  “Keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men,  it will come to nothing;  but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it” (Acts 5:38,39).

Hudson Taylor delighted in saying, “God’s work, done in God’s way, will never lack God’s supply.”

Paul said, “If God is for us, who can be against us?

Gamaliel said, “If it is of God, you cannot overthrow it.”

If you have clean hands and a pure heart, and if you have a green light from God, then no one will be able to keep you from accomplishing His work.  Rejoice in that, and live like it.

                      —Dr. Woodrow Kroll
                      (Former President and Bible Teacher, Back to the Bible)

Source: 

Confident Living Magazine
This post is posted as part of this years A to Z Blog Challenge 

What Do You Do When You Reach In Heaven? Learn 8 Things We Will Do In Heaven

What do you do when 
you reach in Heaven?
Read this informative piece 
written by Dr.Chad  Tucker 
 To Read the full Text Pl.
Click on the below link:



 What do you do when you reach in Heaven? Learn 8 Things We Will Do In Heaven

Source:
 Dr. Chad Tucker, Philipscom

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Z is for Zerubbabel: The Mark of the “Z”

Zerubbabel

The Mark of the “Z”

When I was a boy one of my favorite heroes was Zorro, the legendary nobleman with black mask and flashing sword who eased the oppression of the alcalde on the peasants in old California.  He came out of nowhere and left behind only thankful people and the mark of the “Z.”

Name: “Offspring of Babylon”

Date: 6^th Century BC

Identification:  Son of Shealtiel, he led the return to Jerusalem; built Second Temple

Story Line:  Zerubbabel work was not spectacular, not appreciated

Read in the Bible:  Ezra 3:1-12; Haggai 2:1-23

The Bible has its own Zorro who came out of nowhere and left his mark on thankful people.  His name also begins with a “Z”—Zerubbabel.  Born the son of Shealtiel in Babylonian Captivity, he was the grandson of Jehoiachin, the captive king of Judah (1 Chronicles 3:17-19).  That means Zerubbabel was a descendant of David and ancestor of Jesus.  But in Babylon, his stature was diminished to captive.  Diminished, that is, until Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild their temple.

Suddenly the people needed a leader, a hero, someone who could leave the mark of the “Z”, if you will. 

Zerubbabel rose to the challenge.  He led the first group of captives back to Jerusalem and began rebuilding the temple on the site of Solomon’s temple.  When the work was finally finished.  Zerubbabel’s temple was dedicated with a great celebration that climaxed with the observance of the Passover (Ezra 6:19).

Zerubbabel came out of nowhere, but served tirelessly and faithfully.  God had a special “well done” for Zerubbabel.  He said, I will “make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you” (Haggai 2:23).  If you are living in “nowhere,” be encouraged.  God may call you out of nowhere to do more than you could ever dream.  So be ready.   It could happen today.

By Dr. Woodrow Kroll

Source:

Confident Living Magazine

Back to the Bible International

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