Sunday, August 21, 2011

August 21, 2011 … A Little Piece of Bread

Passage of the Day: Hebrews 13: 5 … Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." [from Deut. 31: 6]

My Journal for Today: John MacArthur, in his devotional for this date in Strength for Today, relates a very poignant story of World War II orphans being discovered by our troops after the war. These unfortunate children, upon recovery, were put in an orphanage; but the staff there noted that the children would do all they could to stay awake at night, refusing to sleep. Then one perceptive doctor gave them a piece of bread; and they went to sleep clutching their bread as if it were a security blanket. You see, those kids slept with the bread because it represented hope that there would be food tomorrow.

Today’s verse, as well as Phil. 4: 19, should be our bread of life and our hope in Christ. The truths taught in these verses give us hope, from Gods’ word, that there will always be “bread” for us from God’s infinite store house, … now and forever …; as well as the fact that God will never leave us, nor forsake us. Therefore, we need not have a hoarder mentality or relent to the love of money or to covet the stuff others have.

Our Lord wants us to trust Him and steer clear of our “natural” desire to accumulate an abundance of things (see Luke 12: 15) as a hedge against an unsure tomorrow. We, as followers of Jehovah Jireh (our Provider God) must trust that God will provide our needs in all circumstances (from today’s passage as well as Matt. 6: 33). And, as these passages teach, we must learn, as Paul testified in Phil. 4: 11-12, to live in all situations, knowing that God will give us the strength to go forward (see Phil. 4: 13 and 2nd Cor. 12: 9).

Every night, before we go to bed, we need to recognize that God has given us much more than a scrap of bread for our security. We can sleep, knowing that He has given us His absolutely reliable promise from the truth of His word that tomorrow we will have all we need to live and thrive in this world – as well as in the next (see Deut. 31: 6 and 2nd Peter 1: 3-4).

That’s all I need to sleep tonight; … how about you?

My Prayer Today: Thank you, Lord, for Your promises … and Your provision. … Amen

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