Christianity Oasis Forum

[saint701]

Hello Christianity Oasis!



Blessings!

Jesus is our way, our truth, and our life. The straight and narrow way is to have Jesus in our heart and mind and allow ourselves to be directed by Him as He was directed by our Heavenly Dad. However, if we desire such a personal relationship with God, after believing in Him and confessing Him as our Lord and Savior we must receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirt. Why? Because all that Jesus has been made to us comes to us throught the Holy Spirit He and the Father have sent to us. NO SPIRIT OF GOD! NO DAILY BREAD! NO LIFE! Why? We are to live by every word that comes to us from God! The daily bread Jesus has been made to us comes to us directly from the Holy Spirit, The Spirit of Truth, the Holy Ghost which the world cannot receive. Jesus is to be to us everything that is our life, and it is the Spirit that makes all He is a reality in our life.

In part 4 of Understanding the Lord's Prayer we have been studying the spiritual reality of Jesus as our Bread of Life, that is to say our daily bread. Such corresponds to Him being our truth that we walk in daily that we may live thereby. Today we will take a look at how great a thing it is to be able to say, "Jesus is my truth, my daily bread that gives me life!" Scripture has much more to say to us about the bread of life than what we find in John chapter 6 and we will look at some of it today.

(Just one note here...there are two primary reproductive processes at work on the earth today. One is sexual, the other asexual. Sexual reproduction requires two healthy bodies eating natural food needed to have the energy for intercourse to take place and a seed planted. But asexual reproduction, although having semilar organs for reproduction both exist in the same body. Plants do not have to feed themselves to have the necessary energy to produce seeds for reproduction. All they need is a good seed, light, water, and good ground. My point is this. We reproduce the word of God within ourselves asexually, but such occurs supernaturally. The word of God is the good seed. Our hearts are the good ground. The Holy Spirit is our water source, and God the Father our light).

Deut.8
1.[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.

Matt.4
1.[4] But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Deut.6
Hear, O Israel, The LORD our God is one LORD:
1Cor.6
1.[17] But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

One thing we often do not understand in our walk with our Lord is our call into the unification of our Lord's body. With many of us coming form diverse backgrounds and belief systems often the call into the unification becomes a call into selfish deviseness rather than one spirit. For example, "My denomination believes...the gifts of the Spirit ceased when the disciples of our Lord passed away." Such a belief pretty much blows a hole in the rest of what our biblical mentors taught us about spiritual life. Such pretty much makes it impossible for us to live by every word that our Lord has given us. After all, when we begin tossing portions of the Bible out the window we separate ourselves from the very source we are to live by. We can't produce good fruit unless the good seed has been planted in our heart, nourished by the Holy Spirit, and blessed to grow as we abide in the light of the Father. We think we're very bright to have created a doctrine that keeps us from becoming one with the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and the brethren, but all we are really doing is opposing ourselves, keeping our sheep mal-nourished, and creating divisiveness which negates spiritual unity. If we are "one spirit," are we not also of one mind? We certainly should be. Unfortunately we often act contrary to one another both in spirit and mind as that which unifies all in one spirit is one truth, the truth of the Lord, and that one spirit through the same love of God the Father gave to our Lord Jesus. All cannot be one because we many are not abiding in the same words of God, that is, all of them, not those we pick and choose to believe, or man made doctrines that stop us from entering into the Kingdom of Heaven through the one Spirit of our Lord and the one mind of the Lord who is our source of daily bread that comes to us from our Lord who is the Word of God.

We are the planting of the Lord! Think about it! Shall the plant say to the husbandman, "I will not drink of the water you have provided to nourish me, for I will find my own source of water." Does it say, "I will not open to the light that you have given me for life, for I prefer the light of man?" Of course we shouldn't, but many do. When Satan attempted to use Peter to dissuade our Lord from going to the cross, our Lord turned, and commanded, "Get thee behind me Satan! Thou preferest the things of man rather than the things of God.

In other words, Satan was a plant that turned from the good word of God, the Spirit of God, and the light of God to sew his own seed in man. And you know what? Satan was the first to stop loving God, the first to turn away from his light, the first to turn away from His Spirit, and the first to reject the Word of God. Why? He wanted the things of man and to gain the whole world.

You know there are many Christians today that overlook the simplicity of the gospel, and turn it into some bizzarre mysterious path that only men of great minds who have become of their own making priests and scholars to be our light are just like Satan. The writers of the Bible just made it up, they say. So and so didn't write this book and so and so didn't write that book. The Spirit no longer works the same way He did with the Apostles. Pfftt...the word they feed their sheep brings death which makes Satan very happy by the way, as they are his servants.

Eph.4
1.[3] Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
2.[13] Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

Here oh Israel, the Lord is one. Make no mistake in your understanding, the bread of life only becomes our daily bread when we become one with the Father and the Son through the love of God, and receive the Spirit of Truth that separates us from the lies of the world into the Lordship of The Word of God. We are the planting of the Lord, not the planting of a university professor, and if we desire to grow the right fruit, then Jesus must be our way, our truth, and our life. As He separated himself from the world through the words of the Father, so to must we separate ourselves in the Word of God our Lord to be the source of our daily nourishment.

As we noted, there is a great deal more to understanding the greatness of what it is to have our Lord's word as our daily bread than we commonly see in John chapter 6. To many of us the way to life eternal is going to church, reading the Bible, no smoking, drinking alcohol, or cussing. But how is that different from many that don't believe, go to church, read the Bible, yet walk in the same way? Isn't that which God makes us able to do greater than what one in the natural can do?

If we say that which is in part has passed away, (the gifts of the Spirit), and perfect love has come and we walk in that we are simply deceiving ourselves. It is impossible to walk in the love of God unless He has imparted His love to us by His Spirit. Notice that in 1Cor. ch.s 12 and 13 that which is in part comes first and later comes love. We cannot love as God loves through our own self' doing. The love of God comes to us from God through the Spirit He has given us of Himself for the purpose enlightening us and saving our soul. Such is a process as our Lord has taught us. And when we receive His love, we come to know Him as we are known, even as the Lord Jesus knew the Father and His love, we learn of the Father's love, as it is He that imparts it to us. And at that time we come face to face with the Father and know Him as we are known. It is then those fruits of love found in 1Cor.13 become meaningful and we find ourselves beginning to grow them more and more.

Mark.4
1.[28] For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.

How then can one say that which is in part has passed away, as we donot become fruitful until fully grown?

1Cor.13

[9] For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
[10] But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
[11] When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
[12] For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.[13] And now abideth faith, hope, love,

(the Father's love,)

these three; but the greatest of these is love,

(the Father's love).

1Cor.13
1.[12] For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

If you think you can bear the fruit of the Spirit on your own, once again you are just deceiving yourself. Unless you abide in our Lord, His Spirit, His love, and His word, you can't bear the fruit of the Spirit. And if the Spirit of Him that raised up our Lord abides in us, that same Spirit will lead us and guide us into all truth, and we will bear much fruit. Jesus said that heaven and earth would pass away but His words would remain forever. His words are eternal and established in the heavens forever. If our Lord's words are eternal, how then have those words of God He gave to Paul concerning the gifts of the Spirit passed away? Therefore I say to you, the gifts of the Spirit remain, and you would know that if you were abiding in the Spirit, and He was leading you and guiding you into all understanding. After all, Psalm 119 tells us,

Pss.119
1.[130] The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

If we deny any of our Lord's words no light can enter where we reject them. Many of us choose to walk in darkness through unbelief in "all" the words of God. Living by every word of God doesn't give us the option of picking or choosing what we believe. If we are picking and choosing then we are not living by every word of God, and if not nourished by all His words, how then can we say we are living in the way, the truth, and the life?

Certainly understanding our Lord's words are one of the 3 great keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. In John chapter six we find our Lord telling us that unless we eat His flesh and drink His blood, we have no part in Him. Many of us interpret that to mean the communion of wafers or crackers, or the breaking of bread , and a sip of wine or grape juice. Taking communion is good, but such is symbolic of Christ's life that belongs to us. Unless we eat the flesh of our Lord Jesus, and drink His blood we have no part in Him.

Many of us accept communion as our having life in Christ, but such really isn't eating His flesh is it? I mean scripture actually interprets what eating the flesh of Christ is, we just often overlook it. Certainly He is the true bread of heaven sent into the earth to be our daily bread. But what does Christ our daily bread really mean? My favorite explanation is found in John chapter one.

John.1
1.[14] And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

To eat the flesh of our Lord Jesus is to eat of His good word. He is the Word of God made flesh. If we eat the flesh of Jesus, aren't we eating The Word of God? Therefore, the Word of God is the flesh of Jesus. We live by every word that has come to us out of the mouth of God.

In the first paragraph above we made mention of how great a thing it is to have Jesus as our truth, one of the 3 great keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, but we didn't elaborate. Now we will. Paul said we have been given a high calling in Christ Jesus, and such is true, but almost an understatement in light of what we see in John chapter 17. John chapter 17 shows us the greatness of our calling, how we come to it, and how we keep walking in it. It shouldn't surprise us to note that the words our Lord has given us, (our bread of life), of the Father are a great part of our high calling. Let's take a look.

John 17

[14] I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
[15] I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
[16] They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
[17] Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
[18] As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
[19] And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
[20] Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
[21] That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
[b][22] And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:[23] I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.[/b]

John chapter 17 certainly shows us how great a calling our Lord offers us through His Word.

Give us this day Father, our daily bread.


Blessings!
Love, In Christ Jesus, saint.