TUESDAY 9TH JULY 2019 THEME: NOT BY BREAD ALONE.

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL

DATE: TUESDAY 9TH JULY 2019

THEME: NOT BY BREAD ALONE.

MEMORISE:

Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. John 4:34

READ: Deuteronomy 8:1-3

1All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers.

2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.

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.

MESSAGE

Food is very important and part of our existence as human beings. Even before God created man, He had created the thigs that Adam and Eve would eat. From this we see that eating food is not ungodly. In fact, as part of God’s instruction to Adam, he told him what was available for Him to eat. Genesis 2:16 says:

“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:”

Nevertheless, man’s existence does not depend solely on food. Adam and Eve failed to realize this when the tempter came to dangle the forbidden fruit before them and they fell headlong for it. No wonder the Lord took the Israelite through the rigors of the wilderness for forty years, to teach them that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of His mouth. This session is so critical that even the first test Jesus faced in the wilderness of temptation was based on it (Matthew 4:1-4). All this happened so we can learn from it.

Amazingly, although food may appear basic and ordinary, it can lead to a man’s downfall. A good example of this is Esau, who sold his birthright for a plate of pottage (Genesis 25:29-34). We must therefore open our ears to learn from the Holy Spirit when He speaks to us on food. In Deuteronomy 8:3, He says man shall not live by bread alone. In other words, bread is part of the things that man needs to live, but this bread must come by a process that follows the pattern of God’s word and meets its standards. This is why Jesus Christ refused to turn stone into bread when the devil asked him to (Luke 4:3-4). He showed us that food is good but it must follow the dictates of God’s word and not be influenced by the devil’s suggestions. Thank God that the Second Adam overcome the mistakes of the first Adam.

Many Christians have shipwrecked their faith because of food and drink, failing to heed that Lord’s warning in Matthew 6:25, which says:

“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?”

Or course, the answer to the Lord’s question is obvious: life is more than meat. This is why it is foolishness to eat the food of death, since the essence of food is to keep us alive in the first place. We must not live by bread alone. In all we do, we must continually look out for the perfect will of God and avoid anything that will send us to hell. May the Lord grant you understanding of this in Jesus’ Name.

PRAYER POINT:

Father, please give me the understanding of your word, so that I may live by it and be blessed.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:  Deuteronomy 25-27
Ezekiel 13:20-14:11

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 12: DEEPER, DEEPER IN THE LOVE OF JESUS

• Deeper, deeper in the love of Jesus
Daily let me go;
Higher, higher in the school of wisdom,
More of grace to know.
• Refrain:
Oh, deeper yet, I pray,
And higher every day,
And wiser, blessed Lord,
In Thy precious, holy Word.

• Deeper, deeper, blessed Holy Spirit,
Take me deeper still,
Till my life is wholly lost in Jesus,
And His perfect will.

• Deeper, deeper! though it cost hard trials,
Deeper let me go!
Rooted in the holy love of Jesus,
Let me fruitful grow.

• Deeper, higher, every day in Jesus,
Till all conflict past,
Finds me conqu’ror, and in His own image
Perfected at last.

• Deeper, deeper in the faith of Jesus,
Holy faith and true;
In His pow’r and soul exulting wisdom
Let me peace pursue.