Man does not live on bread alone
To listen to the Audio version of this study go to –
www.bridge-of-life.co.uk/Man shall not live on bread alone.mp3 (bridge-of-life.co.uk)
If you are a parent or grandparent, I am sure you will have the desire to see your children grow up into honest responsible citizens. For Christian parents it is their desire to see their children recognise through the way they live the unquestionable benefits of knowing Jesus living in their heart and having Him at the helm and knowing though His love their children will also become Christians to be sustained in this life and for eternity.
For both myself, as a bible teacher with a pastoral heart and my wife Chris, we want to see our spiritual children grow up to become strong, rich evangelistic Christians able to share and teach others the good news of the Gospel. What a joy it is to see those we have nurtured, to see them now loving the Saviour having Him at the centre of their life, seeking to lead others into God kingdom.
As well as teaching them the foundational truths of the Christian life, it is also a passion of mine like any good parent as they watch their children growing up, to warn them of the pitfalls in life. If and when along lifes pathway there is an area of their spiritual life which seems to be holding them back, stunting their spiritual growth, it is for me to help them to recognise what is blocking their path, to sensitively highlight using the word of God talk them through their situation and prayerfully help them to break through the blockage.
What saddens me greatly is to meet fellow Christians who have very diverse understanding of what we believe and how we should live which cuts right across the truth of the bible. We are meeting mature Christians with opposing beliefs, which is very un-nerving for those mature in the faith, making us ponder deeply what TR UTH is. But we have to go back to the bible to read what Jesus said would happen in a day to come. We read in Matthew 24:10-14 - 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Those days and times Jesus spoke about are here we need to heed His words.
There are some who say the Jews are no longer the apple of Gods eye and are known to teach what is termed replacement theology, meaning the church has replaced Israel in God’s plan. Those following replacement theology believe the Jews are no longer God’s chosen people, and that God does not have a specific future plan for the nation of Israel. God does have a plan for Israel for His chosen people who are scattered around the globe. We read in Amos 9:14-15 – 14 and I will bring my people Israel back from exile. “They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. 15 I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says the Lord your God.
There are many church leaders who are watering down the Word of God; many churches are accepting things which the bible distinctly regards as an abomination to God which means it is abhorrent, obscene outrageous disgraceful disgusting hostile. By doing so we are going against God’s word, for example we read in Leviticus 20:13 in the King James Version - If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. Homosexuality is an abominable crime in God’s eyes, it will not go unpunished. At least twice in the bible God brought judgement on folk as the result. Lot and his family witness the abhorrent behaviour of men in Sodom in Genesis 19. We read in Jude 1:7 - Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire. Jesus said in Luke 17:27-30 - 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulphur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. We are reading of the same behaviour today, how long will God wait before He brings retribution on our world again? This behaviour is becoming acceptable in the church in our day. A question I often ask myself, do the spiritual leaders of our day know their bible, do they read the whole bible.
There is evil on every side we have to be strong to withstand what is happening. God said to the Israelites while they were struggling in the wilderness in Deuteronomy 8:2-4 - 2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.
Israel was instructed by God to read the commandments He gave to Moses on Mount Sinai ever seven years as recorded in Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21 as well as the many other laws as recorded in the first five books of the bible referred to as the Pentateuch. We read in Deuteronomy 31:9-13 - 9 So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 Then Moses commanded them: “At the end of every seven years, in the year for cancelling debts, during the Festival of Tabernacles, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns—so they can listen and learn to fear the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. 13 Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
IF Israel needed to regularly read Gods word, so should we be reminded. When Israel, after living forty years in the desert, then having been delivered from the clutches of Pharaoh in Egypt, finally reached the promised land of Canaan, God through Joshua said to the people in Joshua 1:8 - 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
The bible is the inspired word of God, Godly men were led by the Holy Spirit to write the bible as the apostle Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 - 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work
The bible is a history book; in the Old Testament it tells of creation and follows the lineage of Israel through into the New Testament describing the birth of Jesus and the birth of the church.
The bible is a road map and our handbook for living. At times when going through difficulties which we all encounter from time to time it becomes our First Aid book. At other times it becomes part of our spiritual arsenal fighting against the evil all around us, as the apostle Paul referred to the scriptures in Ephesians 6:17 - 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Above everything else the bible is a love story. We read in 1 John 4:9-10 - 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Jesus came into this world through the love of His father. He came to carry out the greatest rescue mission ever for mankind. At the beginning of creation when Adam in disobedience ate of the fruit in the Garden of Eden, it meant all mankind was under the curse of sin which ends in death both physically and spiritually. We associate love with the heart, the main function of our hearts is to pump life giving blood around the body. The only way mankind could atone for his sin was by killing an animal, shedding its blood and sacrificing it on an altar. From when Adams eldest son Cain through jealousy murdered his brother Abel, blood has had to be spilt to pay the penalty. We read in Hebrews 9:22 - In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Right through scripture there is a red thread running through the bible regarding the shedding of blood and the sacrifice for sin. We read of Gods preordained redemption plan, which shows how God before creation knew mankind would fall. Jesus took on himself the full punishment for our sin, by shedding His own blood. We read in 2 Timothy 1:9 - 9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,
In heaven, God has angels serving Him continually but he has created mankind to have a loving relationship. We read in Revelation 4:11 in the King James Version - Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. When Adam disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden that intimate relationship was broken, God had to make a way to bridge the gap. The bible gives us an outline to the genealogy of the Israelites which led to Jesus being born. Then in the New Testament following on from Jesus dying on that cross to make the final payment for our sins, which if we simply believe in what He has done, call on Him in repentance for all our past sins, we are then reconciled, bridging the gap able to have a relationship with him by the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 - 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
During this Coronavirus pandemic we hear of many folk who have died on their own from the virus. For the friends and families left how they yearned to be with their loved ones at this vital time, to bring some comfort. The bible is a love letter from Jesus, once we know Him personally we will know an unbroken intimacy that far outweighs human affection.
Just before Jesus paid our debt on the cross, knowing He would soon be leaving His loved ones on earth, He cried out to his father with these words in John 17 :13-16 - 13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.
Jesus wants us to have his joy within us, He also wants His Heavenly father to protect us from the evil one. Farther on in the chapter in John 17 :20-26 He prays - 20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
The consequences of a world suffering from Coronavirus brings separation, loneliness and isolation, yet here we can see that Jesus wants us to be united with Him. By reading the word of God regularly we will be encouraged and uplifted, to remind ourselves that God loves us and cares for us.
In order to know Jesus’s love we need to get to know Him, we need to make that first move. Jesus said in John 6:44 - 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. It is through the power of the Holy Spirit working in our heart this can happen. In order to be able to become a child of God we have to know how to approach a Holy, sinless God. We are reminded in Romans 10:13 - 13 “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. We have to acknowledge we are unworthy by asking his forgiveness, acknowledging that Jesus died on the cross to pay the price of our sins, and then ask Him to come into our life to be Lord and Saviour. When we do that, Gods Holy Spirit will come and live within our heart, we will then be part of Gods family, we can then begin to start building a relationship with Jesus, it will be a loving relationship.
As we read the bible we will discover the many ways God engaged with mankind through the centuries and it teaches us how to live by imitating the way God loved and dealt with his people. David wrote in Psalm 119:105 - Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. That is so true in our daily walk with God; the lamp shows you where to put your next steps and the light shows you the path further ahead.
During the Coronavirus pandemic lockdown, one thing that the government allowed to continue was the transport and distribution of food. All forms of entertainment and pleasure were closed down. It is of equal importance that we prioritise the feeding of our soul regularly, if we don’t we will die spiritually.
Jesus said in John 6:33-35 - 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.” 35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
I would encourage you to read the bible regularly not religiously or regimentally. Let it not become a daily ritual, something we have got to do as a duty, to impress and say we have done it. When we are reading the bible it is something we should want to do, we are as it were sat at the feet of Jesus allowing Him to personally speak to us and lovingly teach us how to love, live and serve Him.
I would like to share a couple of testimonies as to how the word of God can speak into our everyday lives. Some years back a friend of mine did me an injustice which brought a great financial debt on me. I confronted the friend about it, who immediately flew into a rage and stormed out of the house not willing to address the situation. On seeing how my friend had reacted in such an extreme way I was very upset having showed the true facts. I fled upstairs and threw myself prostrate onto the bed and cried out to God – LORD I have had enough you will have to sort this out. Then I slid off the bed onto my knees. On the bedside table was my bible, I opened it and these are the words that my eyes fall upon – Romans 12:19 (KJV) - Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. I immediately knew that this was a word direct from God, I knew I could stand back and leave it with Him to sort out. I am reminded of the words God gave to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 10:12 - And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. When we walk in obedience to Him, he will help us in times of trouble. For me after a difficult six months God did deal with my situation, and the situation was resolved. God’s word was indeed a lamp to my feet.
On another occasion while on a retreat, Chris and I in one of our morning devotions read from Amos 3:7 - Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets. This verse did and continues to impact our hearts; we felt this verse was of some significance at that point of our lives, what was God preparing us for? A short time later we met a lady who had started a Christian Orphanage in Romania. We had not met before; she did not know anything about us, but in the course of her conversation she paused and then said “the Lord has just spoken to me, “we have land” I interjected “where” she replied “in Romania”. She then continued “there is a house on the land your can do what you wish with it”. This was a Moses at the burning bush experience. This lady did not know I had a farming background, I knew this was from the Lord. We were already supporting a young minister in the village close by, I was invited to project manage the land, and grow crops. We in time were able to purchase some of the land and build a Christian community centre as an outreach to the village, which we still oversee today.
Let us prayerfully listen or read to three verses to the Hymn– Break now the bread of life, dear Lord, to me – Click here to listen - Hymn #515 Break Now, the Bread of Life 08.02.2020 - Bing video
1 Break now the bread of life, dear Lord, to me, as once you broke the loaves beside the sea.
Beyond the sacred page I seek you, Lord; my spirit waits for you, O living Word.
2 Bless your own word of truth, dear Lord, to me, as when you blessed the bread by Galilee.
Then shall all bondage cease, all fetters fall; and I shall find my peace, my All in All!
3 You are the bread of life, dear Lord, to me, your holy word the truth that rescues me.
Give me to eat and live with you above; teach me to love your truth, for you are love.
The final verse reads : -
4 O send your Spirit now, dear Lord, to me, that he may touch my eyes and make me see.
Show me the truth made plain within your Word, for in your book revealed I see you, Lord.
One final thought – We often hear the phrase “ I want it to come from the horse’s mouth”, which means the information we have been given, we wish it comes from the source not through a third parties. At times it is good for us all to sit and listen to Godly preachers teaching and encouraging us from the word of God, the bible. Yet one college lecturer said to his pupils “dig your own wells”, which meant discover the truth of the bible for yourself, after all many of the teachers have had to dig their own wells, they have had to study the bible for themselves to gain wisdom, knowledge and understanding. In the pourer eastern countries ladies are seen travelling great distances on foot to collect water, sometimes from a stream or river which many have been polluted and carrying disease. But then with the help of charities many have been given the opportunity to sink deep wells, which produce rich clear pure water. By digging into the Word of God yourself you also will be drinking in the pure word of God first hand, direct from the author so ensuring it will be pure and nourishing.
Many you be blessed as you read Gods word, and in doing so be the means of blessing others AMEN
