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God’s Daily Bread

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Counting the Omer: Day 22

Leviticus 24:5-9 “Take the finest flour and bake twelve loaves of bread, using two-tenths of an ephah  for each loaf.6 Arrange them in two stacks, six in each stack, on the table of pure gold before the Lord. 7 By each stack put some pure incense as a memorial portion to represent the bread and to be a food offering presented to the Lord. 8 This bread is to be set out before the Lord regularly, Sabbath after Sabbath, on behalf of the Israelites, as a lasting covenant. 9 It belongs to Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it in the sanctuary area, because it is a most holy part of their perpetual share of the food offerings presented to the Lord.” 

We know from our previous studies that bread, and grain referred to throughout the Bible can be a symbol of the Word of God. What few fail to see is what the Bible is alluding to when it mentions incense; especially in relation to the Old Testament. The Bible is often the best interpreter of itself. From its pages we discover its symbolic meaning. Revelation 5:8 states: And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.

Leviticus 24:5-9 communicates some important truths in regard to God’s Bread accompanying the incense of prayer. This act of Tabernacle and Temple worship was to be presented to the Lord as a food offering. But a food offering for whom? From the context of this passage it appears that this “bread” was for the priests. Yet, this bread was to be set before the Lord continually, Sabbath after Sabbath, as an everlasting covenant. This seems to imply that God’s Bread – is our prayers. I was puzzled for years by Revelation 3:20‘s claims that if the person who heard Jesus calling, and knocking, would open the door – He would come in and eat with them. I struggled with knowing how to interpret its meaning till I prayed and sought the Lord. Once during a time of personal communion after examining myself I began to receive downloads of revelation from the Spirit and Word of God. This annoyed me. I was attempting to focus on Jesus being with me in communion and these “thoughts” interrupted that process. It took some time to recognize that Jesus, in answer to my prayers to understand, had sat down with me – desiring  to “break bread” with me – through His Word. Luke 24:15 echoes this idea by stating: Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat – this Passover with….you…before I suffer….” Jesus fervently desires to eat with us through prayer and His Word. You could conclude that Jesus is “dying” to talk with us, commune, or fellowship. Now take some time to mull that over. What if you were the only believer in the entire world. How well “fed” would He be from the “bread” of your prayers? Do your prayers “count” as God’s Bread?

 

The Last!

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Revelation 1:10-12 I was in the Spirit [rapt in His power] on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a great voice like the calling of a war trumpet,11 Saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last. Write promptly what you see (your vision) in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia—to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.12 Then I turned to see [whose was] the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,…

Natasha Bedingfield penned the lyrics to the song, Unwritten. Here are the lyrics: I am unwritten – Can’t read my mind – I’m undefined – I’m just beginning – The pen’s in my hand – Ending unplanned. Staring at the blank page before you – Open up the dirty window – Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find. Reaching for something in the distance – So close you can almost taste it – Release your inhibitions – Feel the rain on your skin – No one else can feel it for you – Only you can let it in. No one else, no one else – Can speak the words on your lips – Drench yourself in words unspoken – Live your life with arms wide open – Today is where your book begins – The rest is still unwritten. I break tradition Sometimes my tries are outside the lines – We’ve been conditioned to not make mistakes – But I can’t live that way.

Only there are a couple of things I would disagree with: The pen’s in my hand? Mother Teresa once said: I am a little pencil in God’s hands. He does the thinking. He does the writing. He does everything and sometimes it is really hard because it is a broken pencil and He has to sharpen it a little more. In 2 Cor. 3:3 the Apostle Paul reminds us: You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. NIV

Ending unplanned? Your ending is planned. There’s a curious Scripture passage which states: And all the inhabitants of the earth will fall down in adoration and pay him homage, everyone whose name has not been recorded in the Book of Life of the Lamb that was slain [in sacrifice] from the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:8 AMPC) Jesus was crucified before the foundation of the world? Your life has been planned. Take part in His Plans.

As Natasha reminds us: We’ve been conditioned to not make mistakes. Stop it. Drench yourself in His Words and release you inhibitions. Try outside the lines of your comfort zones and break your tradition. Quit living that way. Reach for the One in the “Distance” that according to Acts 17:27 really isn’t that far away. And don’t just open a dirty window (your limited vision) but open up the Door you have been commanded to open (Rev. 3:20). You are the one with the handle. He’s knocking on the other side waiting for you to make room for Him; to open the Door. Walk with Him in the Light of the Lampstands, or Menorahs of His Holy Spirit.

Positioning Ourselves for More of God: Part 2 – Our Heart

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In Psalm 139, verses 23-24, the psalmist says: Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Ps 139:23-24 NIV)

Notably, the psalmist makes this request of God to “search” him right after he’s just informed us in earlier verses 1-4 (below) that the Lord, in fact, already knows everything about him. He tells us that the Lord has not only already searched him, but knows his every thought, exactly what he does, what kind of person he is, and every word that will come out of his mouth – before he even says it.

You have searched me, Lord, and You know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue You, Lord, know it completely. (Ps 139: 1-4 NIV)

John 2:25 confirms: “No one needed to tell Him about human nature, for He knew what was in each person’s heart.” (NLT)

So the question is, If God already knows all this, why then does the Psalmist specifically ask God to do something he knows He has already done? Is it some sort of rhetorical device, or is there more behind it?

The answer, I believe, is that its quite intentional. That in requesting God to “search” him, knowing God already knows him, the psalmist reminds us when we invite God into our heart, it is through a door of intentional and voluntary submission and contrition (Rev 3:20). This is the thing that God desires most from us: The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God. (Ps 51:17 NLT)

Or, in Isaiah: Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool; what is the house that you would build for Me, and what is the place of My rest? All these things My hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. (Isaiah 66:1-2 ESV)

Thank You Lord for Your Word. It is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path so that we can seek You and find You. Lord, teach us how to be like the psalmist, submitting our hearts to You so You can find a welcoming place within us to rest. Lead us in all Your ways – continue to transform us and empower us – so that through our words and deeds we can glorify Your Name in greater ways each day. Amen