February 21, 2002

OUR DAILY BREAD, Part II

"Give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11, NKJV).

"When we pray, 'Give us this day our daily bread,' we ask for others as well as ourselves. And we acknowledge that what God gives us is not for ourselves alone. God gives to us in trust, that we may feed the hungry. Of His goodness He has prepared for the poor. (Psalm 68:10). And He says, 'When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors... But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just' (Luke 14:12-14).

"God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all sufficiency in all things may have an abundance for every good work.' 'He who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.' (2 Corinthians 9:8, 6).

"The prayer for daily bread includes not only food to sustain the body, but that spiritual bread which will nourish the soul unto life everlasting. Jesus bids us, 'Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life' (John 6:27). He says, 'I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever' (John 6:51). Our Saviour is the bread of life, and it is by beholding His love, by receiving it into the soul, that we feed upon the bread which came down from heaven.

"We receive Christ through His word, and the Holy Spirit is given to open the word of God to our understanding, and bring home its truths to our hearts. We are to pray day by day that as we read His word, God will send His Spirit to reveal to us the truth that will strengthen our souls for the day's need.

"In teaching us to ask every day for what we need--both temporal and spiritual blessings--God has a purpose to accomplish for our good. He would have us realize our dependence upon His constant care, for He is seeking to draw us into communion with Himself. In this communion with Christ, through prayer and the study of the great and precious truths of His word, we shall as hungry souls be fed; as those that thirst, we shall be refreshed at the fountain of life."--Thoughts From The Mount Of Blessing, pp., 111-113.