Weekly Bread

In Luke 6:47-48 we read;
“Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like: He is like a man who built a house, and digged deep and laid the foundation on a rock; and when a flood arose the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it; for it was founded upon a rock.”

God wants us to build our life on His Word. We must realize God’s Word is alive; and when we act upon it, it brings life to our situation.

Many people are sick, depressed, discouraged, broken hearted, defeated, and broke financially because they don’t know the integrity of God’s Word. Today you need to realize that God and His Word are one. God is bound to His Word, and He will do what He said He would do.

We must realize that the Word of God is firm, so we can lean on it - it is true, so we can trust in it - it is strong, so we can build on it - and it is sure, so we can stand on it. When we realize this, nothing can overcome us.

I encourage you to give God’s Word first place in your life. When your life is built on the Word, your life will produce health, prosperity, safety, soundness, deliverance, peace, love, joy, patience, and faith. It is the Word of God that produces all these things. So if your life isn’t built on the Word of God, this is what you get. No word = no peace, no word = no joy, no word = no healing, no word = no faith.

When you know the Word and do the Word, sickness and disease can beat against your life; but it won’t knock you down, you’ll still be standing. Trouble can beat against your life; but it won’t knock you down, you’ll still be standing. Mountains won’t move you, you’ll move mountains. So be encouraged and build your life with a solid foundation from the Word of God.

Throughout the generations, the church has experienced many changes, some good; while others should have been avoided. Even though we have had our challenges, the body of Christ still stands firm and resolved of heart to go forward with the Great Commission.

Matthew 28:18-19 says:

“18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:”

To teach all nations, literally means to make disciples of all nations. As we view the responsibility of the church through these verses, we can clearly see people are to be born again and made disciples of Jesus Christ. After someone has been born again, a work of discipleship begins by training the new believer to become a lifelong follower of Jesus Christ. Making sure we are not making them religious instead of spiritual, striving to develop relationship and not legalism.

An avid follower of Jesus Christ has relationship with the Father and places emphasis on the Word. Which Jesus Himself said in John 8:31,

“If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;”

1 John 2:3 says:

“And this is how we may discern [daily, by experience] that we are coming to know Him [to perceive, recognize, understand, and become better acquainted with Him]: if we keep (bear in mind, observe, practice) His teachings (precepts, commandments)." AMP

Relationship, the Word of God, and discipleship cannot be separated; they go hand in hand in forming a changed life.

A convert without relationship makes for a lousy witness, because God will always be misrepresented to the world around us. We’ve had too much of that in our time. An example of this was seen in Jesus' day when He addressed the religious crowd in Matthew 23:15,

"How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You sail the seas and cross whole countries to win one convert; and when you succeed, you make him twice as deserving of going to hell as you yourselves are!” TEV

This may seem sharp and hard, but He was dealing with a group who were supposed to be representing Him, but instead they were misrepresenting. Therefore, they were misleading those whom they had converted; Jesus said they were blind guides. Matthew 23:16

"Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!"

They made a religious practice from something intended to be a relationship, so when Jesus came He magnified the Father to the people and established relationship. We are expected to do the same thing Jesus did and not as the religious crowd did. As we endeavor to carry out the Great Commission, we must remember it is two-fold; getting them born again and making disciples.

Have you ever heard the saying, “It’s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game?” If we really think about that statement, it’s definitely not true. Everybody wants to win. I believe it’s a quality that God put in all of us, a desire to experience victory in everyday life; but most Christians aren’t experiencing victory in everyday life.

Why? Well, it’s because we have been using the wrong measuring stick. We have been seeing ourselves through the world’s eyes and not through God’s eyes. We haven’t seen ourselves in the light of God’s Word.

In I Corinthians 15:57 we read;
“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

In Revelations 12:11 we read;
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto death.”

In I John 5:4-5 we read;
“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”

In these verses, we see that God has made it possible for us to experience victory in every day life. Jesus purchased our victory with His death on the cross. Victory has been made available, we just need to believe the Word of God and then pursue it with diligence.

As Christians, it is time that we realize we don’t have to settle for second best, we don’t have to be discouraged, we don’t have to be sick, we don’t have to be broke, and we don’t have to quit. We can actually experience victory by allowing the truth of God’s Word to become a reality in our life.

The children of Israel didn’t experience the victory of the promise land because they didn’t believe what God said. They had no one to blame except themselves. If we, as Christians, aren’t experiencing victory, the truth is we have no one to blame but ourselves.

As I close, be encouraged, Jesus has already purchased our victory. He has made us overcomers, and He has made us more than conquerors. We just need to believe God’s Word and act like it's true. Life’s problems might knock us down, but God’s Word will pick us right back up, and we will experience victory and not defeat.

Pastor Jimmy Brackeen