The Bread of Life Ministry Center

Somebody had to go into the fire in order for Nebuchadnezzar to see God. Remember it's not always about you #readthatagainSomebody had to go into the fire in order for Nebuchadnezzar to see God. Remember it's not always about you #readthatagain

A Sacrifice Worth Making One of my favorite Scripture passages talks about what will be required of us if we choose to pursue sacrificial living the way Jesus d...id: Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. (Philippians 2:36, msg) What if the key to being brave and defying the divides that have formed in our families, our neighborhoods, our churches, and our friend groups has something to do with forgetting ourselves? What if we hold our stories with confidence and tenderness, appreciating what we’ve learned, but don’t consider them or our values the most important thing? This is the journey of humankindness: knowing and loving ourselves fully and honoring the hand life has dealt us, emptying ourselves for others, seeing the fullness of joy and hurt and pain in every interaction, and then choosing to regard another with humility and selflessness anyway. I have a long way to go to live a life that reflects Paul’s charge in Philippians 2, to extend kindness as he challenged in Ephesians 4. But the unity of our humanity achieved not by our own striving but because of a good God’s perfect love and kindness toward usis worth the continued pursuit. Because at the end of the day, we must ask ourselves, Is our human unity worth our sacrifice? I’m not talking about unity that is tolerant or fake, ignoring conviction and diluting identity. Mere tolerance and ignorance aren’t kind. I’m talking about unity that rallies us together around our imago Dei and calls us to pursue relational healing with a higher purpose, anchored by the freeing power of the good news of grace. After all, in the beginning what united our humanness was that God considered it very good. And that is still true today. What does humility have to do with acknowledging that each person you know is made in the image of God? #2021growth

The Power of Kindness If we let it, kindness will be a part of what saves us from the divisions that have become cemented in how we coexist, from the sting when... we talk about what grieves us, and from the pride of our postures online and across tables as we advocate for that which we believe in so strongly. Kindness will be able to undo the damage we’ve done because it’s the secret weapon for detecting the intrinsic worth found in every person. But in order to see the power of kindness on display, we’ll always have to sacrifice something, whether it is time or impatience or the dominance of our own opinions. It takes a brave person to come out of hiding, to come off a Twitter feed or Instagram live video and sit in the flesh with another human being who was crafted with intentionality and great love, injected with the imago Dei, the image of God himself. It takes bravery to look someone in the eye, choosing to believe that person is worthy and choosing to be changed by intentionally engaging both kindly and respectfully with one whom the Creator called very good (Genesis 1:31, NIV). In its original Greek the word chrstos, which we translate kind, means useful toward others, good-natured, and gentle. Jesus used the same word in the gospel of Luke when he spoke these words to his disciples and the multitude: Love your enemies! Do good to them For [God] is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked (Luke 6:35, NLT, emphasis added). Loving an enemy? Super hard. I’d argue that it’s harder than debating that same enemy on social media or gossiping about him in the break room. But Jesus commanded it because he did it first. Extending kindness is a lot harderand a lot more powerfulthan we give it credit for. Kindness does more than facilitate easy pleasantries or cordiality. It melts swords in the arena. It helps us see beyond mere words to our hearts and shows us, truly, how suffering has shaped us and taught us to treat one another. It gives us hope and catalyzes healing between parents and children, neighbors, and nations. Kindness may not be loud or demanding, but given enough time, it wins. Why is it brave to be kind? How does kindness free us to see others as made in God’s image? And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32 #2021growth

The BIG Picture: It’s the Fruit The first commandment that God gave to mankind in Genesis 1 was, Be fruitful and multiply. The thing about fruit on trees is t...hat it’s not there to benefit the tree, but to benefit other people. You will pass on to others whatever it is that you carry including the authority that you choose to walk in. God never gives us something just for us. It is always about the bigger picture and the fruit of our lives that impacts others. When you walk in your authority in Christ and live from the hope and joy and freedom that is your inheritance as His son or daughter, the lives of others will undoubtedly be affected by the overflow. It’s so important for you to know your inheritance as a son or daughter of God. It’s FREEDOM. It’s HEALING. It’s FORGIVENESS. It’s LOVE. It’s JOY. It’s PEACE. And you get to lay claim to those promises. You get to claim your inheritance. The enemy knows that he cannot hold in bondage a believer who knows his or her authority in Christ. Ask the Lord: Father, how can I begin to impact others as I choose to stand in the authority You have given me? I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. John 15:5 NKJV #2021growth

Power of Declaration Knowing your authority in Christ allows you to stand firm against the enemy, and it will also radically change the way you pray. When you u...nderstand your authority, you begin to understand that through prayer, you can make a declaration that whatever the Lord has PROMISED to you in His Word is yours! Here’s what happens when we understand our authority: instead of praying for something that God has already promised is ours in His Word, we actually pray a declaration that whatever we need is already ours! We don’t pray FOR victory; we pray FROM a place of victory. For example, if you desire peace, you won’t feebly say, Oh Lord, life is just so hard, and I need peace. No, you know that peace is something that the Lord has PROMISED to you in His Word, so you pray a declaration that peace is YOURS, and you are claiming it! You demand fear and anxiety to leave you. You get after the enemy! When you make a decree over your life, you demand your rights as a son or daughter of God. And to be clear, we are not demanding of God when we demand our rights; we’re demanding of the devil what is OURS because God has promised it to us, and we have the authority to claim it! Job 22:28 says, You will declare a thing, and it will be established for you; so light will shine on your ways (NKJV). The Word encourages us not to just pray, but to declare and decree the promises of God over our lives. Ask the Lord: Holy Spirit, is there any area of my life that I need to begin to claim what is mine? If so, what? You will also declare a thing, And it will be established for you; So light will shine on your ways. Job 22:28 NKJV #2021growth

Grace will cause you to get back up. His grace is always sufficient!