Manna for Your Morning

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. — 1 John 2:16-17 (NASB1995) In Matthew 4:1, Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. In Matthew 4:4 (NKJV), Jesus answered the devil by saying, “ It is written , ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” In response to the devil’s second temptation, Jesus said to him, “ It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’ ” (See Matthew 4:7 NKJV) The third time, Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written , ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” (Matthew 4:10 NKJV) “Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.” (Matthew 4:11 NLT)  Yeshua shows us that in times of te...

“They come to you as people come and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their greedy gain.” — Ezekiel 33:31 (LSB) The scattered remnants of Israel living among the ruined cities went to hear the word of the LORD from the prophet Ezekiel for entertainment. They heard the word but they had no intention of doing as the LORD instructed. (See Ezekiel 33:24,32 NLT) In Matthew 7:26-27 (NASB1995) Yeshua says: “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.” However He says: “…everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against tha...

Then his father and his mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she looks good to me.” — Judges 14:3 (NASB1995) Everything that looks good to us, is not necessarily good for us. Genesis 3:6 says: Eve saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, and we see the result of that situation. O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! (Psalm 34:8) For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. (1 John 2:16) Therefore, Hebrews 12:1-2 tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus and run  with endurance the race that is set before us.  May we profess, as King David did in Psalm 101:3 (...

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. — 1 John 4:7-8 (NLT) Lust seeks self-gratification. Love is other-focused, not self-centered. Jesus was beaten, shed His blood, gave His life and was resurrected, to save us and reconcile us back to the Father. He set us free from sin and made it possible for us to live an abundant life on earth and an eternal life in His Presence. As we decrease and let Jesus occupy every crevice of our heart, His love will shine brighter and brighter through each one of us and we, as children of God, can illuminate the world.  He must increase, but I must decrease. — John 3:30 (NASB)