Daily Bread Pastor Mike Anderson

John 15:18-20 The World Hates the Disciples 18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours. You may hear in some Christian circles, "He or she has become very worldly". This is not a sense in which someone has become a world traveler, but they have started to compromise some their Christian values for values the world espouses. In the world it is "get all you can while you can", "a little skim off the top won't hurt anyone, after all I work hard", or "everybody does it, it can't be that bad". I remember when I went to college how hard it was to maintain my Christian va...

Romans 8:9-11 9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. In Paul's writings again today, we see several teachings about the nature of the Holy Spirit. As I have said before, most churches have a largely undeveloped education plan to teach about Holy Spirit. Who is He? What Does He Do? How Does the Holy Spirit Empower Our Lives? Because the work of the Holy Spirit is such a large part of Paul's teaching on how we actually live the Christian live as a disciple of Christ, it behooves us to...

Romans 8:1-8 Life Through the Spirit 8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of th...

Genesis 11:1-9 The Tower of Babel 11 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward,[a] they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. 3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” 5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” 8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel because there the Lord confus...

John 7:37-39 37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them." 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. It is good to know the background of the third Jewush festival, which was celebrated in the Fall after the harvest. The feast was 7 days long, and each family would set up booths to celebrate God's blessing with each other. It was called the "feast of booths" or the "feast of tabernacles". In the New Testament the priests each day would go to the pool of Siloam, and fill up large ceremonial jugs with water. This would be a reminder of how the Israelites were delivered from the water, and how Moses struck the rock and the water came out,...

I remember when I was younger the talk about the arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union, specifically for nuclear weapons. Wikipedia describes an "arms race" as: An arms race, in its original usage, is a competition between two or more parties to have the best armed forces. Each party competes to produce larger numbers of weapons, greater armies, or superior military technology in a technological escalation. International conflict specialist Alex Upton, defines the term as "the participation of two or more nation-states in apparently competitive or interactive increases in quantity or quality of war material and/or persons under arms." In today's passage the psalmist says, "No King is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite its great strength, it cannot save." I'm not against having a military defense to protect the freedoms we cherish so deeply....

So often we try to figure out what heaven will be like? What does it look like? What will God and Jesus look like? Will they be One or separate? And finally what will we look like? Will we basically be the same, or a rejuvenated, better version of our previous bodies. Will we be the same age as when we died, or go back to our invincible youth with a full head of hair. I am particularly interested in that question. Finally, how can today's passage help to answer these questions or not? I think the first thing we could deduce is that our resurrected body will be different from what we experience here. He says we will not have a natural body but a new spiritual body. What does that mean? I am not sure. When I think of spiritual I think of something you cannot see. Like the Holy Spirit. It blows where it wills and you feel its power but He cannot be seen. Or maybe since the Holy Spirit is a person, we will see him too. I am reminded of Jesus when he appeared to his disciples ...

As Jesus prepares his disciples for his departure he says, "in a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me." It is easy for us to look back and know that he is referring to his death and subsequent resurrection. But the disciples were befuddled and talked among themselves trying to figure what he was saying. Jesus knew what they were talking about so he tries to explain the meaning to them using some analogies. He uses the example of childbirth as an illustration of something very painful but leads to joy and new life. Pain turns into gladness. And grief into joy. Jesus will go through death on the cross on Friday, and will be raised to new life on Sunday. Their will be new life and much rejoicing. So the question for you today might be where is there pain in your life? How can God use this suffering and turn it into joy despite the circumstances? James responds to us saying to not be surprised when we face many kinds of trials...

As someone has said, "As the leaders go, so goes the church." Simply put in every Christ centered and thriving church, you will find godly leaders. You will find true shepherds who watch over their flock not eager for gain, but willing to lay down their lives for them. You will find servant leaders, who don't look out for their own interests but to the interests of others. And of course, this is all modeled after The Lord Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, who laid down his life for the sheep whom he had called. So today when Paul writes to Titus, his brother in the faith, he has in mind this crucial issue of godly leaders. The New Testament has a couple words for these leaders. One is elder, who exercises spiritual oversight of the congregation. He is also called an overseer for the same reason. Finally, this person is also sometimes called a bishop or presbyter. Bottom line is that these were the men who led the churches. They preached and taught and oversaw the spir...

As God appointed Aaron as the High Priest, who came into God's presence as an intermediary for the Israelites, we see a foreshadowing of the ministry of Christ, the Great High priest. The various items Aaron put on his body point to Jesus' role in mediation between God and man. 1. Breastplate with the names of the sons of Israel. - Jesus was the breastplate of righteousness, who wrote down all of his sons and daughter's names in the book of life. 2. The Urim and Thummin. These were put into the breastplate and traditionally used as a source of divination. They could mean "yes" or "no", and similar to casting lots, they were used in decision making. Also, they were used to determine who was a sinner in their midst. We know Jesus was the wisdom of God, and judged the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. In a similar way, the Holy Spirit plays this role in a believer's life. 3. The robe with gold bells and pomegranates. They signify the covering ...

Today the writer tells us of the importance of passing on the faith to the next generation. Some in the more pessimistic camp would say that Christianity is one or two generations from extinction. As I look at my kids, I am more optimistic. I hope I feel the same when one day I would be blessed with grand kids. As we look at Deuteromy 11 today, we see the primary way the Jewish people were given to pass on the faith that was given to them. You notice that the first place of faith formation is in the home. And the primary tool is God's word. You see the intentionality of making God's word at the center of all they do. They even go as far as to tie the scripture to their hands and forehead. How would you forget that? But besides that it also says that the discussion of the bible should be part of each part of the day. When you sit at home, and when you walk on the road,and when you lie down and get up. And as a testimony to the people outside of your home, they are to write t...

The verses below are the words Paul gives to his son in the faith, Timothy. He urges him to carry out his calling without spot or blemish. I don't think Paul is saying that Timothy has to be perfect in his behavior as much as being faithful to his calling. And as he pursues this calling, he is to keep in mind that Jesus will appear again in great and promised glory. Importantly though, we don't know when this time will come, only God does. Jesus was faithful in his calling to His Father, even when his life was on the line with his trial before Pontius Pilate. Jesus remained faithful even unto death on the cross. Paul would soon himself carry out his calling to his own death. Eusebius, church historian, says that Timothy became the bishop of the church at Ephesus, where Paul left him in charge. Tradition says this about Timothy's death, "The apocryphal Acts of Timothy states that in the year 97, the 80 year old bishop tried to halt a procession in honor of the godd...

As Paul nears the end of his journey, he gives a final charge to his protege Timothy. Timothy had been his faithful companion, even risking himself for the sake of the Gospel. Here is what he has to say about him in Philippians 2, "I hope in The Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. 20 I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. 21 For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel." Paul had mentored him with the words, "imitate me as I imitate Christ!" Paul knew he wasn't perfect, just as he knew Timothy wasn't perfect. But he saw in Timothy an ability to die to his own interests to serve others in Jesus name. In this final charge, Paul realizes that there will be false teachers that try to pervert the Gospel...

As Moses reaches the end of his life, he knows that he will not physically be able to lead the people that he had led faithfully for so long. He knows he is going back to The Lord he had served with all his heart. So Moses did that which God had told him to do when God had supernaturally gave Him the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. As he finished his last sermon to the people of Israel, he told them to take to heart the words that he had spoken to them. He says they are not just "idle words" they are your life. The words were bigger than Moses, and even bigger than Joshua. Why? Because they are God's words. And Moses told them that if they would live by them, they would live long in the land God was going to give them. The land was a gift God had promised as they left slavery in Egypt. But when they received the precious gift of land filled will milk and honey, they would have to live according to these words if they wanted to continue to prosper. And one day like...

Today's text shows there are two kinds of wisdom. Maybe you have never thought there are two kinds of wisdom, but today in James 3, we see the distinction. In summary, he compares and contrasts heavenly wisdom with earthly wisdom. He concludes they are really quite different in their origin, their nature, and their fruits. So let's do some comparing. First, how can we know if wisdom is from earth or heaven? How do we distinguish the two? Heavenly wisdom is shown by a good life, as characterized by humility. In contrast, earthly wisdom is envious and rooted in selfish ambition. And the fruits of this self driven wisdom is every kind of disorder and evil practice. It even paves the way for even demonic activity. On the contrary, heavenly wisdom produces the fruit of purity, peace, kindness and consideration. It is merciful, sincere, and at the heart of real peacemaking. There might be many who say their teaching is the key to a prosperous life. But what is the acid test f...

If I were to pick one text that is the clearest teaching on the Christian life, I would pick John 15 from the Gospels, and this one from the letter to Galatians. The presenting problem in Galatia was the Jewish believers were demanding newly converted Gentile men to be circumcised. Paul is furious with them for so easily going from Gospel to Law. From freedom back to bondage. Paul reminds them that there is no way to be right with God except through what Jesus has done on the cross. But in chapter 5 he answers the "so what" question. Meaning what does all this doctrinal clarification mean for our lives. How do we use our freedom to serve Christ, rather than indulge the sinful desires? Wouldn't it be worse having been set free from sin to return to it and disregard what Jesus had done for you on the Cross. And so Paul gives us the only real way to live out our faith, and not return to the legalism of the law, nor the indulgence of the flesh. Meaning, I'm forgiven...

We see here that there is a bifurcation between the disciple's accepting the Word of God, and the reception of the Holy Spirit. Normally we say when someone comes to faith, they receive the Holy Spirit, as that seems to be the norm of scripture. But as I have heard said, "the book if Acts is messy in the way God works". Meaning sometimes we like to put parameters around how God should work. We see this with baptism. Sometimes believers within households come to faith and the whole household is baptized. (Lydia and Cornelius). Sometimes adults come to faith and are baptized and receive the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was baptized, it was not for his sins, but to fulfill all righteousness. But when he was baptized the Spirit descended upon him like a dove, and his formal ministry started at age 30. Some would make this normative for all baptism. They would say, Jesus came to faith as an adult, therefore believer's baptism (which includes the reception of the Holy Spirit) i...