Daily Bread Pastor Mike Anderson

Jesus Heals the Sick 23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. 25 Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis,[g] Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him. I have always wondered why there is such a "bad news" bias in the media. Why does bad news dominate the media? Is bad news more compelling than other stories? Do we feel better about ourselves when things are worse around us? While these reasons explain some of it, there is one I suspect drives this bias. "Bad news sells"! Particularly scandals about celebrities are among the top ratings for bad news. Also news about terror and natural disasters. In contr...

Jesus Calls His First Disciples 18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him. 21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. With the simple words "follow me" Jesus called his first disciples. A good word for this today would be "apprentice". A dictionary uses this definition, "One bound by indenture to serve another for a prescribed period with a view to learning an art or trade. "One who is learning by practical experience under skilled workers a trade, art, or calling." Like other ap...

Matthew 4:17 "From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near". Whenever we think of the word "preach", there is usually a negative connotation associated with the comment. "Don't preach at me!", we hear from someone who is feeling someone attacked by someone. Or, it is associated with a "fire and brimstone" preacher warning people about going to hell if they don't "repent". What I would like to do in today's blog is to redefine words like "preach" and "repent", because by and large we have lost in many ways the importance of these two words. First, we need to go back to what the two words REALLY mean! The word "preach" literally means to "announce" or "proclaim". The word "repent" means to "turn around", or have a "change of mind that leads to change of behavior" So when Jesus begins preach saying, ...

Matthew 3:8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” 10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. There are many ways to view temptation. The world even has songs about it. 80's rock band Squeeze had a hit song, "Tempted by the fruit of another". There is a TV reality series called "Temptation Island". This was where married couples were put on an island with several attractive members of the opposite sex to test the strength of their relationship. Of course, some failed. What does the bible say about temptation? The best bible verse on the subject comes from 1 Corinthians 10:13 which says, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man, but God is faithful and will...

Matthew 4:5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test." How often has someone said to you, "If you were really _____, you would ______"? This can often be a way of shaming someone, or trying to get someone them to do something you want them to do. Oftentimes misguided parents may use this as a way to change their child's behavior. The devil seems to use this strategy in tempting Jesus for the second time in the wilderness. He appeals to Jesus' pride by telling him to jump off the temple. It would be an amazing miracle for the people to see in the place they gathered to worship. We even see Satan misquo...

4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’" If you are like me, one of my favorite foods is bread. Bread is the staple food of almost every culture since the beginning of time. Even when the Israelites were traveling in the desert, God provided them manna from heaven. Manna was a light, thin wafer-like bread that God rained down each day to feed them. There was just enough manna for them to have enough energy for the day. God told them to not take more than they needed, and when they did it became rancid as a sign that they did not trust in God. So today Jesus is in the wilderness led by the Spirit. He has fasted for 40 days and guess what he is hungry. Really hungry. The devil uses it as an opportunity to tempt him by saying, "turn these stones into loaves of bread". Satan knows Jesus can do this, and Jesus knows he can do this, but he also knows that it was not yet time to start doing h...

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. I don't know if you have ever been asked to do something and your response was, "Why me?" It is usually in these situations, where we are being called to do something bigger than ourselves. One can only imagine how John felt when Jesus came to him to be baptized. When John saw Jesus for the first time he said, "Behold the sinless Lamb of God, who came to take away the sins of the world. Sinful John is asked by sinless Jesus to baptize him. There are many possibilities for why Jesus asked to be baptized by John, but we know that one of them was not for the forgiveness of his sins. Simply put if Jesus had any sin, he would have had to die for his own sin on the cross, not ours. So wh...

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life". John 14:6 As we mentioned yesterday, Jesus never minced words about who He was and why He came to earth. Yesterday we quoted him saying, "I am the resurrection and the life". Many people think this verse shows how narrow minded and exclusive Christianity is. I mean how could Jesus be the only way? That is not very politically correct! How about all the other ways? Let's examine what he means by these three statements about himself, and whether they are actually true. Jesus said, "I am the way" The way to what? Jesus' primary mission was to lead people back to the Father. But in what sense was Jesus that way? Jesus became the way by dying on a cross for us, so we could be reconciled with the Father. The way had been blocked by our sin problem and Jesus cleared the way by dying for our sins. And here is the thing, many people think that is narrow minded to say, "Jesus is the only way!...

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” Someone described a panic or anxiety attack as a fear that one is actually going to die. Having had one I concur. Here is a description of one, "It's same way you would feel if you were holding onto a ledge above a 10 story building. Your body is telling you that you need to be very afraid because your life is in danger." And next to public speaking, the fear of death is always one of the top fears we face as humans. And the fact is 1 out of 1 of us will die. Jesus speaks to this fear today. In this case he is speaking to Mary, Lazarus' sister, who is grieving her brother's death. As Jesus comforts her he uses the words above. Many people outside the Christian faith acknowledge Jesus as a good teacher or moral person, and yet the Christian faith makes the claim th...

Matthew 6:34 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. You've probably heard the saying, "I would worry if I didn't have anything to worry about". While this saying is somewhat humorous, anxiety disorders affect 40 million Americans. Mark Twain said, "My life has been filled with calamities, some of which actually happened." As you know most of what you worry about never happens. If you doubt that, guess what? A now famous University of Cincinnati study found that 85% of what we worry about never happens. Moreover 80% of people handle what happens to them in ways that turn the situation around and make them better people. While we think this is a modern problem, apparently there was worry in Jesus' day too. Jesus teaches us some valuable lessons on worry in just one sentence. He says simply, "Why worry about tomorrow when you cannot control tomorrow?" And earlier in...

Matthew 18:2-4 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. We have seen big shifts in the role of children over the ages. In the 15th century the phrase "children should be seen but not heard" became cliche. But as we all know times have changed. As one website notes, "Seen and not heard? Not any more. Children are at the center of all big family decisions in the modern household 92% of parents routinely involve their children in family decisions. But two thirds say they weren't asked by their own mother and father Decisions include where to go on holiday and what to eat for supper. Camping trips are out: 53% of children say a tent stay isn't a holiday. Personally on this last I am with the 53%! But though opinions on children have changed ov...

John 8:9-10 But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her. This is one of my favorite stories about Jesus. In this part of the gospel of John, Jesus came to a Jewish festival about halfway through it and began to teach that he was sent from God. Some people were curious and interested, while the Pharisees, the religious leaders, were furious. To test him further they brought to him a woman caught in adultery. They wanted to trap him so they could refute his teaching and bring him down. They were threatened by him. Of course, Jesus knew their thoughts. He knew that if he did not say to stone her, they would accuse him of not following the Law of Moses. If he did say to stone her, he would be seen as unmerciful. So what did Jesus do? He scribbled in the sand, as they interrogated him, maybe as a sign that he was...

Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” As you begin 2016, are you weary and burdened? Do you experience joy on regular basis? As you look back on last year did you experience joy very often? Or, did you feel stressed most of the time, and running on fumes a lot of the time? When people asked you how you were doing was your most frequent answer, "I'm busy!" Of course God wants us to lead productive lives, but that doesn't necessarily mean being in a hurry all the time. Psychology Today has called this "hurry sickness". A recent article said, "Do You Suffer from Hurry Sickness? If you suspect you suffer from hurry sickness – either occasionally or chronically - you probably do. Here are some clues: • Moving from one check-out line to...

To the Church in Laodicea 14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. 21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit w...