THE SPIRITUAL INDEX

“Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?” — Matthew 7:9

Jesus uses the example of a good father and his child to teach us about prayer.

Sometimes we pray and wonder why we are not receiving answers. Instead of immediately thinking, “Maybe it is not God's will,” we should also examine our relationship with God and with other people.

Check your spiritual life.

Ask yourself:

Am I treating my husband or wife properly?

Am I treating my children well?

Am I kind to my friends and fellow Christians?

Is there someone I have refused to forgive?

Do I owe someone something that I have refused to pay?

Am I asking God to bless me while I am hurting someone else?

Am I asking God for freedom while I am refusing to give freedom to others?


Sometimes the problem is not that God cannot answer our prayer. The problem may be something in our own lives that needs to be corrected.

We can easily mistake stubbornness for devotion and arguing with God for strong faith.

But God wants us to examine ourselves.

If you have been rude, unforgiving, dishonest, angry, or unfair, don't ignore it while asking God for greater spiritual blessings.

Go back and make things right.

Being a child of God is not only about saying that we are Christians. It also means walking in God's light and allowing Him to change how we live.

Prayer should not just be emotional words. Our daily lives should agree with our prayers.

Before asking God for more, check your relationship with Him and with people.

Sometimes the answer to your prayer begins with repentance, forgiveness, obedience, or making something right.

When we walk rightly with God, we can come to Him with confidence, knowing that:

> “Everyone that asketh receiveth.” — Matthew 7:8

Check the index. Look at your life. What is God asking you to correct?

PROVERB OF THE DAY

( Proverbs 24)

1. Do not be envious of evil men,
Nor desire to be with them;

2. For their heart devises violence,
And their lips talk of troublemaking.

3. Through wisdom a house is built,
And by understanding it is established;

4. By knowledge the rooms are filled
With all precious and pleasant riches.

5. A wise man is strong,
Yes, a man of knowledge increases strength;

6. For by wise counsel you will wage your own war,
And in a multitude of counselors there is safety.

7. Wisdom is too lofty for a fool;
He does not open his mouth in the gate.

8. He who plots to do evil
Will be called a schemer.

9. The devising of foolishness is sin,
And the scoffer is an abomination to men.

10. If you faint in the day of adversity,
Your strength is small.

11. Deliver those who are drawn toward death,
And hold back those
stumbling to the slaughter.

12. If you say, “Surely we did not know this,” Does not He who weighs the hearts consider it?
He who keeps your soul, does He not know it?
And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?

13. My son, eat honey because it is good,
And the honeycomb which is sweet to your taste;

14. So shall the knowledge of wisdom be to your soul;If you have found it, there is a prospect, And your hope will not be cut off.

15. Do not lie in wait, O wicked man,
against the dwelling of the righteous;
Do not plunder his resting place;

16. For a righteous man may fall seven times
And rise again,
But the wicked shall fall by calamity.

17. Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not
Let your heart be glad when he stumbles;

18. Lest the LORD see it, and it displease Him,
And He turn away His wrath from him.

19. Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the wicked;

20. For there will be no prospect for the evil man;
The lamp of the wicked will be put out.

21. My son, fear the LORD and the king;
Do not associate with those given to change;

22. For their calamity will rise suddenly,
And who knows the ruin those two can bring?

23.These things
also belong to the wise:

It is not good to show partiality in judgment.

24. He who says to the wicked, “You are righteous,”
Him the people will curse;
Nations will abhor him.

25. But those who rebuke the wicked will have delight,
And a good blessing will come upon them.

26. He who gives a right answer kisses the lips.

27. Prepare your outside work,
Make it fit for yourself in the field;
And afterward build your house.

28. Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause,
For would you deceive with your lips?

29. Do not say, “I will do to him just as he has done to me;
I will render to the man according to his work.”

30. I went by the field of the lazy man,
And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding;

31. And there it was, all overgrown with thorns;
Its surface was covered with nettles;
Its stone wall was broken down.

32. When I saw it, I considered it well;
I looked on it and received instruction:

33. A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to rest;

34. So shall your poverty come like a prowler,
And your need like an armed man.

PROVERB OF THE DAY

( Proverbs 24)

1. Do not be envious of evil men,
Nor desire to be with them;

2. For their heart devises violence,
And their lips talk of troublemaking.

3. Through wisdom a house is built,
And by understanding it is established;

4. By knowledge the rooms are filled
With all precious and pleasant riches.

5. A wise man is strong,
Yes, a man of knowledge increases strength;

6. For by wise counsel you will wage your own war,
And in a multitude of counselors there is safety.

7. Wisdom is too lofty for a fool;
He does not open his mouth in the gate.

8. He who plots to do evil
Will be called a schemer.

9. The devising of foolishness is sin,
And the scoffer is an abomination to men.

10. If you faint in the day of adversity,
Your strength is small.

11. Deliver those who are drawn toward death,
And hold back those
stumbling to the slaughter.

12. If you say, “Surely we did not know this,” Does not He who weighs the hearts consider it?
He who keeps your soul, does He not know it?
And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?

13. My son, eat honey because it is good,
And the honeycomb which is sweet to your taste;

14. So shall the knowledge of wisdom be to your soul;If you have found it, there is a prospect, And your hope will not be cut off.

15. Do not lie in wait, O wicked man,
against the dwelling of the righteous;
Do not plunder his resting place;

16. For a righteous man may fall seven times
And rise again,
But the wicked shall fall by calamity.

17. Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not
Let your heart be glad when he stumbles;

18. Lest the LORD see it, and it displease Him,
And He turn away His wrath from him.

19. Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the wicked;

20. For there will be no prospect for the evil man;
The lamp of the wicked will be put out.

21. My son, fear the LORD and the king;
Do not associate with those given to change;

22. For their calamity will rise suddenly,
And who knows the ruin those two can bring?

23.These things
also belong to the wise:

It is not good to show partiality in judgment.

24. He who says to the wicked, “You are righteous,”
Him the people will curse;
Nations will abhor him.

25. But those who rebuke the wicked will have delight,
And a good blessing will come upon them.

26. He who gives a right answer kisses the lips.

27. Prepare your outside work,
Make it fit for yourself in the field;
And afterward build your house.

28. Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause,
For would you deceive with your lips?

29. Do not say, “I will do to him just as he has done to me;
I will render to the man according to his work.”

30. I went by the field of the lazy man,
And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding;

31. And there it was, all overgrown with thorns;
Its surface was covered with nettles;
Its stone wall was broken down.

32. When I saw it, I considered it well;
I looked on it and received instruction:

33. A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to rest;

34. So shall your poverty come like a prowler,
And your need like an armed man.

From the viewpoint of God’s eternal purpose, the church exists to be
• the incarnation and manifestation of the ultimate passion of God
• the organic expression and physical extension of the Trinitarian Community
• the corporate image-bearer of the Lord Jesus Christ on the earth
• the family of God
• the divine building whereby every living stone is being transformed, reshaped, and fitted together to form the Lord’s temple
• the colonial outpost of the coming kingdom
• the masterpiece of God
• the spiritual “Bethany” where Jesus of Nazareth is received, obeyed, and adored in the midst of a rejecting world
• the vessel in which the power of Christ’s resurrection life is visibly displayed
• the object of God’s supreme affection and delight
• the willing vehicle for Christ’s manifested presence
• the torchbearer of the testimony of Jesus
• the “one new man”—the new species—the “third race”
• the fiancée of Jesus Christ—His very body, His very bride
• the new humanity marked out in the Son of God before time and brought into existence by His cross
• the Christian’s native habitat
• the spiritual environment where face-to-face encounters between the bride and Bridegroom take place
• the living witness to the fullness and headship of God’s Son
• the colony from heaven that bears the image of its Ruler

Jesus is the ultimate and final high priest. His sacrifice is the one and only needed once and for all. No need for more sacrifices. The stone temple is now empty as the Holy Spirit now inhabits our bodies, which are the new temples of God. We are the church and the temple. No more priests, no more rituals, no more sacrifices. God is the living God.

DAILY BREAD FELLOWSHIP

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Today’s Scripture

John 2:8 (ESV)

“And he said to them, ‘Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.’ So they took it.”

Opening the Scriptures

The servants had obeyed Jesus and filled the six stone jars with water up to the brim.

Then Jesus gave another command.

“Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.”

Notice what John tells us next:

“So they took it.”

There is no recorded argument.

There is no demand for an explanation.

There is simply obedience.

The servants had put water into those jars. They knew what had been placed there. Yet Jesus now told them to draw from the jars and take it to the man responsible for the wedding feast.

They still did not know what Jesus was doing.

But they obeyed what He said.

Living God’s Word Today

There are times when obeying Christ requires us to move forward without knowing what the result will be.

We often want certainty before obedience.

We want God to show us exactly how everything will work before we act.

But Scripture does not teach us to trust our ability to understand every circumstance.

It teaches us to trust God.

This does not mean Christians should act carelessly or treat every personal feeling as though it were a command from God.

That would be dangerous.

Our obedience must be governed by what God has actually revealed in His Word.

When Scripture speaks clearly, however, we should not delay obedience simply because we cannot see what God will accomplish through it.

We forgive because Christ commands us to forgive.

We speak truth because God commands truthfulness.

We love because Christ commands us to love.

We share the Gospel because Christ has commanded His people to make disciples.

We serve faithfully because we belong to Him.

The servants at Cana could not change water into wine.

Their responsibility was much simpler.

Jesus commanded.

They obeyed.

What happened next depended entirely upon the power of Christ.

This protects us from two serious mistakes.

We must not become passive and refuse to do what God commands.

But neither should we imagine that the results depend entirely upon us.

Obedience belongs to us. The power and the results belong to God.

Whatever responsibility Christ has placed before you today, carry it out faithfully according to His Word.

Then trust Him with what follows.

Question for Today

Are you willing to obey Christ even when you cannot yet see what He will do?

Respond: “Lord Jesus, I will trust You and obey Your Word.”

DAILY BREAD FELLOWSHIP

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Today’s Scripture

John 2:7 (ESV)

“Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim.”

Opening the Scriptures

The six large stone jars were standing nearby.

Then Jesus gave the servants a simple command:

“Fill the jars with water.”

The servants did not yet know what Jesus was going to do. The wedding needed wine, yet Jesus told them to bring water.

From a human point of view, the command may have seemed unrelated to the problem.

But the servants obeyed.

John adds an important detail:

“They filled them up to the brim.”

They did not partially obey. They did not fill the jars halfway and decide that was enough. They carried out the command completely.

They still did not know what would happen next.

They simply did what Jesus told them to do.

Living God’s Word Today

There is an important lesson here about Christian obedience.

We often want God to explain everything before we obey Him.

We want to know why.

We want to know what will happen.

We want to understand how obedience will benefit us.

But obedience to Christ cannot depend upon our understanding of the outcome.

When God has spoken clearly in His Word, our responsibility is to obey.

Sometimes His commands will challenge us.

Forgive.

Love your enemies.

Speak the truth.

Flee from sin.

Care for those in need.

Share the Gospel.

Remain faithful when obedience becomes costly.

We may not always understand what God is accomplishing through our obedience.

The servants at Cana certainly did not.

But they filled the jars “up to the brim.”

There is also a warning for us here.

Partial obedience is often disguised disobedience.

We cannot faithfully follow Christ while selecting only the commands we find comfortable.

Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

Our obedience does not earn salvation. We are saved by grace through faith in Christ, not by our works. But a life transformed by Christ should increasingly become a life of obedience to Christ.

The servants could fill the jars.

They could not perform the miracle.

That belonged entirely to Jesus.

The same distinction remains important for us.

Our responsibility is faithful obedience. The results belong to God.

Today, do not demand to see the outcome before obeying.

Trust Christ enough to do what He has commanded.

And when you obey, do not stop halfway.

Fill it to the brim.

Question for Today

Is there an area where you have been giving Christ only partial obedience?

Respond: “Lord Jesus, help me to obey You completely.”

Did you know?
No parent is supposed to bury their child.
Mary stood at that cross for hours. Not for a moment, not glancing away for hours, watching her son suffocate slowly in public execution, surrounded by people who came to watch. The Gospels don't soften it, and they don't explain her pain. They just say she was there.
She'd been warned. Thirty years earlier, when Jesus was still a newborn in her arms, a man named Simeon looked at her and said a sword would pierce her own soul. Not metaphorically. She carried that sentence for three decades, never knowing when it would land, until this exact afternoon.
Even dying, Jesus used his last breaths to make sure she wouldn't be left alone.
Then the part no parent recovers from. The body taken down. Wrapped. Carried. Sealed behind a stone, in a tomb that wasn't even his borrowed, because there wasn't time to build one of his own.
A mother, walking away from a sealed grave, leaving her child behind in the ground.
There is no version of that walk that doesn't break something in a person.