Daily Bread.

Luk 11:3 Give us day by day our daily bread.

Luk 11:4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

Luk 11:5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;

Luk 11:6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?

Luk 11:7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.

Luk 11:8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.

Luk 11:9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

Luk 11:10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Luk 11:11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?

Luk 11:12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

Luk 11:13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

The fabulous. great, fantastic news of the kingdom of heaven is that it is the Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom.

Luk 12:22 And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.

Luk 12:23 The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.

Luk 12:24 Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?

Luk 12:25 And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?

Luk 12:26 If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?

Luk 12:27 Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Luk 12:28 If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?

Luk 12:29 And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.

Luk 12:30 For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.

Luk 12:31 But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Luk 12:32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

We seem to have the opportunity to experience the kingdom of heaven in daily doses, on a day by day basis. Our sins have been forgiven; the price of our redemption has been paid, by our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ, once for all.

So each day we may with boldness approach the throne and ask our Heavenly Father to give us the Holy Spirit for that day. As the kingdom is not of this world, and flesh and blood cannot enter in to it, it is essential that we avail ourselves of the gift of God, the promise of the Holy Spirit.

Like the manna from heaven in the wilderness, one day’s portion will not carry over to the next day. It is so easily possible to start in the Spirit and yet to go on in the flesh. This can be religious flesh or secular in manefestation.

It is also evident that some receive more of the Holy Spirit and more often, than others.

The difference is discernable and obvious.

The company of the disciples of Jesus in Jerusalem was advised by the apostles to;

Act 6:3 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

Act 6:5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost.

The fact that we can see when others are full of the Holy Spirit should alert us to the fact that we really can know whether we ourselves are full of the Holy Spirit or not.

We are not filled with the Spirit because we believe ‘the right things’. Or because we ‘feel good’.

We are filled with the Spirit when we ‘come, take and eat.’ And then we are filled.

The fruits of the Spirit being in us are these…

The works of the flesh are……

The kingdom of heaven is not in words but in power, righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Words are something the flesh delights in.

Those men filled with the Holy Spirit were so because they wanted to be so enough to ask, seek and knock. And to not take no for an answer.

The kingdom of heaven suffers force and the violent take it by force (seize hold forcefully)!

We can have as much filling with the Holy Spirit as we insist on.

In this way we abide in Jesus, and He in us. The Spirit in us bears much fruit.

Living in our own flesh, we produce the works of the flesh.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit does not make us stupid or irresponsible.

On the contrary, men filled with the Spirit were chosen to do difficult clerical and administrative jobs re the distribution of daily provisions to the widows in Jerusalem.

Tables in the culture of the time were used for accounting work, not for eating off!

Nonetheless, in order to be filled with the Spirit, our focus has to be on the eternal kingdom of heaven first and not on the affairs of this world, which is passing away.

To those who have not yet been filled with the Holy Spirit;

Jesus says to you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

To those who have been filled with the Holy Spirit, but not much, not lately;

Jesus says to you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

To those who can hardly remember the last time they knew they were full of the Holy Spirit;

Jesus says to you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

The only thing we absolutely must have in order to continue as disciples of Jesus in reality is to daily ensure that we are filled again with the Holy Spirit.

It really is not by might, not by power, not by the wisdom of this world, but by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus would have us experiment, rather than speculate. Experience rather than debate. Ask with faith rather than just be hopeful.

What are we waiting for?

Colin Thompson. Gateshead. England. (Nobody important.)

Comments welcome by email to colin@followingjesuschrist.co.uk

Other material on site at http://www.followingjesuschrist.co.uk/