God's Love - It's a Beautiful Thing

“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is real love - not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”- 1 John 4:9-10 ^NIV

            You would more than likely die in the place of a friend or a family member, but would you die for your enemy? That’s what Christ did. Those who are sinners against God - the Father, were at enmity with him or at the very least ambivalent towards him. God has only one Son and he sent him to earth to live among those who know him not. Jesus knew they needed to know him in a very personal way, so he willingly co-existed with mankind. He taught the scriptures, healed both the sick and the dead, and offered forgiveness just for the asking. 

            Wanting only those who were willing to align themselves with him, God gave man a free will to choose which path they would take in life. The options were presented. Live for all eternity with God or die in your sins with no hope of reprieve. Seems like a pretty easy choice, but the pull to remain autonomous is strong, therefore, far too many people put off till tomorrow what should be decided today. 

            If you ever wanted a picture of love, it would be one of a bloody and beaten Christ nailed with Roman spikes to a wooden cross. If you want to read scripture that describes love, all you would need to do is turn to 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. That explains what God is.  The LORD God said of himself “I AM”. I choose to add to those iconic, eternal words with I AM love, I AM merciful, I AM your healer, I AM your sacrifice … and that’s just a few. God loves us without exception and without conditions. It’s a beautiful thing, is it not? Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Looking in the Wrong Places

“What good is it for you to gain the whole world, yet forfeit your soul?”- Mark 8:36

            The world tantalizes with wealth, glitz, glamour and fame. People become slaves to fashion and live paycheck to paycheck chasing that next big event or technological advancement. Their attention is kept focused on anything and everything that promises satisfaction, fun and popularity. The devil is an expert at deceit. Those trifles* dangled in front of them are nothing more than a mirage that shall disappear when you need them the most. Christ asks a very poignant** question to those following him: what good is it to gain everything and yet have nothing and what good is it to lose your very soul in the process. The time spent chasing after temporal things would have been better spent seeking eternity, for it is in the things that shall not pass away that true satisfaction is found. 

            The world scoffs at Christians. ‘Look at all you are missing’, they say. ‘Only the weak-minded need Jesus’, they say, ‘he’s nothing more than a crutch.’ They don’t understand. Perhaps they never will. Christians find hope and peace and true freedom in their relationship with God. It has nothing to do with religion; it is a personal relationship. So, while the world chases after the unattainable, we shall continue to seek God and gain far more in the process than those in the world shall ever possess. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

* something of little value, substance, or importance  
** designed to make an impression, to the point

 

Loving God & Others

“Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”- Matthew 22:34-39

                  The Pharisees had found 613 commandments in scripture, which at that time was only what we know as the Old Testament. In an attempt to put Jesus on the spot, they asked him which one was the greatest and most important commandment.

            The first is to love Almighty Jehovah God with every fiber of our being. Our love for God is to be of paramount importance in our lives. We are to involve him in every solitary aspect of our lives, for he knows everything anyway, why not tap into his great wisdom for direction and guidance. 

The second is to love our neighbor as ourselves. “How much we love ourselves is not the standard by which Christ is calling us to love others. Rather, we are called to love our neighbor as being of the same nature as we ourselves are, as being created in God's image and likeness just as we are.” ^[1]

            Loving God with all your being and your neighbor as yourself is the core of the Christian ethics. Everything in the law and from the prophet’s hinges on those two commandments. Leviticus 19:18 ^(NIV) echoes the sentiment of loving your neighbor: “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.”While we may not love the actions of others at times, we are to love the individual. Think of God’s love for you. Did he ever stop loving you because of something you said or did? No, he did not. So how audacious would it be of us to turn our back on someone and stop loving them for the same reason? It may not be easy at times, but we are commanded to love one another in the body AND our neighbor as well. To me that means those outside the faith. We don’t have to agree with someone to love them with Christ’s love. We must pray for those we may be at odds with, while praying for ourselves as well that we may not become haughty and self-pleasing. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

^[1] The Orthodox Study Bible; Copyright © 2008 by St. Athanasius Academy of Orthodox Theology.

Resources: NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible; Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan; MacArthur Study Bible, 2nd Edition

Copyright © 1997, 2006, 2019 by Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.

Choosing God's Way

“There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end, it leads to death.”- Proverbs 14:12 _{New International Version} 

            In the 21^st century we have every technological advancement a mind could think of. Everyone feels the need for the latest, greatest this or that to keep pace with these advancements. Those that know Christ in a personal way can easily get sucked into the vortex of hi-tech. The enemy has many ways to cause us to stumble and unless we spend more time honoring God and use our life as an instrument of worship, we may get caught up in the world’s whirlwind of humanism. We feast at the table of social media with no discretion as to what we look at or say. We find ourselves skirting the line between good and evil far too often. We know God is merciful and loving, so we minimize what we are doing as if the Lord is supposed to simply wink at it and let it all slide. 

            The way many of us go seems so right. We pray for God’s will and then rush ahead to embrace that which we have talked ourselves into believing is His will just because of its availability. We’ve never learned how to wait patiently. God wants us to be in His will, but if we insist on plowing ahead thinking He is with us when He is not, things could get ugly.

            Similarly, Jesus spoke in Matthew’s Gospel ^{(Matthew 7:13)} of a narrow gate vs. a wide gate. Both ways are offered to man, but only one leads to God’s kingdom. The wide gate includes everything that is not from God. It includes all religions of works and self-righteousness.  It represents a wide variety of ways to get to heaven, but in actuality leads to hell, not to heaven at all. If you want to know which way the Lord would have you to go, ask Him and then be quiet and listen for Him. Ask God to cut thru all the distractions the enemy provides so you can concentrate of those things which bring life and not death. 

            The death spoken of in this case would probably be Spiritual death, although physical death is not out of the question. It could be speaking of both, which would depend on your lifestyle and decision-making ability. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

The Victory is Already Ours!

“But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.” - 1 John 4:4

            There is a spiritual realm that we cannot see, but is there, nonetheless. It is where angels and demons exist. As believers we must be aware of this spiritual dimension, for there are constant battles in this realm between the forces of good and evil. We are unable to fight a spiritual battle with human weapons. We must put on the full armor of God. The fiery darts of the enemy can only be extinguished with the Shield of Faith. The word of God is the one weapon Satan has no counter for. It’s what Jesus used against him during his 40 days in the wilderness. 

            John is making sure his readers clearly understand that the victory has already been won. The enemy will try to convince you that you are losing or have already lost the battle, but this isn’t true.  While it’s true that the spirit of evil is stronger than we are in the flesh, the Holy Spirit within us is far superior to the spirit of antichrist that exists in the world. We must stand our ground and be prepared to fight. We must set our face as a flint*in the face of the enemy. Nothing can defeat us if we stand on God’s word, for his word is sharper than any double-edged sword ^{[Hebrews 4:12]}.

            Trials and persecution will come, so if we do not relent or turn tail and run, we shall set an example for those who follow us. Do not let your faith falter or fail in the face of difficulties. Life is not meant to be a heavenly existence on earth. There will be struggles, heartache and pain, but if we stand strong in our faith and trust in Almighty God, we will come out the other side refined as the shiniest gold or silver. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

* unwavering determination to persevere.

Testing the Spirit

“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”-1 John 4:1

            The Apostle John wrote this 1^st of 3 letters to several Gentile congregations as a means of dispelling any doubts and build assurance by presenting a clear picture of Christ. The enemy (Satan) had been dispatching false teachers to infiltrate the local churches with the purpose of causing strife and division. These letters were referred to as ‘pastoral letters’. The letter more than likely was written between 85-90 A.D. from Ephesus.

            There were several ways for the believers to test the spirit of a teaching. One was to see if it lines up with God’s word. Another was to see what the individual’s commitment was to that body of believers. One could also look at their lifestyle. They could also be a fruit inspector and see what was born out of their ministry. However, the most important test was what they believed about Christ. Were they teaching that Christ was fully God and fully man? The world was then and still is now filled with people who claim to speak for God. We cannot be too careful when it comes to who we listen to.

            We must ask the Holy Spirit within to help us discern the true nature of the teaching being presented. It is so easy to be led down a wrong path if we are not close to the Lord. The enemy is relentless and will not stop trying to draw people away from God. We, as ambassadors of Christ, must never stop testing the spirits of others and continue to dig deeper into His word so we can know without hesitation who to follow this side of heaven. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries       

NOTE: Pastoral letters were written to no particular church. Whoever received the letter first was supposed to pass it around to the other churches in their area.

Thoughts from a Random Mind

Sometimes we just don’t get it. No matter how hard we try we still get things wrong. When we think we were being selfless, in reality, we were operating with an ulterior motive, thus being selfish. It is a hard pill to swallow. Life can be complicated, but that’s because we make it that way. In the midst of all this God stands. He can take what we have made of our lives and help us put it back together. There is a catch though; we must allow Him to do that. Like an alcoholic must first admit he has a problem before he can get help, we must acknowledge our need. There are times when a friend must administer tough love by showing us our mistake. God uses brothers and sisters to constructively advise us to correct a wrong, displaying God’s mercy and compassion. In the end we are nothing more than frail creatures who over process the simple things and ignore those things that tend to be most important. May the Lord help us as we right the wrongs in our lives. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

God's Unconditional Love

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”- Romans 8:38-39 ^{New American Standard Bible}

            The letter to the Roman believers was Paul’s first contact with them. It served like an introduction of him to them. The entirety of the letter was like his statement of faith. In the beginning of verse 35 Paul poses this question: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?” He proceeds to mention a series of trial-like circumstances. He then comes to the following conclusion which is shown as our selected text at the top of the page. 

             “While nothing external can separate us from the love of God, we can choose to reject Him by our own free will. Nevertheless, even those who remain in eternal rebellion against God are still loved by Him. Even our rejection of God cannot take away His love for us.” ^[1]

            Paul knew persecution on a grand scale would be coming to the believers in Rome and he didn’t want their faith to fail them. Nothing is able to drive a wedge between Almighty God and his children. No matter what we’ve thought, said or done, his love for us is unchanging. That is the meaning of unconditional. No conditions have been placed on his love. 

Christianity is a ‘come as you are’ relationship with Almighty God. Notice I did NOT say the word ‘religion’. That word doesn’t appear in scripture. When your sins are forgiven you enter into a potentially intimate, one on one relationship with the one who created you. I say, ‘potentially intimate’, because the level of intimacy all depends on how serious you are regarding getting to know the Lord, growing as close to him as humanly possible. Whatever you put into it is what you’ll get out of it. And God will love you deeply and eternally, in spite of yourself. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

^[1] Taken from notes in the Orthodox Study Bible.

Reconciled* to God

            “We look at it like this: if one died for all men then, in a sense, they all died, and his purpose in dying for them is that their lives should now be no longer lived for themselves but for him who died and rose again for them. This means that our knowledge of men can no longer be based on their outward lives. For if a man is in Christ, he becomes a new person altogether—the past is finished and gone, everything has become fresh and new. All this is God’s doing, for he has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ; and he has made us agents of the reconciliation. God was in Christ personally reconciling the world to himself—not counting their sins against them—and has commissioned us with the message of reconciliation. We are now Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were appealing direct to you through us. As his personal representatives we say, “Make your peace with God.” For God caused Christ, who himself knew nothing of sin, actually to be sin for our sakes, so that in Christ we might be made good with the goodness of God.”- 2 Corinthians 5:14-21

 

* To reestablish a close, harmonious relationship with someone … in this case, God.

 

Translation - J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS). The New Testament in Modern English by J.B Phillips copyright © 1960, 1972 J. B. Phillips. Administered by The Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England. Used by Permission.

The Plans of God

“The plans of the diligent* lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.”- Proverbs 21:5

 

“‘For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.’”- Jeremiah 29:11

 

          Those that know God in an intimate way understand the verse in Jeremiah and know that “all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose” ^{(Romans 8:28)}. Knowing what God’s will is for you is very important. It’s my belief that God has a general will and a specific will for all believers. The general will is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and fulfill the great commission.  His specific will for you is personal. You need to seek it. The only way to know God’s will is to develop an intimate relationship with Him. Spending quality time with Him is the key. It requires diligence on our part. We must dig deep into His word to truly know the character of God. We must have the Lord reveal to us what our spiritual & natural gifts are. God desires for us to have a future filled with hope and peace. We will not escape calamity altogether, but it will not be the main theme of our life. When bad things happen to the children of God the ones who have cultivated a deep, intimate relationship with Him will know that they can trust Him to right the ship, so to speak. Instead of blaming Him for their troubles, they will lean on Him all the more to overcome their problems and see them through to the other side of it. 

          Knowing God’s will leads the believer to wait for Him rather than hastily run ahead of Him. Those that rush things rather than wait for the proper scenario to develop do it to their own peril for the easier path does not always lead us where we need to go. Our faith in God should lead us to trust Him more with each passing day. Our trust should lead us to reliance. Our Heavenly Father is the one constant in a world of inconsistency. If there was ever someone we could trust it’s God. Diligently seek the face of God knowing that His plans for you are always for your greatest benefit and His greatest glory. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

 

*Diligent - having or showing care and conscientiousness in one’s work or duties.

Love Conquers Sin

“This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”- 1 John 4:10 ^{New Living Translation}

 

 “He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.”- 1 John 2:2 ^{New Living Translation}

            Sin separates us from God. The shed blood of Christ bridged the gap between creator and His creation caused by sin. Without Christ’s sacrificial death on our behalf would we really know what true love was? Salvation is available to all of mankind, however, not all will choose to avail themselves of this gift. The enemies lies have caused people to look away from God; to even question His very existence. They have that right. If a person chooses not to believe in the existence of God, they’ve sidestepped the one thing that could save them from eternal separation from Him. If there is no God then we all die and rot in the ground, end of story. But if there IS a God and Jesus was and IS real and he really DID die in our place to pay the sin debt we could never pay on our own, then we have a problem.

                  Not believing in a loving God who died to set you free comes with consequences, as all things do. If God is real, then someone has to pay for your sin. It’s a requirement to spend eternity with God in heaven. Sin broke man’s relationship with his creator. The creator’s love is such that no matter what you’ve ever done it can be forgiven. 

It says in John 3:16, “whosoever believes in (Christ) shall not perish but have eternal life.” That belief is not just mental acknowledgement, but heart, soul and spirit acceptance. That acceptance must lead to total allegiance to God. From that point on we must seek to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. It’s not simply a matter of saying “yes, of course I believe in God”. What has that belief done to change your life? Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

God is Our Hope

“May your unfailing love be with us, LORD, even as we put our hope in you.”- Psalm 33:22 

          Like faith, hope is having confidence in something you cannot yet see. It is a future expectation. Something we desire to take place. We can place our hope in people or things. We can hope for all inclusive, full scale things like our government making wise decisions going forward. We can also hope for singular things like our car starting this morning. Hope is a wonderful emotion to have and is necessary if we are to survive. People without hope find that despair creeps into their hearts. Depression overtakes people with no hope. They begin to sink in a quagmire of despondency. Even Christians can fall into the trap of hopelessness. The enemy of our souls is an expert at delusion that causes us to see nothing but the problems that surround us. He takes our gaze off of God and places it squarely on that which causes our countenance to fall. It doesn’t need to be that way.

          Our Lord is our hope. We never need to be without Him in our lives. He is ever-present by His Holy Spirit and within us. Just as God is love, He is also the embodiment of hope. Our faith and confidence lie in a person and not just any person, but the One person who created us and is more than capable of providing for and sustaining us throughout our lives. With God we have nothing to fear. With God we have nothing to be concerned about. With God we have a future and a hope. With God we have the promise of an eternal home. All that gives us hope. If we have even the slightest trust in God at all then that should be seen as very good news. 

There is nothing anyone can do to us that God cannot protect us from. His love for us is so incredibly strong and unfailing that we can rely on it. He never has nor would He ever not love us. His love is deep and eternal. It reaches down into the furthest depths of our soul and reveals to us the passionate feelings He has for His creation. And therein lies our hope. There is always hope where there is love. We may not see or understand the depths of the love that our God has for us, but that doesn’t stop it from being a reality. So be of good cheer my brothers, lift up your heads my sisters, for you are loved by the God who created you and in that deep, abiding, infinite love there is everlasting and eternal hope. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Crying Out to God

“In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.” - Psalm 18:6

 

Distress - extreme anxiety, sorrow, or pain.

Extreme - reaching a high or the highest degree; very severe or serious.

 

David was in a very difficult situation; King Saul was out to kill him. The Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, leaving him to be influenced by an evil spirit which caused him to be jealous of David. He was plotting to do harm to David. This Davidic Psalm thanks the Lord for a great deliverance from his enemies and King Saul. 

             There are no doubt times in our life that we become extremely distressed. If we didn’t know the Lord, where would we turn? Some folks who have a casual relationship with God question why certain issues or events had to come into their life. It’s as if just the mere thought of God would cause them to have a worry free existence. Sadly, ignorance is prevalent in the body of Christ. Believers don’t truly know God the way that they can. They don’t understand that trials and tribulations are allowed by God to test our faith as a means of strengthening it. If we have the misguided belief that no trouble will befall us if we simply believe, then we will end up falling prey to disbelief and apostasy. God is with us always. He desires for us to draw near to Him. He isn’t a genie in a bottle where just a simple request will make any problem magically disappear. The Lord desires to have a deep, intimate relationship with us and that takes time and effort. Sadly, many of us don’t seem real interested in making that investment of our time. 

          David knew His God intimately and while he still made some tragic mistakes in his life, he was referred to as a man after God’s own heart ^{(1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22)}. Our lives are truly empty without God. Our faith shouldn’t be a Sunday faith alone, but an everyday faith that grows as we walk with the Lord. If we cry out to Him, He will hear us and respond in a way that is most beneficial to us.

          Charles Spurgeon, great evangelist from the turn of the 20th century, tells us that the weakest cry from a ‘true’ believer will be heard by God. A true believer is one who has received forgiveness by the grace of God and is truly seeking to emulate the Lord in thought, word and deed. Are you a true believer or is your relationship with God of a casual nature? With eternity hanging in the balance, it pays to know for sure. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

* “It is never an ill time to pray; no distress should prevent us from using the divine remedy of supplication. Above the noise of the raging billows of death, or the barking dogs of hell, the feeblest cry of a true believer will be heard in heaven.” [The Treasure of David; www.spurgeon.org]

Thoughts from a Random Mind

God is our provider and sustainer. A provider is someone who supplies another person or persons with something. In the case of God, it is something that we happen to be in need of. A sustainer is someone who strengthens or supports another person or persons. In the case of God, it is strengthening or supporting us when we are in need of it. I have been harping on the whole concept that Christianity is not really a religion, but rather a relationship with God. He wants us to get close to Him and truly know Him; to know His character. The closer we get to God the more we will know about His character and that should translate into greater trust which will show in a growth of our faith. Learning to be more like Christ in our daily lives should be every Christian’s mission, for if we are His disciples and ambassadors in this cruel, dark and sinful world, we must emulate our Lord to make any sort of impact on the world. We were not redeemed to live a comfortable life free of troubles and pain. We were redeemed to lead others into the kingdom. We mustn’t hide our collective lights under a bushel basket as if we were embarrassed of God. We must proclaim His goodness when called upon to do so. Is it really too much to ask with respect to what He has done for us? Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

 

The Justice of God

“God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.”- 2 Corinthians 1:6-7

            This is referred to as ‘divine retribution’, when Christ justly judges those persecuting the believers for their faith. It is a truth that is unknown by the persecutors but known to those being persecuted. That is supposed to be where their hope comes from, knowing that God will mete out justice when the time is right. See any parallel to the events taking place in our nation right now?

            American Christians have had it pretty easy when it comes to being persecuted for their faith. If certain individuals had their way we would suffer greatly for our beliefs, even in America. However, God knows the hearts and minds of all men. This means nothing surprises him. There may be very good reasons why God might allow us to go thru persecution. One reason could be to help us look to the Lord instead of looking inward for assistance. Another could be to help us build strong character. Still another reason could be to provide us with the opportunity to comfort others that are struggling as well. 

            Let’s face it, when we step out and take a stand for Christ, we may eventually be mocked or worse. Remember what Christ endured for us and push forward. Those who stand with Christ will spend eternity with him. Those who turn away could be separated from him forever. Count the cost of living for Christ. We aren’t supposed to serve Christ for the reward we receive. We are to serve Christ because we know his standards in scripture are right and true and worth standing for. The alternative is unruly chaos based on an unstable standard that remains in a constant state of flux. Be encouraged by the fact that no matter what you go through this side of heaven, justice will prevail and evil never wins. Pray for the souls of evil men for God loves all in his creation and shuns no one prior to judgment. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Resource: Notes for these verses on p. 2681 from the Life Application Study Bible; New Living Translation

A Matter of the Heart

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”- Psalm 139:23-24

            This is a wonderful Psalm by David extolling the incredible virtues of Almighty God. King David, knowing he is but a mortal man standing before the creator of all things, is submitting himself to God for correction and direction. This is a great example of how we should live our life for God, by regularly, perhaps even daily, declaring these very words to God. 

            We know what God looks at when he looks at a man. It is spelled out in 1 Samuel 16:7 when the LORD sends Samuel to the tribe of Jesse to find and anoint the next king of Israel. Jesse’s sons were all big, strong, virile men, but God said to the prophet, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” God sees the good in people while mortal man does not. Judging by appearance is a universal problem. We should seek to look upon the hearts of men, rather than their outward appearance. 

                  Lay your life before the LORD and trust him to purge from you those things that are displeasing to him. We must do this, or we will continue to act and react by our emotions, rather than by our heart. We are to seek to please our Heavenly Father in all things. There is nothing that escapes his gaze; therefore, we must always be fair, true and just in all our dealings and always live to please God. There is nothing that can separate us from his love. Even if we turned away from him, he would still love us. May God have mercy on us all as we strive to please him with our lives. In a spiritual and eternal sense, nothing else matters this side of heaven. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Loving Your Enemies

“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those that persecute you!”- Matthew 5:43-44

            While you will find the phrase “Love your neighbor” in the OT, you will NOT find the words ‘hate your enemies’. It would appear that it is implied among the Jews in those times. We find in Psalm 139:21-22 the following: “O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you? Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you? Yes, I hate them with total hatred, for your enemies are my enemies.” It is said David was simply showing his hatred for what God hates, thus acutely defining his love for God.

Is hate ever good? It’s alright to hate evil and those things that God hates, namely all sin. It is not okay to hate any individual or group of individuals. Mortal man can be driven by various emotions, thus allowing hatred to enter in. Frankly, we have no right to hate anything or anyone, for God forgave the entirety of our sin out of love for us. It is that spirit of love that is to dominate our thought process and our actions and/or reactions.

Jesus, with this statement in the gospel of Matthew, is responding to the general misunderstanding that we are to hate those who hate and persecute us for our faith. If that were true, how would they ever hear the gospel? We would be acting in the same way those in the world would act. Scripture clearly tells us those outside the faith with know we love God by our love for one another ^{(John 15:34-35)}. Imagine what a positive impact it would have it we actually did as we are instructed. Jesus, our truest example of this principle, loved those who scourged him and nailed him to a cross. That is who we are to emulate. We should never act or react in a hateful way. If we concentrated on telling others about the gospel, we wouldn’t have any time left to entertain hate. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.  

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Living the Law

“So be careful to do what the LORD your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. Walk in obedience to all that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.”- Deuteronomy 5:32-33

 

          In approximately 1400 BC, Moses climbed to the top of Mount Sinai to seek the face of Almighty God. This is the story where God appears to Moses as a burning bush. During the 40 days and nights that Moses was atop the mountain God spoke forth His commandments and then forged them onto two stone tablets with His own finger. Now the Israelites were known by God to be a stiff-necked people who were impatient, stubborn and impulsive, like many of us.  They decided not to wait for Moses to return from Mount Sinai. They had Aaron collect all the gold in the camp and form for them a golden calf to worship. 

          How does this relate to us today? The Ten Commandments are no longer required yet still stand as God’s standard for living. As modern day believers should we adhere to them or not? When Christ died on the cross there was a thunderclap, a crisp crack of lightning which crossed the darkened sky and the veil in the Temple which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies was torn in two from top to bottom. That action is symbolic. It represented open access to God for all. We don’t have to live by the Ten Commandments any longer; however, as we grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ, we end up living them out by striving to be like our Lord? It is a subconscious thing, something that we just begin to do as a result of surrendering our lives to God. Being a Christian isn’t following a list of do’s & don’ts, but rather allowing the Holy Spirit of God slowly mold and change us within until we begin to think, speak, act and react more and more like Jesus. 

          What the Lord said through Moses all those years ago holds true for us today. Follow God’s instructions, don’t veer off course, walk in obedience and He will see to it that you live and prosper in the land you possess. Prosperity doesn’t always mean wealth. As your soul prospers so shall you prosper ^{(3 John 1:2)}. Like time, money is inconsequential to God. Our needs shall be met. Our job is to keep our eyes on the prize and that prize is heaven. Live for God, follow His commands as spelled out by Jesus in the New Testament and you will invariably live out the Ten Commandments and be pleasing in God’s sight. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

NOTE: “The fifth book of the Bible, the book of Deuteronomy consists … of the discourses which Moses is represented as having delivered, immediately before his death … for the purpose of teaching the Israelites the laws which they were to obey, and the spirit in which they were to obey them, when they should be settled in the Promised Land.”  [www.jewishencyclopedia.com]

The Character of God

 

“You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you.”- Psalm 86:5

          In this Davidic prayer we find three character traits of God: 1) that He is forgiving; 2) that He is good, and 3) that His love is abundant. This speaks volumes regarding who we serve and what we can expect from Him. What will our response be? The Reformation Study Bible makes a good point when it says, “God does not forgive all people indiscriminately; He waits until they turn to Him with prayers of repentance.” A person must recognize they are in need of saving before they can be saved. Those who simply say they believe in God yet never call out to Him for the forgiveness He offers and freely gives have missed the point entirely. Forgiveness doesn’t fall down on all of creation like rain without even being sought, it falls down like water from a shower head on the individual who sees the need of cleansing, asks to be cleaned and therefore, is cleansed. 

          The love that God has for His creation is never-ending and plentiful. It shall never be in short supply. It meets all the criteria laid out in 1 Corinthians 13; the absolute definition of love. It tells us unequivocally what it is and what it is not. God is love and therefore is the embodiment of all the characteristics listed in Corinthians. If you would like to know what God is like, read 1 Corinthians 4-8, for they define the character of God, but He is so much more than that. David knew this because He had an intimate relationship with His God. There would be no Davidic Psalms, nor any great stories to tell if King David went to the Temple on Sunday mornings and simply sat there, proclaimed that he believed in God and then went about his business. Our God desires a level of intimacy that many are unwilling to give perhaps out of ignorance or pride. The relationship we have with our God is designed to change us from the inside out. A metamorphosis is to take place within us so that we are no longer who we once were. The Bible calls us a new creation. The old has passed away, behold all things are new ^{(2 Corinthians 5:17)}. God readily forgives if we ask for forgiveness. There is no other way to receive payment for our sin debt. Christ’s horrific death on the cross was not for nothing. It paid the price for our freedom.

Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

NOTE: The Book of Psalms is a prayer book as well as a collection of hymns. [Reformation Study Bible]

NOTE: “A Prayer of David. We have here one of the five psalms entitled Tephillahs or prayers. This psalm consists of praise as well as prayer, but it is in all parts so directly addressed to God that it is most fitly called ‘a prayer’.” [The Treasury of David; www.spurgeon.org]

Unity of the Body

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”- Ephesians 4:1-6

 

          Ephesians is one of Paul’s prison letters. Being somewhat claustrophobic, I can’t even imagine what it is like to be bound in chains in a dark, dank prison cell in a land that is not my home; yet Paul’s faith carries him through each of his prison stints. Through it all he remained true to his calling as an apostle of Jesus Christ. We think we couldn’t do such a thing ourselves; however, God does not give you the ability to do so until you need it. 

           Ephesians was a church that didn’t have the internal issues that some of the other assemblies had. Paul knew that counter-Christian doctrine was circulating and so he addressed the issue of unity among the brethren in the beginning of this fourth chapter. Unity breeds harmony. Love is the catalyst to a harmonious unity. The source of all things and the one hope that all believers have is found in God. He is the only constant in the maelstrom of chaos that is this world. As believers in Christ, we are also representatives or ambassadors, if you will. If we bear the title Christian, we represent Christ in all we think, say and do. It behooves us to do our best in this life to emulate our Lord. To this end Paul states to the Ephesians and to us today, to be humble, gentle and patient with fellow believers and do so in love. Love is like a big generator. Generators, simply put, are machines that take mechanical energy and make it into electricity. Since we are to be a light to the world, what better analogy could there be than a generator. God showed us exactly what love was meant to be through the willing and voluntary death of His Son. We are to take the love that was transplanted in our hearts and use it to show love to one another.

          Man has chosen to believe that there is any number of ways to get to heaven. Many of their ways simply involve being good as they perceive being good is or doing good deeds that they feel are good.  “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” ^{(Ephesians 2:8-9)} Paul clearly states that mankind has one hope. There are not many roads to heaven, but only one and that road leads through the cross. Always remember GRACE this way:  God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Do You Know the Messiah?

“The woman said, ‘I know that Messiah’ (called Christ) ‘is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.’ Then Jesus declared, ‘I, the one speaking to you—I am he.’”- John 4:25-26

Messiah - the promised deliverer of the Jewish nation prophesied in the Hebrew Bible.

Christ - the title, also treated as a name, given to Jesus of Nazareth.

          The people of Israel were seeking, and still seek to this very day, their Messiah. They believed in Jesus' time that Messiah would come in splendor as a mighty warrior king to defeat the Romans. When the Son of God came as a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, they were unreceptive. He grew up among them and they were unable to see who He truly was. It required the spiritual eyes that only faith provides. Jesus did many things in His ministry that displeased the religious leaders of His day; but knowing what needed to take place, He went about His business undeterred. There was a long history of disdain and hatred between the Samaritans and the Israelites, so when Jesus not only traveled through Samaria instead of around it as a Jew would normally do it caused a stir. Then He actually spoke to a Samaritan woman at the well of Joseph, Jacob’s son, as He requested a drink of water. The Samaritan woman, who had been living in sin, knew of the coming Messiah. She knew that He would explain all things and bring freedom with Him. The freedom He provided and still provides is one of a spiritual nature and not of a physical nature. A man or woman can be physically free yet still be in bondage to sin. The freedom Jesus brought with Him was of an eternal nature, freedom from sin, now and forevermore. 

          Today, men still seek Him. It seems as though the holidays bring out a spiritual element in all of us. But shouldn’t we be embracing Christ each day and not just when it’s a national holiday. We should because it is a very personal thing. Religion is a system of beliefs; very ambiguous and vague; it can represent any belief system. What I speak of and what I believe God is seeking from us is a deeply personal relationship with Him. It comes from surrendering to His will and reading His word. How else can we ever get to know Him better? If we want to learn about one of our national patriarchs, such as Ben Franklin or George Washington, what would we do? We would read a biography about him, would we not? Of course, we would. Reading the Bible reveals to us God’s character. It tells us of His promises to us. It teaches us how to live peaceably among our fellow man. God wants to use us all for His glory and for His kingdom. Do you know the Messiah today? Do you really know Him? Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

 

Thoughts from a Random Mind

There is a question that I came across a few months back that I didn’t know the answer to. The question was “If you were accused of being a Christian would there be enough evidence for a conviction?” I would like to think so but being hard on myself to begin with I kind of doubt it.  I might be considered by others to be kind or humble or considerate, but would I be seen as Christ-like? Now I know that I don’t need to be perfect in my thoughts, words and actions; that would be impossible, but should I not at least make the attempt to be more like Christ? I should. I do try … and I fail, continuously.  I feel like a child when they are just learning how to ride a bike without training wheels.  I want to please the Lord and I believe I do most of the time, but would there be enough evidence to show that I am a believer?  It’s a daunting question; one I hope remains unanswered, because I just might not like what I find out. How would you answer that question? Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

There is Only One True God

 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”- Deuteronomy 6:4-5 

Our text for today is known as the Shema (shuh ma’) or ‘The Great Commandment’, which was recited twice daily by observant Jews, especially Jewish men, to affirm their faith. The Lord cannot be known or acknowledged in many forms like the Canaanite Baals. There is only one Lord, and he alone is God, and they have entered into a covenant-treaty with him. Having said this, the Lord is not just God for Israel; he is God for all ^{(Zechariah 14:9)}. This is the principle of monotheism. The Lord is one of a kind, absolutely unique ^{(Isaiah 44:8; 45:6)}. This is in contrast to polytheism or the belief in many gods, which was prevalent in the ancient world. Our Judeo-Christian beliefs acknowledge only one who “was and is and is to come”. ^{(Revelation 4:8)}

            Our love for God isn’t supposed to be reduced to a ‘feeling’ or a ‘sentiment’, but rather our love for God should be such that it commands our entire personality. Our love for God must be stronger than our love for any material or physical thing. We must love God more than our spouses and children. We must love God even more than we love ourselves. We’ll not be shortchanged in this, for God gives willingly and liberally to those who belong to Him. Have you been focusing more on yourself and your own needs than God and all those around you who are in need? Are you afraid to trust God with your whole life? God will not let you down.

            Since we are living under the umbrella of grace, we are no longer bound by the Law. Christ’s death ushered that in. God is a jealous God … one who shares His glory with no one. So even though we are not under the Mosaic Law our lives should reflect God’s presence as we are living according to the Law by following his living statutes. In other words, if we live for God, we will find ourselves living out the Law in our daily lives anyway, without even deliberately trying. So, take our text to heart and live for all your worth, which is an awful lot due to the shed blood. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries   

Resources: The Orthodox Study Bible & The Biblical Theology Study Bible