This is a picture of my beautiful daughter, in her kitchen, with a tray full of beautiful bread that she made for her small group dinner. My girl is an amazing baker--my mother, who loved baking would be kvelling to know that her granddaughter is following in her footsteps. There is a notable difference however. Mama wasn't much of a cook, but she surely could bake. Challah, coffee cakes of various sorts, yeasty cinnamon rolls, cakes with streusel on top...well, you get the picture. My daughter is not just a good home cook--she's got the makings of an excellent chef, because she does things with a great sense of artistry and beauty. She takes simple ingredients, and turns them into an amazing feast in short order, and serves it all up with that great big beautiful smile of hers that lights up her whole face. She loves being a blessing to others, whether it is bringing food for the body or food for the soul. Quite honestly, she makes me want to be more like Y'shua !Isn't that a blessing and a half! :-)
Who doesn't love the smell of fresh baking bread? Who wouldn't love the chance to dig into a warm, crusty loaf with some lovely butter to spread on it? All right. Enough of this. I'm making myself hungry, even as I'm typing. There are four or five different sorts of breads on this tray (and they well all delicious--trust me on this one!). There was only one problem with this. The wonderful bread that you bake and eat, however delicious won't last in you. You'll get hungry again. The bread we enjoy from our ovens or local bakery is bread that won't satisfy forever.
Pursuing the real bread, the living bread that will last and keep you satisfied is something that our 21st century largely disdains. "Go for all the gusto you can, because that's all there is."
There's an answer to that: "The fool says in his heart that there is no God." "Seek the living bread which came down out of heaven."
God shows Himself in two ways, Psalm 19 declares. The heavens are constantly declaring His glory through the created world. If we respond with a heart that wants to know the One who made it, He will always, always, give us more light. He's faithful to do that because He wants us to live in His presence. In fact, "not by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God."
At the Reclamation Project conference this weekend I heard the most wonderful teaching on The Biblical perspective on Culture by Dr. Grant Horner. (That wasn't the only thing, but this post will be oppressively long if I let my self go off on a tangent about it!) The man is brilliant, but speaks as if he doesn't realize it--and that if he does, he's going to be careful to give all the glory and honor for any ability to God. A wise posture for all of us to emulate! This brother is a formerly drugged out, tripped out, messed up fella who was scooped into the embrace of the Messiah in such a way that he was totally surprised. God chose him, and wham, everything changed! He started to read his Bible voraciously and came up with a reading plan, which he shared in an aside as he was making a point. www.scribd.com/doc/12349985/Professor-Grant-Horners-Bible-Reading-System I wrote it down as a note, because he challenged us to Google it and try it for 30 days to see what would happen to our hearts through the living Bread. Well, I've taken the challenge, and I want to invite you to do the same.
Read what he says in his blog post about the system with an open mind. I think that this could rock our lives in a wonderful way, in a way we need at the core of who we are! I have longed to know God's Word in a way that is deep and systematic, and life changing (and I'm talking about my life, dear ones!). I have been praying for a way to understand, to be able to soak it in so I can share truth with confidence and clarity and I feel as if I've had a "Eureka!" moment as I was reading about this system. I actually was crying--"yes, yes!" as I was reading.
I believe that this is going to be a huge help to swimming out deeper into the amazing love of God shown in our Messiah. One of my friends from our church ladies Bible study told me that she was intrigued when Dr. Horner talked about it and she googled it, downloaded it and was tremendously excited as she had just started. This sister is one of those wise women who knows the Lord and loves His Word. She eats it like bread, and she was excited that this would help her grow deeper.
So, I've put the links in for you. You don't have to go hunting around for it. Just begin. Let's see together what God will do for us as we begin to feast on His Word. A significant quote from Dr. Horner's plan: "The key is to get into a habit for a month. Then you'll see you've probably been starving yourself....After just a few days the reading gets much easier; in a month it will be a habit, and in six months, you'll wonder how you ever survived before on such a slim diet of the WORD. And then--you'll tell others to start the system!!"
So I've started. Today is day two. If you choose to do this, let me know so I can root for you too.
And you and I read, read, read His Words of life, may we learn to be utterly satisfied and joyful in Him in a way we never dreamed of before. Because in His presence is fullness of joy, and all Scripture is God-breathed and as He breathes His life into us, we have shalom (we also have conviction over sin, but that's another post! you don't get to shalom without dealing with that).
And, yes, I do plan to go swimming this morning, but first things first!
http://www.the-reclamation-project.com/
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