I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.

 Leviticus 24

 I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. John 6:48-51

This morning, I continued my study of Leviticus using the Christ-Centered Exposition series commentary for this book - continuing chapter twenty-one - In God's Presence  - covering Leviticus 24:1-23, looking specifically at the second theme for the chapter - We Fellowship with God Intimately.  Here, as the theme aptly describes, the commentary theme for today emphasizes how we are to fellowship with God in study of God's Word and in prayer.  Using Leviticus 24:5-9 as the scriptural basis for such emphasis, the commentary looks specifically at v8 where it says "[e]very Sabbath day Aaron shall arrange [the bread or fellowship offering] before the Lord regularly," and v8-9 where the priests are commanded by God to offer the bread as a permanent due. V9 also describes how the priests are, once the bread from the day before is removed from the "table of pure gold" and the new bread replaces the old bread, the old bread is to eaten by the priests and enjoyed in fellowship with God within the tabernacle. The twelve loaves of bread of course represents all of the tribes of Israel and the commentary then connects the dots for us by stating that "God invited all His people to fellowship with Him."

The commentary then pivots to the New Testament and how believers are commanded by God to be in fellowship with Him.  1 Corinthians 1:9 and Hebrews 4:14, 16 are provided as scriptural references for how God called us into fellowship with Him and encourages us approach Him with confidence to receive mercy and grace. In John 6:51 Jesus refers to Himself as the Bread of Life.  Acts 2:42-47 describes the new church that formed on Pentecost (specifically Acts 2:46-47) and how "day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people." Both Matthew 6 and Luke 11 describe how Jesus taught us how to pray by asking Him to "[g]ive us this/each day our daily bread."

Comment and discuss this post here. 

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God and You are the Bread of Life!  You feed me in ALL ways and in the most important way - spiritually!  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You fellowship with me.  I sin...slander, gossip, worry, etc.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.   

I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word. My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises.

Psalm 119

I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word. My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises. v147-148

Just as Moses was leading the Israelites into the promised land, he passes on a message to them, encouraging them to "[l]ove the Lord the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength":

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. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Daily study and prayer are critical spiritual disciplines - see posts here. Through these disciplines, we better understand God, His character, and His attributes.  We better know His will for our lives.  We are protected, encouraged, etc.  The more we know about God, the more we will love Him, for He is a great God.

My Prayer: Lord You are without a doubt a great God and without You I would be lost.  Thank You for Your guidance and Your many, many blessings.  I am not worth these blessings and Your love but You provide them anyway - Thank You Jesus.  My worry and stress continues to be a part of my life so please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome my sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Help me love others as You do.  Give me strength.  Give Lisa strength.  Please heal and cure her of her cancer and the side effects from chemo.  Help me lead and serve Lisa, Zach, and Dustin and serve You.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.

Psalm 68

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. v19

As a believer, a core spiritual discipline is study of God's Word so that we can understand what it says in an absolute sense (head understanding) and also what God is saying to us individually (heart understanding).  I have for a long time not understood the full extent of the requirements to develop and have a personal relationship with Jesus.  The Bible (God himself - see John 1) is explicit that we love the Lord with all of heart, soul, mind and strength (Exodus 20, Matthew 22).  To express this we should delight in the law of the Lord (Psalm 1) and to develop a hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5).  In my view, the Bible is not explicit that we are to daily study God's word but it is implied through various scriptures. 

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23

Give us each day our daily bread. Luke 11:3

Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors[.] Proverbs 8:34

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. Hebrews 12:12-13

Core to answering this question is of course our heart condition - if we truly love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, then we should seek Him as much as possible - daily, but likely more often than this.

My Prayer: Lord, You ARE our daily bread, I depend on You and apart from You I can do no good thing.  I desperately need You in my life.  I know You are with me until the end of the age.  Thank You Jesus.  I am not deserving of Your love.  I am broken - I am selfish, lazy, I am impatient, and I worry too often.  Please forgive me Jesus!  Help me overcome my sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength. Help me love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give me strength.  Give Lisa strength.  Please heal and cure her of her cancer and the side effects from chemo.  Help me lead and serve Lisa, Zach, and Dustin.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.