The Bread of Life

This is the Good News: those who cannot find nourishment in this world, who find nothing but despair, can call out to Him who gives bread that satisfies. Do you feel the emptiness and vanity of this world? To ask for the bread of God is to feel poor in spirit (which we can define as brokenness).

Luke 11:11-13 says, "If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone….how much more then will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask." The interesting part is that the son is indeed asking for bread and not for a stone. So my question is: would the Father give bread if we ask for a stone? This may seem ridiculous until we reflect upon our own lives. Oswald Chambers said, "We will never receive if we ask with an end in view; if we ask not out of poverty but out of lust. A pauper does not ask for any other reason than the abject panging condition of his poverty, he is not ashamed to beg. Blessed are the paupers in spirit." Chambers points out that if you ask for things from life instead of from God; you ask wrongly. One thing I have found in my soul, and the bible has warned us about, is the deceptive power of the heart and mind. We must realize the words we pray are not always what's truly in our heart and mind. It may be the things we want to think we believe. Or the way we want to think of ourselves. Have you ever thought "how can I know myself when I deceive myself?" Those who have, realize the dichotomy of the self (that which we truly are, and that which we think we are). John 8:31-32 says, "If you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." To begin to know the truth about us is to see ourselves in full depravity. We must separate from the lusts and deceitfulness of the self. But we do not naturally do this. Are we not content to be deceived if we perceive the truth will be painful? But you who persistently call upon God in spirit and in truth will find He is faithful to His promise; you will taste the bread of life.