Receiving Our Daily Bread
Right now, my husband and I are in San Diego. One of our children is ill
and we have been helping out. Back home, my Mom broke her arm. Her caregiver,
Mary, is with her as she recuperates. Since we can't be in both places at
once, we are so grateful for the support from God's people.
Hungry for worship and fellowship, we attended a small church in San Diego
called Harbor Uptown, a church whose mission is to help those in need by
showing them the love of Jesus. This includes homeless, addicts, prostitutes,
poor, and the unlovely. During the service, my tears flowed as I felt such
Christ-like love in this congregation. When Pastor Dick Kaufmann gave his
sermon, he sat on a stool. He has a nerve disorder where he cannot stand
too long. Yet to watch him, his face glows with joy and peace; you would
think he didn't have a problem in the world. His message this evening was
on prayer. When he brought up the Lord's Prayer, I thought, well, here comes
another nice sermon on Our Father.
/anita_white.jpg)
But then he said something that grabbed my attention. He thinks the most
important verse in the Lord's Prayer is "give us this day our daily
bread." He explained that this line goes beyond asking for our physical
needs. As bread nourishes our physical life, the Holy Spirit is nourishment
for our spiritual life. He encouraged us each evening to ask God for this
daily bread - the Holy Spirit.
We receive the Holy Spirit when we ask Jesus Christ to be our Savior, but
we need to be continually filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. This
thought stayed with me throughout the evening. Later, Ned and I prayed and
asked God for our daily bread - to fill us up with the power of the Holy
Spirit. Sometime during the night, I woke up with a sense of peace, feeling
the presence of Jesus comfort me and realizing that He was again filling
me with His Holy Spirit.
Are all the problems gone? No. Are we coping? Sometimes; sometimes I fall flat on my face. Will we get through this victoriously? Yes! Because Jesus loves us - He covers us with His precious blood, fills us up daily with the Holy Spirit and promises that He will never leave us or forsake us. When Jesus says that you gain your life only by losing it, perhaps He meant that we will have to walk each day by faith. Ask Him to fill you up.
I love ya,
Kathy
Kathy Thomas is the director of Woman to Woman Ministries of Tucson, dedicated to the encouragement and healing of women, which airs a weekly radio program on KGMS 940 AM every Sat. at 2 pm.and on cable television Wed. at 3 p.m. on channels 72 and 97 and Fri.at 5 p.m. on channels 73 and 98. email Kathy at hooperandhonker@msn.com.
© 2008 Good News Tucson™
