Fri.’s Devo -Live by the Bread of Life

Read: Deuteronomy 16:1-17:20; Luke 9:7-27; Psalm 72:1-20; Proverbs 12:8-9 They were told to honor he Lord by celebrating the Passover every year. The were to celebrate it with the feast of Unleavened Bread and First Fruits. Fifty days later they were to celebrate the Festival of Harvest or Pentecost. At the end of the year, at harvest they were to celebrate the Festival of Shelters for seven days. These feasts marked the three times a year when all the male would come to the place that God chose to be worshiped. *** They were to appoint judges that would judge fairly and not take bribes. They were to make sure any person who worshiped other gods was stoned. There must be two witnesses to try a person and the hard cases were to be given to the priests and Levites. *** After they lived in the land, if they decided they wanted a king, there were certain laws the king must follow. They must let God choose the man to rule. He must be an Israelite. He must not accumulate horses, wives, silver or gold to himself. He should write a copy of the law in a book that is kept by the priests and he must read it every day for as long as he lives. This must be the statutes that he lives by. Then he will live a long life and his children will follow after him in righteousness. *** In Luke, everyone was trying to decide who they thought Jesus was. Herod was one of them. He had been tricked into killing John the Baptist and now one doing greater things than John was making waves. *** Jesus had sent out the 70 to go and preach the Kingdom of God and heal the sick and cast out demons and they had just returned. They brought a lot of people with them to hear Jesus. At the end of the day, the disciples tried to get Jesus to send them home to eat, but Jesus told them to feed them. They explained that they only had five loaves and two fishes. Jesus had them sit the people down and divided them into sections of fifty a piece. Then Jesus took the food they had and looking up to heaven he blessed the food and gave it to the disciples. Everyone was fed and they filled twelve baskets with the leftovers. *** Jesus asked his disciples who the people thought he was. Then He asked them who they thought he was. Peter answered, the Christ of God. Jesus told them not to reveal this truth yet. He would have to suffer and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes. They would have him killed but he would rise on the third day. All of his disciples must take up their own cross and follow him. To follow Christ is to lose yourself, your reputation and your life for Christ’s. It will be worth it. *** The disciples had just come back from casting out demons out of people and getting them to repent and be healed. Now Jesus was showing them that they needed to fill that emptiness with the bread and meat of the Word of God. *** Lord, thank you for the hope of the resurrection and life. We are grateful to follow you and lay down our lives for you. We know the best is yet to come! May we be filled with your bread to sustain us in this life.