Daily Bread – May 13, 2023 (The Seventh Day – Genesis 2:1-3) Genesis 41:38 – And Pharaoh said unto his servants, “Can we find such a man as this in whom the Spirit of God is?” Those who have authority with God will ultimately have an impact on their families, communities, nations, and even the world. Although every person who was anointed by God in the Bible had such an effect, two men stand out among the others for their impact upon foreign nations – Joseph and Daniel. Both Joseph and Daniel had the ability to foretell coming events. Yet, there was something far more significant about their lives – they were both men of purity and holiness! Their characters were marked with the nature of God. When we evaluate their consecration to God, we are able to see how it affected the food they ate, the company they kept, and their impeccable dedication to the moral nature of the God Whom they served. The testimonies they received from the rulers of the world in which they lived were that they had the “Spirit of the Holy God” in them (Genesis 41:38; Daniel 4:8,18, 5:11,14). If there is anything we are missing today, it is this type of consecration to God and to His ways. We have been given authority with God and made His children (John 1:12-13; 1 John 3:1-2). We are His heirs, and have been given the authority and power to represent the Kingdom of God (Romans 8:17; Galatians 4:1-7; Luke 10:19, 24:49; Acts 1:5,8). God has given us a place with Him where, whatever we ask, He will do (John 15:16; Matthew 7:7-11). That which has been made available to us far surpasses what any of the Old Testament saints had. However, many have failed to equate the anointing and the authority of God manifested in a person’s life to their consecration to the ways of God. We are living in a critical time period. Today, the Name of Jesus has become a byword, a name people sneer at, a reproach, and a word used when men curse and speak every vile and wicked thing. The Church – which has been filled with all of the fullness of God, filled and baptized with the Spirit – has gone to sleep and is nigh unto death. We are the ones who, through our disobedience, have brought the Name of the Lord to such disgrace. The Church, which is to have all the wisdom of God at work in the midst of it, has forsaken the Spirit of God and has taken up that which is popular with the world. Rather than to have the display of the Spirit of God (in the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, discerning of spirits, miracles, gifts of healings, the gift of faith, prophesy, tongues and interpretation of tongues), we fashion ourselves after that which is earthly, sensual, and devilish – forsaking the glory and power of the Spirit of the Living God. The sign the Spirit of God has been poured out on us – every person prophesying – has no room in our well-organized and man-controlled meetings, which we have conformed to the world’s standards of what is respectable and acceptable (Acts 2:18,33; 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, 14:15-18,23-26; Ephesians 1:16-23). If we want authority with God, then we are going to have to learn to rely upon the Spirit of Holiness. We must be willing to live holy and acceptable to God (Romans 12:1-2; 1 Peter 1:13-17; 1 John 3:1-3). We must be willing to be taught by God, and walk in His nature and ways (1 John 2:27-29; Ephesians 4:20-24; Hebrews 8:10, 10:16; Ezekiel 36:26-27). The Holy Spirit has come to teach us, to lead us; and we are commanded to live in Him and by Him (John 14:15-26, 15:1-8; 16:13-15). We are commanded to walk in the Spirit, which is equal to walking in God and being His children (Galatians 5:16,25; Romans 8:14,16; Ephesians 5:1-2). We are to be clothed with the life of Jesus and conformed to His image (Romans 8:29, 13:14; Galatians 3:27; 2 Corinthians 13:5). The time has come for each person to choose whose side he/she is on, and what he/she is going to live and die for. These are the days of great change, and there must be a people who know their God if the Kingdom of God is to be represented properly (Daniel 11:32; Matthew 7:13-27)! Will you allow the Holy Spirit to glorify Jesus in your life? Will you give yourself to the same cause of the Father, and allow Jesus to be honored and highly exalted through you? Blessings, Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
Daily Bread 5/13/2023
