Luke 11:3 (KJV) A Pattern to Follow

Luke 11:3 (KJV)

Give us day by day our daily bread.

People commonly call Luke 11:2–4 “The Lord’s Prayer.” I think it is better understood as the Lord’s model for prayer. The disciples did not ask Jesus for a prayer to recite. One of them said, “Lord, teach us to pray.”

This appears to be a different occasion from the Sermon on the Mount. There Jesus had said, “After this manner therefore pray ye.” Here, after Jesus had finished praying, a disciple asks Him for instruction. Jesus gives essentially the same pattern again.

The point was not the recitation of certain words. The point was learning to pray.

Jesus begins with relationship: “Our Father.” Prayer is the child of God speaking to his Father. He then gives us the matters about which we should pray. His name is to be hallowed. His kingdom is to be desired. His will is to be preferred. Our daily needs are to be brought before Him. Our sins, our relationships with others, and our temptations belong in prayer too.

“Give us day by day our daily bread” is not merely about bread. It teaches us that nothing concerning the child of God is too ordinary to bring before his Father. He is our Father, and the things that concern His children concern Him.

Jesus then continues the lesson beyond the words of the model prayer. He tells of the man who persistently asks his friend for bread. He says, “Ask… seek… knock.” Finally, He reminds us that even an earthly father knows how to give good gifts to his children.

The passage begins with “Our Father” and ends with “your heavenly Father.”

That is the lesson.

Prayer is not an empty, mechanical recitation of religious words. It is a child of God approaching his Father. We worship Him, submit ourselves to Him, bring our needs before Him, confess our failures to Him, seek His protection, and persistently ask Him for those things that honor Him.

Natural laws do not limit our Father. Circumstances do not overwhelm Him. Nothing we face is beyond His control. Nothing is too big for God. Nothing is too small to bring to God.

Jesus did not just teach His disciples a prayer.

He taught them to pray.

#DailyVisitWithGod #LordTeachUsToPray #DailyBread #TrustYourFather #BiblicalPrayer

A Pattern to Follow: Not A Prayer to Repeat

Luke 11 shows us that biblical prayer is more than repeating familiar words. Jesus taught His disciples to approach God as their Father, seek His will, bring Him their needs, and persistently ask, seek, and knock.

What do you believe Jesus meant when He said, “When ye pray, say…”? Share your thoughts in the comments.

For more KJV Bible studies, Daily Visits with God, and practical biblical teaching, visit MarvinMcKenzie.org.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7200 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
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Luke 11:3 (KJV) A Pattern to Follow

Here's a comic version of the lesson.

http://youtube.com/post/UgkxVep25SNk2i18tm677OMnCeMIn9lFGuvf?si=O_LLlHIP3yQG2I9n

Job 14:14 (KJV) Don’t Give Up

Job 14:14 (KJV)

If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

Job has said some pretty negative things in this chapter. In verses 10-12, he says that man dies, wastes away, gives up the ghost, and then asks, “where is he?” He compares him to water that dries up. He says man lies down and does not rise again.

It sounds hopeless.

Interestingly, Job had just said there was hope for a tree. Cut it down and, if there is still life in the roots, “through the scent of water it will bud.” Job could see the possibility of new life for the tree, but he was having a much more difficult time seeing it for himself.

Then something changes in his thinking.

“If a man die, shall he live again?”

Job answers his own question, at least in part, when he says, “all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.”

I am struck by the word wait.

Job didn’t know when his change would come. Perhaps he was thinking only of eternity. Later he would say, “I know that my redeemer liveth.” We know that, for the believer, the ultimate change is coming. If nothing ever improves in this life, we still have the promise of eternity with the Lord.

But Job didn’t have to wait until eternity for everything to change.

We know the rest of the story.

Job did not know it while he sat in ashes. He couldn’t see that God would turn his captivity. He didn’t know that his family would gather around him again. He had no idea that “the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning.”

All Job knew to do was wait.

I think there is something here for us. We can get into a place where we see no possible way things can improve. We know heaven awaits us, but right now looks pretty bleak.

Wait.

Our ultimate change will come when we enter the presence of the Lord. But we have no idea what God might have planned between here and there.

The blessing we cannot see today may already be just around the corner.

Wait till your change comes.

#WaitOnGod #FaithInHardTimes #TrustGod #BookOfJob #DailyVisitWithGod

Don’t Give Up—God May Change Everything Tomorrow

When life feels hopeless and nothing seems to change, Job reminds us that waiting on God is an act of faith. We know what God has promised for eternity, but we never know what blessing He may have waiting just around the next bend.

What are you trusting God to change while you wait on Him? Share your thoughts in the comments.

For more KJV Bible studies, Daily Visits with God, books, podcasts, and practical Christian encouragement, visit marvinmckenzie.org.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7200 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Job 14:14 (KJV) Don’t Give Up

Here's a comic version of the lesson.

http://youtube.com/post/Ugkx1lZLi3hhIq0sM4eAAl4PAaF3s0IEM-FI?si=DrYRgf4GFVZX-uNH

Job 13:16 (KJV) Hypocrisy Is Worse Than We Think

Job 13:16 (KJV)

He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him.

I’ve heard many people accuse churches of being full of hypocrites. Perhaps they are correct. I question whether most professing Christians really are saved. I question whether most professing independent Baptists are saved. Frankly, I wonder whether many independent Baptist pastors and preachers are saved. (Could this be the reason for some celebrity-type pastors falling into egregious sin?)

Job’s use of the term hypocrite reminds me of Paul’s warning concerning the reprobate.

2 Corinthians 13:5 (KJV)
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

Paul urges the members of this church to examine themselves and make sure they are in the faith. No reprobate—or, as Job would have said it, “an hypocrite”—shall come before God.

The ancient Hebrew word translated hypocrite here means filthy, polluted, or immoral. Brown-Driver-Briggs defines it as “godless” or “irreligious.” The fact is, hypocrisy is much worse in God’s eyes than the softer “two-faced” definition of the secular world.

Frankly, it matters but a little how the non-Christian judges those who attend our churches. But woe to the man or woman whom God judges an hypocrite.

#Hypocrisy #ExamineYourself #TrueSalvation #BiblicalFaith #Job13v16

Hypocrisy IS Worse Than We Think: What God Really Sees

What does the Bible really mean by hypocrisy? Is it simply being two-faced, or does Scripture warn of something far more serious?

What do you think? Leave a comment and share your thoughts. Then visit marvinmckenzie.org for more Bible studies, Daily Visits with God, books, and practical teaching from the Word of God.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7200 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Job 13:16 (KJV) Hypocrisy Is Worse Than We Think

Here's a comic version of the lesson.

http://youtube.com/post/Ugkx1lZLi3hhIq0sM4eAAl4PAaF3s0IEM-FI?si=880ytMnJNW11Hdhl

Job 12:17 (KJV) The Dangerous Sin of Judging Too Soon

Job 12:17 (KJV)

He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools.

Judgment is necessary. There are times when someone must examine the facts, determine what is right, and make a decision. We need judges who are fair enough to hear the whole matter and stern enough to act when wrongdoing has been established.

But judges are still men.

That is one of the great ironies of human judgment. We need judgment because men are fallible, yet every earthly judge is himself fallible. He can misunderstand the evidence, believe the wrong person, overlook an important fact, or reach a conclusion before everything is known.

Job's "friends" demonstrate that danger.

They looked at Job's circumstances and thought they understood what had happened. Job was suffering terribly. They knew that God is righteous. They knew that sin has consequences. From those truths, they formed a conclusion: Job must have committed some terrible sin.

Their theology contained truth. Their conclusion did not.

What they could not see was what had happened in Heaven before Job's suffering began. They were judging a situation while missing some of the most important evidence.

We often do the same thing.

We see a troubled marriage and think we know who caused it. We see someone struggling financially and assume we know why. We watch a person leave a church and decide which side was wrong. We hear one account of a disagreement and form an opinion about someone we have never even spoken with.

Sometimes our conclusions may be correct.

But sometimes God "maketh the judges fools."

That ought to make us cautious about passing judgment concerning circumstances we do not fully understand. It does not mean refusing to call sin what God calls sin. Scripture gives us clear judgments concerning right and wrong. But judging an action plainly condemned in Scripture is different from assuming we know the motives, history, circumstances, and hidden facts surrounding another person's life.

Job's friends knew enough to have an opinion.

They did not know enough to pronounce a verdict.

There will be occasions when we must make judgments. When we do, we should seek truth, listen carefully, and act courageously.

But we should never forget that God knows the part of the story we do not.

#DailyVisitWithGod #Job12v17 #BiblicalWisdom #JudgeRighteously #GodKnowsTheWholeStory

The Dangerous Sin of Judging Too Soon: See Less, Judge Less

Have you ever discovered you were wrong because you didn't know the whole story? Share your experience in the comments—I’d love to hear your thoughts. 

For more daily Bible devotions, biblical teaching, books, and resources to help you grow in your walk with Christ, visit marvinmckenzie.org. Be sure to subscribe so you never miss a new Daily Visit with God.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 7200 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

Job 12:17 (KJV) The Dangerous Sin of Judging Too Soon

Here's a comic version of the lesson.

http://youtube.com/post/UgkxE3p7OeFG1B2BKs6QdnOXddpuAVLui1TV?si=Ju6b3cXhgGByGjRl