For example, I have a dear Sister whose faith walk has grown by leaps and bounds this past year or so, and we were having a frank and honest conversation about our struggle to maintain a righteous life; of having faced some spiritual issues and personal sins that we were delivered from, yet we continue to battle on those same fronts. She said something to the effect of, "I thought once I was delivered, I would be free from that [sinful area] of my life, going forward".
My first thought was this... I remembered Paul saying, I discover that even when I want to do good, evil is ready to sabotage me. Truly, deep within my true identity, I love to do what pleases God. But I discern another power operating in my humanity, waging a war against the moral principles of my conscience [mind] and bringing me into captivity as a prisoner to the “law” of sin—this unwelcome intruder in my humanity. This is a principle about which I always caution someone [who has gone through a deliverance session].
I think everyone of us can identify with those thoughts that we know are wrong, and which in the past, have led us to say or do something that we know displeased God and is not in alignment with our identity as a new creation in Christ. These thoughts are the fiery darts that the Enemy sends to tempt us to do evil. Various translations call them the "flaming arrows" or "blazing arrows" of the Evil one; all designed to return us to captivity by penetrating the protective shield of faith, which is part of our spiritual armor that we are to put on and never take off.
But here's the thing.... just because you've experienced a spiritual encounter with Jesus whereby He has covered that particular sin in your life; and you have been forgiven; and you have forgiven others and watched Jesus remove that area of bondage from your life [as far as the east is from the west], it doesn't mean the Enemy is going to quit launching those fiery arrows of the devil. Why should he? They have worked for lots of years in your life, and you have responded to that temptation in the past.... so he's going to see if they will work again. And he might continue for awhile before he realizes that you have truly renewed your mind and heart and those fiery darts no longer work on you. And this is where the concept of our DAILY BREAD comes in.
We are all familiar with the verse in the Lord's Prayer, where Jesus tells the disciples to pray, Give us this day our daily bread. Have you ever wondered why He uses that particular terminology? Well, a study of the hermeneutics of the word "bread" reveals the following: It originates from the Hebrew word nacah, which among it's many meanings are "to pardon; to spare; to undertake the responsibility of the sins of others by substitution or representation". The Greek word airo also defines "bread", as well. It means "to take away what was been attached to anything; to remove", and I can't tell you how many times during the deliverance sessions we have witnessed, the Beloved sees Jesus [in the spirit] remove a spirit of shame, or guilt, or self-rejection -- whatever false identity the Enemy has attached to them that has kept them in bondage. Finally, in the most basic sense, the Greek word artos defines "bread" as the necessity for the sustenance of life. I don't think any of us would argue that Jesus is necessary for eternal Life.
So, now let's go back and see the big picture Jesus is painting for us here. Because the Enemy is going to continue to launch those fiery arrows of tempting sin at our minds, hearts, and flesh, there will be those inevitable times that our shield of faith is not positioned correctly to deflect them. And we will be able to identify with Paul when he says, For I do not understand my own actions [I am baffled and bewildered by them]. I do not practice what I want to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate [and yielding to my human nature, my worldliness—my sinful capacity] -- those darn fiery darts have found their mark!
So the truth of the matter is that we need the provision of deliverance -- the bread that removes whatever sin has attached itself to us; the sustenance offered by Jesus, and we need it every day -- DAILY -- because we are engaged in a daily war against our minds and hearts. Just because Jesus has delivered us from a lifelong bondage in an area of our life, it doesn't mean we will never encounter another temptation or never sin again. As long as we are in our humanity, we are going to sin. It is up to us to receive that Daily Bread that renews us every day, delivers us from the consequences of our sins, and provides us with the power to fight back.
In short, "Daily Bread" is a renewal of God's righteous principles in our life each and every day. We are not strong enough, in our humanity, to resist the temptations of the Enemy to sin again, so Jesus offers Himself as the sustenance [and the power] to withstand the sinful appeals of the devil. If you have been blessed to be delivered from bondage, then you know how sweet is the taste of the renewed life He offers. This bread is not only life-giving, but both a daily preventative and eternal. And here is the benefit of being called His own ... It's a daily offering, and we would do well to never skip our portion of it because what Jesus says in the Lord's Prayer immediately following this request for Daily Bread is the reason we need it ... forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And And rescue us from temptation, and deliver us [set us free] from evil. For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. The Daily Bread is the means by which we can ensure our prayers are answered. Praise Him for His everlasting faithfulness to deliver us!
Proverbs 30:8 Keep deception and lies far from me; Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion,
