Not By Bread Alone

NOT BY BREAD ALONE

Dr. D. K. Olukoya

Let us pray: Father, we pray that Your power will descend on us and empty us of everything known as self and drain out every unbrokenness from of spirits, so that Your word can have root in our lives, in the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.

Beloved, the Bible talks about the sower who in his assignment had some of his seeds fall on good ground and yielded bountifully while some fell on barren land and therefore yielded nothing. God wants to profit with us hence He is investing in our lives. You cannot live the life of an unprofitable servant, who buried the one talent that was given to him by his master. This means that your life must be tailored towards yielding dividends unto God. At this juncture, I want you to raise your voice and pray like this: “O Lord, anything that will not make You to profit with my life, take it out now, in the name of Jesus.”

Matthew 4:1-4: “Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” For you to remain standing as a Christian who will make heaven, there are three things you cannot put aside:

1. Holiness: The Bible does not mince words as regards the importance of holiness. It says in Hebrews 12: 14: “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” You may see anything, you may see vision, you may prophesy, you may know your pastor, you can hold all the church posts but seeing God without being holy is impossible.

2. Prayer: Jesus did not say preach without ceasing, but He said pray without ceasing. Without prayer, you cannot communicate with God. This is a non-negotiable condition for making heaven. A prayerless Christian is a dead Christian. The staff with which to walk with God is prayer.

3. The Word of God: This is one area where the devil has dealt a serious blow on so many Christians. It is sad but true that many church goers are completely ignorant of the Bible. I am not talking about the theoretical experiences many gain from Bible colleges. You could even go to these colleges and come out more confused.

Many church goers are even completely ignorant of whom the Lord really is. Some would resolve to read the Bible from cover to cover only to abandon it midway. To some, the best place for their Bible is under the pillow, with a Psalm opened, and to some, it is a tool to be used when in danger. Many have small Bibles; some have big ones but do not read them. Without any argument, we all know that the Bible has changed so many lives. In countries where reading the Bible has been long accepted as tradition progress was rapid. While in places where people do not like to read the Bible, progress has been slow. Those who read it before but later abandoned it, are in trouble now. There is power in the Word of God, if not, there would not have been so many attempts to destroy it. Perhaps you have heard of John Wycliff, the first man to translate the Bible to English. Prior to his effort, only priests or pastors used to read the Bible and their interpretation of it was unquestionable. John Wycliff’s efforts were therefore seen as a threat to this situation. No wonder he was eventually killed for making it possible for everyone to read the Bible. They killed him, but even some years after his death, they were still not satisfied with the punishment of death. So, his corpse was exhumed and burnt to ashes and the ashes were dumped inside rivers. Happily today, the Bible is everywhere and in it, we have the best of books, the greatest book and the most wonderful book. It is the book that has lasted longer than any other book. It is however sad to note that it is the most neglected book. A lot of people do not know that when they do not read the Word of God to feed their spirits, they will have no strength spiritually.

There was a man in a country where they do not permit people to read Bible. His only Bible was seized and thrown away. Later, he discovered that somebody else had one hidden in a village nearby. He managed to get in touch with him and started copying about two chapters a day. Two chapters were sent to his son and by the time he was through with it, he got born again. It is amazing to see many in a free country as ours still refusing to read the Bible and get filled with the powers therein.