Morning Dew
Key Passage: Matthew 4: 1-11
Key Word: Matthew 4:4 – “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God”
Honestly after all these years on earth, I am convinced that there are many dimensions to life. What we see is not what it is. There are other dimensions undergirding what we see, feel, taste, touch and smell. Most people only exist in the realities of their one dimension and feel that that’s all there is to it. How I wish this were true. Life would be very simple. Let’s plumb this a bit deeper. A woman is diagnosed as having breast cancer. On probing, the doctor discovers her mother has the same cancer. The Doctor blames it on genes and begins a course of radical treatment to cure the woman of the cancer. Hopefully he succeeds and medical treatment seems to have prevailed. But does this stop the same genes from recurring in other generations? The simple answer is no, because all the radiotherapy, chemotherapy and radical mastectomy are but palliative, not an eradication. The treatment had been on one dimension. So total eradication is still elusive. The real root has not been dealt with. It is like cutting off the branches of a tree, and expecting it to die. It may look dead for a while, but it will surely come alive again. The only way to successfully stop a tree from growing is to deal with its roots.
In our text today Jesus said “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Jesus was responding to one of the temptations of Satan to turn stones into bread, because Jesus was hungry after a forty day fast. Jesus’ answer was not that bread was not important, but there is a deeper need to be met and it is not the food prepared on this dimension. He knew that He needed more than natural food to give Him the strength He needed to fulfil His purpose, so he refused the offer of the food. He needed spiritual food and spiritual strength to run His race.
We all need to understand that what we sometimes run to natural sources to resolve are only at best temporarily met, not permanently. The real answers to man’s needs, whatever they are, are somewhere in the word of God. They are there for us to apply to our so-called natural situations and resolve them permanently.
Let me also quickly add that Jesus did not say bread was not good or useless, but He said it is not enough. Man shall not live by bread alone. He was saying, there is another dimension and this is where the real life flows. Whatever your situation and circumstance, please understand that God has provided permanent answers to those problems through His word and through His incarnate Word, Jesus Christ.
Back to the cancer patient; the simple answer to the cure for cancer not only in one generation, but in all generations, is to understand that the word of God clearly states that Jesus was bruised for our iniquities. That is He has taken upon Himself all generational sins, proclivities and predispositions. And by His stripes we are healed. So if you know this truth and you apply it with the same faith you put into the natural cures we so vigorously pursue, then we would receive healing from His hand and permanently eradicate this disease from our generations.
Lastly, 2 Peter 1:2-3, His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. This tells us that God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness through His word.
One more angle to this; Isaiah 40: 6-8 says,
A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever
Today, I encourage you not to use up all your energy chasing solutions only on one dimension, look to the Lord Jesus and search out His word and obtain permanent solution to your situation.
Let us pray: Father in Heaven, that you once again for your Word and your Spirit. Thank you for the provision of all natural blessings and especially the gift of medical science. Father today we ask that you would give us the grace to understand the temporariness of nature and the permanence of your word and in this help us to cling to that which will last in Jesus name. Amen.