27th Mar 26 | 16:08
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02 Acts 14 08-20 THE MINISTRY AT LYSTRA 50 Acts 14 18 Living not for bread but His word
📖 Acts 14:08-20
2/50 – Wed, 10 Dec 2025 – *Living not for bread but His word*- _Acts 14:08-20_ – THE MINISTRY AT LYSTRA – _Matthew 04:01-04_
_Acts 14:18 And with these sayings they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them._
Though the people of Israel had experienced the goodness of the Lord, they quickly went to idolatry. Idolatry represents the flesh and living by sight and not by faith. God wants us to live by faith in Him. _II Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight._
Faith in God leads us to experience tangible results, but our lives must be lived by faith and obedience to God, not a life of living only to meet our needs. This is the lesson that the Lord wanted the Israelites to learn through their journey in the desert.
_Deuteronomy 8:2-6 And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. (3) So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that *man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.* (4) Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. (5) You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you. (6) "Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him._
The Israelites were expected to be a peculiar people because they lived by faith, which meant that they lived by the word of God and not by bread, which represents ‘needs’. What is man’s motivation in life? Is it not bread? Bread is what the world is chasing after. *The world worships different gods who provide them with their ‘bread’.*
*Whereas the Lord God desires that we live by faith in Him by being obedient to His word.* As our heavenly Father, He knows our needs completely, for He knows His eternal purpose for us. He provides us with the very best, and at times He may deny us what we, in our limited understanding, consider essential. _Matthew 6:31-33 "Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' (32) For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. (33) But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you._
*Seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness is the expression of our faith in God.* This is the distinction that we demonstrate before a world that pursues ‘bread’, for which they invent and worship different gods.
*Our worship of God—demonstrated through faith, which is adherence to His word—serves as our testimony to a world that worships other gods.* _Jeremiah 10:14-16 Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge; Every metalsmith is put to shame by an image; For his molded image is falsehood, And there is no breath in them. (15) They are futile, a work of errors; In the time of their punishment they shall perish. (16) The Portion of Jacob is not like them, For He is the Maker of all things, And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; The LORD of hosts is His name._
The devil suggested that Jesus make the stones into bread and meet His need for food. _Matthew 4:1-4_ Jesus was hungry, and He needed food. The devil's suggestion seemed innocent. Yet, in this temptation is hidden the deep evil of idolatry.
When a man lives life only to fulfil his ‘bread’, he is rejecting God and choosing another god that will provide him with his ‘bread’. *All of us need ‘bread’.* God is not denying us our bread but fulfils it. God expects us to live by faith, which is by obedience to His word. _Matthew 4:4 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, BUT BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD.' "_
Every bread need that we face in life is an opportunity to turn it into an opportunity for worship and obedience to His word. This is our true act of worship of God. This is the lesson that the Israelites did not learn. _I Corinthians 10:4-6 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. (5) *But with most of them God was not well pleased*, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. (6) Now *these things became our examples*, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted._
The Lord confronted the people with this idolatry. _John 6:26-27 Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, *you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled*. (27) *Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you*, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."_
This is His word for us. _Isaiah 42:8 I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images._