Fresh Manna
by Pastor Tim Burt

My daughter, her husband, and their two daughters who are missionaries in Peru, came home to spend their first Christmas with us in ten years. And they are spending some extra time with us before they go back. It’s been wonderful beyond words. Since my two granddaughters are now young adults, we’ve had amazing adult conversations about the Lord, life, and sacrifices we live out so that the Word of God can be known. To be brutally honest, we make sacrifices—not of physical suffering like some do, but that are far beyond what other people would even consider making! Why? Because these words from God compel us to: Romans 10:13-14 (NIV) “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”  God’s Word is the answer, solution, peace and blessing  to live here in this world.

God’s word—the Bible, is a letter from God’s heart to ours. God tells us things and promises us things that when believed in faith, transform our life. Thus, one of the terms God called His word was the word of faith. The word of faith is having belief or faith in what God tells us. When you believe what God tells you in His word, then that word to you has become the word of faith“

Romans 10:8 NIV says, “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming.”  

Because we know and believe what God tells us through His Word, God’s Word becomes a Word of Faith—a word that we can put our absolute faith in. It becomes a Word of Faith we base our lives on. It becomes a Word of Faith we base our eternal salvation on. It becomes the Word of Faith that clearly tells us how much He loves us. It becomes the Word of Faith that fills our life with the promises of God—of provision, of peace, of protection, of help, of guidance, of miracles, of intimacy between a Heavenly Father and His earthly children. It eliminates the gods of theory, myths, and fairy tales. His Word becomes a powerful, transforming, and life-changing force.

David, who slew Goliath, was one who saw the Word of God as the word of faith. To Him it was fact. God was real. God was His strength. God was His help in time of trouble. David loved Him by faith, worshipped Him by faith, and embraced everything passed on to Him by His forefathers about God by faith.  God was as real to David as I might be to you, even though you may have never met me face to face.

God had given David words from Heaven that David based his entire life and existence upon. Because of David’s deep love and expression of faith, God was intimate in return to David. He spoke to His heart. Likewise, James 4:8 (NKJV) teaches us, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you…” David knew it and lived it by constantly drawing near. He spoke and sang to God daily! He recited God’s promises back to God in many ways daily! David tells us in Psalms 119:11 (NLT) “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”  

There will always be those that consider the Bible as nothing more than a storybook—a book of myths, fables and allegories. To them it is not the word of faith.  Hebrews 6:11 says “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” That chapter then goes on to list the heroes of faith who walked by the faith that pleases God, and consequently experienced mighty exploits at that hand of God. To those who believe God’s Word, “… it is the power of God to salvation (to be rescued, helped, protected, healed, and made whole) to every one that believes. (Romans 1:16) God’s promises are what bring us supernatural peace—the peace that the Bible says “passes human understanding.”