Today I’m with you again with a new chapter of “Roz ki Roti”. This series has been running for the past year and a half and we’ve all been receiving the blessings of God from it, but due to lack of support we had to scale back some regular programs of Glory TV. We’ve decided to restart “Roz ki Roti” again as its important for renewing our spiritual growth.
So we begin this program with a prayer: O Lord, in the heavens, may your name be hallowed and your kingdom comes. May your will be implemented on earth just like it is in the heavens. And like we forgive the debts of our fellow humans, may you forgive our debts unto you and save us from sin. Amen.
You may have noticed that I began my talk with the prayer of Rubani which Jesus taught to his disciples when they asked him how they should pray to God – and this prayer was given to them as a way to connect with their Lord.
First of all, we will discuss what “Roz ki Roti” or “Daily Bread” really means. This can be explained both in physical terms as well as spiritual ones. Just like we need sustenance daily when we feel hungry, similarly we need spiritual nourishment from God for our spiritual growth. So when we pray to God for our daily bread we should not just think of it in terms but also spiritually. And we should ask God what is our blessing for today and what he expects from us as to how we should celebrate his glory in this day. We might ask, what is the benefit to us in asking for this daily bread? Just like our body has needs for energy, growth and strength – if we don’t learn the God’s word on a daily basis then our spiritual growth will weaken. We need this to gain strength for fighting the devil so we should replenish our spiritual energy on a daily basis.
Jesus has also said that man does not survive on bread alone, but on the word of God. When the devil led Jesus astray in the jungle and after 40 days when he was hungry, the devil told him that if he desired the stones infront of him could turn to food. And Jesus replied that a human doesn’t just need bread for life. As we’re living in the end of times we need that spiritual energy to survive as well.
I want to share a story of my childhood – we had a teacher who taught Bible class. She told us that a time will come when the Bible – the word of God will be snatched from our hands so we should start learning and memorizing the verses right now so that in the future we can still have the word of God within us.
We see that the Lord has his own way or method to give us our daily sustenance. When the Israelites escaped from the slavery of Egypt, they we given “Mann” from the sky every day and God told them this is for your needs of today and not to store it for tomorrow. Similarly, when we ask God for sustenance we should keep in mind that it is for today, and we should return to God every day for our daily bread. We should have a strong feeling of spiritual hunger that drives us back to God. Our hunger should not be just for bodily sustenance but also spiritual.
Some people do not keep a habit of reading the Bible on a daily basis – but today I was reading the testimony of a man who lost a lot in his business. There is only one power we can turn to in life that can help us in life. And he surrendered himself to God and prayer. As he prayed more he got strength from it and then praying daily became a habit for him. So we should all pray to God daily so we can receive guidance on a regular basis.
From the Bible I will share the famous chapter Gospel of John – verse 48. I am the bread of life – your forefathers ate the “Mann” from the desert and died. This is bread that is sent down from the heavens so that men can consume and not die. I am that bread of life that came down from the heavens. If someone eats of this bread they shall live forever and the bread I will give for life of this world is my flesh. Those that consume the flesh will never be hungry and the one who drinks my blood will never be thirsty. What this means is that when we accept Jesus into our lives fully – and after reading, understanding the word God also act on it – then we bring God into our life and then we will never be hungry.
We bring you this program “Roz ki Roti” every week so that everyone watching is encouraged to come back to the faith, especially young people and the ones among us who have lost their way can find guidance. For today’s “Roti” we will select a verse to discuss and try to understand together. After I read and understood the Sermon on the mount I understood who the good news was intended for. In the Gospel of Mathews chapter 5, he saw the crowd and climbed up the hill. His disciples surrounded him and he shared his teachings with them thusly: Blessed are those who are poor at heart because the kingdom of heaven belongs to them. Blessed are those who are sad as they will find contentment. Blessed are those that are soft as they will be inheritors of the earth. Blessed are those who are hungrily searching for the right path because they will be the content ones. Blessed are those that are merciful as they will receive mercy. Blessed are those that are pure of heart as they see God. Blessed are those that broker peace because they will be crowned sons of God. When people abandon you because you speak my name, that will be your salvation. Be happy and celebrate because your good deeds have multiplied in heaven. The people opposed all the righteous prophets who came in the past and their followers. The sermon on the mound is the law of the kingdom meaning the law of the highest God and is for the blessed people, those who were chosen by God and suffer in his name. In the chapter of Romans, verse 3 and 4 goes like this: And those who fail to follow the commandments of God due to weakness of the body that will be done by God – he sent his son to us in the form of sin afflicted body as sacrifice as punishment for our sins of the body. And the commandments of God will be fulfilled not by those who go by the demands of the body but by those who follow the path of spirituality. The path of the flesh is death and the path of the spirit is life. As you saw these rules were sent down by Moses for the people of Israel. But the commandments for those who live in the kingdom of God are different. Now we have to follow the teachings of Jesus.
For the poor of heart that are spiritually weak, they will enter the kingdom of heaven. In second Corinthians and book of Isiah, it is mentioned who really are the poor of heart. They will give their heart to the Lord to fill. Also blessed are those who are sad, who are sincerely sad for those in sin. The people who hate the sins of the lost souls. For those sad people they will be given contentment.
Blessed are the meek, for they will be accepted by God. Blessed are those who hunger for righteousness, their hearts will receive contentment. Blessed are those who are merciful for they will receive mercy. Reference for this can be found in Gospel of Luke chapter 16 verse 1-13 and in the letter to Jacob, chapter 2 verse 13.
Blessed are those who are pure of heart, for they will see the face of God. Blessed are those who broker peace for they will be called the sons of God. Jesus was also called the prince of peace. And he wanted his followers to follow the same path. Blessed are those who seek the path of righteousness and are criticized by the people for it for the kingdom of God belongs to them. These are our rewards for the Christian people who are oppressed worldwide.
So we discussed the sermon of the mount today and the good news the Lord sent for the believers. Hope next week when we meet again through this program we have all tried to understand the message of God and receive spiritual sustenance. Hope you receive blessings and encouragement from this program. Amen.