10--Hidden Manna - Chapter 8

Hidden Manna
Loving and Not Loving
The Bread

If ye love me,
keep my commandments.

-John 14:15

The secret of the Hidden Manna is found in the obvious.

Only those who genuinely love Christ will keep His commandments.

Blessed are they
that do his commandments,
that they may have right
to the tree of life,
and may enter in through the gates
into the city.
-Revelation 22:14

Since His commandments are comprised of what He has said (in the Word of God), only those who hear and obey what Jesus has said will actually have eternal life. We cannot hear and obey in our own strength. It is the power of the Spirit of His Word that will accomplish His will in us.

Therefore we must be walking in and living in His Spirit, continuously communicating with Him if we hope to receive the Hidden Manna and endure to the end.

God will only value what we have to say to Him, when we value what He has said to us.

If we are not listening to Him, He will not be listening to us.

God is not obligated to hear us. We are obligated to Him in every way. He does not need us. We need Him. He is magnificent and good while our natural tendency is to be ignorant and self-centered.

With the power of His Word and Spirit, we can go against our natural tendency and as His children, actually desire to pattern our character after His. When we draw close to Him in this way, He will draw close to us and will help us become the person He wants us to be.

The first step is to love the Hidden Manna.

(16)For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish,
but have everlasting life.
(17)For God sent not his Son into the world
to condemn the world;
but that the world
through him might be saved.
-John 3:16-17

Only those who believe in Jesus (who He is and what He has said) have eternal life.

Jesus’ purpose was not to condemn anyone. His mission was to save mankind. Nevertheless, many of those who came in contact with Him felt condemned.

He that believeth on him
is not condemned:
but he that believeth not
is condemned already,
because he hath not believed
in the name
of the only begotten Son of God.
-John 3:18

When the crowd came in contact with the Son of God some of them sensed that their sinfulness was keeping them in a state of condemnation. Because some of the people felt condemned, is that proof that Jesus was actually condemning them?

Do our feelings always accurately interpret another person’s intentions toward us?

No, not usually, unless the Spirit of God gives us the ability to discern their intentions. More often our own feelings can deceive us, especially in the case of unbelievers who are not protected from spiritual deception.

What is the real condemnation and where is it coming from?

(19)And this is the condemnation,
that light is come into the world,
and men loved darkness
rather than light,
because their deeds
were evil.
(20)For every one that doeth evil
hateth the light,
neither cometh to the light,
lest his deeds
should be reproved.
(21)But he that doeth truth
cometh to the light,
that his deeds
may be made manifest,
that they are wrought
in God.
-John 3:19-21

Those who desire to do what is right and true come to the light because their deeds are in harmony with God’s Word and His will.

On the other hand, those who love the darkness and their sinful ways recognize that they do not qualify for eternal life because they know in their heart of hearts that they are not willing to let go of their sin, of their love and trust in the system of this world, and are not willing to turn from going their own way.

In effect, they are acknowledging their own pre-existing condemnation and identifying with it, which causes them to feel very uncomfortable. Jesus is lovingly inviting them to take the free gift He offers, but they do not want it because they love the darkness rather than the light. They want it all. They want to freely indulge in their sin without feeling any condemnation. But this is not how the Creator created us to function.

Therefore those who hate the light are actually responsible for their own feelings of condemnation and their own sin. Their deeds are evil and guilt and condemnation are the naturally occurring consequences of rejecting God.

There is only one safe and effective way to get rid of feelings of guilt and condemnation and that is to repent from going our own way and ask God to help us follow His Word and His will.

Consider this in the light of the world’s imposition of the new politically correct attitude and behavioral modification philosophies it promotes. This corrupted view of life is based on emotions and feelings and attempts to hold someone else responsible for the whims and feelings of others by limiting normal free speech while opening the gate to worthless, vulgar, and profane speech—speech that degrades humanity and destroys society.

Sometimes our feelings do get hurt. Unfortunately some people today view themselves as victims and are just waiting to have an excuse to accuse someone of hurting their feelings.

Yes, it is obviously wrong to say hurtful or unkind things to others. Adults should know better and children should be taught better. This is why the true definition of love should be taught and honored. But when every remembrance of God and His laws of love are being removed from the system of this world, we can expect that these offenses will increase.

The world’s out of balance devolving philosophies which label truth and God’s Word, “hate speech,” are designed to make it a crime to share truth and repeat what God has said, because it might make someone feel guilty about their sinful ways.

In reality, it is the Word of God that is the solution to real hate speech. Therefore the more genuine “truth and love” are labeled “hate,” the more profane and Godless verbal attacks will increase.

While the truth may make people feel uncomfortable, it is love, not hate, which provides this truth in order to help them find God’s solution to their feelings of guilt and condemnation.

Would we get angry with our doctor if he told us that we had a physical illness that was terminal?

While the diagnosis might make us feel bad, most people would certainly appreciate knowing the truth about their physical condition, especially if the doctor also told them that now, because he has been able to diagnose the illness, an effective cure can be implemented.

Therefore, love and truth cannot ever be successfully or logically equated with hate.

Jesus did not come to hate or condemn mankind, but to save whosoever would come to Him.

Things are what they are. Either the Father has given us to Christ or He has not given us to Christ. If the truth about eternal life is proclaimed as an expression of God’s love and desire to draw the sheep to the Shepherd and a person senses his own condemned state, he has the option of recognizing that he can receive forgiveness for his sin and can repent, thus indicating that the Father indeed has called him and given him to Christ.

On the other hand, if the person desires to reject Christ and remain in his sin, that is his choice as well. This indicates that the Father has neither called him nor given him to Christ.

This is why it appears that we have free choice and we do in a sense have free choice. But what we choose is still an indication of our eternal position and God’s foreknowledge regarding those who belong to Christ when we consider that God’s concept of time is not the same as ours.

Unfortunately, if sinners cannot have their sin, without guilt and condemnation, they will do whatever they can to eliminate the guilt and condemnation through anything that will distract them from it, such as drugs, behavioral modification, and psychotherapies.

But these “solutions” to the problem will neither rectify their sinful state nor make their feelings of guilt and condemnation go away, because the Creator created us to experience guilt and have feelings of condemnation when we sin so that we will want to seek His forgiveness and receive eternal life.

So when the solutions of worldlings do not work, sinners believe that the next logical step is to try to destroy God and every remembrance of His existence.

There isn’t any reason for anyone, who senses his own condemned condition, to accuse the messenger of good news and say he is guilty of a hate crime. Yet for this perceived “offense” Christ, Himself, was crucified.

However the evil plan to crucify Christ in an attempt to remove every remembrance of His existence was a most miserable failure, because it was this very sacrifice on the cross that made eternal and abundant life possible.

O how love I thy law!
it is my meditation all the day.
-Psalm 119:97

Why is the Word of God so valuable that I would love it enough to meditate on it all day long?

Here are some of the reasons:

Thou through thy commandments
hast made me wiser than mine enemies:
for they are ever with me.
-Psalm 119:98

The Word of God makes us wiser than our enemies who would like to destroy us.

I have more understanding
than all my teachers:
for thy testimonies are my meditation.

-Psalm 119:99

Evil exists in the world and there are those who desire to enslave others. They would like to have a place of power in the world and tell others what to do and what to think. God’s Word serves as our means of protection.

The Word of God has the power to help us sort out everything we are being “taught” so we can understand if it will ultimately profit us or destroy us. Actually many who try to teach others really do not understand what they are teaching or the real consequences it may have—often they are like robots, already enslaved, just repeating what they have been taught to believe and are unable to think for themselves.

Sometime in their life they compromised what was right for what they thought they wanted and unknowingly sold their soul to the devil. Only Jesus Christ can buy their soul back and give them a new eternal life.

I understand more than the ancients,
because I keep thy precepts
-Psalm 119:100

Wisdom and understanding usually come with age. But if we follow what God has said, we can experience the benefits of understanding and wisdom even while we are still young.

Even when society devolves to the extent of corrupting the elderly (who should have preserved the wisdom of God through their lifetime and experience), those coming after them (who have endeavored to retain the Word of God) will be the ones carrying the Wisdom and Spirit of the Word of God in their hearts.

I have refrained my feet
from every evil way,
that I might keep thy word.
-Psalm 119:101

Lesson 101: How to Avoid Evil:

Value the Word of God enough to desire to keep it.

I have not departed from thy judgments:
for thou hast taught me.
-Psalm 119:102

When we listen to what God, the Creator of all that exists has to teach us and realize who He really is, we will want to do His will.

How sweet are thy words
unto my taste!
yea, sweeter than honey
to my mouth!
-Psalm 119:103

When we belong to Christ, His Word is something we seek because it is sweet to us. If the study of His Word is a religious duty, a chore, or an activity we do not have time for, something is seriously wrong. Perhaps we do not really know Christ at all or really belong to Him.

Through thy precepts
I get understanding:
therefore I hate every false way.
-Psalm 119:104

When we love the Word of God, we will come to hate lying and everything that is false because we will understand how evil and destructive it is to ourselves and those around us.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,
and a light unto my path.
-Psalm 119:105

Only the Hidden Manna—the precious Word of God—can illuminate our path in life by the power of the Spirit of God, Himself.