One Liners

In December I had my first time in New York! "A goal without a plan, is just a wish", to quote a one liner. My husband watched for an opportunity and as it presented itself, we made a plan. Hooray, my wish became a reality. I was excited to finally be in New York and one thing on my "To Do", list was to go to Babars Grocery Store. I entered with my cup of Starbucks coffee in hand and strolled through, taking in every thing I could. To be in New York for me was a fulfilled wish. "Please take my picture right here", I asked a sales girl, while standing under a sign that reads .. CASH ONLY. As she focused, I quoted the line I had repeated so many times through the years..... "I have no cash". That line of course being one in a favorite movie, "You've Got Mail". Often I have taunted my friends to at least a smile by quoting lines from movies or other places. "You've Got Mail", happened to be a movie that for some strange reason always gave me hope. "You went expecting to meet a friend and the enemy showed up"! That being another line from the same movie, I often have felt that way. I go somewhere thinking I will be seeing friends, only to face the sharp end of the enemy's sword. We all face those times when we ourselves cannot coin a great saying that will resonate with the emotion and concreteness of the moment. One liners where ever they come from seem to help us cope. "I'll make him an offer he can't refuse", really says it all when we are determined to get someone to do something. "Houston, we have a problem", we say when things are not working out with a plan we are sure would have worked. Who can forget this one.... "You're gonna need a bigger boat'? O my how that one could bring a shiver up and down your spine.

With all this in mind I was reading what is for me, a most famous one liner, "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God". Hmmmmmm. I was curious so I did some research and discovered that manna was like bread. It was sweet, and arrived on earth when the Israelites were hungry... Exodus 16. God had to let them get REAL hungry. We're talking stomachs growling and juices burning with a lot of acid indigestion from an empty gut I'm sure. He wanted to impact them with a one liner I think. He spoke not in words but with a thin wafer that was like coriander seed, and the people ground it up and made loaves with it. Every day it showed up and would spoil if left for the next day. Each person was allotted approximately 119 ounces per day. That's enough bread to really put a spread on the ole waist.

In Mathew 4:4: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God". The Israelites were living on bread alone for a while. They called it manna. So just what was that stuff? Could it be that it was a physical picture of the bread of life that was to come? Interestingly, the amount each person was to have was 1/10 of an ephah.... a tithe, so to speak. So... God gave a tithe of life sustaining bread... to the Israelites and Jesus was the FULL LOAF? When we take in the consecrated bread, is it not the representation of Him who is the bread of life? Could it be that God was showing forth the one to come who would be the greatest ONE LINER of all time?

Yeshua, the Hebrew for Jesus, is the one liner that when spoken, changed the world. That one liner stops time, moves mountains, heals diseases, delivers captives, rescues those in danger, and restores lives. I could list a thousand more things that are impacted by the one liner that was spoken from God's mouth.... "This is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased".

There are times in my life when I am so weary and so low.... down and hurting and fearful and wounded and worried and sad. There is one word that I know from experience I can just think of and my entire being is moved into peace..... Jesus! We can live by every word from God as every word spoken refers to His Son... THE LIVING WORD... Jesus. It is my conviction that God loves one liners as I do. The greatest one liner of all...... Jesus. It makes me smile, gives me comfort, soothes my troubled soul and brings peace into every situation I face. I really love that! How about you?