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you are being watched – monday manna

June 20, 2011 in monday manna devotional, real life & faith with 0 Comments

The little boy was no more than four; blond hair and big smiling eyes. He was watching an older boy, maybe about 9 years old, across the aisle of the bus and the older boy played with his hat and covered his face and made noises to make the younger boy smile and giggle. When the stop came for the older boy to get off the bus, he started to leave and then paused, turned and ran over and rubbed his hand on the little boy’s head. The little boy’s eyes positively sparkled as he watched the older boy bound down the steps of the bus.

Used under creative commons license photo by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pasa/

We are always being watched by those around us, just as we are always watching those around us. I think we forget sometimes though how much our behavior impacts those around us. No matter how far along we are in our spiritual walks, there will be those that are ahead of us, those who are walking with us and those that are coming along behind. And it has nothing to do with age or “how long” someone says they’ve known the Lord. Spiritual maturity is a whole ‘nother issue than age. I’ve met some who are very young who exhibit incredible maturity. And I’ve met others who claim to know the Lord and yet act in ways that are antithetical to what the Scriptures teach us about following the Lord. Paul talks about this when he discusses those that drink milk but should be eating meat.

How would we behave if we really understood that others are watching us? That God wants our lives to reflect Him?

And it’s more than being watched. The very word “Christian” means “little Christ”. Our lives are meant to reflect Christ – the new person He has created in us – not the stinky old flesh that we are supposed to be putting to death.

I’ve been so sad lately seeing Christians behave so badly. And if I am so deeply grieved, I can only imagine how our Father feels. How different would the church be if we really took this seriously:

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice–the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. (Romans 12:1)

I think it would be so different. If we belong to Christ then we shouldn’t behave like the world. We should look different. We should BE different. Our lives do not belong to us. We gave up our rights when we gave ourselves to following Jesus. So we don’t have the right to hold grudges, to treat each other badly, to brush people aside as if they don’t matter. If we could learn to see others as Christ sees them, then I’m pretty sure it would radically transform how we treat those around us.

So today I ask, is there a hurt? a grudge? an anger? that you are holding against someone? Ask God for help to Forgive. Then ask God to forgive you. Choosing to forgive is something we must do irregardless of whether the other person is even sorry. When we’ve been given so much by God, much will be required. Unforgiveness puts us in chains. Forgiveness sets us free.

Jesus came so we could be free. He has forgiven us, so we must forgive others.

And trust me when I tell you that I have had this truth sorely tested this past year in multiple, painful ways, and forgiveness – well, I can tell you that forgiveness is a choice that you will never regret.

Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (Col 3:13)

~Sarah~

worried for the church

May 16, 2011 in books & faith, monday manna devotional, pop culture & faith, real life & faith with 2 Comments

I only posted once last week because I had a writing deadline that I needed to focus on. And I am delightfully ecstatically happy that I turned it in yesterday! (all the praise and glory to God!! – seriously…)

So I’m back!

And I’m worried for the church.

I have been reading a crazy good book by Francis Chan called Forgotten God.It’s really, really good stuff and I find myself wishing I could invite Mr. Chan and his family over for dinner and just talk. (Anytime, Pastor Chan. Anytime! Do you like lasagna?) Oh, how I love to find people out there who say things that resonate so deeply in my heart. I know that is the work of the Holy Spirit – which is what the book is really about. I admire him for speaking up about the topic because it is such a polarizing discussion. The Body of Christ as a whole seems to have divided into this kind of “mainstream” Christianity and segmented off any Christians who talk about the work of the Holy Spirit into a fringe group of Christianity. So called “charismatics”. They have their own publishers. They have their own magazines. They have their own churches. And nary do the two worlds meet. But that’s kind of the problem with the labels anyway. When we label ourselves, we segment ourselves. He rightfully talks about how there is extremism and abuses when it comes to those groups, but he also shares about how that is not a reason to dismiss the importance and the need for us to understand and interact with the work of the Holy Spirit.

But Pastor Chan challenges those conclusions in a compelling way. Frankly, I already agreed with him on the points he makes. But it thrilled me to see someone stepping out and saying it so well. Well enough that I could point to it and say – read this! And I do highly recommend the book.

What it did do is challenge me personally though because sometimes I find myself censoring what I want to say because I don’t want to look like “one of the crazy ones”. No more.

Then yesterday I heard a fabulous sermon that was about Samson – and the Spirit of the Lord. And that brings me to my main thought – I’m worried about the church. Ever since I first met Jesus in college, I’ve frequently wondered why the Church often seems so…apathetic…aloof…and un-thrilled about the amazing God that they say they know. How can we be aloof about God??? It confuses me, and saddens me. I am thrilled that people are out there evangelizing and spreading the gospel to those who have never heard it, but I have always felt that my heartbeat, the passion that God put in me, has been for the church. That it would awaken from it’s slumber. That it would take the place of influence and power that it should have within our culture.

Keith Green, who sang with such a prophetic voice, sang a song years ago called “Asleep in the Light” that is still true today, and maybe even far worse…

The world is sleeping in the dark / And the church just can’t fight /Cause it’s asleep in the light

I leave you today with a video of him singing the song – it’s worth watching…

~Sarah~

 

who is waiting for who?

May 9, 2011 in destiny & purpose, monday manna devotional, questions about faith with 1 Comment

I think one of the statements I see most often is some variation of “I tried talking with God but…He’s not listening…He didn’t do anything….nothing changed….”

Luke 11:9 says: “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

and then James 4:2b-4 says: “You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility towards God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

Wow, right? The thing is, most people know the Luke verse, but we can’t accept the Luke verse without also being aware of the James verse.

God is always listening! He never slumbers or sleeps (Psalm 121:4) but He is our Father, and He knows better than us. He is always listening. But He cares about us too much to give us something that could actually harm us. So very often, the “answer” ends up being: Wait. But not because He’s not ready. But because we’re not ready.

Our circumstances do matter to God. He cares deeply for us. We might go to God asking Him to change our circumstances – but instead, He wants to change us first. We do often have wrong motives for the things we want. We want things to be easier, happier, better. We think that somehow because we follow God, the road of life should be trouble-free. But that’s not what He told us, instead He said in John 16:33:

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

He’s overcome the world! We aren’t at the mercy of our circumstances. He’s given us everything we need to rise above them and instead of being defeated by them, we can be changed from the inside out.

Matthew 16:24: Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Are we willing to deny ourselves to follow Him? Are we really following Jesus or are we asking Him to be some divine Santa Claus and just give us the things we want? I hear so many talking about how God’s not answering and yet what He might be saying is “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

I don’t think the problem lies with God. The problem is us. He’s waiting on us. Will we surrender the control of our life to Him? Our dreams? Our passions? Will we lay it all down to serve Him?

What is truly incredible is that if we’re willing to step back and see what we’re really being offered, we would be quick to surrender.

We are like a little child holding tightly to a fistful of dandelions. God is asking us to give them to Him. But we love our dandelions so much. We can’t imagine anything other than our dandelions. But He keeps asking us gently, “Give them to me.” When we finally do, He takes the dandelions and leads us to a garden overflowing with every flower imaginable. Gifts of every shape and color. But we can’t go into the garden until we trust Him enough to hand over the dandelions. Until we are willing to give up what we are holding onto to follow Him wherever He may lead.

What are the dandelions in your life?

~Sarah~

Photo by Brandi Jordan used under Creative Commons License

has the world changed at all this morning?

May 2, 2011 in monday manna devotional, real life & faith with 0 Comments

I made one last quick peek at Twitter last night before I went to bed and immediately could tell something had happened. Osama bin Laden was dead – after a ten year hunt – and the President was about to address the nation. So I stayed up to take in the news. I felt a mixture of emotions.

relief – this man is responsible for many, many deaths. Not just Americans. His death means that he can’t hurt anyone anymore, and he won’t be around to inspire others to hurt people. That is a good thing.

sorrow – as I remember all of those lives lost on 9/11. Those stark moments burned in my memory of those people in the towers, crying for a rescue that never came. Our men and women overseas who have fought for nine long years and continue to fight the war on terror on the front lines, giving their lives to protect our freedom.

shock – as I watched the growing crowds around the White House, screaming, chanting and waving flags like a college frat house after winning a basketball championship.

Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles. Proverbs 24:17

Proverbs is one of the wisdom books for a reason. When we rejoice and celebrate so publicly, so forcefully, are we not behaving just as our enemy? I read an excellent article this morning that sums it up better than I ever could. Why must we gloat? And how can we not think about the danger we are putting our nation’s service men and women in? Because the immediate and easiest retaliation may occur overseas – towards the men and women who are already risking their lives for us everyday. Who are already in harm’s way. Should we be making their lives harder by further provoking and rubbing it in our enemies faces?

It is a victory. But I believe that our behavior in the face of victory says more about the character of our nation than in the face of defeat.

And I think my greater concern is this: Yes, an enemy was defeated, but evil has not ceased. I think it’s naive for us to think by vanquishing one evil man that it will change the greater evil plan against us. It won’t. It will simply be known to us by a different name and a different face. Someone will rise up to take Osama’s place because that is the nature of evil itself. So let’s not be too quick to rejoice. Or to clap our hands, shout USA! and become complacent about the world we live in.

We are in a war. And if we forget that, then we are already losing the battle. But while our brave military serves daily with guns and ammo, we must serve daily as well:

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 2 Cor. 10:4

Our first battlefield is within, but we should also be diligently praying like Jesus prayed – Thy Kingdom come! Here. Now. That we pray for peace and truth and justice. That we are praying for the protection of those on the actual battlefields. That we will take ground from the enemy – not give it up. That the plans of the evil one will be destroyed. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that at the end of this week is the National Day of Prayer – a day set aside to humble ourselves before God and pray for our nation. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln said:

We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.

So let’s pray this week. Let’s pray for mercy, forgiveness, and peace. Let’s remember to whom the victory really belongs. The victory is Christ’s – He is the one who overcomes evil. The world is watching us right now, especially if we claim to love Jesus. What are we showing the world about the Lord today?

my two cents,

~Sarah~

Read all of Abraham Lincoln’s proclamation.

broken glass

April 26, 2011 in feeling lonely & unloved, monday manna devotional, real life & faith with 5 Comments

At church on Sunday we had a bit of an accident. We were cleaning up the cafe after our Easter service and a glass syrup bottle dropped to the hard floor and shattered. Everyone froze and we were trying to figure out how to move my flip-flop wearing 11 year old daughter out from the midst of the mess when blood drops started appearing. The tiny shards of glass had sprayed all over her bare legs. We carried her out of the glass and moved her over to a table where we could get a look at the damage. Photo by Duke LeNoir - posted and used under creative commons license

The blood trips were tiny and fortunately there were no large cuts, but the tiny pieces were glinting under the lights. The blood drops bubbled dark red all over her pale legs. How were we going to clean her up? If we tried to brush them off they could cut her and cause even more damage. We couldn’t pick them off because there was no way we’d be able to find every tiny shard.

Then a man nearby, who hung around after service to talk with a newcomer, hurried over to help. “Don’t touch them,” he said. “We need water.” A cup of water was grabbed and he slowly poured the water over her legs, letting the water splash around on the table and floor. “See, the water will wash away the glass without hurting her.” We poured the water in sections, from her feet up to her knees and around every part. It took time, and it made kind of a mess, but we poured until there wasn’t one glinting piece left. Then as a final once over, we got her to the showers where we could spray her legs once again.

It could have been so much worse, so we are thankful to the Lord for protecting her. But it got me thinking.

Have you ever been sprayed with shards of “glass”? Pinpricks of pain left in your heart and soul from the thoughtless, the careless and the mean people who inhabit our world? Have you ever found yourself bleeding from a circumstance beyond your control? I have. A few months ago I had some people I trusted treat me horribly. There was no reason. There was no logic, and I felt like I had been sprayed with broken glass.

But just as that wise man who hurried over shared, you have to be careful how you handle that broken glass when it comes. You can’t ignore it, you can’t brush it away, and you can’t even try to remove it yourself. We need the “washing of the water of the Word” (Eph. 5:26) to cleanse us and make us whole. Jesus is the Living Water (John 4:10) who gently, carefully and lovingly pours Himself through us to wash away what could damage us further.

We always have a choice when we are wounded. We could turn away from help and try to deal with it ourselves – allowing the glass to fester, dig into our skins and damage our souls with bitterness and unforgiveness. The longer we wait, the deeper the glass digs in, and the harder it is to wash it away.

Or we can put ourselves – quickly – into the hands of Jesus, who will gently wash those wounds and bring healing as we stay close to Him, fill ourselves with His Word, and walk in love and forgiveness. I have seen this to be true. I have seen God be faithful. He is our stronghold. He is our Help. And He is the One who has our backs. And that’s enough. And that glass that was sprayed at me – it isn’t there anymore. Nothing pricking into my soul. Just trust and faith that the Lord will see His plan through. And I’m just going to tuck in and follow Him wherever He leads.

You can too. Lord, I pray that whoever is reading these words that knows the feeling of that broken glass, that You will draw near and wash them. That where there is brokenness and pain, they will trust You to bring healing and wholeness. That they will not cling to the pain and the glass, but that they will cling to You alone. That they will choose love and forgiveness so that they might obtain the life that You have for them. You are faithful! Amen

never forgotten – Monday Manna

March 21, 2011 in feeling lonely & unloved, monday manna devotional, real life & faith with 0 Comments

Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died. Mark 16:7

Including Peter.

The disciples were all probably feeling pretty awful when the news came from the angel that Jesus had risen. But Peter? Peter had just denied even knowing who He was. And to make it even worse, Jesus Himself had warned Peter that it was going to happen. But yet the angel comes along and issues a personal invitation to Peter. It was like he was saying “Don’t forget to tell Peter – this is for him too!”

He hasn’t forgotten any of us. I’d venture to say that the last six months have been some of the hardest trials I’ve faced. A dark valley that the Lord has most surely been with me through. And yet there are days that I wonder – how long will I be left in the valley? I’ve learned much here. I’ve learned how to trust the Lord with injustice. To trust what He says about me in the face of persecution and accusation. To simply believe that what the enemy meant to destroy me with, God planned for good to come out of it. (Gen 50:20).

But I’m still in that waiting phase. Still wondering when the sun will shine again. I have many wonderful and good things in my life – truly, I lack no good thing. And yet, I am so unsure of His plans for me. I think the closest thing I can compare it to is that season of being pregnant. That feeling of expectation. You know it’s coming but you’re not sure exactly when. You notice every little twinge, every little pang and wonder if today is the day God will reveal what he’s been up to.

I don’t think today is that day. But it’s not going to keep me from hoping. From that expectation that God has a purpose and plan to fulfill and we all have a role to play in that. Including me. Including you.

We just need to wait to see exactly what part we will get.

your story – Monday Manna

March 14, 2011 in exposing witchcraft, high school & faith, monday manna devotional, teens & witchcraft with 0 Comments

I was asked to speak to a high school last week and I eagerly accepted the invitation. I love speaking to high school students. When I was a high school student I was a practicing witch. I didn’t meet Jesus until college. During high school I knew several Christians – Christians who debated me in the back of American Government class about who Jesus really was. Christians who simply went about their lives.

My testimony of being rescued out of the pit and delusion of witchcraft is considered “powerful” by many of the people who get a chance to hear it. To me? Well, it’s just my story. I never shared my story for many years because so much of it had to do with choices my father made. I never wanted to bring him any dishonor. But a couple years after he died, I suddenly felt the Lord nudging me – “It’s time”.  I was at a woman’s breakfast meeting of the Advanced Writers & Speakers Association when the subject turned to how we meet the Lord. I mentioned that I had been a practicing witch and suddenly the whole table was listening. They were amazed by the story – but to be honest, I was more amazed by their reaction. It was just another story of how someone came to know Christ. Why was everyone so shocked? Unbeknown to me, the woman sitting next to me was a producer for the 700 club and she slipped me her card and said to contact her. That breakfast meeting led to my testimony being featured on the 700 club, and that in turn led to me ending up on The Tyra Banks Show – where I got to talk about my testimony among 6 witches and two satanists. It was all God – I never sought out the opportunities and yet anytime we get a chance to share about our amazing God and what He has done – well, we should leap at that chance.

And it doesn’t really matter if you’re testimony is simple or dramatic. When God steps into our lives, when the Lord of the universe chooses to draw near to us and forever change us – well, that’s worth celebrating. Even if you did at 5 when your worst sin was probably throwing a temper tantrum when Mom took away a toy. Even if you’ve followed God all your life, you have a story to tell. A story of God’s faithfulness. to be honest, I often wonder what my life would be like if I had been raised to know God. But that’s not my story.

Basically, we will all be given the chance at some point to share why we believe what we do.

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15)

Are you ready for that? Have you thought through what you’d say if someone point-blank asked you, How do you know it’s all true? Whether you’ve had a rather smooth road, or one with many hills and valleys and potholes, you should be able to look back and point to specific areas of your life where God has shown himself faithful to you personally.

So I ask you today – How do you know it’s all true?

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The Bible for everyone – Monday Manna

March 7, 2011 in monday manna devotional, real life & faith with 0 Comments

I recently went on a school field trip and toured the National Cathedral for the first time. I’m not sure I was expecting much more than spending the day with one of my fabulous girls, so I was surprised by how breathtaking it was.

When I was in high school – and I was still a practicing witch during that time – I still remember walking into the cathedrals of Europe and being overcome with awe. There was no question that I was in God’s house. That’s what I felt again – awe. I think by building utilitarian, boring, warehouse style churches we’ve lost the sense of awe and wonder that God’s house should inspire. (And yes, I realize that WE are God’s house now, but the place we go to worship corporately should still inspire a sense of awe and wonder towards Who we are worshiping.)

But I digress.

Our tour guide was fabulous and I wish I had tape-recorded all the tidbits she dropped along the way as she led fifty some sixth grade girls through the chapels. But there was one tidbit that stuck with me. How the Gutenberg Bible changed everything.

For centuries, many people could not read or own a Bible for themselves. they depended on the men in robes to tell them what they needed to know. Then along came a Bible, and the ability for everyone to read it for themselves. And decide for themselves what it says.

I’d imagine that many of you own not only one Bible, but several. I even have a Bible in French – which I can no longer read (Sorry Madame Cataldi!) The thing is, just because we can, doesn’t mean we do.

We have the Bible at our fingertips – God’s letter to us – filled with a dramatic and sometimes uncomfortable story that contains the keys of life for us even today. And yet, I wonder how many people never actually crack it open. It seems we’ve become vaguely aware of what it says and then we decide everything else based on how we “feel”.

We can never afford to be vague about the Bible. It is our manna – our daily bread – we cannot eat a few bites and expect that it will be enough to sustain us. It is meant to challenge us and change us. But it cannot do the work it is meant to do without our effort. I hear from so many readers looking for answers – looking everywhere. But if we will commit ourselves to look daily into the word of God and allow the Holy Spirit to illuminate the truth, then we will begin to find those answers as we walk closer to Him. Of course, it doesn’t necessarily mean that those answers will be the ones we want, but we can be assured that God’s leading in our lives is always the right path.

 

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God at work – Monday Manna

February 28, 2011 in exposing witchcraft, monday manna devotional with 0 Comments

There is nowhere where God is not at work.

We had a visiting speaker at our church yesterday and I must admit, I love listening to new voices. Especially ones with an accent – I seriously love accents. So even though there were moments where some subtitles would’ve helped, I found myself thoroughly engaged in the message. The speaker went through three myths – three lies from the enemy which I thought were profound, and worth sharing here.

He spoke about the book of Daniel and how Daniel found himself in Babylon- a place he didn’t want to be. A “second-choice” world.

We often end up in places where we don’t want to be, too. Places that are not the dream. I think I engaged so much in this message because I recently found myself thrust into circumstances beyond any explanation.  The road I was traveling was taken away suddenly and irrevocably. But even in the midst of the change of circumstance, God has not fallen from His throne. He is still God. And I have found that while I try to understand what this new road will hold, I have never felt closer to the Lord, and more sure of the fact that He holds my future. What the enemy wanted to destroy me with, God meant for my good. Of that I have no doubt.

When, like Daniel, we find ourselves in a world we do not wish to be in, we need to remember that God is at work there. The pastor brought up three main myths:

Myth #1 - If we walk close enough to God, we’ll get our first choice world. (or, if I do everything right I’ll get what I want)

Myth #2 – In my first choice world, I’ll be happy.

Myth #3 – I’ll only be able to be close to God in my first choice world (or, my spiritual life can only be right once the circumstances are the way I want them)

They are all untrue things – in fact, there are rather dangerous myths because truly, the pursuit of God never stops. In fact, it is in those harder places where we are truly soft enough to be molded more into His image. “Changing our circumstances” can never be the goal of our spiritual walks. A relationship with God is the only goal.

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33

“All these things” are the worries that people had – what to wear? what to eat? what to drink?

But can you see, contained within those three myths, the core of our culture’s thoughts about “being spiritual”? We pursue God for a goal other than knowing Him – to be happy, to try to get something we want, to try to change our circumstance. Those ideas are actually at the core of New Age & witchcraft thinking – not Biblical thinking. The truth is, if we truly trust and believe that God is for us, and has a good plan for us, plans to prosper us and not to harm us, then we can fully engage in the pursuit of our relationship with Him – with no concern as to the “other things”. We can know that wherever we find ourselves, God has a purpose and plan and we can continue to press in to Him and contend for our faith – no matter what surrounds us.

Even in a second-choice world – God is at work.

What about you? What can you do today to press into your relationship with God, despite your circumstances? To comment, click on the post title to get to the blog screen:-)

Monday Manna

February 21, 2011 in monday manna devotional with 0 Comments

My family and I have been reading through the Bible this year together. It’s been a pretty wonderful thing that we are all reading the same exact thing every day. Well, all except the youngest, who at 7 years old, has been given our blessing to just read the New Testament portion of the reading plan. Two to three chapters of the Old Testament is pretty daunting at that age:-)

So as of last night we’ve just finished with Leviticus and are 2 chapters into Mark.

Do you read the Word every day?

There have been many things that have struck me about my read through this time and I’ll probably talk about them all eventually. But on this first “Monday Manna” I want to talk about why I decided to call it “Monday Manna”

When the Israelites were wandering around in the wilderness, they grumbled and complained about not having enough to eat. God told Moses,

“Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in my instruction.” (Ex 16:4)

Basically, God wanted them to go and collect what they needed only for that day (except for the sixth day where they were supposed to gather twice as much so they wouldn’t have to gather on the sabbath.) Except for that one day, they were supposed to gather and consume all of the bread (manna) each day. But as what usually happens, “they did not listen to Moses”. Some of the Israelites kept the manna till the next day and it “bred worms and became foul”.

In Deuteronomy, Moses reminds them,

“And he humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.” (Deut. 8:3)

Later in the New Testament, Jesus tells us, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”

The Word of God – it is our spiritual bread. When we don’t daily gather and consume what God would want to show us, then we are starving ourselves spiritually. And it must be every day. We can’t spend a few hours on Sunday and expect that bread to last us all week long. Nope – we need to feed our spirits each and every day with the Word of God.

So this week’s challenge – if you haven’t been reading every day – start today:-)

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