Hungry? by Constanze Spiess

I was talking with a friend a while ago about how I'd been spending a lot of time reading books about the Bible, but less time reading the Bible itself. The spaces between my personal reflections on Scripture were growing wider. I still felt like I was growing and learning, but deep down, I knew I was missing something...

Did you know that just like with our physical body, what we feed on spiritually matters greatly in determining our health? The body needs good nutrition daily, and our spirit does too. You may have eaten a big meal yesterday or the day before, but after a while, your body will tell you that it's empty, and it's time to fuel up again. We need a good, consistent diet that will replenish the energy we use up each day.

Spiritually, we also need daily bread and living water. We have to be in God's Word regularly and continually receive fresh manna from heaven, which is Jesus! The Bible is one of our greatest sources of spiritual food. But sometimes we still fill up on junk food. Blogs, social media, news, TV shows, books, and games. These things aren't bad in themselves, but when they're the only sources of perspective, information, and insight you consume, something is missing.

When I feed on the Word, my spiritual nutrients are coming from the very Son of God. Jesus is the living bread that came down from heaven. When I spend time reading the Word, I am in reality partaking of Him and it soon becomes clear that yesterday's manna won't suffice for today's living bread. 

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God... that's how faith grows! It restores us, transforms us and makes us brand new.

Without this, I cannot grow strong spiritually. God's Word is what equips me to fight the enemy. Hebrews 4:12 (NASB) tells us, "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

Faith comes by hearing God's voice through the pages of His Word. All Scripture is breathed by God, in 2 Timothy 3:16 it says, "All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness"...Every Scripture we read is alive and dividing truth from lies! 

The truth in God's Word dismembers all of hell's lies and detaches human's reality from God's reality. It shows us who we were created to be!

I can always count on God's Word to guide and protect me, and so can you. If I don't have simple devotion to get in the Word and find out who God says I am, then the stranger's voice can begin to sound more appealing. I have to know the Shepherds voice! The better I know what He says, the less likely I would follow an imposter. Jesus said, "…and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." John 10:4-5 (NASB)

Just like we can't depend on someone else to eat food for us, we need to get into the Word for ourselves. We can't depend on only our leaders to feed us. Just one sermon every week or so won't cut it; we have to feed on our own. 

Sure, we can live as a Christian for years, only living from service to service, still being a good person, helping at church, but to truly be strong we need to dig into the Word for ourselves! There is so much in Scripture that will feed our soul and spirit! It's a diet rich in truth, love and power, and it is always fresh. It never runs out or goes stale! Isn't that amazing? 😊