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Listen while you read: "Holy Holy Holy"1 (Lyrics) |
1 Peter 2:2 – As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby. (NKJV)
Hebrews 5:13 – For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. (NKJV)
I was sleeping, or I thought I was, and the thought came to me, If you want to build churches (not necessarily physically), get them into My Word. The Word is like a muscle that can propel us forward. It creates thirst, and it makes us hungry. When we are hungry, we will want to reach out to others who are hungry, so that we can have a feast together, where we can talk and share about things that matter. Then, we will want to teach others so that they can feed themselves.
I have a granddaughter, Maisy, who, when she was born, had an instinctive desire to nurse and get the milk that she needed. As she did so, she gained the necessary weight to begin to thrive.
Unfortunately, Maisy contracted a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and she had to go onto a feeding tube. While it maintained her weight and her life, she did not grow. She lost the desire to nurse, and the nursing muscle in her mouth and cheeks weakened. A specialist was sent in to advise my daughter. In the end, after a two-week stay in the hospital, Maisy regained her strength and was able to feed on her own.
During that time in hospital, I was touched by the many church friends in that community who supported the little family in their time of need. I know that her church family will help Maisy on her faith journey so that she will know her Lord and have a real relationship with Him.
I see some parallels between what happened to Maisy and what occurs in our churches and in our faith walk. Maisy is like the newborn Christian who begins with zest and hunger for the Word. But then, she is attacked and must go back to only milk. Milk allows her to survive but not to grow and mature.
Likewise, we Christians need the solid food of God's Word in our lives, day by day, if we, too, are to thrive and mature as His people.
I have discovered that the more I am in the Word, the more that I thirst for the Word. And the more that I thirst for the Word, the more that I want to be a doer and sharer of the Word as a true follower of Jesus.
Going to church and Bible study is a good beginning to receiving and understanding the Word, but it is not enough in itself. We also need to learn to get our own solid food, instead of totally relying on ministers to spoon-feed us. We must learn to read and study the Bible for ourselves and to encourage others to do likewise, that we in the body of Christ might become skilled in the Word of righteousness.
Prayer: Thank You, Abba Father, for Your care and for the opportunities that You give us to be part of a church family. Help us, Lord, to take our role, as Your followers, to help to encourage others in their faith journey. Make us mindful of our own need to be fed by Your Word. Keep us on the path that follows You. Amen.
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A very appropriate word for today Liz.
Thank you, Liz, for sharing this devotional with us. Blessings.
Dear Liz:
Thank you for your very wise words.
God bless you and yours always.
Dear Liz Samis,
A super-good devotional from beginning to end.
Thank you. Keep writing.
Excellent devotional. We don’t get to Heaven on any merit our own but through grace, so we have to learn to feed ourselves solid food, and that is through reading and studying God’s word. Thank you.
Thank you for telling us how the Lord began a new thing through you. You are helping people to hear the voice of the Lord.
Morning Liz – I always start my day with this devotional!! I was reading this morning and in my mind agreeing and saying amen as I read – then I saw your name and thought – of course, sounds just like Liz!!
Congrats on a great devotional – look forward to more!!
Blessings.
Good one! Yes, and yes. One thing I am working on right now, is communication. How many of us, myself included, know how to open a conversation with someone about spiritual things, and respond as they tell us about what they believe. We don’t know how to ask the right questions, to listen with ears open to what they are saying with their words, and to respond ourselves with the things that will reach their hearts and minds. If we want to reach others, we must practice those skills, starting with our fellow Christians. How many people can even express what it is they believe and why? It concerns me greatly.
I so enjoyed your message.
Several places within the New Testament the Holy Spirit describes God’s Word (doctrine) as both “milk,” and “solid food” (meat). And since a new-born Christian is directed to grow to spiritual maturity, he or she should understand that it is necessary to transition from the “milk” to the “solid food” (“strong meat” of the Word. Such growth can occur no other way. Furthermore, it is only by “use” of the “solid food” (meat) of the Word that a Christian may fully discern both good and evil (Hebrews 5:14).
Thank you.
Hi Liz,
Concerning most Bible studies, they seem to be about a certain subject and then we miss some other parts. I have recently started to read the New Testament again when I walk on the treadmill for 45 minutes 5 mornings each week and I see new facts or statements quite often, things I have read before, but not noticed. It is a revelation and good spiritual food.
Thank you for bringing this to my attention