Sunday, March 16, 2014

March 16, 2014 … Food for the Heart

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2014 - Day 75

Devotional Song: Go to this link …  Please go to this video link to hear the group 4Him singing his pertinent song The Message, … reminding us that God desires that we consume His word – His Message – so that we can go forth and spread His message and truth to others.
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Highlight Passage – NKJV: Jeremiah 15: 16a [NKJV] …
16a  Your words were found, and I ate them. …  
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Highlight Passage [Context] – NKJV: Jeremiah 15: 15-21 [NKJV] Go to this link 
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Reference Passage #1: Joshua 1: 8 [NKJV] …  
8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Reference Passage #2: Psalms 1: 1-2 [NKJV] …  
1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. 

Reference Passage #3: Psalms 119: 57-58 [NKJV] …  
57 You are my portion, O LORD; I have said that I would keep Your words. 58 I entreated Your favor with my whole heart; be merciful to me according to Your word.

Reference Passage #4: Hebrews 5: 12-14 [NKJV] … GO TO THIS LINK

 Reference Passage #5: 1st Corinthians 3: 1-3 [NKJV] …  
14 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?

My Journal for Today: God’s word for the Christian is sometimes referred to as “food for the heart,” because, as God’s word itself teaches (see Joshua 1: 8 and Psalm 1) meditating on Scripture can feed us deeply and provide us with deeply needed spiritual sustenance for the heart (i.e., our very being). And that concept of “MEDITATING” on God’s word is an interesting concept in the Hebrew. In both of those two reference passage above, the Hebrew concept “hagah,” which we translate “meditate,” refers to muttering something over and over again or it could refer to something like a cow chewing on its food over and over until it can be digested.

In other words, as both passages in the Old Testament refer, believers are to consume and digest God’s word so that it becomes what Jeremiah discovered (see the Jeremiah 15 passage above) that God’s word was the source of his spiritual sustenance. Now, … I know that the photo attached is a bit ludicrous to get this idea across; but perhaps it does convey a lot of truth.

The Apostle Paul (1st Cor. 3) as well as the author of Hebrews, Chapter 5, taught that babies should feed on the milk of the word but more mature Christians should feed on its solid food to be able to grow and thrive in their relationship with Christ. So, if you’re a lesser mature Christian or a much more mature believer, are you regularly feeding (i.e., meditating) on the source of all Spiritual sustenance, i.e., God’s truth from His word? Because, if you are NOT feeding on God’s word regularly, if not daily, you could easily become spiritually malnourished and unable to be able to cope with the spiritual battles of life.

But as those scriptures above from the Old Testament, linked above, teach, when we do feed and meditate on God’s word daily, we can nourish our hearts to be able to grow and thrive in our relationship with Christ, becoming stronger and much more effective as Christians day-by-day. … I pray that for all of us.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, I pray that, as I am this day, I will feed on Your word every day so that I can grow and thrive in my relationship with You. … Amen

Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread [TGIF], distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK  on the date of my blog, you’ll find a link to read the Our Daily Bread blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.

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