I’m So Hungry

We hear our kids say "I'm so hungry!" and we even say them ourselves. But, in reality, unless we have gone for days upon end without a morsel of food, we don't know the meaning of true hunger. Thank God!

Being, "hungry" took on a new meaning for me recently. I have a wonderful devotion book that comes with daily scriptures and a great, practical message to back them up. I also listen to the "Bible in One Year" scriptures from my phone app. I guess I'm an overachiever because I don't want to miss a day so that I keep my Bible-reading streak going on the app. I've also learned a wonderful way of reading the Bible called Lectio Divina (Latin for "divine reading"). Lectio Divina has four steps: read; meditate; pray; contemplate. First a passage of scripture is read, then its meaning is reflected upon. Then it's followed by prayer and contemplation on the Word of God. So many times when I read and pray this way, an aha comes. It encourages me so much that I'll note it in my Bible and my journal. It's not how many scriptures we read, but how our hunger is quenched when we really understand even just one.

This photo is the Bible my daughter gave me on Mother's Day, 1995. I know that by the inscription on this page. That was when she was still Staci (Sissy, as was called by her big brother) Michelle Wuerch. I had a moment of endearment because I hadn't noticed that page -- probably since she gave it to me back in 1995. It is a Bible that is very marked up.

I've resumed my deep dive into the Word daily. You see, I was hungering to know more, learn more, and live more by what this best-selling BOOK says. There is none other to compare with its wealth of wisdom and guidance for living an overcoming and successful life -- if we would but adhere to what it tells us. The Psalmist and Jesus said this about God's Word:

"Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands are always with me… Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path… I have put my hope in Your word". ~ David, Psalm 119:97-98, Psalm 119:105, Psalm 119:114
“Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” ~ Jesus, Matthew 4:4

The Bible is more than an instruction manual or a rule book. It is more than a random collection of stories, poems, and letters. It is the voice of God communicating with us. That is why the Bible is often referred to as “the Word of God.”

The bottom line? We know the sound of God’s voice in our lives when we read His Word. Need direction? Need peace? Need hope? Need joy? Need answers? Everything you and I need is found within the pages of the Word of God (the Holy Bible). It is the most definitive way we can know and hear the voice of God! I'm hungry! How about you?

Love is an Action Word

My son is a speed reader. He has to be – as the CEO of a large technology company, he has to read and review tons of documents and correspondence on a daily basis and if he wasn’t a speed reader, he’d be bogged down with more paperwork than he could handle. I’ve become a speed reader, too! And there lies the reason why I have to scold myself. I see how easily I can turn my goal of reading my Bible through in one year into cold repetition and an act of regimen instead of reading it like a love letter and intentionally looking for the meaning of God’s love words to me. My Bible is my “go to” place for finding direction on which way to go or what to do. I have so many “go-to” passages and I know so many stories I will often read them and gloss over the words or think there’s nothing new to learn or that I already know it all as it relates to that verse or this chapter.

And it may be the same for you. Yes, we hear God’s words spoken to us when we attend church or a Bible Study, but even those times we may find ourselves speed-reading through familiar words or skipping a section altogether because we “know” it so well. Oh, our enemy is a sly fox and he loves it when we “speed-read” through God’s love messages to us.

I am stirred up about how important it is for NOT speed-reading through the greatest love explanation that was ever penned. That is 1 Corinthians 13. If you’ve ever attended a wedding, I’m sure you heard somewhere in the ceremony those words spoken. If only we practiced what we heard and learned. Would you join me in reading these words as if you’re seeing them for the very first time? Please try!

<3 "Love is patient and kind; does not envy or boast;
isn’t arrogant or rude; doesn’t insist on its own way;
isn’t irritable or resentful; doesn’t rejoice at wrongdoing;
rejoices with the truth; bears all things; believes all things;
hopes all things; endures all things. Love never fails."
{1 Corinthians 13:4-7} <3

Throughout the entire chapter, love is an action word, not emotion. Love is something we do, not feel. It’s a game changer. At all times — and regardless of circumstances — we’re called to love others. And not just others, we’re called to love our enemies {Matthew 5:43-48}! (Gasp!)

How can we love our teenage children when they defy and disobey us? When a friend betrays our confidence? When a co-worker undermines our decisions? When our spouse leaves our marriage and our family in shambles? How can we love then?
The only way we can love in those times is to follow THE WAY and how He loved. We don’t know if Jesus FELT love for the people who failed Him and treated Him horrifically, but we do have a glimpse into HOW He demonstrated His love — "but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” {Romans 5:8}

Maybe someone is really making it difficult for you to love them and it is hard for you to read 1 Corinthians 13 and think “Easy-peasy!” Can I ask you to try something? Please re-read 1 Corinthians 13 and practice the ways you CAN show love to the hurtful people in your life? When you don’t feel love, you can be patient and kind. You can be humble and enduring. I know it isn’t easy, but it is simple.

Who have you been withholding love from because you don’t feel love toward that person? (I can think of a few in my own life.) Thanks be to our Lord who loves us enough, not just to command us to love others but to make a way for us to love people, and in doing so, we love as He loves us.