You Can't Live Without It

We’re driving home from Bryson’s wall climbing sport. It’s his absolute love. He is making climbs that the adults have trouble with. I witnessed them trying, but, then again, this Nana is super-partial. I’m amazed by how skilled he is compared to the last time I was here. He’s telling me jokes. “Did you hear about the new Apple car? It’s great but they’re having trouble with its “Windows”.” And, I remind him of the riddle he told me a couple of years ago. We were sitting on their patio and the rain was pouring down. He started talking about a tsunami. Then he asks me “ What is it that we can’t live without, but it can still kill you?” I didn't know. The answer? Water. So, Bryson says, “Wonder what it feels like to be drowning?” I respond: “Well, have you ever been in water and you couldn’t get your breath?” Bryson says. "Oh, yes. Brothers. It’s called brothers.”

This kid cracks me up! But, his analogy and riddle gave me "food" for thought! Oh, FOOD – something else we can’t live without for more than 4-6 weeks – depending on the weight and health of the person! We can’t live without air for more than 3 minutes. Some people can’t live long without certain medicines or medical care. Some can’t live long without financial support of others because they are either physically or mentally disabled. The point being, there are more than a few things in life we can’t live without, but there is one thing that supersedes them all, and that is God and His Word. (2 Timothy 3:16,17)

Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4). Yes, we can’t live physically without the necessities of life here on planet earth: air, water and food. However, even with those necessities, we will still eventually die and face God and if we face Him, unprepared, then we might say “We’re up a creek without a paddle!” I know the life I have here is just temporary and if I don’t have air, water and food – I’ll be a goner on this side of heaven. But, not when it comes to the promises God made in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. That WHOEVER believes in Him, shall NOT perish, but have EVERLASTING LIFE!” Woohoo! That’s what I’m talking about! Real life begins when we leave this life to eternal life.

If we desire to live eternally with God in heaven, we might start asking the riddle: ““What is it that you can’t live without in eternity, but must die to get it?” And, the answer is: “We must come to know the Maker of Heaven and Earth – the ONE Who created life, in the first place. Get to know the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ – Who came to give us eternal life. “To live with Christ, we must be buried with Him by baptism and raised to walk in the newness of life.” (Romans 6:3,4) Yes, we must first die with Christ, in order to live forever with Him. (2 Timothy 2:11,12)

So, if we want that “live forever and ever” guarantee – then we “Believe on the Lord, Jesus, Christ – AND we shall be saved!” (Acts 16:31) “And, Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” That, my friends is the Christian’s Bill of Health guarantee. Believe me when I say, you can’t truly live without it!

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

This blog today was inspired after a Bible trivia game Tuesday night. There are over eighty groups to get involved with in the community where I live. It's great If you’re a social butterfly because there are plenty of opportunities to hobnob and interact with others. I’ve picked and chosen those I most enjoy of which my favorites are the Bible studies and fellowship groups. At the Stonebriar and Friends group meeting on Tuesday night, besides a yummy pot luck meal, we played Bible Trivia. I’ll admit. I’m a pretty good Bible tool, but not the sharpest tool in the Bible shed. Thankfully, another gal at our table brought us home to victory with her quick thinking. We were tied with another table but because we finished our questions first, we won the prizes of these “Our Daily Bread” Promise Boxes.

Immediately, I had to share this story with my fellow winners. “This little Promise Box reminds me of one of my mother-in-law’s precious treasures. She and dad received their Promises Loaf of Bread box as a wedding gift 73-years ago. Today, the little cards are frayed on the edges and many words are faded, but if you were visiting her for any length of time, you’d likely be asked to pull a card that has a Bible verse on it and asked to read it and own the words because “those are God’s words for you”.

Before Mom moved to my sis-in-law’s home, in any given day, you could walk into her home and you'd find her at her kitchen table -- reading her Bible, praying or visiting on the phone with a soul who needed her words of encouragement. And, if you were really on cue, you’d draw one of those Bible verses. The words on those cards were just words unless you knew the Author of those verses. For mom and dad, they knew the Author and Finisher of their faith very well and those words proved true in the many years of their lives together. No doubt – if we’d draw upon those scriptures, they would point us in the way we should go, too! It’s time to increase our daily intake of God’s Word. It will be like nourishment and medicine to our bodies, souls and spirits – and if ever we needed to be operating at full capacity, our fuel topped off for the day’s long haul, with our hearts renewed and filled with the Word of God – it’s today.

"Give us this day our daily bread...." are words from the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:11. Obviously, Jesus wasn’t telling His disciples to pray only for bread – in the loaf-of-bread sense. He was teaching us to come to God in humble dependence, asking Him to provide what we need and to sustain us from day to day. As I read my scripture readings yesterday morning, this scripture popped out at me from John 6:35: "Then Jesus declared, 'I am the Bread of Life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.'” He is the Bread of Life so we pray: "Give us YOU, Lord, as our daily life-giving (and I love that He promised “abundant life”) bread. He is our sustenance Who daily manifests His Word to and in us.

Staying Fit and Strong – Body, Soul, and Spirit!

I was intrigued this week when I read that if we want a healthy heart and a number we’re happy with on the scale, then we should buy a bag of Brazil nuts, put our fork down by 6 pm and weigh ourselves every day — or so say the findings of several studies released ahead of the American Heart Association’s yearly meeting for advances in cardiovascular science.

Oh, how happy we all would be if those 3-steps were all we needed to do to stay fit! I was a “beanpole” weighing in at a mere 105 pounds when I married my young husband. There wasn’t much meat on my bones. That was then, and along came my baby boy who helped "fill me out" -- literally! But no worries, back in my day the fitness craze started. There were always infomercials for Suzanne Somers “Thigh Master”, Jack LaLanne’s workouts, and my videotapes of Jane Fonda’s aerobic routines and “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” with Richard Simmons. I confess. I tried them all. I even had one of those vibrating belt machines. I jiggled my way back to my “school girl” figure.

Finally, the one routine that stuck with me was when I joined Weight Watchers in 1988. That program worked for me to this day as I make sure I’m on my goal weight when I check in monthly. Accountability has been such a good thing.

Recently, I started having some crazy leg and back issues. I know the culprit. The long distance running that I did for years caught up with me in this milestone birthday year. My doctor urged me to start swimming to help out my body parts!
Fortunately, there is an indoor pool in my community, so I started a swimming routine. I'm up to 15 laps of 150 feet and honestly, ALL pains are gone and I feel so good! I'll keep on swimming!

It seems God directed me to what I needed to do to stay fit in every season of my life. I’m so thankful He keeps tweaking me in a natural way. But physical fitness doesn’t happen overnight. It takes having a regular routine and staying with it, eating a balanced diet, regularly exercising, getting adequate rest. But, 1 Timothy 4:7-8 says: “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

It’s good to be physically fit, and it’s even better to be spiritually fit. Funny, but I haven’t seen too many “infomercials” on spiritual fitness. Hey, who knows? Maybe we’re on to something here! We could develop some training videos on spiritual fitness: “Prayers of Steel”! Actually, it's a lot easier to be spiritually fit than physically fit. It’s not that difficult. In fact, I would like to suggest a very simple approach. I don’t plan on creating an “infomercial” any time soon, but I think the following three steps can help us get spiritually fit.

1) Spiritual Fitness requires spiritual nutrition. Just as the body needs proper daily food nourishment, spiritual fitness needs daily nourishment of spiritual food. Jesus said: “’Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’" Matthew 4:4 Man is a spiritual being as well as a physical being. Reading and studying God’s Word and combining it with faith is "soul" food. When we’re down, it’ll lift us up! When we’re lost, it’ll help us find our way! When we’re fearful, it’ll give us courage! When we’re weak, it’ll give us strength! When we’re hurting, it’ll give us healing!

2) Spiritual fitness requires regular spiritual exercise. Faith is like a muscle that must be used and exercised for it to grow. We exercise our “faith muscles” by living with audacious, unrelenting faith that comes with trusting God completely to work out every detail of our lives – in His perfect timing and His perfect way! “The righteous will live by faith.” Romans 1:17

3) Spiritual fitness is easier to maintain when we hang out with other “spiritual fitness” junkies. You know them – those who attend church and Bible studies regularly and those who talk the talk AND walk the walk of true commitment to God.

Having a healthy physical AND spiritual life is a daily process of intentional and purposeful action – like a diet or exercise program. It only shows results when we practice it consistently and stick with it over the long haul. If we’re not making health or spiritual progress, then we’re just not staying fit!

Got Hunger? Get Filled!

Yesterday, I posted about the thirst for water AND God’s living water that will quench our thirst as we draw closer to Him. Today, it's hunger for natural food and the food of God’s Word and presence.

Our 13-day faith pilgrimage most certainly DIDN’T include a spiritual fast from food. We were literally filled with the finest food. We were well fed in each restaurant and hotel that we were in – as Psalm 81:16 says “But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” And we were, including the honeycomb we were served while in Jerusalem (shown here).

At the Mount of Temptation (hot and dry desert), we not only saw where Jesus was tempted by the enemy and we related only somewhat to His thirst, but most certainly not his hunger because we had been fed so well. We heard Jesus' response to the enemy: "It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' Matt 4:4

Indeed, “Man shall not live by bread alone because our Father has prepared a banquet for us -- a feast of His presence, but we won’t have the appetite for it if we’re satisfied with something or someone else. The desire Jesus was referring to is for Him, and it's not reserved for only a few over-the-top passionate believers, but for all of us.

Psalm 107:9 tells us that God "satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things", but there’s a requirement before satisfaction comes -- we must be thirsty and hungry.

When we are spiritually hungry, we naturally desire the richness of spending time with God -- praying, attending Bible and prayer meetings, listening to teaching tapes, reading books on spiritual topics, attending conferences and retreats because days are filled with pursuing God and feeding on Him.

Don’t we wish it stayed that way? But life happens. Marriage, careers and children happen. Distractions happen. Lots of distractions like anxiety, fear, discontentment, and over-commitment keep us from that sweet intimacy that we may only find in hungering for God.

Jesus always has a table set before us of His presence, yet because we’ve been snacking on lots of other things, we aren’t hungry for Him. We try to satisfy ourselves, instead of having an insatiable hunger that can only be satisfied by fellowship with our Lord.

Matthew 34:8 says “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.” Honestly, "tasting" has become the motivating force in my life. I long to know Him more, and the more I crave Him like I did for certain foods when I was expecting my babies, the more I receive assurances from heaven that remind me I am feasting on Him.

While on the Mount of the Beatitudes, we heard Christ’s words from Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:for they shall be filled.” Lord, please make us as hungry and thirsty for You and Your presence, as we are for the best meal and drink at a 5-star restaurant! Only you can satisfy the hunger and thirst that satisfies our souls!