Where Do You Get Your Daily NOURISHMENT From?

My word for today is NOURISHMENT -- the food or other substances necessary for growth, health, and good condition; sustenance, nutrition, provision

Yesterday, my granddaughter, Alexia Wallace, came over to help with racking my leaves. I picked up a Chick Fil A breakfast for us (Alexia’s main hang-out – it’s her place of work and her favorite place to eat.).

We needed NOURISHMENT to get us through the task that laid all over my yard and porch. That was the second time of racking this winter. Yes, Winter. Our Fall went straight to Winter before all the leaves fell off Many are still hanging on for dear life, but a ton have made their way, like a wind tunnel, to my front porch and yard. I think the neighbors’ leaves joined mine. Six bags of leaves later, we could rest from our labors. Once upon a time – my Alexia wanted to play in the leaves. Yesterday, she NOURISHED her Nana with her young agile body AND her heart to serve.

More important than my daily food NOURISHMENT for my physical well-being, is what I feed on that keeps me strong mentally and spiritually – that which NOURISHES and sustains my soul and spirit.

Romans 10:17 says “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Our faith hungers for that food that will cause it to be NOURISHED and to grow. Faith feeds on God's Word (the Bible) and faith is NOURISHED and grows stronger the more God's Word lives in us. Our Creator made it so that our faith works much the same way our bodies work. He designed us to require daily NOURISHMENT. So, a few cups of coffee in the morning, a protein bar at lunch and dinner isn’t enough to sustain us physically. We need real food — fruits and vegetables, proteins and carbohydrates — to supply the fuel we need to carry us throughout each day.

Similarly, a diet lacking a steady intake of God’s Word doesn’t provide our faith with the NOURISHMENT and sustenance we need in facing giants of doubt, unbelief, and worry. Again, that verse in Romans says “Faith comes by hearing the Word of God.” How do we hear it? We attend church and Bible studies where faith is taught. We read it. We study it and live our lives by what God's Word says. Then it becomes alive in us.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 says "But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and never stop producing fruit.” True NOURISHMENT.
When we read, study and meditate on God’s Word, we become like those strong, unbendable, bountiful trees.

I notice my faith barometer drops drastically when my pursuit of God’s Word slackens. When I’m intent on not just reading God’s Word, but even memorizing scriptures, I’m able to counteract the fiery darts of the enemy when he comes barreling into my life.
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.

“Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Matthew 4:4

Are You Planted Firmly on the SPOT?

Are You Planted Firmly on the SPOT?
"But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him. He will be LIKE A TREE planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." Jeremiah 17:7,8

Living in Oklahoma, we know what those violent winds, lightning, and even ice can do to a tree. The winds threaten to uproot the tree and carry it away. The lightning and the ice breaks off branches. And when the storm is over, whether it’s a summer storm or a winter ice storm, things can look quite hopeless for that tree.

Yet, if we look closer; the same storm that opened crevices in the earth around the trunk of the tree helped the roots go deeper. And now, the tree has access to new, deeper sources of nutrition and water. And it has been purged of all its dead branches. We witnessed that with a tall tree in our own yard. When the winter’s ice storm stripped the tree of so many of its largest branches, it looked as if that tree would surely die, but we determined to wait, and sure enough, that tree returned to full foliage and even more beautiful than before.

Metamorphically speaking, if we would be like those trees that crave being planted by God's river of life, we, too, would weather the "faith challenging" storms that come to us. Those opposing winds can sure blow hard against us -- even shaking us violently. We even wonder if we'll even make it another day. But when we stand firmly in our faith, trusting in the Lord, with our confidence in Him, then we'll be like that tree that is planted by the water. We won't need to fear. We'll embrace the winds, because we'll know they come to only make us stronger. Just like the tree's roots that run deep, our "faith" root system will run deep and we'll be nourished and strengthened to stay STANDING on the SPOT! Tough times don't last....but tough trees do!

In my case, the "Donna tree" is soon to be physically transplanted to a whole new city and state, but it doesn't depend on where that will be, because my root system is "non-transplantable". It is FIXED on the SPOT where it was planted in the first place. This tree will never lose touch with the source of its strength. This tree trusts in the Lord and my confidence -- in the storms and in the sunshine -- is in Him!