Long for the Pure Spiritual Milk

We need to fill our hearts and minds with the WORD OF GOD. We have to desire – a decision of the will, the heart and the mind. It does not fall on our laps. But when we desire his Word we will grow into maturity – come into freedom, that is, the true rest found in him. There’s a famous saying that goes like this: “If you will APPLY God will SUPPLY.”

To “DESIRE” simply means to yearn, to intensely crave possessions, to long for greatly. And when we think of the pure milk immediately what comes to mind is uncontaminated milk. And when the milk is uncontaminated and pure it is fresh milk!! We need to yearn, crave intensely, long for greatly the Word of God daily. We need to feed on his Word. Never live on yesterday’s revelation!

James said that in order for God’s Word to produce its proper effect in us there are two basic conditions: First, we must receive it with meekness, that is, with proper attitude of heart and mind. Second, we must be doers of the Word, not just hearers only. We must apply it in a practical way in our daily lives. (James 1:21-22). James then went on to compare the operation of God’s Word to a mirror. Normal mirror shows our external, physical features. God’s Word reveals our inward spiritual nature and condition.

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 3:18). We must come to the Word of God with unveiled face; no ulterior motive, no preconceived idea, and a prejudiced view but with openness so that God can reveal himself clearly through his Word to us. When we come with that attitude we come ready to be transformed by his Word through the power of the Spirit of God. This transformation, Paul said, is the mirror-image of Jesus in us which is the glory of God upon our lives!

“For the light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). The exhortation here is very clear. We are to look at things that are not just of this world which is temporary. Our great concern should be on things which are eternal – that which is spiritual, unseen. The glory of God in our lives is one of them. That is the reason why we need to pay heed to the Word and the work of God in our lives. We should not be overly concerned with the light affliction, the worldly pain and concerns, the weights that so easily beset us BUT fixed our eyes on him. In him we will find our eternal weight of glory. In him we live and move and have our being.

“By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.” (Hebrews 11:27). Moses’ testimony has always been that his relationship with God was a face to face relationship. He saw the invisible God and he walked with the invisible God.

Today we can do the same. His face is being revealed to us through the Word of God. His Word is like a mirror; enter in and we will see the face of the invisible Father who is rich in mercy and compassion towards his creation. Come to the Word of God and discover the wonder of God and the wondrous beauty of his love.

Quote: “We have to learn to acquire the taste of God’s goodness in his word by reason of frequent and consistent use.”

Feeding On The Word

SCRIPTURE PASSAGE/S

Please take time to read these passages: John 8 & 15; Proverbs 30:5-8

THINKING ALOUD
The word of Agur (Proverbs 30:7) cries out to the Lord for two things; one is that he willbe removed far from falsehood and lying, and two. is that he wants neither poverty nor riches. His cry is for the Lord to feed him with only what is needful.

We need to pray this prayer for ourselves too. We are living in a world where mankind by large has lost his ability to distinguish his right hand from his left, and has lost his sense of reasoning between truth and reality. In the midst of exalting reason and self, many have left God out of the equation. The moral decline due in large proportion to the reasoning away of God and the coming of age of liberty and freedom has brought more despair and despondency than what it thought was freedom. Freedom and liberty from believing in absolute truth and then latching on to relativity has cast off moral restraint and has breed violence, rebellion, and anarchy instead. What freedom is that when the very freedom sought after brought about evil and suffering? Humanity has fallen into the bottomless abyss of sin and degradation; the lurking nightmarish depression of a hurting, lost and confused humanity is seen at every corner, and the cesspool of carnality has reached its peak. It looks like we are in a God-forsaken world. Is that true? No, in reality, we are living in a God-rejecter world!!

We are living among people who have a worldview where the lies of the devil have taken prominence. We need to be aware of its impact in the church too lest we should be consumed in deceit and fall prey to the lies of the devil too. The bible says it explicitly that when the devil tells lies he speaks his native language! That’s the reason why Agur wrote in the book of Proverbs that he seeks God’s deliverance from falsehood and lying. It is the same with us today; seek God to feed us with His Truth, that which is needful for us so that we will not fall prey to falsehood and lying.

One of the most challenging questions of all time for Christians today is this: Do I really believe what I believe is really real? Do I take seriously the truth claims in the Word of God? Do I really live it and act upon it?
In CLASS 201 – Discovering Spiritual Maturity there is a section on having time with God’s Word. Let me just briefly mentioned here for you. We are called to HEAR, READ, MEMORIZE, MEDITATE, and APPLY God’s Word as a daily discipline in our lives.

1. Hear the Word of God – listening to sermons, bible teachings, and bible classes
2. Read the Word of God – read it aloud, read it systematically, and read from different translations
3. Memorize the Word of God. There are many Scripture Memory Systems that you can follow and use.
4. Meditate on God’s Word – Picture it! Visualize the scene in your mind. Pronounce it! Say the verse aloud, each time emphasizing a different word. Paraphrase it! Rewrite the verse in your own words. Personalize it! Replace the pronouns or people in the verse with your own name. Pray it! Turn the verse into a prayer and say it back to God. Probe it! Ask questions like, is there any sins to confess, promise to claim, attitude to change, command to keep, example to follow, prayer to pray, error to avoid, truth to believe, and something to thank God for?
5. Apply God’s Word – what does it mean for me today?

MEMORY VERSE
Proverbs 30:8 - Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me

LIFE APPLICATION
Self-deception is living life outside of reality – believing and acting like someone you are not. Self-deception causes people to justify open sin and rebellion. They simply lined up scriptures, “leadings”, circumstances, and counsel from other Christians to agree with their predetermined ideas to justify their position. The tragedy is, they actually believe that they are right. Riches can give us false pride. On the reverse poverty can give us false humility. The best is to follow Paul’s principle of living: “In whatever state I am to be content.”

The answer to all kinds of false beliefs and perspectives is to ask God to feed us with the food (TRUTHS) that we need. There are two important things to note:

1. Do not neglect to hear, read, memorize, meditate, and apply the Word of God
2. Do not hear and read everything out there in the marketplace of ideas. Not all reading materials and audio messages are beneficial, in fact, they may lead you astray.

PERSONAL PRAYER
Father, deliver me from all falsehood and lying. Feed me with the food that is needful for me. Remind me to hear, to read, to memorize, to meditate, and to apply your Word on a daily basis. Lord, I need your strength and wisdom to be able to be disciplined, to develop the habit of a quiet time with you. Please give me the courage and the strength to apply your Word in my life. Thank you.

A Confession

There are many struggles in my life BUT I think the toughest that I am facing right now is to make sense of the changes that are evident in my thinking and my worldview. My interest has also changed tremendously. I know that things changes in our lives as we grow older. Some things fade away and some things become clearer. I learned from MLM that this phase of life is called convergence.

Much as I know that I am paid to be a pastor BUT I found no more energy in visitation, in counselling, and the kind of pastoral care that I use to do years ago. In fact, in all honesty, I have been struggling in doing all this for a long time now. It is not that I dislike meeting people. I love people. I love to visit family. I love to spend time with people. It’s the phase in my life that I prefer to be alone more than with people. I know it sounds selfish and weird.

This is a personal struggle. I constantly refuse to take up any position in the church. I constantly reject any suggestions for me to take a more active role in the church. Not only did I not have the energy to do it but really, I don’t even have the frame of mind to do it. I can’t be a good pastor – the one that is expected of me. I have somehow lost the motivation. Why? Because I found myself moving more and more away from the way typical church function. I have many unanswered questions. It is not that the church I am serving in is wrong in what she is doing. I think she is doing great. It is me that is struggling with some of the ideals, the ethos – maybe I have shifted away from many of the shared values and have a very different perspective altogether.

I no longer finds it appealing and appetizing with the kind of ministry going on in the church – moving in the things of the spirit, the supernatural, healing and deliverance. I have not stopped believing in it. I am proud of the legacy but somehow I stop chasing it anymore. Honestly, I am now more critical and I am very aware of it. Honestly, I no longer know how to preach a “feel good” sermon – “come to Jesus, all is fine” sermon and being truthful to my own beliefs. I don’t assume that I am on a right track. I really don’t know how to go back to the good old days of preaching a sermon with lots of testimonies, stories, and whipping up lots of inspiration that appeal to the emotion anymore. I can preach it but I found myself being untrue to my own personal convictions. I wish I could do that BUT I have moved away from that. My conviction is so different now.

A couple of days ago I saw my write-up on my personal spiritual journey that I did sometime back. It was part of my assignment. It was interesting to read what I had written. Perhaps that is the reason for some of the unsettledness in my spirit ……

Since young I have always been a dreamer and an idealist. I have dream many dreams and some of it I have seen it come to past but there are still many that have remained just dreams (in fact, some are bordering on fantasies now).

Looking back at my life and ministry for the past 23 years I have enjoyed pastoring; caring for people, and attending to the flock have all been rich experiences. As a person I have also grown both mentally, relationally, and spiritually. At the time of writing my spiritual journey I felt being stirred once again by a deep passion that has been residing in my heart and spirit for a long time now. I have often in my prayer time with the Lord spoke about the time of release and a time of new beginning in a new direction for me.

I have constantly placed before me this vision of seeing many young people who are seeking for truth, who are seeking for an answer to their confusion, and who are lost coming to a safe place where they can engage and dialogue and in the process help them find their way to God. The safe place is a place where they feel the freedom to explore without afraid of being misunderstood, a place where they can engage with philosophical issues bothering them without being called queer, and a place where the “outcast” of society and the church can call a home where there is love and healing. I would love to build a sanctuary – a safe haven – for the many young people who are lost; the many who could not distinguished their right hand from their left.

That’s my dream, that’s what I am praying that God would take me to the next level and I would love to be able to impart into lives the word of God and to see transformation taking place right before my eyes. I often prayed that God would allow me to take this journey for the rest of my life.

The Word of Life

SCRIPTURE PASSAGE/S

Please take time to read these passages: 1 John 1; John 1:1-14

THINKING ALOUD

The Apostle John was describing Jesus Christ, the very Word of Life. He was there and he was with the Son of God; ate with him, journeyed with him, heard his voice and teaching, and saw the life changing miracles and healings taking place right before his very eyes. When John wrote the letter of 1st John, he was an old man. He was the last one of the disciples still alive. See how he reminisced about his Master and Saviour. See the intimacy in his language as he described his Lord.

Let us take a little time to discover what he had heard, seen and touched concerning Jesus the Word of life.

HEARD. It is not a case of hearing about him or heard what others said about him. When John said that “we have heard” he meant the words of Jesus – the amazing teaching, the profound answers that he gave to the Pharisees and Scribes, and the mysteries that surround his words like the parables. Likewise, the record of all that he had spoken is found in the Bible. We would do well to search it out and in reading the account and the words of Jesus may we hear him speaks once again into our hearts. Some of the things that still amazed me about the sayings of Jesus are: “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly,” “Love one another so that the world will know that you are my disciples,” and “Let not your heart be troubled, believe in God believe also in me. I go to my Father’s house and prepare a place for you.” Wow…John must have had those words ringing when he said that “which we have heard!!”

SEEN. John went on to say that it is not only that which we have heard but also seen with our eyes. I believe he was referring to the miracles, the healings, and all the deliverances from demonic possession that was taking place. Just imagine yourself in John’s shoes – water turning into wine, the lame walk, the blind see, the deaf spoke, the dead raised, and demons coming out of a lunatic and he became completely whole again. Just think about it. John was relating that this Jesus is still alive, he is the Word of life and he will send his Word to heal and to deliver. Today, we can still have the miracles, we can still have the healings, and the deliverances because Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

LOOK UPON. I think John went very deep into describing his Master. He was saying that what Jesus spoke was amazing and dumb-founding at times. He was saying that what the disciples had seen – the works of Jesus – were equally amazing and dumb-founding. Now he continued to say that this Jesus in close proximity was good, gentle, loving, compassionate, and forgiving. He was describing Jesus whom they looked upon as the Word of life. In him we have life and life more abundantly. Remember John was the only disciple at the foot of the cross with Mary, Jesus’ mother. He could still hear the gentle voice of the Saviour calling to him to care for his mother. Even in the most painful moments Jesus showed what love is all about.

TOUCHED. Many people have touched Jesus and he has touched many people too. But for John he was really close to his Master and he had such intimacy with him. The Bible tells us that John was the disciple who laid his head on the bosom of the Lord. In fact, John himself said in his gospel account of the life of Jesus Christ that he was the disciple whom Jesus loved. He did not only hear his Master’s teaching, saw his Master’s healing hands at work, or looked upon his Master’s love, care and compassion that gave life BUT he was so close to the Lord he could hear the Lord’s heartbeat.

Today we can find the same place that John was in. We need to recognise Jesus is more than our Saviour; he is our Lord, our friend and we can hear, see, look upon and touched him. We can experience life through Jesus Christ who first and foremost delivers us from sin and death. He is awesome!

MEMORY VERSE

1 John 1:1 – That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life.

LIFE APPLICATION

The Bible is a handbook on life of faith, godly living, and truths of God for right living, salvation and the mandate of the Kingdom of God. There is no substitute for daily reading and consistent study of God’s word if we want to be able to experientially handle the word of life.

Start today. Set aside time for a personal devotion with your Heavenly Father. Here are some suggestions for you to get started using the Lord’s Prayer as a model:

1. Start with praise
2. Pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven in the very circumstances that you are in.
3. Ask God for your daily provision
4. Confess any sin so that you will receive forgiveness
5. Forgive others
6. Pray for God’s protection

Next, read the Word of God. There are many devotional guides that you can use to help you read systematically and consistently through the Bible in a year.

PERSONAL PRAYER

Father, I worship you for who you are; you are great, gracious, and most wonderful. Your name is worthy to be honoured and praised! Father God, I pray that your will for my life will not only be established but that it be known to me clearly. In my daily walk of faith provide for my needs and feed me with spiritual insights that I may be able to live according to your will today. Please forgive me of all my sins and help me forgive others who have offended me and cause hurt to me. I ask for the Lord’s protection in my going out and my coming in from this day forth. Thank you Father for the Word of Life!

Holding Fast to the Word

SCRIPTURE PASSAGE/S

Please take time to read these passages:

2 Timothy 1; Philippians 2:12-18

THINKING ALOUD

2 Timothy 1:13 – Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Paul gives Timothy four responsibilities he has in regards to the word of God.

First, he asked him to HOLD FAST the pattern of sound words.” The imperative “hold” indicates that it can be very tempting to let go of what we once learned to take hold of – a seemingly “new” and “more exciting” truth. There is nothing new under the sun. So often, today’s new truth turns out to be yesterday’s heresy, simply redressed. The best way to “hold fast” to God’s word is to hide it in our hearts. The word of God summons us to this life-changing discipline time after time.

Second, we are to HOLD COMPLETELY sound words. “Pattern” was used to describe an outline sketch or ground plan used by an artist; or in literature the rough draft forming the basis of a fuller exposition. The point is that Timothy was not to hold onto bits and pieces of the Word, but to its entire framework. We are to live “by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,” not just some or even most. Paul declared “the whole counsel of God” to the Ephesians and felt it would have been sin for him not to (Acts 20:26, 27).

Third, we are told to HOLD IN FAITH sound words. This phrase describes the MANNER in which we are to cling tightly to the whole counsel of God’s word. Note that Paul is keenly interested in CHARACTER as well as CONTENT. God’s word should produce a radical change in our living as well as our thinking. We are to hold tightly to God’s word because of our FAITH, not necessarily our UNDERSTANDING. Our natural approach to living is to obey if we understand why it is necessary. The godly man’s approach to life is to obey whether or not we understand. Thus the key to understanding God’s word is not simply the exercise of our intellect, but rather the exercise of our faith in daring obedience to whatever light has been granted us from the scriptures.

Fourth, we are to HOLD IN LOVE sound words. The goal of God’s word is not simply to “fill up our heads” but also to “fill out our hearts” (I Timothy 1:5). The testimony of the early church was not “look how much they know,” but “my, how they love one another!”

There is a beautiful balance in these two characteristics of properly holding fast the word of God. FAITH involves our relationship to God; LOVE involves our relationship to others. Thus, the man of God clings to the word of God because of his faith in the character of God. At the same time he conveys the love of God to those around him because the word of God has filled out his heart. Note that both of these (faith and love) find their source in the same person, Jesus Christ!

Paul describes his doctrine as “sound words.” The word, “sound” means “healthy or wholesome.” Bible doctrine should always breed spiritual health and vitality wherever it goes. Dead orthodoxy brings no honour to the Living God.

This is part of the course “Pastoral Epistles” used in our Pastoral Internship Training School that was adapted from the bible teachings of Dwight Edwards, pastor of Grace Bible Church in College Station, Texas.

MEMORY VERSE

Philippians 2:16 – Holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labour in vain.

LIFE APPLICATION

1. What is going to keep you from falling, keep you from succumbing to sin and the world? It is holding steadfastly to the word of God – the word of life. What you read today, what you intentionally memorise, store and meditate upon today will become your source of strength in times of difficulty another day.

2. Think of ways that you can put in your life that will keep you “without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation” (Philippians 2:14)?

3. It is suggested that there are three effects to holding steadfastly the word of life. First, faithfulness will be the result. We are building a bulwark of faith – a defence of our faith. Second, it will produce endurance and elasticity; can bend over, and tenacious. Third, there will be joy and rejoicing.

PERSONAL PRAYER

Lord, help me to hold on to the word of life – to hold fast and to hold completely, to hold in faith and love – so that I will not succumbed to sin, temptation and the lustful desire of the world. Lord, please give me the strength to intentionally memorize, store and meditate on your word on a daily basis. Remind me Lord that your word is a source of strength. Never let me forget that your word brings spiritual wholeness and health. In Jesus name I pray. Amen