What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?

What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?
Remember: "When God closes a door, He always opens a window!" You never know what might be out there waiting for you!

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

The Food that Satisfies

How often have we cried, "I'm starving!"  "When's dinner going to be ready?" "I'm so hungry I could eat a cow!"
One of our family gatherings...waiting to be fed...

As I look back on my life I know I've said that zillions of times...especially as a growing child.  And how often have we heard our own children say the same things? Probably more times than we could possibly count.

Now, let's tell the truth...how many of those zillions of times were we truly starving? How often were we (or our children) really so hungry that we could "eat a cow"?   (A nice juicy steak might be nice...)

Yes, I am well aware that there is tremendous hunger in the world, and possibly closer than we think, and it is an immensely horrific problem for millions of people.  As much as I would love to solve world hunger, that is not what I am really talking about tonight. That is an issue that is larger than my capacity to solve.

No, the kind of hunger that is really on my mind is soul hunger.  If your soul could speak, how often do you think it would cry, "I'm starving!" ?  Probably more often than we care to admit.  Could it be possible that a person could attend church every week, listen to Christian music, attend all kinds of "Bible Studies" or other spiritual help groups, conferences, and concerts and still have a starving soul?

Yes...highly possible.  How could that be? I mean, wouldn't that be the right kind of "diet" to have a well nourished soul?  It should be. But I've seen people come and go from church to church, Bible study to Bible study, all manner of conferences and groups, etc., etc, etc., and still not grow and mature in matters of the soul. They never can get enough food to satisfy the hunger of the heart and soul. Why?

Perhaps because we get so caught up in the frenetic search for answers and just the right "food" that we overlook the most basic important nutrient of all...a total ingestion of the best food ever offered; The Bread of Life...Jesus Christ.

Jesus said to His disciples in John 6:35

"I Am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, 
and he who believes in Me shall never thirst."  



And in verse 48-51

"I Am the bread of life.  
Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
This is the bread which comes down from heaven,
that one may eat of it and not die.
I am the living bread which came down from heaven.
If anyone eats of this bread,
he will live forever;
and the bread that I shall give is My flesh,
which I shall give for the life of the world."

The rulers and disciples did not truly understand what Jesus was saying to them at the time...and for a complete discourse on this I commend the whole 6th chapter of John's Gospel to your reading.

But what we need today, what I need today, is a buffet table full of the Bread of Life...open for you and me to partake of freely...to breathe Him into our hearts and minds so fully that we no longer crave the running to and fro seeking every special program, every marvelous speaker, the over abundant diet of  constant activity of worship, studies, preaching, teaching...having "itching ears", heaping "up for themselves teachers" and possibly even having turned "our ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables."  (See 2 Timothy 4:1-5)

You may wonder how can someone get too much of Bible study and preaching and teaching, etc., and not be fed properly?  It's simple...

We get so busy chasing after more knowledge and the better "worship experience" that we lose sight of the One Who stands there waiting for us to 

"Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, 
for I am gentle and lowly in heart, 
and you will find rest for your souls.
For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
Matthew 11:28-30  

Now, please don't think that I am against going to church, Bible Studies, conferences, etc., etc.  But on the other hand, the warning is this...Don't become so addicted to eating more and more "food"...even when it is so-called food for the soul, that you overlook the most valuable nourishing meal of all: Jesus Christ, the living Lord, the Bread of Life who gave His life for your soul...Who stands at your heart's door knocking, waiting on you to let Him enter into the innermost part of your very being...
Warner Sallman's picture of Jesus Standing at the door knocking

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears My voice and opens the door,
I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me."
Revelation 3:20

Yes, this is the food that comes down from heaven...Jesus Christ...knocking at your door (and mine)...waiting for us to invite Him in...to dine with us...for eternity! How wonderful is that? 

Lord Jesus, I'm starving...I'm hungry, hungry for more of YOU.  Help me stop the frantic frenzy of chasing after the rich foods that will never satisfy...and fill me with YOU...and YOU alone. YOU ARE the Bread of Life who came down from heaven....seeking for me. Please come in and dine with me...forever. Amen. 

For a continuation of this "series" of thought, go to my next post, "Be Still And Know"

6 comments:

  1. Pam: Thank you for sharing this message with us. I have witnessed people who have done as you described. I once heard a lady leading a Bible Study say that we have to apply what we read and learn to our hearts. This might be the process we sometimes fail to do when we don't feel we have gotten anything out of a message or a Bible Study.

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    1. Yes, I am afraid that all to often it is more about "feeling" than it is about allowing the Holy Spirit of Christ to totally enter in an dwell within our hearts. Our society is too caught up in the peripheral atmosphere of what we call worship to totally experience the true and living Bread of Life living inside our souls. I plan to continue this train of thought in future posts. God won't let me let it go just yet...

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  2. Hi Pam! I love that photo of Jesus knocking on the door. It's such a lovely reflection of a patient and always present Lord who just wants...me! Your thoughts about being 'starving' remind me of an ad from years ago. There's woman in a fur, saying "I'm freezing", next to little children without coats. Very powerful.

    I know when I have starved my soul, because I start to crave quiet even more than I usually do. Quiet so I can hear what Christ wants to say to me, or just to be in His presence. I think Jesus knocks all the time, but I ignore it due to craziness and busyness.
    Great thoughts about 'feeling' in worship too. We worship to show Him we love Him. Not for a physical high. (Although that's nice too.)
    Blessings,
    Ceil

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    1. Yes, I think too many are caught up in the "physical high" part of worship, and then they live like they have forgotten WHO they were worshiping all the rest of the week. We have to learn to balance our "highs" with times of rest and reflection on the person of Christ living inside of us...and what that really means. Food for the soul...can't live without it. Thank you for your thoughts today. It's always so good to hear from you. You must be back up and around by now? I hope so! Blessings my friend.

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  3. What a convicting piece this is, Pam. We can have all the Bibles we want in the house, as well as attend every church service, serve in the church, but unless we open our Bibles to hear from Him and spend time in His Presence we've missed the "boat" all together. I'd not want to know how many times my soul would say it has starved for food. Thank you, my sweet friend, for sharing here in this space.

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    1. Thank YOU for sharing your thoughts about this...I value your insights. We are all guilty of this, I am certain, from time to time. We get too caught up in the method and the feelings as opposed to the purpose and the person. Sometimes we just need to drop back and get back to the basics of worship and personal relationship with Christ...

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