Hunger For The Word

Thank everyone for making last Sunday a success, as well as the Dart Exchange this past Friday night!

Mention the showing of the new movie, “Before The Wrath”, this Friday, for any who will come and watch it!

Briefly address the church about the Corona Virus and its impact on our society

CWC Family Emergency Preparedness Classes, will begin Thursday, March 19th at 6:00 pm. The first class is going to be around a 2 hour class, and it is going to cover:

Why prepare?

Is it Biblical?

Water storage methods and types and keeping it safe.

Food storage, Types of food storage. The pros and cons of each. Along with the most cost effective methods.

There will be some limited tasting of a variety of foods, as well as hands on with some of the food storage methods.

A second class is tentatively planned for Thursday March 26th at 6:00 pm and it will be covering:

Power related problems and solutions.

How to protect electronic devices from being disabled and remaining useful in crisis situations.

Communication types in emergency situations: Radios and telephones,

Heating and cooling issues

And other safety practices for you and your family in emergency situations.

How many of you ate something for breakfast this morning? In fact, how many of you typically eat breakfast every morning? (Not necessarily a big breakfast, but something at least.) Now, let me broaden my question a bit. How many people eat three square meals a day? OK, and how many of you are what I call, a “grazer”, or a “snacker”, that is, you are eating off and on throughout the day?

So, whatever your belief and tendencies are towards eating, most of us have developed some pattern for eating in our daily lives, right?

I know that job and school schedules can and will dictate sometimes, how and when we eat, and I totally get that.

But the what I am getting at, is that on any given day, we tend to have set times and pattern for our feeding habits and needs.

The old standard that most of us have been brought up under, is the “three square meals” a day pattern, right?

How many of you strive for the breakfast, lunch and dinner schedule?

That is, unless you’re like a Hobbit in one of J.R.R. Tolkien’s books. And sometimes I think that is how I would like to operate! The Hobbit daily eating schedule is as follows:

Breakfast - 7:00 am

Second breakfast - 9:00 am

Breakfast - 7 a.m.Second Breakfast - 9 a.m.Elevenses - 11 a.m.Luncheon - 1 p.m.Afternoon Tea - 3 p.m.Dinner - 6 p.m.Supper - 9 p.m.

Elevenses - 11:00 am

Luncheon - 1:00 pm

Afternoon tea - 3:00 pm

Dinner - 6:00 pm

Supper - 9:00 pm

All joking aside, we were designed by our Creator to eat for survival. And obviously, God wanted His creation to enjoy the blessings of food, because He created amazingly tasty and flavorful fruits and nuts and grains and vegetables!

And beyond that, He gave us the greatest gifts known to the human pallet; He gave us pot roast and fried chicken!

I mean, come on, a big pile of juicy pot roast, with the rich gravy running over it and some mashed potatoes and gravy and dinner rolls?!!!!

Or a big platter of crispy, juicy fried chicken and hot buttered biscuits and honey?!!!!

OK, let’s all take an hour to go eat and then we’ll meet back again for the rest of this message!

Seriously though, there are definite derived benefits with eating, right?

There is the most obvious benefit, which would be survival, as we need nutrients to live, but then there are other side benefits to eating.

There is the physiological response of pleasure and satisfaction associated with eating different types of food.

In fact, so great is this pleasure and benefit, that companies in the food industry pour millions and millions of dollars into scientific research each year to determine how to make certain foods more pleasurable to us, and thus how to make them more addictive.

They have studied the physiological response as to how your brain is stimulated by certain chemicals, the exact moment that they come in contact with the sensory organs on the front of your tongue!

They have studied how many pounds per square inch is needed when you first bite into that potato chip, and how dense the chip should be, to elicit the proper crunch and the right amount of loudness, to produce that satisfying “CRUNCH” that we love when we bite into a chip!

And then there is the vanishing caloric density of the snack foods, as in eating Cheese Puffs. This phenomenon happens when you eat that cheese puff and it quickly breaks down and melts into your mouth and seemingly disappears.

This makes your brain think that the food is gone and thus, there are no calories and so you will enjoy eating more!

And the largest portion of their studies are given to the study of the holy grail of snack foods, which is called the “trinity” of snack food ingredients: salt, sugar and fat!

With the right combination of these three ingredients, the salt, the fat and the sugar, the release of dopamine and other brain chemicals is assured and thus, the addiction begins!

This is why, “you can’t eat just one”!

Outside of the pleasure that is realized from eating certain foods, there is also the benefit of the socialization that comes from breaking bread together and fellow-shipping over food!

Jesus knew this very well and it’s typically seen throughout the gospels with Him sharing a meal with people, in order to spend time with them!

Many of you who want to spend time talking with me, will notice that I like to do so over a meal, as it creates an atmosphere of relaxation and comfort!

It also communicates trust and acceptance between the two parties and lets each one know that they are on common, friendly ground, when they are sharing the same meal together!

Here in the south, especially in the generations gone bye, spending time on a Sunday afternoon, on someone’s front porch, sipping sweet iced tea and eating a good slice of some decadent dessert and talking was a staple in developing community and unity within the neighborhood! (Tell of everyone in our neighborhood making inced cream on the 4th and Memorial day)

All that said and done, food is and has always been an important part of our lives, both physiologically, as well as psychologically. Right?!

Well this morning, I want to visit the concept of “food” and the thing that drives us to eat it. Or, at least the prime reason that should drive us to want to eat, which is of course, our physiological state of hunger, right?

There are different reason why people will eat, there are nervous eaters, who eat whenever they become nervous, to calm themselves.

There are bored eaters, who eat out of boredom and out of frustration.

There are people who eat to comfort themselves in their states of depression.

There are people who eat, because they are addicted to food!

And then, there is the main reason that food is to be consumed, which is the way that our bodies were designed by God to react, and that is to the unction from sheer hunger!

If we haven’t eaten in awhile and our bodies need nutrition, then the feelings of hunger begin to kick in and take over.

You get that “gnawing” feeling in your stomach and the burning and grumbling, reminding you that something is missing and that attention is warranted.

If you go long enough without food and your nutritional status begins to diminish, then other physiological signs can begin to manifest, like lethargy, physical weakness, and mental acuity problems and so on.

These are signs that something is wrong and that nutrition, (“food”), is needed to revive the body and strengthen it!

Well, as much as we understand that there are physical signs and symptoms of hunger within the human body, what about the signs and symptoms of “spiritual hunger” within our spiritual bodies, or the lack thereof?

In other words, we, as a society, have been programmed to monitor and pay close attention to our natural/physical hunger and to pamper and comfort and cater to it, every couple of hours or so, but what about our spiritual lives? What are we doing about that hunger?

And even more so, what about the fact that many of us are not at all spiritually hungry in our lives.........what are we doing about that deficit?

I listened to a final message from a well known minister recently, before he and his wife were getting ready to leave the US and head to China to take the gospel message to regions that have never been exposed to Jesus and His good news of salvation! (Share of what he said about natural hunger of the African nation and of how the US does not go without food and then of how the people of China were starving spiritually and yet the people of the church of the US were saturated and not hungry at all for the Word of God!

Turn with me in your Bibles please, to the book of and we will read from there.

1 Peter 2:1–3 ESV

1 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Folks, what I have to say this morning is a short and simple, but very necessary message, or plea to everyone here, or who is watching.

Let me re-read that same passage in for you again, but this time, I want to read it to you from the more modern, Passion Translation.

1 Peter 2:1–3 TPT

1 So abandon every form of evil, deceit, hypocrisy, feelings of jealousy and slander. 2 In the same way that nursing infants cry for milk, you must intensely crave the pure spiritual milk of God’s Word. For this “milk” will cause you to grow into maturity, fully nourished and strong for life —3 especially now that you have had a taste of the goodness of the Lord Jehovah and have experienced his kindness.

This very message is the same thing that the Lord has been putting on my heart for almost 6 years now, both for me, as well as for anyone who will listen.

“YOU MUST FEED ON THE LIVING WORD OF GOD!”

It’s no mistake that Peter used the analogy in his epistle, of an infant craving milk, to that of us craving the Word of God.

What is more vulnerable and more dependent upon someone else for its survival, than a newborn baby?

That is as helpless and dependent as you can get.

And an infant, once introduced to it’s mother’s milk, knows nothing else and wants nothing else!

An infant, as soon as its little system feels the pains of hunger, it cries out and it desires one thing.........the pure milk that it gets from its mother!

I studied some in preparing for this message, about the way that God created the nursing process of the mother and the infant.

And it is amazing how our creator provided for us and our survival in this very unique and beautiful process.

Did you know that there are pheromones, scents, that a mother’s body produces around the breast tissue, that guides and directs the infant to her breasts for nursing?

And that once the infant begins to feed upon the milk, this process triggers hormones and chemicals within the mother’s body to sustain this scent, as well as to continue in using her body’s resources to produce an ample, continual supply of the life giving substance for the newborn, the milk!

The milk that the newborn feeds upon, changes over time, to ensure that the infant is getting exactly what its developing/growing body needs for survival.

From the first couple of days after giving birth, God designed the mother’s body to produce what is called, colostrum (liquid gold) with which she feeds the newborn.

And this yellowish liquid, is packed full of antibodies and white blood cells, to ensure that the newborn is being protected against the attack of infections.

That is EXACTLY why all new Christians need to be engaging in and feeding upon the SPIRITUAL MILK, (Word of God), at their new spiritual birth! To ensure that their new spiritual bodies are being filled with the antibodies to ward off the coming attacks upon them!

Over the days and weeks and months that follow, as the infant continually feeds, the mother’s milk begins to change in percentages in the content of what she is giving the infant, so that more fats and amino acids and proteins and carbs and iron are being delivered for the healthy growth of the newborn, as well as the continual supply of the antibodies that are protecting and fighting for the newborn’s growth and survival!

And even if the mother is not eating properly and she is taking in poor nutrition into her body during this early time of nursing, her body will draw from its own resources to take what is needed and deliver the right balance and diet that the infant needs from the milk for its survival.

So, in other words, despite what is going on in the environment around the nursing infant, THE PURE MILK that it is feeding upon continually and without falter, stays true and constant and without change, so that the infant always has the same, consistent source of life giving sustenance!

Folks, this is what Peter is saying to us about the living Word of God!

Despite what is going on in your life and the world around you, every time that you and I come to the Word and feed upon it, we are given the same, PURE, EXACT, and UNCHANGING dose of our spiritual bodies need for continued growth and strength and development in our walk with the Lord.

And in this process, we are getting a healthy, daily does of spiritual antibodies to fight off the attacks of the enemy!

And for this reason, we must ALWAYS come to the Word of God to feed, just as a newborn baby must feed on the milk, so we must also.

Because it is THE SOURCE of life and growth and health for believer, just as it is for the infant!

And yes, just as Paul instructs us in , as does the author of Hebrews, in , we are to grow spiritually and develop into mature and strong adults in the faith, and this is done by getting away from the “milk” (the doctrinal basics) of the Word and initial gospel message and begin feeding on the “meat” (the deeper oracles of God).

This is so that we can teach and mentor other people, as well as be able to defend our faith, as Peter so stated, in the very next chapter from where we were just reading, where he tell us, “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”

If we are not feeding ourselves from the living Word of God and growing into mature and strong and seasoned believers, then we are ineffective and unable to stand firm against the attacks of the enemy through unbelievers and their questions and critical remarks about our Lord and belief in Him.

This is why so many believers will not share their belief in Christ with other unbelievers, because they have no knowledge of the Word, so as to answer the questions about their belief and faith.

And in fact, without feeding your spirit man from the Word, your Faith is weak and ineffective, because, true faith comes by hearing and hearing from the word of Christ!

And even though we are told that we are to mature in the Word of God and grow big and strong from the meat of the Word, Peter is saying that we are to abandon the things and the cares and the ways of this world, that are of old, natural self, and instead, we are to continually LONG for and DESIRE for the “milk” of the word, exactly as an infant continually longs for and desires for the ONLY SOURCE OF NUTRITION that it knows of and needs!

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2 Timothy 3:16–17 TPT

16 Every Scripture has been written by the Holy Spirit, the breath of God. It will empower you by its instruction and correction, giving you the strength to take the right direction and lead you deeper into the path of godliness. 17 Then you will be God’s servant, fully mature and perfectly prepared to fulfill any assignment God gives you.

God’s Word will grow you and mature you and prepare you, if you feed on it, but you MUST be hungry for the Word! That is the issue!

Peter said that we must ALWAYS desire the Word of God, like an infant, to mature, Paul and Hebrews said that we must dig deeper into the Word and get the meat out of it to mature, but they are both saying that same thing about our development; WE MUST BECOME HUNGRY FOR THE WORD!

In Jesus declares this to us,

Matthew 5:6 ESV

6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

The word “hunger” here literally means, “to have a strong desire for”. So, Jesus tells us that those who “strongly desire” for righteousness, shall be satisfied!

Do you hunger, (“strongly desire”) for the Word of God and His Kingdom and thus righteousness?

If you do and you come to the Word to feed, then Jesus said that you would satisfied! (The word satisfied in the Greek, is the word, “chortazō” and guess what it means? It means, “to eat one’s fill, to be filled to satisfaction!)

When we DESIRE the Word of God and crave His righteousness in our lives and we sit at the banquet table of His Word and feast, we will be filled and lacking no good thing!

When I was a young man and my mother was in the kitchen preparing a meal and I would come in from playing outside and grab something to snack on, my mother would say, “Don’t eat that, you’re going to ruin your appetite!”

Why would she say that? Because she knew from experience, that the junk food and the constant nibbling from the lesser things, would take up the space and the desire for the more important and nourishing things!

That is many of us and our lives today! We are spiritually hungry, but we end up feeding upon all of the lesser things and get filled on them until we are no longer hungry for the “real meal”........the Word of God!

We fill up on listening to music singing about the Word, we listen to other people’s teachings about the Word and reading devotionals that mention an exert of the Word and with these things, we get filled up and think that we are satisfied, and yet, we have not truly fed on the real meal yet!

I am not knocking all of those things that I just mentioned, but they should never be what we go to as our source of milk, of meat, of nourishment! Those things should be the dessert that we have, after we have fed upon the TRUE BREAD OF HEAVEN, the living LOGOS, Yeshua and His Word!

Jesus promised us this, in ,

John 6:35 NLT

35 Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Friends, let me ask you this today, “Are you hungry for the Word of God in your life?”

Or are you filling yourself up with things that have no spiritual value and that serve only to placate and keep your appetite for the true milk suppressed?

The great preacher,John Wesley said of the Bible, “I want to know one thing, the way to heaven. . . . He hath written it down in a book. Give me that book! At any price give me the Book of God! I have it: here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be homo unius libri [a man of one book].”

Are you hungry for that ONE BOOK?

It is my heart’s desire to see the body of Christ become one and completely unified. But, this comes only as God’s children begin to develop the hunger for and feed upon the living Word of God.

Allow me to give you all some homework. Throughout this week, read the 119 chapter of Psalms and as you read through this amazing chapter, begin to write down and journal whatever Holy Spirit speaks you about this passage and of how it applies to you personally!

As Jesus so stated, ““Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

I want to ask you, if you haven’t done so before, to find a plan that will help you to read through the Word of God