Food For The Soul And Spirit

Good Morning! ☀️

David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee. 1 Samuel 17:37

The Philistine army had a giant of a champion named Goliath. He was over nine feet tall and had the army of Israel scared stiff. No one was willing to take up his offer of a one on one, winner takes all challenge, not even King Saul.

David had been sent by his father with provisions for his brothers and leaders in the army. He heard Goliath's challenge and the reward offered to the one who defeated him. David volunteered to go fight Goliath.  When King Saul questioned his abilities, David let him know that he had slain both a lion and a bear with God's help. Goliath would be no different!

Good Morning!☀️

The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. Psalms 121:5 KJV

There are things that God has set on automatic pilot as it were: day and night, heart beats and breathing. There are things that he delegates to angels and men.

When it comes to watching over us, he is directly involved. He keeps watch over us. He is our protector and sustainer. He gives relief from the heat, providing shade or a cool breeze.

What an awesome thought! God is interested in you and actively watching over you!

Good Afternoon!☀️

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Psalms 23:5

David had endured many days on the run from King Saul and on the battlefield as king himself. He saw God take him from being shepherd over a few of his father's sheep to shepherd over Israel. He knew what it was like to have little with no home of his own, to have enemies seeking to destroy him.

As he reflects on God's shepherding over him, he could point to all that God had done for him as his Good Shepherd. No longer was he on the run. No longer did he have to do without. In fact, he could now feast even in his enemies presence. No longer did he have so little he had to ask others for food or drink. He had more than enough, an overflowing  cup.

Good Morning!☀

For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward. Isaiah 52:12

When we leave our home we do not know what the day will bring. We know where we plan to go, or what we plan to do. We may have a task before us that we are not looking forward to due to it's difficulty or unpleasantness. It may be because it is something new that we have not done before.

Whatever the case, we can trust that God has gone before us and is already there. Hebrews further reminds us:

Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Hebrews 13:5-6

Good Morning!☀️

He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Psalms 121:3

When we are feeling down, we tend to look down and slump our shoulders. Our movements and responses are slow. Life does not feel good.

We do not have to keep feeling down. Ironically, just as our mood affects our posture, our posture affects our mood. The psalmist taps into this first changing his posture:

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. Psalms 121:1

Now that he is looking up, he is reminded where his help comes from:

My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. Palms 121:2

He then reminds himself that he has a 24/7 guardian and protector, one who never sleeps or slumber:

He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Psalms 121:3

Good Morning!☀

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Joshua 1:8

Joshua was God's choice to succeed Moses.  He  had been minister and servant to Moses and was often close at hand. He had already led the Israelites in battle. Now, his task was to complete what Moses had begun.

In order to be able to do this, Joshua was basically told to stay hungry for God and his word. He was to feed on it day and night, being careful to follow it as completely as possible.

Under normal circumstances, no one eats just once a week, few even once a day. All realize that for proper nourishment and optimum health, there must be regular, consistent consumption of food. To be at our best at all times spiritually, we likewise must regularly, consistently feed on God's word, chewing it slowly (meditating on it) to get as much nourishment from it as possible.

Good Morning!☀️

Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. James 5:8

When it takes a long time by our reckoning for something to happen, we are tempted to give up on it ever happening. We forget  that our concept of time and God's is quite different.  A long time to us is a very short time to God. He will work in our lives in his time, not ours.

Since we do not know when Jesus will return, we need to stay vigilant, to hold fast to his word, and maintain our witness. We need to set our hearts on him and not let the world around us lull us into its ways or cause us to lose our focus.

Good Morning! ☀️

How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! [18]If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. Psalms 139:17-18

In Psalms 139, we find David musing on God's plans for him before he was even created in his mother's womb. He marvels at God's fashioning days for him before he is conceived. He considers how intricately he was made.

Good Afternoon!☀

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. Psalms 19:14

Acceptance is a struggle for many. We want to be accepted by friends, family, coworkers, churches, and clubs we are members of. In order to do so, we will take extreme oaths, go through extreme initiation rituals, or even try to be somebody we are not!

We often are so concerned about being accepted by people that we totally forget may disgust God.

The psamist understood that his first priority was that his words and thoughts would be acceptable and pleasing to God. After receiving God's word and recognizing the excellence of it as a guide for living, he desired that his words and thoughts reflect his acceptance of that word. He knew that it was far more important to be acceptable to God than to people.

Good Morning!☀️

Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. Zechariah 4:6

The Israelites had returned from exile. They had begun to rebuild the temple but were opposed by some of the surrounding people. When work on the city walls was stopped by the king's edict, they stopped working on rebuilding the temple as well. Over time, they became focused  on building homes for themselves and the necessities of daily living. They excused themselves, saying, "The time is not right to rebuild."

God sent the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to encourage Zerubbabel, the governor, and Joshua, the High Priest, to restart the rebuilding of the temple. He let them know that putting their own desires before God's was keeping them from prospering.

He further encouraged them not to despise small beginnings nor be dismayed at the size and difficulties of the task. It would not be by might or power that the task would be accomplished, but by God's Spirit.

Once they resumed rebuilding the temple, one by one, God not only removed the obstacles but moved the heart of the current King of Persia to order that they be assisted in the completion of it:

Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in his place. [8]Moreover I make a decree what ye shall do to the elders of these Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king's goods, even of the tribute beyond the river, forthwith expenses be given unto these men, that they be not hindered. Ezra 6:7-8

Good Morning!☀️

When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up. Psalms 94:18 KJV

The psalmist cried out to God for help against evildoers and those who had come against him. He recognized that vengeance belonged to God alone and was not his to pursue. Thus, he asks God to execute judgment on his enemies.

Had it been left up to his enemies, the psalmist would have fallen. As he felt his foot slipping, he also felt God lifting him up to keep him standing. He understood God had extended mercy to him and held him up.

Good Morning!☀️

And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Matthew 17:20

Today's verse often gets misquoted. Jesus does not say "faith the size of a mustard seed" but "faith as a mustard seed":

Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: [32]Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. Matthew 13:31-32

Good Morning!☀️

And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him. Isaiah 30:18

God pleaded with his people repeatedly to heed his warnings and repent of their sins. They stubbornly refused to do so. They sought out prophets who would tell them what they wanted to hear instead of the truth. God did not want to punish them, but they left him no choice.

In his mercy and grace, God did not cast them away completely. He still wanted to be gracious to his people. He let them know that once the punishment was over, he would restore them.

Good Morning! ☀️

The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me? Psalm 118:6 KJV

The psalmist  is very clear about the basis of his courage: the Lord is on his side. Knowing that God is with him gives him the courage to face whatever adversity that may come or any who opposes him. The Apostle Paul echos this:

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31

Good Morning!☀️

Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19

Have you ever had a time in your life when little seemed to going right and everything you touched seem to turn into lead instead of gold? Have you ever felt like you were in a desert wasteland with little relief from the heat and dryness in sight?

Maybe you are experiencing such a time right now. If so, there is good news for you! Your conditions have no effect on God's ability to prosper you. He can prosper you when all is well, and he can prosper you when all the odds are against you. He can make a highway through your wilderness. He can make a river to flow in the midst of your desert and a rose to bloom there!

Good Morning!☀

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. I John 4: 7-8,16

Like produces like. God is love. That is his nature. It follows that if we are his children, we are to be love as well. No one drives this point home more clearly and forcefully as the apostle John. He alone of the gospel writers share Jesus's emphasis on his love for them, God's love for them, and loving each other. It was not their faith, their piety, or public service that would denote their being his disciple:

By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. John 13:35

John went so far as to say this:

We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. I John 3:14

It is clear, then, that unless the love of God is manifest in us, that is, seen in and through our lives, we have not been changed, we are not his, we do not really know him!

Good Morning!☀️

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31

Paul had explained to the Roman church the position of the believer in Christ. Freed from sin, no longer under condemnation, sealed by the Holy Spirit, we are forgiven and  are no longer the person we were.

Because of this, no matter who comes against us, we can stand. With God on our side, no one can prevail against us. They may seem to win in the short term. They may attack our faith. Come what may, they can not separate us from our God or his great love for us.