SPIRITUAL NOURISHMENT

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I love dissecting scripture. Grasping the true meaning of the words from the Greek and Hebrew definitions gives spiritual nourishment to my soul. It’s like examining the Nutritional Facts on the side of food boxes. It gives understanding and clarity to what I’m about to ingest. Get ready for a fun journey as we dig in to 1 Peter 2:1,2…

Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babies, desire pure milk of The Word that you may grow.

Desire… Greek Definition––to long for, crave, to pursue with love, to long after.

What do you long for in life? Do you crave more money, success, power, recognition, material things, or possibly perfection? Or, do you desire righteousness, mercy and grace through Jesus?

Pure milk…
 Greek Definitions–Pure means unmixed, unadulterated, sincere. Milk is a metaphor for the less difficult Christian truths.

Would you mix a teaspoon of garlic in a bottle of milk for your baby? No way! His little tummy would be unset for hours. Neither is it a good idea to water down your baby’s milk to the point of depleting the nutrients.

Just as a baby requires pure milk, our walk with Jesus must contain purified, unpolluted, sincere biblical truths. The result: Spiritual Nourishment!

Of the word… Greek Definition–spoken word, pertaining to the soul or spirit.

More than likely you have heard the old statement, “You are what you eat.” There is even a book using this statement as the title. It focuses on a nutritional program to improve health and change dietary habits. Hmm, I see a spiritual life lesson forming.

Just as healthy physical food energizes the physical body, so feeding on the true and solid spoken word from God's Word feeds the soul. Now we are getting somewhere!

That you may grow… Greek Definition–to grow; increase speaking of plants, infants, a multitude of people, inward Christian growth.

Now, I am trying to contain myself. I want to jump out of my chair and shout, “God you are so awesome!”  Think about this–in order to grow in our walk with the Lord and experience spiritual nourishment we must first crave the sincere, unaltered Christian truths. As we humbly desire and grasp the gift of God’s grace and unconditional love through His son, Jesus Christ, our souls are nourished. Daily realizing, "Life is not about me, but all about Him,"  feeds the mind and heart with the truths of God. Believing, "The only way to the Father is through His son" energizes our purpose into action. Oh, I could go on and on. I love reading and diving into the Word of God!

Challenge for the Week…  Can a baby survive from one bottle of milk a week? No. It’s more like 6-8 bottles a day. Likewise, can a child of God grow and mature spiritually with one feeding on Sunday mornings? Our Christian life would be weak and frail. This week crave to seek the Lord’s truths through reading His Word, praying throughout your day and look for God's life lessons along the way. He is waiting to give you spiritual nourishment everyday!

From My Heart to Yours,

Carla McDougal