Week 3, Day 5

The Precious Word of God, Message Three
The Bible—God’s Feeding
Day 5

II. Why do we eat? (continued)

D. For enjoyment

Jeremiah 15:16 Your words were found and I ate them, / And Your word became to me / The gladness and joy of my heart, / For I am called by Your name, / O Jehovah, God of hosts.

Psalm 19:10 More to be desired are they than gold, / Even much refined gold; / Sweeter also than honey / And the drippings of the honeycomb.

Psalm 119:111 Your testimonies are my heritage forever, / For they are the gladness of my heart.

Read over the outline points and verses above and use these for your prayer to spend time with the Lord in the Word in the morning. After your prayer time, jot down in your notebook one or two things that the Lord touched you with. Afterward, read the following portion, either in your morning time or sometime later in the day. It has also been recorded for you to listen to if you like.

Reading portion:

…When reading the first seventeen verses of Matthew 1, we should let go of the many names. But when we read verse 21, which says, “She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins,” we may understand that we are God’s people, so He must save us from our sins. We may then pray, “Lord, save me from my sins.” After this the Holy Spirit may speak to us and point out our sins….Spontaneously, we should confess these sins, saying, “Lord, my temper is too poor. I cannot overcome it. I have been in sin. But You are Jesus. You will save Your people from their sins. I am Your people. Surely You will save me from my sins.” When we pray this way, we are eating the “meat.” Following this, we may read: “‘They shall call His name Emmanuel’ (which is translated, God with us)” (v. 23). Here is a bigger piece of “meat.” We may pray, “Emmanuel! God with man! Lord, You are God with man! You are God, and I am man; You are with me. You are in me, and You are in my presence.” These verses alone can fill us. During the day we will be praying that Jesus is saving His people from their sins and that God is with man. This kind of reading will make the Bible our food, supply, and nourishment. This kind of reading will bring the Bible into us as our life….We are here to eat and drink God. We are the eaters, and we want to feast on the Word until we are filled.

In conclusion, God is Spirit for us to breathe Him in through prayer, and God is the Word for us to eat Him through reading the Word. The more we pray, the more we breathe in His Spirit, and the more we read, the more we eat His word. The Spirit is God, and the Word is also God. When we breathe and eat enough of God, we will be filled and satisfied with God. This is what it means to enjoy God through praying and reading.

(How to Enjoy God and How to Practice the Enjoyment of God, Chapter 13, pp. 156-157)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:40 — 937.4KB)

Subscribe: RSS