Bread of Life: The Word

“It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4 KJV).

The life of Christ that gives life to the world is in His word. It was by His word that Jesus healed disease and cast out demons; by His word He stilled the sea, and raised the dead; and the people bore witness that His word was with power. He spoke the word of God, as He had spoken through all the prophets and teachers of the Old Testament. The whole Bible is a manifestation of Christ, and the Saviour desired to fix the faith of His followers on the word. When His visible presence should be withdrawn, the word must be their source of power. Like their Master, they were to live “by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4. DA 390.3

As our physical life is sustained by food, so our spiritual life is sustained by the word of God. And every soul is to receive life from God’s word for himself. As we must eat for ourselves in order to receive nourishment, so we must receive the word for ourselves. We are not to obtain it merely through the medium of another’s mind. We should carefully study the Bible, asking God for the aid of the Holy Spirit, that we may understand His word. We should take one verse, and concentrate the mind on the task of ascertaining the thought which God has put in that verse for us. We should dwell upon the thought until it becomes our own, and we know “what saith the Lord.” DA 390.4

In His promises and warnings, Jesus means me. God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that I by believing in Him, might not perish, but have everlasting life. The experiences related in God’s word are to be my experiences. Prayer and promise, precept and warning, are mine. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20. As faith thus receives and assimilates the principles of truth, they become a part of the being and the motive power of the life. The word of God, received into the soul, molds the thoughts, and enters into the development of character. DA 390.5

By looking constantly to Jesus with the eye of faith, we shall be strengthened. God will make the most precious revelations to His hungering, thirsting people. They will find that Christ is a personal Saviour. As they feed upon His word, they find that it is spirit and life. The word destroys the natural, earthly nature, and imparts a new life in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit comes to the soul as a Comforter. By the transforming agency of His grace, the image of God is reproduced in the disciple; he becomes a new creature. Love takes the place of hatred, and the heart receives the divine similitude. This is what it means to live “by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” This is eating the Bread that comes down from heaven. DA 391.1

https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/130.1834#1878

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for Your Word. Please bless us to know Your Word. Bless us to live by Your Word. Please bless us to experience the power of Your Word in us—making us into Your image in character. Cause us every day to walk in the newness of Your Word, as we read and study the Bible for ourselves. Every day, especially today, cause us to be wholly Thine—born of You, again, that we not sin against Thee. We thank Thee for hearing and answering this request, because we pray it in the more than amazing name of Jesus Christ, Your Son and our Savior. Amen.

If you normally receive these devotionals as a text, please note that several emergencies happened to interrupt the normal sequence of delivery, including tech issues and the recent passing of my mother.

I expect more interruptive challenges in 2024, as I coordinate seminars and conferences online or onsite in June, September, October, and November. Join us! Visit https://www.ucheepines.org/events

Therefore, if you miss a devotional text from me, visit  

https://baiom.org/author/audreystovall/

where devotionals are first posted. From there devotionals are shared to my page on FB, LinkedIn, and Signal (in Stories).

NOTE: These devotionals began as daily texts to encourage my academy roommate and dear friend of nearly 50 years, until she suddenly passed March 2023. Now I continue to compile and send them to anyone who will receive them and to her family in honor of their mom. 

It is a prayerful process that may lead me to share from my personal study a Bible verse or passage and suitable commentary (or vice versa) and add a prayer. Some days, only a Scripture and prayer are ordered. I might even add a song. 

Lately, I have begun featuring consecutive chapter portions of a select Bible-based book.

If you agree to continue receiving them, then this is my personal gift to you and in this way, I not only honor God but the memory of a very dear friend whom I desperately miss.

These are posted at baiom.org and shared on FaceBook and LinkedIn. I also text to my family, other loved ones, and contacts that add up to more than 120.

My personal prayer is that God will bless me to find ways to multiply this gift, so that we all may be encouraged to be found faithful in the sight of a Holy God, whenever Christ returns or our eyes are shut in the sleep of death.

So please feel free to forward to your loved ones or to anyone, as God leads you. I’m calling them Barb’s Devotionals.

Also Note! If at any time you prefer to stop receiving these as texts, then simply reply “Stop.”