Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Hangry (01/23/25)
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TITLE: God's Table | Previous Challenge Entry
By Marilyn Meiners
01/30/25 -
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I have recently been challenged with this word “hangry”. We so often think it is a word associated with the idea of being “irritable as a result of hunger,” and indeed, it is. However, I have been convicted that it is also a word we can aptly apply to our spiritual life.
When is the last time you have been “hangry” for the word of God? You find that you are irritable with yourself, your surroundings, your world because of lack of nourishment from God’s Word. You became angry, anxious, miserable, was unable to forgive, became impatient…..all things associated with a lack of a proper diet from God’s word.
When did you figured out that those hunger pangs were the result of your not feeding on God’s Word. We would never think of going all day without eating. In fact, my favorite meal of the day is breakfast. I must start my day with a nourishing breakfast. To miss this would make me irritable and miserable all day, plus hungry by 9:00 in the morning.
So it is with God’s Word. We can’t survive by feeding upon God’s Word once or twice a week. The Holy Spirit living inside us needs to be fed, and the only food he desires is what comes from God’s Word. Matthew 6:11 says “Give us this day our daily bread.” ESV.
Did you catch this?
God wants to give us THIS day our daily bread. Therefore, we must read daily from the Textbook of Life if we are to find our meal for the day. Too often we think we need to feed upon God’s word for hours on end. This is not true. We often go through our day grabbing a small meal from time to time - just to keep our stomachs satisfied so we don’t have those hunger pangs. The same is true with God’s Word. Let me suggest:
Read a portion of Scripture (5-10 min) ...
Meditate on what you've read (5-10 min) ...
Pray over what you've read (5-10 min) ...
Take this passage with you into your day.
God has a variety of tasteful meals we can enjoy, and he has a meal specially designed for whatever we might be going through for that day. We simply need to indulge in the meal God has prepared for us.
Hebrews reminds us that when we taste of the Word of God, we find that God is good. “…have tasted the goodness of the word of God…” ESV
Within God’s goodness we find peace ( Psalm 119:165 “Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.”) NIV
We find joy (“Psalm 21:6 Surely you have granted him unending blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence.”) ESV
We experience God’s comfort (Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”) NIV
Scripture also reminds us that eating from God’s word is sweet and delicious.
Psalm 119:2, 10 (“The instructions of the LORD are perfect, reviving the soul…They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb.”) NLT
Psalm 119:103 (“How sweet your words taste to me; they are sweeter than honey.” NLT
At the moment my biggest hunger pang is for those who are lost. I have several family members I long to see come to faith in Jesus. We know what God says in 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should reach repentance.” ESV
However, to reach these lost persons God has given us a mandate. He tells us in Acts 1:8 (I paraphrase) “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in (your town) and in all (your State) and (Your country) and to the end of the earth.” ESV.
The Gospel begins with me, starting in my home, then reaching out to the world.
I long to see my loved ones come to Jesus. I am reminded I need to be spending time in prayer for them, but also being encouraged and instructed by feeding diligently upon God’s Word and resting in his promises.
“Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”
Last Scripture ESV
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