Food for My Soul

And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Luke 4:4.
The Word of God is to be our spiritual food.
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….
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 eat for ourselves in order to receive nourishment, so we must receive the Word for ourselves….
In His promises and warnings, Jesus means me…. The experiences related in God’s Word are to be my experiences. Prayer and promise, precept and warning, are mine.
The creative energy that called the worlds into existence is in the word of God. The word imparts power; it begets life. Every command is a promise; accepted by the will, received into the soul, it brings with it the life of the Infinite One….
The life thus imparted is in like manner sustained. “By every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4) shall man live. The mind, the soul, is built up by that upon which it feeds; and it rests with us to determine upon what it shall be fed. It is within the power of every one to choose the topics that shall occupy the thoughts and shape the character.
Youth, in the name of Jesus I appeal to you whom I shall soon meet around the throne of God, Study your Bible. It will prove to you not only the pillar of cloud by day but the pillar of fire by night. It opens before you a path leading up and still upward, bidding you go forward. The Bible—you do not know its worth! It is a book for the mind, for the heart, for the conscience, the will, and the life. It is the message of God to you, in such simple style that it meets the comprehension of a little child. The Bible—precious Book!
The Faith I Live By p. 20
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Prayer Requests
—–Please pray for me as I am in charge of 13 kids today, and probably again in the near future, as our teacher is out with her contagiously sick son off and on for the next 10 days! Heidi
—–Please pray I keep my job until the end of the year and get severance pay of 8 weeks. Thanks Ann.
—–In need of immediate intercessory prayer for my wife and our kids. Please pray that the court will grant the Family Law Exit order and not let these false allegations go to trial. Father God, work on the heart of the judge and the lawyers and help to resolve this and keep our kids. Edmond
—–Please pray for my sister she was diagnosed 2 years ago with a brain tumor she is now bed ridden sleeping mostly…. pray for God’s will in her life. And for us to accept Gods will. Patricia
—–Please pray for my friends son was diagnosed with celiac disease and has been suffering. Pray for healing and comfort. Veronica
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Dear Friends,
When I was a little girl, we would occasionally go to Milham Park which was at the very opposite side of town from where we lived.  Since we did not have a car, we had to ride the bus to the center of town, transfer to another bus, take it to the end of the line, and then walk another mile to reach the park.  Once there, I would beg to go to the little zoo that was there.  It was not much of a zoo—three bears, some monkeys, a few otters and raccoons, but it was my favorite part. 
Each time I would be warned not to go beyond the barriers. Although the animals looked harmless, they were not.  Then would come the stories of people who had not heeded the warning signs, went into the area they had been warned against, overstepped the boundaries and had been injured or even lost their lives.  In their final moments, they must have been very sorry that they had not heeded those warnings.  Although my favorite animals were the bears who were sitting up on their haunches, waving their paws and begging for popcorn or some other tasty tidbit; I had no desire to climb into their enclosure with them.
Just as those warning signs, as well as the example of others who had failed to heed the warnings, served their purpose to keep the zoo’s visitors safe; so God’s Holy Word gives us examples from the lives of people who had lived long ago, as well as warnings to protect us from the danger of sin.  “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.”  1 Cor 10:11-14  If we heed those warnings, we will recognize the snares of the evil one, who “as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”  1 Peter 5:8
In spite of our Great Redeemer’s warnings, many times we think that we can play with sin just a little and then walk away without suffering any harm.  That is not possible. Sin is not the harmless thing it sometimes appears to be.  As we toy with it, sin wraps its tentacles about us.  Suddenly, we realize that we cannot get free.  We attempt to pull away, but it has us in its grip.  We are trapped.  We are being destroyed.  There is no way to save ourselves.  We need a Saviour, Who will rescue us from the snare that holds us fast.
Praise God! We have such a Saviour, Who came “to seek and to save that which was lost.”  Luke 19:10   “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  Rom 5:8  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  John 3:16   Think of it!  The Creator of the Universe, He Whom all Heaven adores was willing to leave the glories of His Heavenly Kingdom and come down to this dark and sinful old world to suffer all the difficulties and hatred the devil could heap upon him in order to save us.  “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.”  Isa 53:3-7  Oh what love!  What wonderful love!
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  Heb 12:1,2  “Praise ye the Lord!”  Ps 106:1
Rose