Today, I began to talk to the Lord about what today’s writing should be about and He immediately spoke to my heart and said, “By Bread Alone.”
This is a statement that has been going over and over in my mind for days – therefore it was no surprise.
I went online and began to study this scripture that I was sure I knew the meaning of only to find out it is much deeper than I first thought.
The first place I read this was in the time of Jesus’ fasting and then being tempted by the devil.
But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” (Mt 4:4)
However, this verse Jesus quoted actually comes from Deuteronomy – when God fed the children of Israel with manna.
So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. (Deut 8:3)
I have always been intrigued with this verse, at least the first part of it. The bible says, God humbled them and allowed them to hunger. The reason He did this was so they would realize man doesn’t just live by what nourishes their body but by the word of the living God, which nourishes the spirit.
We all know people who have never read the word of God and are still alive. They keep their bodies alive by feeding them nourishment. So, it seems odd that God would say we can’t live by food alone, doesn’t it.
As I dug deeper, I found this word LIVE to mean the following; to revive, keep alive, give life, preserve, quicken, recover, repair, restore to life, to revive and to be made whole.
Suddenly it all made sense to me.
Yes, we can keep our bodies alive with food to nourish them if we never read the word of God. BUT. We cannot be restored to life, revived, made whole or recover to a place of wholeness without the word of God.
Romans 8:11 says; But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
According to this verse, that won’t happen apart from the word of God.
Are you believing God for restoration? Or wholeness? Or a quickening in your body? If so, here is the way it can come – through the word of the living God.
I once read a scripture in the Book of Wisdom that said, It wasn’t any herb or ointment that healed them, but Your word alone, Lord, which heals everything.
The Bible says He sent His word and healed us. I could quote scripture after scripture that confirms that His wholeness comes through the word of God.
I encourage you today to begin to declare His unfailing word over your body, over your family, over your loved ones. His word can and will change everything. However, it is up to us to apply it.
Food will nourish your body but only His word will nourish and strengthen your spirit.
Do you want life? The zoe life of God? The wholeness that only comes from God? Then you must daily or consistently feed your spirit the word of God. It’s His way and it is the only way.
