In Christ Alone!

The Crust or a Slice; what is God to you?

Are you satisfied with your walk with the Lord? I wasn't. But over the past week it seems that every event, conversation, Bible study, and even in Sunday school, God has been working in my heart and helping me realize some very important things of which I feel led to share with you. Each lesson is different, yet similar, oh how God works. Amazing!

Recently I have been feeling overwhelmed with … stuff; places to go, people to see, and my goodness so much to remember to get done. I have not been applying myself to spending time with the Lord each day. It has really been leaving me with a large emptiness, a hunger that can’t be filled with physical food. A week or more ago the Sunday sermon was a knife into my heart. In my own words, here is what it meant to me.

The crust or a slice; what is God to you? Life is a pie. We slice it up and try to eat every slice every day. One slice is work. Another may be school. A smaller slice is physical exercise, while a slightly larger one may be family time. Many people also create a slice for “God Time.” And I am the first to admit to guiltiness. I have tried to “schedule” a Bible reading time. I have tried to make myself write something in my Bible journal everyday. I have tried to memorize chapters of scripture, verses at a time. I have set high goals with high expectations, but always I find myself a failure, leaving me to be frustrated, depressed, unfulfilled, and completely saddened that I let God down again. God never proposed himself to be a slice in our life, but the crust of our life; the substance that holds us all together. He wants to be involved in every slice of our life, every slice of my life He wants to be active in us when we’re at work, school, with family, at church, ect. But how?

Eat when you’re hungry; don’t wait until you’re dying. I have always loved verses such as Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” Yet I always tend to ignore my spiritual hungerness until I’m nearly too weak to fill my soul with the Word. Matthew 4:4 says “But he answered and said, It is written, MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, BUT BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDETH OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.” How true that is. May I remember that continually when ever I get hungry spiritually. “Dear Lord, please keep these verses in my constant memory, that I may apply their truth to my life. Teach me to fill my soul with Your Word daily, and focus less on physical food. Thank you, O God! I ask this in your Most Holy Name, In Jesus’ Name, Amen!”

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” John 15:4-6 (Read 1-11 or so for the full context.) ‘Abide in me,’ says Christ, ‘as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself.’ I can’t bear fruit unless I’m abiding in Christ. If He isn’t my pie crust, I will bear no fruit. Without Him ‘I can do nothing,’ and all my petty “God Time” efforts may as well be gathered and burned. When I abide, the fruit will come naturally. I will no longer have to schedule God in my life, for I will be living each moment in His presence. Something Pastor made clear in Sunday school this past week is that the fruit comes NATURALLY! And if you continue reading vs. 9-14 you’ll see that we abide by continuing in His love, by keeping His commandments, which is that we love one another. Oh there must be must more to that commandment than we understand, for how often it is mentioned, and how important it always is.

“As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar. Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life. I will say unto God my rock, Why has thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God? Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.” Psalms 42 God is the health of my countenance. What an obvious revelation. And although my soul may be temporarily cast down, I will hope in God, and shall yet praise Him!

May you allow God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ become the crust of your pie. Hunger and thirst after righteousness, and you will be filled. Abide in Him and He will abide in you. Love one another. And even when you’re soul is cast down, hope thou in God, and praise Him, who is the health of your countenance. Amen!

in humbleness,

Stephanie