Seven--the number of completion.
I have endured one whole week, praise the Lord! As silly as it sounds, when I first started last week, I thought to myself that if I would be able to endure the first seven days, then I would be able to get through this challenge, and here I am...
Today, a few key people have encouraged me to keep on going and to keep seeking the deeper purposes of God for me through this time. I have to admit that these past few days have been filled with internal grumbling and complaining as I have set my mind on foods that I could not eat, instead of using those pangs to remind myself of God. Reading His word today, He showed me Deut 8:3 through the accounts of Jesus' temptation in Matthew 4 and Luke 4.
"He humbled you and let you be hungry and fed you with manna which you did not know...that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but that man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of God."
I am learning this, be it ever so slowly and begrudgingly as my gluttonous self rears its ugly head quite often, but I am slowly discovering the joy of being sustained by God and not by man orby man's food. Hunger and thirst is absolutely mandatory in our walk with Him, for it is leading me deeper into the presence of God. As I type this, I'm realizing this powerful fact: I live by what proceeds from the mouth of God. Wow. Not food, not people's words, not my own dreams or my own plans, but I move and breathe and be out of that which proceeds out of the mouth of God. Let us not miss out on this spiritual component of living.
"Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?" Jesus asks in Matt. 6:25. Absolutely! That is why he continues that chapter to say, then "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness." He asks us, invites us, beckons to us urgently: "Come and seek Me! Seek Me and live! Come and take up your cross and follow me! Come and lose your life for My sake!"
These words have haunted me these past few days. I have been so challenged by them.
I have decided: I want the theme of my life to be in the losing of my life.
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This morning began with an early walk with my lovely roommate Emma. We went in search of wild edible things we could dig up to supplement my diet (I'm quite grateful for Dr. Noyes and her Botany class that showed me the marvels of creation!) and found some wild onions, carrots, and dandelions by the creek that we dug up with a spoon (haha) and put in brown paper bags. My breakfast consisted of two homemade oatmeal squares and Energen ($.29). Lunch was another cup of Energen ($.13), and dinner was spicy Ramen soup with some bits of cabbage, carrots, and egg ($.40). Dessert included a small piece of a graham cracker, several raisins, and one walnut ($.18). What a feast!
This day is winding down with homework and the news from a dear friend that she would like me to be one of her bridesmaids! (Emma and I just danced around my room, screaming "I'm going to be a bridesmaid, I'm gong to be a bridesmaid!" Hilarious.) My heart overflows with the fullness of this last semester of college. Thank You, Abba.
I have endured one whole week, praise the Lord! As silly as it sounds, when I first started last week, I thought to myself that if I would be able to endure the first seven days, then I would be able to get through this challenge, and here I am...
Today, a few key people have encouraged me to keep on going and to keep seeking the deeper purposes of God for me through this time. I have to admit that these past few days have been filled with internal grumbling and complaining as I have set my mind on foods that I could not eat, instead of using those pangs to remind myself of God. Reading His word today, He showed me Deut 8:3 through the accounts of Jesus' temptation in Matthew 4 and Luke 4.
"He humbled you and let you be hungry and fed you with manna which you did not know...that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but that man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of God."
I am learning this, be it ever so slowly and begrudgingly as my gluttonous self rears its ugly head quite often, but I am slowly discovering the joy of being sustained by God and not by man orby man's food. Hunger and thirst is absolutely mandatory in our walk with Him, for it is leading me deeper into the presence of God. As I type this, I'm realizing this powerful fact: I live by what proceeds from the mouth of God. Wow. Not food, not people's words, not my own dreams or my own plans, but I move and breathe and be out of that which proceeds out of the mouth of God. Let us not miss out on this spiritual component of living.
"Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?" Jesus asks in Matt. 6:25. Absolutely! That is why he continues that chapter to say, then "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness." He asks us, invites us, beckons to us urgently: "Come and seek Me! Seek Me and live! Come and take up your cross and follow me! Come and lose your life for My sake!"
These words have haunted me these past few days. I have been so challenged by them.
I have decided: I want the theme of my life to be in the losing of my life.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This morning began with an early walk with my lovely roommate Emma. We went in search of wild edible things we could dig up to supplement my diet (I'm quite grateful for Dr. Noyes and her Botany class that showed me the marvels of creation!) and found some wild onions, carrots, and dandelions by the creek that we dug up with a spoon (haha) and put in brown paper bags. My breakfast consisted of two homemade oatmeal squares and Energen ($.29). Lunch was another cup of Energen ($.13), and dinner was spicy Ramen soup with some bits of cabbage, carrots, and egg ($.40). Dessert included a small piece of a graham cracker, several raisins, and one walnut ($.18). What a feast!
This day is winding down with homework and the news from a dear friend that she would like me to be one of her bridesmaids! (Emma and I just danced around my room, screaming "I'm going to be a bridesmaid, I'm gong to be a bridesmaid!" Hilarious.) My heart overflows with the fullness of this last semester of college. Thank You, Abba.
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