Your Soul Needs Food Too!

In Matthew 4:1-11 we learn about a very intense encounter Jesus had with the devil.  After Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, He was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert where He fasted for forty days and nights and was tempted by the devil.  After such a long fast Jesus was hungry.  The devil tempted Him to use His power to make food, but Jesus did not listen to him.  Instead, Jesus rebuked him and the answer He gave the devil shows us just how important God’s Word is to our souls!

Let’s take a look at the beginning of that amazing battle in the desert beyond the Jordan:

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.  After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.  The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”

Matthew 4:1-4

When Jesus rebuked the evil one with God’s Word, He was quoting Deuteronomy regarding what the Israelites were taught through God’s discipline.

“Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.  He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

Deuteronomy 8:2-3

Think about how powerful that truth is!  If Jesus Himself quoted that truth when tempted and the Israelites were told that truth after 40 years of suffering, what do you think God is saying to us about how crucial His Word is in our lives?!  He is saying we can’t live without it!

God’s Word is food for our souls!  If you are not feeding your soul God’s Word every day, your soul will feel malnourished; just like your body would if you stopped eating.  God’s Word is a feast of spiritual nutrients for living a righteous and blessed life that pleases Him, so dig in!

Read the words of Jesus in the New Testament and let them wash over you!  Praise Him in the Psalms!  Gain wisdom in Proverbs!  Let God’s Word fill your soul every day and give you strength!  God’s Word is full of healing and blessing and it holds the only Truth that can save your soul!

“Your word is a lamp to my

feet

and a light for my path.”

Psalm 119:105

If your soul is feeling dry or worn down today, then open God’s Word and renew your strength!  Your soul is hungry and it can only be satisfied with the Truth of God’s Word!  We do not live on bread alone!

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”

Jesus speaking in John 5:24

That is incredible!  Just that one verse from Jesus is so powerful and refreshing that my soul is immediately encouraged and strengthened!  How about you?  That is some real good news folks!  We do not have to fear death when we believe in Jesus!  Sin and death have no hold on us because we have overcome the world through Him!  That is the truth all of our souls need to live on!  Jesus is the Word that became flesh and He is the bread of life!

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.”

John 1:1-2

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John 1:14

“Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life.  He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”

John 6:35

“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.  For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.  And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.  For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Jesus speaking in John 6:38-40

Come to Jesus and your soul will never hunger or thirst again!  Through faith in Jesus your soul will be saved and you will have eternal life!  That is the power of God’s Word and Jesus Christ is the living Word of God!  Every human soul on earth needs Jesus!  He alone is the manna for our souls!  Jesus is the bread of life from Heaven!

Come to Jesus today!  Your soul needs the Word that became flesh more than anything else in this whole world!  Jesus loves you and He is the fullness of the Word of God!  Nothing else in this world will ever fill the void in our hearts!  Jesus is the fullness of God’s grace and truth and only He can satisfy our souls!

Grace and peace to you all!

“Blessed are those who

hunger and thirst for

righteousness,

for they will be filled.”

Jesus speaking in Matthew 5:6