OUR SPIRITUAL FOOD (BY ZACH BUNYE)

▪ “Hangry” – it’s irritable or angry because of hunger. In the same manner, this can also happen to our spirit when we are not feeding it spiritual food. ▪ A few symptoms of someone being spiritually hungry:

• 1. Holiness is never on your mind – Instead of walking in Christ or walking in the spirit, your focus is being of this world. You don’t set yourself apart for God. You are influenced by the world. • Colossians 3:1-3 – Set your mind on things above, not on the things that are on earth.
• 2. You prioritize worldly things over your relationship with God – Mas nauuna ang Netflix o kaya pag-scroll sa social media.
• 3. You start trusting in yourself more than you trust God – You start relying on your own ability. But do not forget who gave you your talents and abilities.
• 4. You are constantly anxious, restless, and worried about life. • You keep trying to carry these burdens in your life when Jesus has already carried these things at the cross. • The Bible tells us to cast our cares upon Him for he cares for us.

▪ So if you relate to one of these examples, you may be spiritually hungry and of course the solution to that is food! ▪ Food is essential to our life, it gives us strength and nourishment for us to grow. ▪ If we feed our bodies with good, healthy food, what are we feeding our spirit? ▪ Ex. Intermittent fasting – The more time we don’t feed our spirit, we are constantly fasting in the spirit. The sad part is most Christians just break their fast on Sundays. ▪ Like the body, the spirit needs constant nourishment to grow. 1 Peter 1:2 says that we should desire the word like a baby desires pure milk so that we may grow in our salvation. ▪ What should we do then? The answer is to feast on the Word of God. ▪ Matthew 4:3-4 – Jesus is telling us physical food is not enough para mabuhay tayo, we need spiritual food, the Word of God. ▪ Paano naging food or spiritual food ang Word of God?

• John 1:1 – Word in Greek is Logos who is Jesus. You can read this verse by replacing Word with Jesus.
• John 1:14 – the Word became flesh.
• John 6:31-35, 51 – Jesus is using the metaphor of eating and equating it to believing.
• Jesus is explaining to the Jews that eating His flesh and drinking His blood is equivalent to believing in Him and putting your trust in Him.
• Adam’s act of eating was a form of believing because they believed in the words of the serpent/devil. It was wrong believing.
• Jesus is asking the Jewish people to eat His flesh as a metaphor for right believing. He is asking them to believe in Him, the one God sent. ▪ We are to feast on the Word also known as Jesus Christ. ▪ That’s why communion is very important, it symbolizes that we continually believe in Jesus Christ and His finish work at the cross, and that we are continually eating the bread of life. ▪ So our spiritual food is the knowledge of Jesus Christ across the whole Bible and His finished work at the cross. How do we satisfy our spiritual hunger?
• 1. Feeding on the Word of God • Reading the Bible and feeding on the Bible are two different things. • Reading the Bible is not enough, we have to understand it and comprehend it. Understand the context of what God is trying to convey through the scriptures: What specific people is God talking to in this text? Is this text descriptive or prescriptive? Then we ask the Holy Spirit for help as we meditate on it. • Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal things to you for He is our Helper.
• 2. Talking about the Word of God with like-minded people • Having a faith group or someone na ka-close ninyo para pag-usapan ang mga natutunan natin sa church or nabasa natin sa Bible is a great way to satisfy spiritual hunger. • When we are talking about the Word in a group, there is an exchange of ideas at mas lumalawak ang pag-intindi natin sa Salita ng Diyos.
• 3. Attending Church • Hebrews 10:25 – not forsaking our own assembling together. • Attending church = being part of a community and a family. • The church is tailored to feed our spirit. • Especially when we are using our God-given talents to serve the children of God through ministry, that is spiritual food to us. • Be part of a ministry. • It is important to have a group to continue talking about the Word of God.
• 4. Hearing and hearing the Word of God. • Romans 10:17 – Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. • It’s not enough for us to hear the Word once. • God wants us to fully understand His Word. ▪ Being spiritually hungry is not a bad thing. (Matthew 5:6) It is us yearning for a connection with God. It is us recognizing we are missing something in our life. How do we handle it?
• Proverbs 27:7 – A person who is full refuses honey, but even bitter food tastes sweet to the hungry.
• Ex. Buffet – if you eat before going to a buffet, nabusog ka with something else. Sayang naman ang buffet.
• If we are handling our spiritual hunger by feeding it the world then it becomes bad.
• The less you read the Bible, the less you want to read the Bible.
• The Word of God is food to our spirit but the less we feed our spirit, the more quiet it becomes.
• We crave the food we feed on.
• We should have an acquired taste for the Word of God.
• It might be a challenge, lalo na pag di mo maintindihan ang Word. (Ex. Romans 7:15)
• But once you get past this part, once you develop a taste for the Word of God, your relationship with Jesus becomes so real that when you read the Bible and see what Jesus Christ has done for you at the cross, you will truly understand how much He loves you and wants to be with you in eternity.
  ▪ Our spiritual food is the Word of God. Our spiritual food is the Logos. Our spiritual food is Jesus Christ and His finished work at the cross.
  ▪ Jeremiah 15:16 – Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.
  ▪ You can find joy, happiness, love in the Word of God. If you feel you are not loved, read the Bible. If you are looking for happiness or you need peace, read the Bible.
  ▪ Feed on the Word. Feed on Jesus.
  ▪ The food that you take by the Word is enough for you, you will be full of revelation, and you overflow with it that it can flow to others.
  ▪ It is too good to keep it to yourself, that’s why you share it.
  ▪ Once you receive a revelation, you have to give it away.
  ▪ You have to share the Word because someone is hungry for it. We have to share this food.
  ▪ Mark 16:15 – Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
  ▪ There is only one Gospel, and that gospel is Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
  ▪ Before, we were just beggars looking for food. Now that we have food, people see us and are wondering saan natin ‘to nakuha? Point them to Jesus. He is the bread that gave us everlasting life.
  ▪ Kids nowadays are growing up not knowing Jesus.
  ▪ It is our turn to show other people where we got our food, the food that they need.
  ▪ This should be our attitude: Romans 1:16 – For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.