Lessons From the Secret Place – Miniseries- Preparation for the Second Coming: Lesson 2, Part A- Watch Your Diet and Exercise

This lesson is not a lesson on traditional diet and exercise, but rather a lesson on spiritual diet and exercise.  Just as physical diet and exercise are important to the body, so spiritual diet and exercise are important to the soul.  

I want to begin this study with some statistics:

1. Approximately 32% of adults in the U.S. eat fast food on a daily basis, according to the CDC. 

2. In a 2016 survey by Lifeway showed that more than half of Americans had read little or none of the Bible. Most often, they said they didn’t place a priority on Bible reading or just didn’t feel they had the time for it.

3. Lifeway Research found better Bible reading habits in a 2019 survey of Protestant churchgoers: 32 percent read the Bible every day and 27 percent read it a few times a week.

4. The 2023-24 RLS (Religious Landscape Study) finds that 44% of U.S. adults say they pray at least once a day. 

Our spiritual diet must be maintained so we can walk in intimacy with the Lord. Our diet must consist of the following: feeding on the Word, savoring the Word, prayer, and spending time in God’s presence.  Today we will study feeding on and savoring the Word.

First, Feed on the Word

As we see above, less than 50% of Christians read their Bible every day.  In the survey those who do not read the Bible every day said they didn’t place a priority on reading, or they just don’t have time.  WOW!!! 

John 15:1-5, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (ESV)

How does a branch get the nourishment is needs? By abiding in the vine.  As I was praying about this lesson, God began to reveal a fresh revelation of this truth to my heart.  He reminded me that he is the vinedresser and Jesus is the vine.  The Father prunes and plucks off any twig or broken branch, any unfruitful part.  He pinches off the little pests that are trying to eat away at our lives so he can preserve our beautiful foliage (the image of Jesus in us and the fruit of the Holy Spirit). 

His Word is the fertilizer and pesticide that both nourishes and empowers us to resist the attacks of the enemy.  He reminded me that when we rush through our Bible reading It is like eating fast food for every meal.  It may “seem” filling at the moment, however, there is not much nutritional value to it.   

When my husband, Scott, wants his plants to grow, he doesn’t just sit the jar of fertilizer next to the plants and hope that does the trick. No, he mixes it with water and applies a generous amount to each plant.  Also, if there are harmful insects on our plants, He works to remove them all so they cannot destroy the plant. However, if the plants did not sit still and allow Scott to fertilize them and remove the bugs, they would fail to thrive and would become unproductive.

We are like Scott’s plants. The Word cannot fertilize our lives if it is not consistently being consumed.  God cannot remove the pests that are trying to destroy the image of Jesus in us if we are not spending time in the Word.  How will we identify the deceptions of the enemy if we are not familiar with the Truth of the Word?  

This morning the Father gave me this analogy of how we should desire the Word. He said that milk is for babies, meat if for warriors.  He has called us to be Warrior Brides. He said his people must dig into the meat of his Word and devour it just as a lion devours a gazelle. 

As the Father was speaking to me, he pointed out that we will be fed somewhere. If not by His word, then by the broken, lost, bound world.  The choice is ours; abiding or be “fair game” for the enemy.

Second, Savor the Word

Meditating on the Word is like savoring a special dessert by eating it slowly and enjoying the rich depth of flavors it contains.   

Isaiah 26:3, You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you,   because he trusts in you.

Joshua 1:8, This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Philippians 4:8, Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Psalm 1:1-2, Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

Psalm 19:14, Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

In his book, Heaven Taken by Storm, Thomas Watson, a seventeenth-century Puritan minister, defined meditating on God’s Word as “an holy exercise of the mind, whereby we bring the truths of God to remembrance, and do seriously ponder upon them, and apply them to our selves.”

According to Watson, meditation takes our active attention.  We must recall the Word and then think diligently about its application to our life.  Meditation takes time and cannot be rushed. It is important that we spend time meditating on the Word.  

Psalm 1:3 promises us that if we meditate on the Word, we will be like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

Joshua 1:8b promises that the one who meditates on the Word will make their way prosperous, and then they will have good success.

As we meditate, we are allowing Holy Spirit to illumine our minds to the truth of the Word.  As we do, we will find that our decision making, our choices, and every other aspect of our life will be more successful, and we will prosper in all we do.  

Monitoring our spiritual diet (reading the Word) and our spiritual exercise (meditating on the Word) is necessary for us to be spiritual healthy, successful, and prosperous.  

May we daily consume the pure meat of the Word and meditate on it to build our soul man into a mighty warrior for His Kingdom!!