I was praying the other night and as I was laying out my heart to God, telling Him all about the struggles I have been facing and dealing with, Thanking Him for His Goodness and Praising His Name these three words came upon my heart. Eat, Pray, Love. Now I know that there is a book with this title and there was also a movie made based on this book, however, I have never read the book nor seen the movie, so I decided to look up a summary to see what it was about, or if it really had any relation to what God was stirring in my heart concerning those 3 words.
If you are like me and never saw or read the book, in short, it is about a woman who has come out of a bad marriage and a bad rebound who is struggling in her life. So she decides to leave her home in search of “finding herself” essentially and begins to travel too three different places, Italy, India and Indonesia. In Italy she Eats the food enjoying the Cuisine, then she travels to India and starts a “Spiritual Journey”. This consists of her entering into a Guru’s Ashram where she practices yoga and “finds God”. She then leaves and heads to Indonesia where eventually she finds true love.
I am sure there is more to it but that is what I read is the basic summary of the book, and I have been meditating and pondering what if anything this book has to do with what God laid on my heart concerning Eat, Pray, Love. Honestly after thinking about this and feeling after where God would have me to go in these thoughts I would have to say there isn't much in the details that have any relevance to what God has put on my heart. However there are some generalities that I can see parallels in, and just want to give you what God has given me about our need to Eat, Pray and Love.
So as I look at the life of this fictional character I can see something that speaks to each of us in our human experience, that speaks to me in my life and that is the endurance of trials and tribulations. In the midst of these trials and tribulations she decides that she wants to make changes and has a desire to find something she feels is missing or lost to her where she is at presently, she then takes a physical journey to look for these things.
I think if we are all honest with ourselves, we all are facing trials and tribulations in some form and fashion, I know that I personally am. I have recently lost my job in a way that is disheartening and has caused me to be filled with anger and regret. I have also been dealing with depression and anxiety because of the lost of my job and the way it is affecting me and my family. There are other aspects of my life that I feel I am in a trial with and am experiencing tribulation in, and it seems to be a regular occurrence in my life.
Yet I don't feel that I am alone in being the only one that is suffering in trials and tribulations, I believe that most everyone in life is constantly moving from one trial to another, one tribulation to another, I think that is the process of what we call life. So I can identify with her in that aspect and I can also identify with her in the aspect of desiring or wanting a change because of the trials or tribulations I have been in. Again I think that is just a facet of our human nature, to desire to see or find change in the midst of our adversities.
I can also identify with the desire to travel searching for these changes, but I think like most, I am not in a position where I can basically leave my current life and go travel the world in search of answers, so it is from this point forward that I diverge from this fictional character. And as I have thought about these things I see that God isn't calling me to physically travel anywhere, but He has shown me that there is a way we can escape these trials and tribulations and attain the things we are looking for, and it's not by a Physical or Literal journey, but a Spiritual one, one in which we look to Him to guide us out of the storm, to make sense of the trials and find the things we are searching for that we feel are missing in our lives.
There is a time in the Scriptures where Jesus faced His hardest trail apart from the Cross, where He was led out into the desert and was tempted by Satan, and there is something in this Scripture that I see that pertains to the title of the message. When Jesus was in the midst of the Trial He needed to eat, and what was it He said was His food?
Matt 4:3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
4 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.
Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live
Jesus reminded the Devil and reminds us that the Bread we need to feast upon when we are in the midst of our trials and tribulations isn't delicious sweets or wonderful food found in that book, no the Bread we need to eat is the Word of God, every Word that comes from the mouth of God.
It can be a hard thing to do at times in the middle of a trial, to actually turn to and look towards the Word of God, I know many times I struggle to stay consistent in my reading, especially once I face adversity. I find myself being angry and overwhelmed and start focusing on the trial itself, or look to worldly things to deal with my problems, Tv and Movies to distract me. Staring at my phone for hours mindless scrolling thru Facebook or Youtube. However none of that ever helps me deal with, get past or make sense of my trials or tribulations.
Yet when I turn to the Word of God, when I start to truly search the Scriptures looking for answers, looking for help, when I start to feast upon that Bread, then I can see changes in my life. I can see the clouds begin to break, I can see the light and the path out, I can come to understand the purpose and reason for why I am going thru what I am going thru.
I can tell you that when I find a purpose and a reason for what I am going thru it helps to ease the pain of the trial and tribulation. It gives me hope that I will make it out and that I will be better off once I reach the end of it. All of that is found when we begin to turn to and eat the Bread that comes from the mouth of God, His Word.
Not only should we be feasting on Gods Word, but Scripture tells us that the Word of God isn't just what is recorded in the Bible, the Word of God is more than just pages in a Book. What does Scripture tell us the Word is?
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
The Word who is God, became Flesh and dwelt among us in the person of Jesus Christ and Jesus also taught that He is that Bread of God, the True Manna:
John 6:30 They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?
31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.
40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
He then tells us in the middle of Passover dinner not long before He was Crucified:
Luke 22:19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
The Word of God isn't just the Bible, but it is Jesus Christ Himself. Jesus IS that Bread of Life in which we ought to eat from, and when we enter into these trials and tribulations we should not only be reading from the Word, eating of the Bread of God, but we need to also be sure to spend time with Jesus, fellowshiping with Him, talking to Him, looking for Him because He is the True Bread of Life.
In the Scriptures quoted above there was something that stood out to me as I was wondering what does it mean to eat from the Bread of God who is Jesus. How are we to eat of this Bread, what do I do in order to feast from this Bread of Life? It seems like something that is impossible, and even seem weird when you say it, how do you eat Jesus?
Clearly Christ isn't telling us to Physically eat His Flesh or anything to that effect, this is a Spiritual application, still how is it that we Spiritually eat the Bread of Life? Look back at Scriptures, there are 2 specific ways in which Jesus tells us how we eat of the Bread of Life.
The first is by believing, Jesus called out those who were with Him there across the sea from Capernaum, that they see Him but don't believe and He tells them it is Gods Will that they believe on Him. When we want to eat the Bread of Life we start by belief, belief in who Jesus is, and having Faith in His Promises for us.
During Passover when He broke the Bread what did He tell the Disciples why it is they should do it? It was in remembrance of Him. If we want to eat of this Bread of Life not only should we start by believing and having Faith in who Jesus is and what His Promises are for us, but we need to be in remembrance of what it is that He has already done for us.
Remember what He did on the Cross, taking our Sins upon Himself, paying the debt we never could, enduring the Wrath of God we deserve so that we can by believing in Him be given Forgiveness, Atonement and Eternal Life. Remembering what He did for us in the day of our Salvation. If you don't have a Born Again Experience, I am praying you come to have one because there is nothing in the World that inspire me more, that gives me hope that everything will be ok in the middle of my trials and tribulations than for me to go back to the day God brought me to Salvation. The day I realized truly that I was Lost and the day I called out to God to save me and He answered and proved He was real, and that He was going to be with me from then on no matter what.
Go back and remember all the times that Jesus has moved in your life, all the Testimonies He has given you, the blessings He has poured out, the other valleys He has led you thru, the Mountaintops He has helped you climb. If we want to truly eat of the Bread of Life that is Jesus then we must believe in who He is and His promises to us and remember what it is He has already done, that will stir up the Holy Spirit in us and produce the Faith we need to endure our current trials, and give us perspective that there is a reason and purpose for what we are experiencing.
That is the first step in getting past, thru and finding a reason and purpose for our trials, the next step is closely related to the first. It is one of the ways in which we do Eat of that Bread of Life, and that is to Pray. How often I neglect not only to read the Word of God, but to take the time to pray when I am in the middle of a trial. Many times I let the trial harden my heart, I react in my Flesh with Anger and personally I am the type that shuts down when I get hurt and angry. However that isn't what God wants from me or you when we find ourselves in trials and tribulations. What He really wants is for us to use that trial to look less and less to ourselves and more and more to Him, and the best way to do that is to spend time in Prayer.
Paul in his letter to the Roman Church when he is telling them how to go about using their Gifts in the Spirits tells them:
Rom 12:12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
In our tribulations we need to rejoice in hope, which we do when we Eat of that Bread of Life, believing on Christ and remembering what He has done for us, but we all need to continue to be instant in prayer. Instant in prayer means to be steadfast in our prayers, not letting the trials, the valleys stop us from our prayer life.
Paul tells the Church at Colossi:
Col 4:2 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;
They should continue in prayers and with thanksgiving. He tells the Church at Ephesus:
Eph 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints
They and thus we are to pray always in supplication in the Spirit. To the Phillpians he commanded:
Phil 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
To the Thessalonians he told them:
1 Thes 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
He says to Timothy:
1 Tim 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
James in his epistle tells us:
James 5:13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray.
Over and over in the Scriptures we are told to pray, we are told it changes situations, brings peace, increases joy, gives perspective, alleviates fear, on and on we can go concerning the benefits of Prayer in our lives. My mother made me a Prayer box when I was young, where we filled it with names and would pull them out to pray for them, I still have it 20 years later. On it she wrote something that has always stuck with me and that is, Prayer is the Key to Gods Heart.
If we want to know what Gods Heart is towards us, let us Pray. If we want to know Gods Heart in our trial, let us Pray. If we want to know Gods Heart in our purpose, let us Pray. In all things we need to be Praying, spending that time with Him getting to know Him more and more and letting Him mold us into the persons and purposes He wants for us to be.
The final thing God has laid upon my heart was Love, and it is the most important aspect of everything spoken of so far. Paul wrote to us and told us just how important Love is:
1 Corth 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
If we read the whole chapter we see that there is nothing greater than Love, or Charity which is Love in action. We can have tongues, we can understand all things with all wisdom and knowledge, we can have faith to move mountains, we can give all we own to the poor, even give our lives on a stake but if we don't have Love in action, if we don't have Charity then all of that is worthless.
Love is the beginning and Love is the end, all things will end, but Love that will last into Eternity. How do we come to know true Love? By eating the Bread of Life and by Praying, Scripture tells us this:
1 John 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Love isn't our Love, Love is knowing what Jesus did for us, that is the basis of our Love.
1 John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.
All the fruits of the Spirit stem from Love, Love is patient, Love is kind, it keeps us from pride and boasting, it doesn't rejoice in things that are wrong, but in the Truth. Love is everything and most of all God Himself is Love. It also the Commandment of Jesus Christ Himself, it is His only Commandment along with belief:
1 John 3:23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
If we want to get out of the valleys we are in, if we want to make sense of what it is we are going thru, if we want to see things change in our lives then we need to follow what God has given us today, we need to Eat Pray and Love.
Let us Eat the Bread of Life, reading and meditating on His Word, let us send time with Him in Prayer never ceasing and let us always look to Christ so that He can fill us with His Love and cause us to be the Love in action that He was in the Flesh when He gave His Life for us.
If you are Lost then you need come to Salvation today by having Faith in Christ, eating of the Word of God, the Bread of Life who is Jesus. Pray to Him asking forgiveness for your Sins and reach out from your Heart believing in Him for Atonement and Restoration with God. Accept that He Loved you first and has shown it by going to the Cross and you will be Born Again and filled with His Love which surpasses all understanding, that calms every fear and covers all Sins.
God is Good today and every day and I am thankful to know that no matter where I am in Life I have a Savior that loved me at my absolute worst, when I was Lost, and His Love was so great that He would and has done any and everything needed to rescue me. Having this knowledge and Faith, knowing Him and His Love, I am able to make it thru every Valley, Storm, Trial and Tribulation I will ever face. Thank you Jesus for enduring with me and never leaving, for your Promises to abide with me forever no matter what! What a Promise and what a Savior we Serve!!!
I love you all, have a great day and blessed day in the Lord! If you need prayer or anything else please feel free to reach out to me and I will help you the best I can and if I can't help I know one man that can, this man named Jesus! Disciples Are Continually Influencing Peoples Living Existence
1 John 3:24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us