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Transcript

Are You Starving Yourself?

Trying to Survive and Thrive by Eating Nothing?
6

But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you. You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

2 Tim.3:14-17 NLT

“I don’t really read the Bible much,” the young lady said softly to me. “I read a devotion once in a while; it has a verse I think,” said the tall man beside her.

Unfortunately, many Christians these days are not reading or applying the Bible. We are starving ourselves spiritually. We are without an anchor for our soul. We are wide open to the lies of the enemy. We won’t be able to counteract those lies with the truth unless we are using the word as a weapon. The Bible is the sword of the Spirit, which we are to wield against the enemy with the Spirit’s power (Ephesians 6:17b).

How can we grow stronger as a believer in Christ? Once we give our lives to Christ, we need to feed ourselves spiritually with God’s word, the Bible. A baby can’t grow properly if it only gets a little bit of milk once every few days. In the same way, we cannot grow stronger in God if we do not take in spiritual nourishment every day. Peter writes, “Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment.” (1 Peter 2:2 NLT) The Holy Spirit helps the Bible come alive to us. He will lead us into all truth, Jesus told us in John 16. “The word of God is living and powerful,” the author of Hebrews writes. It is very sharp and “exposes our innermost thoughts and desires” (Hebrews 4:12). We can’t hide anything from Jesus. He knows us inside and out, better than we know ourselves. Applying the Bible will help us cooperate with the Holy Spirit as he transforms us bit by bit into what Jesus looks like.

The word gives us wisdom, our passage for today states. God inspired the Bible, and it is useful to teach us the truth and to “make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us…and teaches us to do what is right.” (2 Timothy 3:16). God uses the Bible to prepare us to do his good works.

If the Bible is so wonderful and helpful, why do so many Christians leave it unread? Some say it is boring. Some say they have no time. There is an unseen spiritual battle. The enemy doesn’t want us to know the truth or be transformed. He lies to us about God, and ourselves. He doesn’t want us to be disciplined to read the word or pray because he knows how powerful those things are. The devil wants us destroyed. (John 10:10)

Fortunately, God is much more powerful than the enemy. Trust our heavenly father. Ask him for help to choose to spend time in his word each day. This daily habit will help you to know God better and trust him more.

Pray with me

Dear Lord God,

Thank you for your wonderful Word, which you have preserved for us throughout the centuries. Please forgive me for not taking in the daily spiritual food you have provided to help me grow strong in Jesus. Help me Holy Spirit, to fight the enemy with my weapon – the Bible.

Throughout this month: Take a chunk of 10-15 Bible verses per day. Read them slowly twice with a pen, marking things that strike you. Ask the Lord questions and listen for his answers. Write them down. Write out a key verse that you want to think about and put into practice. The book of Mark would be a good place to start.

That’s it for today. Thank you so much for joining me. Welcome to those of you who have subscribed recently. Please get in touch by sending me a direct message on Substack or emailing me at sheyvahrex@proton.me I’d love to chat and or pray about anything that concerns you. I also have a text and calling app to facilitate staying in touch. God bless you and remember that Jesus loves you so much that he died so you could have life abundantly with him forever.

Hello and welcome back to Perfect King’s Imperfect Princess, the podcast made from devotions by me, your host Sheyvah Rex. This is Episode 29 This devotion was originally published on the life.com on March 19, 2025. The title is:

Helper Standing By

Would you rather fall into sin or rest in his arms?

If you [really] love Me, you will keep and obey My commandments.16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive [and take to its heart] because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He (the Holy Spirit) remains with you continually and will be in you.18 “I will not leave you as orphans [comfortless, bereaved, and helpless]; I will come [back] to you. John 14:15-18 AMP

“Ahhh! Help me Jesus! Praise the Lord!” I yelled as loudly as I could. My boys knew that their mom was angry, but I desperately needed help from God to control my temper. I was falling back into this sin because I wasn’t resting on God’s power.

If we have given our lives to Christ, we always have the Holy Spirit, but he can be grieved by our sin. We can block the fellowship by allowing sin to separate us from him. We need to confess and agree with God that our sin is wrong. We should ask for forgiveness and turn away from the sin. Then he can fill us to overflowing and give us all we need. We need to lean on the Spirit to help us not to live in that sin any longer.

To grow spiritually we need the Holy Spirit. We need to obey what Jesus commands us to do, which is to love God and others. Yes, he went back to heaven, but he didn’t leave us alone. He is in us by his Spirit. We have his comfort, his help, his strength, his counsel, and his intercession. He is the Spirit of truth who will remind us of all that Jesus has taught and counteract the lies of the enemy. He promised to remain with us continually. We don’t just have a little bit of God’s power available to us. We have all the resources of the God of heaven’s armies on our side. We just need to believe it and lean on him.

Please pray with me

Dear Jesus,

Set me free from the stranglehold of sin and help me to live dependent on you instead. Thank you so much for not leaving us comfortless but giving us your loving powerful presence by your Holy Spirit.

Throughout this day: Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal sins of which you are not aware and confess them to him. Receive his forgiveness based on 1 John 1:9 and walk in his power.

That’s it for today. Thank you so much for joining me. Please get in touch by sending me a direct message on Substack or emailing me at sheyvahrex@proton.me I’d love to chat and or pray about anything that concerns you. God bless you and remember that Jesus loves you so much that He died so you could have life abundantly with him forever. May you be aware of His loving powerful presence.

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