Hey! If you don't know me, Im Isaiah. I am the worship pastor at ECC. I have 3 kids and an awesome wifey. They fill my heart with joy! Sometimes however if my kids don't eat they get grumpy. Hangry… Apparently they get that from me. My wife Aimee feeds me if i'm grumpy and it usually works, hahaa. Sad but true.

Am I the only one? Our bodies seem to need food right? Without fail we get hungry daily. What happens if we don't eat? God is likened to food in Psalm 34:8 “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!.” The point of this post is to show that our spirit gets hungry just like our bodies. What are the signs of our spirits being hungry and how can we feed them? Reading the bible daily keeps your spirit fed.

See, we live in this stuff called flesh, but if you are a follower of Christ we also have his Spirit within us. Our spirit can then commune with his Spirit. The bible tells us that our flesh and the Spirit are always at odds with each other. The point? What you feed will become stronger in you.

Galatians 5:16-17 "So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other…"

If you garden with tomatoes and grapes and you only water the tomatoes, what happens to the grapes? Say you have two pets, a fish and a dog and you only feed the dog, what happens to the fish? They become unhealthy and die. This is a similar picture found in Galatians 5. Are you spiritually malnourished?

How do you know if your spirit is hungry?

Galatians 5 sheds a little light on the difference between the flesh and the spirit.

Galatians 5:19-21 "Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these."

Think about that in your own life. There is negativity that bubbles up from a hungry soul. When you don't feel good enough, constantly trying to please others, depression, anxiety, a need to control situations or people.... These are evidence of a hungry spirit. It means your flesh it taking over where the Holy Spirit should be in charge. Your spirit is hungry. But remember: Reading the bible daily keeps your spirit fed

We can be freed from the bondage of our flesh and the negative effects of it as well. Here is what waits for us when the spirit is in charge and not our flesh. Continuing in Gal 5

 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

How do you feed yourself spiritually?

When you're in need for food, what do you do? You find it! In your kitchen, the store or restaurant or places like that. What about when your spirit is hungry? We have a 24 hour super center open to us and everything is free! Jesus is our source of sustenance. Jesus calls himself the bread of life.

John 6:35 "Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst."

He was talking about spiritual hunger! Jesus is calling himself our sustenance! What are you hungry for? Acceptance, safety, love, purpose? Go to Jesus!

John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

The bible points to a person. Jesus. He is the word of God, our daily bread.

What does this mean for you?

John 15:4-5 "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."

You want the fruit in Galations 5? Then you must abide in Jesus and his word.

John 8:31 “So Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,”

For application purposes a simple way to start is with a chapter of Psalms every day. Another way to start is reading the New Testament starting from Luke, read a chapter or two a day. Keep it simple! As a little help to you try “Picture, Ponder, Pray” After you read, Picture yourself in the story, where would you be? Ponder how this makes you feel and what the text is saying. Pray that God helps you grow through the text and helps you live it out. Another simple option is going to eccatx.com/bible everyday and reading the bible there, it will even read it to you!

Remember: Reading the bible daily keeps your spirit fed

Can you imagine how life would be if everyone felt close to Jesus all the time? Imagine the love and light that would pour over the Eastside as we stay connected to the vine, our source of life. Lets do this together.

Isaiah Cruz