🕊️ PRAY HERE Devotion Spiritual Survival Requires Changing Your Diet 🕊️

Scripture: 1 Peter 2:1-2 KJV

“Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.”

Devotion:

In order to survive anything, you need a plan!

Think about it.

Schools have fire evacuation plans.

Businesses have emergency plans.

Hospitals have emergency procedures.

Even when you get on an airplane, they give you instructions about what to do in case of an emergency.

Why?

Because when something happens, you need to know what to do!

If you don’t follow the exit plan during an emergency, you can put yourself and others in danger.

And spiritually, we need a survival plan too.

Because we are living in a world that is constantly trying to feed our flesh while starving our spirit.

Whewww! 😮‍💨

And one of the first things we have to change if we want to survive spiritually is our diet.

Now you know I am going to teach this thing! 😂

Think about what happens when you decide you want to get healthier and lose some unwanted weight.

You can’t keep eating the same unhealthy foods and expect your body to change.

You have to change what you’re putting into it.

And let’s be honest…

Eating healthy isn’t always easy in the beginning!

Your body may still be craving the sugar, greasy foods, excessive carbs, and all the things you have been feeding it.

Your appetite has been trained.

Your body says, “Give me what I’m used to!”

But you have to say, “Nope! We’re doing something different now!” 😂

Whewww!

The same thing happens spiritually.

You cannot continue feeding your spirit gossip, anger, bitterness, jealousy, lust, pride, negativity, unforgiveness, worldly entertainment, and everything else that keeps your flesh satisfied…

and then wonder why you don’t have an appetite for the Word of God.

Your appetite has been trained.

My, my, my!

This is why Peter starts verse 1 by telling us what needs to go.

He says to lay aside:

malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and evil speaking.

In other words, get rid of the toxic stuff!

Don’t just ask God to make you stronger while continuing to feed yourself things that make you spiritually weak.

That’s like somebody saying they want to lose weight while eating cake every night and then wondering why the scale isn’t moving.

👀

You have to change the diet!

If you constantly listen to people talk negatively about everybody, eventually negativity will become normal to you.

If you constantly consume content that glorifies sexual immorality, violence, greed, vanity, and everything contrary to God’s Word, eventually your spirit can become desensitized to what God calls wrong.

If every conversation you have is complaining, gossiping, arguing, criticizing, or tearing somebody down, don’t be surprised when peace becomes difficult to find.

What you consume matters.

What you watch matters.

What you listen to matters.

Who you spend your time with matters.

What you repeatedly think about matters.

Because eventually, what you repeatedly consume starts affecting what you desire.

And this is where Peter gives us the answer.

Verse 2 says:

“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.”

Whewwww!

Peter is telling us to develop an appetite for God’s Word!

A newborn baby doesn’t have to be convinced that it needs milk.

It craves it.

It cries for it.

It needs it to survive and grow.

Peter says that’s how we should desire the Word of God.

I need this!

Not just on Sunday.

Not just when I’m in trouble.

Not just when somebody posts a good Scripture on Facebook.

Not just when I’m trying to encourage somebody else.

I need God’s Word for ME!

Because if you are going to survive the pressures of being saved in a world that constantly fights against your faith, you need spiritual nourishment.

There will be days when somebody makes you angry.

You need the Word.

There will be days when temptation is strong.

You need the Word.

There will be days when you’re disappointed and want to give up.

You need the Word.

There will be days when everybody around you is doing something wrong and making it look normal.

You need the Word!

There will be days when you are confused about what decision to make.

You need the Word.

There will be days when your flesh says, “Do what feels good.”

And your spirit needs to be strong enough to say,

“No. What does God’s Word say?”

That’s spiritual survival.

And here’s something else we need to understand:

You cannot develop an appetite for something you never consume.

If you rarely read the Bible, rarely pray, rarely spend time with God, and rarely expose yourself to spiritual things, you shouldn’t be surprised if spiritual things don’t excite you.

Your appetite has to be developed.

Start somewhere.

Read a chapter.

Read the daily PRAY HERE devotion.

Pray for five minutes.

Listen to the Word.

Study it.

Talk about what God is teaching you.

Ask questions.

Go back and read the Scripture again.

Let the Holy Spirit teach you.

And then keep doing it.

Because eventually something starts changing.

You start craving what used to feel difficult.

You start wanting to pray.

You start wanting to understand Scripture.

You start recognizing things that don’t belong in your life.

You start becoming uncomfortable with things you used to tolerate.

You start wanting peace more than drama.

You start wanting obedience more than approval.

You start wanting God’s presence more than the world’s attention.

Your appetite is changing!

Whewwwww! 🙌🏽

And when your appetite changes, your diet changes.

When your diet changes, your strength changes.

And when your strength changes, how you respond to life changes.

That’s growth!

Peter wasn’t just telling them to read Scripture because reading Scripture is a religious activity.

He told them to desire the Word “that ye may grow thereby.”

The goal is growth!

God wants you spiritually stronger than you were yesterday.

He wants you able to withstand pressure.

Able to recognize deception.

Able to resist temptation.

Able to forgive.

Able to love people who don’t love you.

Able to stand when everybody else is falling.

Able to keep your faith when circumstances don’t look good.

You need the right diet for that!

So today, check your spiritual refrigerator. 😂

What have you been feeding yourself?

What’s making your spirit stronger?

And what’s making your flesh stronger?

Because you cannot survive a spiritual battle on an unhealthy spiritual diet.

You have to lay aside the toxic things and develop a hunger for the things of God.

It may feel uncomfortable at first.

You may crave what you’ve been accustomed to.

But keep going.

Don’t go back just because your flesh is asking for its old diet.

Feed your spirit until your appetite changes.

Whewwww!

Your spiritual survival depends on it.

Reflect & Respond

What have you been feeding your spirit lately?

Are your daily habits making you stronger in God or weaker?

What is one thing you know you need to lay aside?

And what is one spiritual habit you can begin feeding yourself consistently?

Don’t just ask God to make you stronger.

Change what you’re feeding yourself.

Prayer:

Father, help me change my spiritual diet.

Give me discipline to stop feeding myself things that weaken my spirit. Help me lay aside malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, evil speaking, and every other appetite that is not pleasing to You.

Lord, create in me a hunger for Your Word.

Help me desire prayer.

Help me desire Your presence.

Help me desire holiness.

Help me desire truth.

Help me desire the things that will make me stronger in You.

When my flesh wants what it is used to, give me the strength to say no.

When I am tempted to go back to unhealthy habits, remind me of how much I need to grow.

Holy Spirit, help me recognize what is nourishing my spirit and what is poisoning it.

Teach me to be disciplined about what I watch, what I listen to, what I think about, who I allow to influence me, and what I allow to become normal in my life.

I don’t want to just look saved.

I want to be spiritually strong.

I want to grow.

I want to be prepared.

I want to survive the pressures of this world without losing my faith.

So Lord, help me develop an appetite for You and the things that come from You.

Feed my spirit until I no longer crave what is destroying me.

In Jesus’ name, Amen. 🙏🏽💙