FamilyLife Today®

Speaker 1

We don't feast on the Bible to know the Bible. We feast on the Bible to know the God of the Bible. He wants relationship, friendship with us. This book is a love letter. It is an invitation into knowing him.

So we feast on his Word to know the one who is the Word. And we need to know more of God. And the Bible is how we get to know him.

Speaker 2

I'm excited today because we're going to talk about feasting. Who doesn't love a good feast?

Speaker 3

Well, it's not the kind of feast we're thinking of. It's even better. It's better. Wendy speak is back. It's been a while since you've been on family life today. How many years do you know?

Speaker 1

Oh, let's see. I don't know. Four.

Speaker 3

Little Rock.

Speaker 1

Yes. How long have you been here in Orlando, Jim?

Speaker 3

Jim Mitchell. How long we've been in Orlando, Bruce? So we're coming up on four years.

Speaker 1

Wow. Yeah. Because we were. Last time we were together, you guys were already in the process of. Most people were gone.

Speaker 2

Yes.

Speaker 1

And I had to come through a back door and things were draped over.

Speaker 2

And we were transitioning.

Speaker 3

Very impressive, wasn't it?

Speaker 1

Yeah.

Speaker 3

Is this a little more impressive?

Speaker 1

This is incredibly impressive. So if you're listening to, like, the podcast, hop over to YouTube and see it, because you got just a beautiful.

Speaker 3

Look at what Wendy just did. She sent our listeners to become viewers.

Speaker 1

And hit the subscribe button and follow along.

Speaker 3

There you go. And hit the like button and leave us a good review.

And by the way, I'll say this to our monthly partners, thank you. This, what you're looking at, you helped build because of your monthly giving. It really did.

I mean, I'm not kidding. It's really because of listener support who.

Speaker 1

Helped build, but who really built.

Speaker 3

Jim Mitchell built this table.

Speaker 1

Yeah. So I don't know how.

Speaker 3

I don't think we ever said that to our viewers. This table was built by our producer, Jim Mitchell.

Speaker 1

So anytime you want to do shout outs, do some marketing, you just bring me in. I'll point out all the things that you be doing. That's what we're going to be feasting on.

Speaker 3

Sugar fast.

Speaker 1

Yeah. The last conversation we had was on fasting from sugar. And you don't remember.

Speaker 3

What did I say?

Speaker 1

You said you were going to do the sugar fast.

Speaker 3

I did.

Speaker 2

I think I said I was. I'm like, dave, I can't do it without you. And you're like, okay. I mean, I'll do it.

Speaker 3

Did we do It.

Speaker 2

I did it for a while, but then my partner. I'm blaming it on you.

Speaker 1

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2

But I've done it before and it's kind of amazing. It is amazing of how transformative a.

Speaker 3

Lot of people around the country doing the sugar fast.

Speaker 1

Yeah. Yes.

Speaker 3

That book is sold a lot of books. And you can sell more. Go get it. In our show, notes familylifetoday.com we have sugar fast there.

Speaker 2

And what was your other one, which.

Speaker 1

Is so good too? The 40 day social media fast.

Speaker 3

Yes.

Speaker 1

Yes. And it really. And that's really where this conversation starts.

Because when we decided we an online community of women, I was leading, it was actually in the context my first time coming to family life was for the book "Triggers" for moms who were struggling with anger.

Speaker 3

You try it with Amberly.

Speaker 1

With Amberly.

And so it was in that context, that conversation where I said, hey, what would happen if we set down sugar for 40 days? Would we be calmer, kinder, more consistent, maybe even more Christlike just because of physiologically what's going on in our bodies?

We see what happens with our kids.

Speaker 2

Yes.

Speaker 1

Is it possible that we get them down for naps? We go to the pantry, we have a handful of chocolate chips and a sugared latte, and maybe they wake up and we can't handle those hours between nap time and dinner time.

It's not just them melting down, it's us.

Speaker 2

You're getting personal now, right?

Speaker 1

I know. I'm totally stepping on toes. So it started as a physiological fast, but it was like a week into the very first year, and this was about 2015, 2014, and we found out, oh, no, no, no, no, no. This is a spiritual fast.

What made it a spiritual fast is we realized we were running from sugar high to sugar high to get us through our days instead of turning to the most high. And so when we set down the thing we were turning to, it opened us up to turn to the Lord. So good.

And so I said, so what else is it? Because God never asked us for a sugar sacrifice. What else are we turning to? And that's why it became social media. And then we've had conversations about fasting from just so many things.

Speaker 3

I love how you went to a social media fast, but you asked your online community.

Speaker 1

I know, I know. But isn't that a testimony? That's where we finished.

Speaker 2

What were you going to say?

Speaker 1

But there are so many things that we're running to.

What we learned is when you set down what you're consuming as though that's what you need, it frees up your day, it frees up your eyes, it frees up your belly.

It frees up your hunger in your heart to turn to the only thing that can really satisfy you, fulfill you, transform you, and is what your life is.

Save you, sanctify you, encourage you, edify you long term.

Speaker 2

Yes. And do you guys feel like that's the enemy's strategy, to distract us?

Speaker 1

Absolutely.

Speaker 2

And he uses all of those things to distract us.

Speaker 1

There's so many great quotes. I think it's A.W. tozer who said, whatever keeps me from my Bible is my enemy, no matter how harmless it may appear to be.

Speaker 3

Wow.

Speaker 1

And I think it's in screwtape letters where C.S. lewis talks about this is the tactic. Let's just keep them distracted. And so we're talking about feasting today, but we're not talking about literal food. We're talking about feasting on God's word.

Speaker 2

I love.

Speaker 1

So that's how we got here is, I would say, in those fasting resources. So there's the 40 day sugar fast, the 40 day social media fast.

The purpose of fasting is always feasting. We're going to set down the things we're consuming that we can get hungry again for God's word, for his sweet presence, for his sustaining word.

And we're going to do it in community. But you can do it on your own, you can do it with a friend, you can do it with a spouse. Tell them not to drop the ball.

Speaker 2

And this is a devotional.

Speaker 1

It's a devotional. It really is a daily devotional, which I think a lot of people feel they can be successful at this. Because the 12-chapter books can be overwhelming; it's like, oh, I'm distracted by my kids needing me, or I need to leave for this, or I need to run to the grocery. I need to. And it's hard to read for 30 minutes.

But here, it's like the length of a blog post, you know? But it's deep, it's meaty, it's rooted in scripture, and it'll carry you through these 40 days. When I wrote this one, I was very, very cautious. I did not want to give them a book that was the answer. I wanted to point them and whet their appetite.

Speaker 2

I was gonna say it's an appetite.

Speaker 1

For the real feast. Yeah. Because my book isn't. Well, I hope it's a good book. It's not the good book. And that's what we wanna get hungry for.

Speaker 3

It's a good book and it's meaty. I thought when I picked it up it was gonna be little quotes, maybe half a paragraph. Pray this, which some devotionals are. They're great.

This is not a full-length chapter, but it's more than just one page. Each page takes you somewhere and then gives you time to say, okay. That led me to the Word of God. Now I want to sit with God.

Speaker 1

And so let's dive into these words first.

Speaker 3

Very good.

Speaker 2

I've been saying this all year and I've probably believed it my whole life, but because I'm on year 18 of going through the one year Bible.

Speaker 1

Yes.

Speaker 2

I think that has changed me more than anything. More than anything.

It really allows me to see who God is, but who he says I am in the scriptures.

And it's like after year 18, I read it this morning. Like, this is so good. And I've read it so many times.

Speaker 3

We'll be driving and she does that. This is so good. Let me read it out loud to you. I'm like, you're gonna read the Bible again? Out loud? It's awesome.

Speaker 1

You lucky Dawn.

Speaker 3

But she loves it. And like you said, it's a, it is a feast.

Speaker 1

Yes.

Speaker 2

There's always something new. There's a new flavor, there's a new. There's something that I've never noticed before.

How did I never notice that before? Because the Holy Spirit who lives in us when we're in Christ is always pointing out new things.

And it's what I need that day.

Speaker 1

Yeah. You know that the Bible was inspired by the Holy Spirit.

One of the things that I love so much is that I often hear from people, "I believe, but I don't read it." So, Bible believers aren't necessarily Bible readers.

There are only a few reasons really why this is the case. One, they're just so busy. They've fallen out of habit, maybe. But a lot of people have never gotten into the practice of being a Bible reader.

Speaker 2

Are they intimidated?

Speaker 1

Well, I think it's a. How am I going to understand it? I don't understand it.

So I love to point out, and because I've experienced it myself, the same Holy Spirit that inspired the writing of the Word is the Holy Spirit that inspires the reading of the Word. God is so kind to reveal to us what we can understand the first time through. Then He opens our eyes, opens our minds, and gives us the ability to perceive meaning that we didn't understand the first time through.

You're growing in your ability to understand it. The word is actually expanding as you expand in your knowledge and in your ability to comprehend. He says, "Oh, good, because I have more for you."

Sometimes it's not just a mental understanding. Sometimes it's a matter of my heart being inclined to you. I had to go through seeing that those other things didn't fulfill me. Oh, it's because look how long-suffering you are. Those things can't suffer long with me.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 1

And I mean, there's just so many reasons.

But another thing I love is he's a really clear communicator. Yes.

And we tell ourselves, the Bible's confusing. I don't know where to start. And so we never start.

And so we never find out how simple the message of the Bible is.

Speaker 2

Well, it's interesting. I can remember my family; we didn't go to church growing up, and I slept in a double bed with my sister, who's six years older. We got into this phase because my mom brought home a Bible. I don't even know where she got it, and it was a version that we could actually understand. It wasn't a King James.

So, we took the Bible, my sister and I, and we decided to start reading it. She said she heard somebody say we should start in the book of John. And so she starts reading it. We read it for probably five days in a row. I remember saying to her, and mind you, we've never heard the gospel. I know nothing. Zero. Neither of us do. I remember saying, "I don't get it. Like, how do we get to heaven? Are we supposed to be good enough or what is it? I don't get it."

She said, "Me neither." We put the Bible away and made a pact with one another: whoever discovers the truth needs to come back and tell the other one how we get into heaven. Years later, I was 10 at that time that we were reading.

Speaker 1

Okay, go on with the story.

Speaker 2

And so then when I was 16, she was married. She came back home and she said, "I found the answer, praise God."

My sister and I both went through sexual abuse. She was bulimic for so many years and anorexic. She wasn't looking good and was in a tough marriage.

But she came home this time and she looked amazing.

Speaker 1

Amazing.

Speaker 2

And I said, what happened? She goes, it's what I found the answer to. It's Jesus.

And I said, I'm not really into the Jesus thing anymore. I'm kind of into boys, you know? But she says, no, I'm going to tell you everything.

And she shared the gospel. We ended up running because I was in track. She ran with me for six miles, the whole gospel laid out.

I came home, got on my knees, gave my life, surrendered to Jesus.

Speaker 1

What a story.

Speaker 2

But then here's the amazing thing. Later, after she'd gone home, she said, you need to be in the Bible. The Word is going to grow you. You're going to be discipled through God's word. It will change you.

And I remember reading the same scriptures and now because I'm in Christ with the Holy Spirit, I. And I'm like, I get it, I get it. He has illuminated my mind.

Speaker 1

I feel led that if you are listening right now and you have tried before to understand it, maybe you were young in the faith, maybe you were not yet even saved and you've told yourself that you just don't have the ability to understand it. Only with the help of a Bible teacher or a pastor.

On Sundays, I just want to encourage you to try again. And it really doesn't take much trying. So there's got to be a different word. Do it again.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 1

Open yourself up again to the one who is the Word and then open up the Word and feast might sound a little bit intimidating. Have a nibble. Yes. Start in the book of Jabba. I love that. Absolutely.

But I do say in this one of the day's devotions, just because you should be able to read it for yourself doesn't mean you have to read it by yourself. It's okay to.

You're talking about reading the book every year. You know, like the Tara Lee Cobble, her Bible recap.

Speaker 2

Yes.

Speaker 1

She's got a podcast, she's got the book. Great resource, great resource.

There's so many people that do daily recaps on YouTube, so you don't have to do it and suck the marrow out of it by yourself.

Like there are. It's okay. Commentaries are okay. But start reading.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I love that.

Speaker 3

Now, what's your journey? When did you start?

Speaker 1

I've got a history with God, but I don't remember when I fell in love with God's Word because it was just a very natural progression. I had a Sunday school teacher at church; her name was Ruth Gosting. She seemed ancient when I was little, but you know, she was always old, right? She had this squeaky, high-pitched voice, and she would tell the Bible stories for the kids and put the felt Jesus up on the felt board.

She would tell us Bible stories and sing songs like "Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so." I believed that Jesus loved me because Ruth told me that the Bible told me so. Then my mom would sing the same song at night, telling me that the Bible tells me so. Why would I not love God's Word? I was being told by people who were actively and demonstratively showing me that I was loved.

So, I believed that the God of the Bible loved me before I could read the Bible for myself. My first Bible that I remember having was a Precious Moments Bible.

Speaker 2

And, you know, I'm sure that there.

Speaker 1

Are many women listening to this broadcast right now going, oh, you mean the white one? The white one with the gold edges. And then the pictures of the Precious Moment figurines.

Speaker 2

You don't know if that is Daisy.

Speaker 3

I do not know what you're talking about.

Speaker 1

But if I look through it, I see notes in the margin, I see dates. I see flyers from various church camps I went to. I've got a bookmark in there from Indian Village, and a bead at the bottom of it, like it is full of mementos, which tells me I've got history with God in his Word, which is just so cool.

But then I hit the age where I was going to college, and my dad said to me, you may not take your precious moments Bible to college.

Speaker 2

He was sparing you season, like, it's.

Speaker 1

Time to grow up a little bit.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 1

So he bought me a life application Bible. And that was my first time having a Bible with Commentary. Not only was it big, it was. And so I took it to college. The way I describe that Bible is thud. You know, you'd put it on the bedside table and thud.

My roommate, my freshman year of college, was Muslim from the Middle East. She would watch me read my Bible and said, "I have never seen someone read the Quran the way you read your Bible." I replied to her, "You should. You should. Absolutely. Then you can tell me what you believe, and I can tell you what I believe."

I was growing, not only to know it, but I was getting so full of the Word that it was spilling over. I wanted to share it. I started going to Campus Crusade for Christ, now known as Crew. I remember this was freshman year of college.

Speaker 3

Where were you?

Speaker 1

You asked me, like, when did I fall in love with God's word? And I'm telling you about all my Bibles, because I've got stories with Bibles.

And so I was in Boston, so it was at Harvard because my school didn't have crusade. And there was a teacher there, and he's doing the Friday night message for multi campuses. He was talking about prayer, and when you are praying, so obviously in line with God's will, there's an eager expectation to see him answer.

At the end of the message, he encouraged us to pray for something. He said to ask God for something that you imagine would be right in line with his will. So I said, "God, I just got a new Bible, and I've got a college student's budget. Could you just send me one?" Because I want a smaller Bible so I can keep it on me and share my faith. That thud, you know, big honking Bible—I can't carry that around the city.

Speaker 2

It feels intimidating to a person.

Speaker 1

Not only that, but it's too heavy. Yeah, it's going to break my back.

And so the next school day that I went to the post office there on campus, there was an unmarked paper package in my little post box and it was a small Bible with no return address.

Speaker 2

Come on.

Speaker 1

Totally telling the truth now.

Speaker 3

You found out who it came from?

Speaker 1

I did. Years later. It was from my Uncle Bob. And I only know this, he never told me because I saw my mom had the same one. I was like, I got that Bible. And she said, yeah, Uncle Bob sent it to us.

Speaker 2

But even the timing of it, you had just prayed.

Speaker 1

No, it was so the Lord. Anyway, I've got history with that Bible until that Bible fell apart, like, just fell apart.

But I really believe that a Bible that's fallen apart represents a life that's been put back together. And that Bible walked me through seasons when I had fallen apart and it bound me up again. I mean, it just really did a number on me.

And that's what God promises. And so, I mean, I just, I've got history with a Bible.

Speaker 2

I mean, I'm looking at the verse you have, Jeremiah 15:16 that says, "Your words were found and I ate them. And your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart. For I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts."

I mean, that's where you get the feast. Yeah, I ate them.

Speaker 1

Yeah, and if you don't have. I mean, there are two things. One, I'm not feasting because I don't know how. Two, I've never acquired a taste for it. I Don't get what you mean.

Speaker 2

Good point.

Speaker 1

Like, sweet.

Speaker 2

This sounds so foreign, like a new language.

Speaker 1

And I think that there are some prayers that we could pray. And I'm very cautious. I don't want anyone to think that praying is an abracadabra magic trick. We're not the puppeteer, and God is not our puppet.

But I had a pastor in Escondido, California, Pastor Dennis Keating. He would say each Sunday, he would get up at the podium, put his hands on it, look out at the congregation, and say, "Did you come to hear from the Lord this morning?" And then he would pause, which would require us to answer the question. Oh, that's right. That's what I came to church for, is to hear from the Lord.

I found myself asking the question in my own quiet time with the Lord as I would open my Bible and start to read. Wait, wait, wait. Did I come to hear from the Lord? And so if you haven't yet experienced the sweetness of God's word, ask him for it.

"Your words were found, and I ate them. And they became to me a joy, sweetness, my delight." God, I found your words. Here they are. I've not experienced that. Would you help me to experience how sweet you are, how clear a communicator you are, and that you love me and you have life abundant for me?

And the secret is found here. As I get to know who you are, I'm gonna grow in your grace. I'm gonna grow in the knowledge of you. I'm gonna get more excited about it. Cause to be honest, God, I'm not always excited to open your word. Would you help me get excited, develop a hunger, a taste, a sweet tooth?

Speaker 2

And I have found. And maybe you guys have, too. But the longer I'm out of the word, I lose my taste for it.

Speaker 1

You do.

Speaker 2

You're out of the habit, and then you forget the habit, and then you're not longing for it.

Speaker 1

Absolutely.

Speaker 2

And so to be patient with yourself, like, the first day, you're like, okay, I read it. And maybe you didn't think, oh, this was amazing. But maybe you thought, okay, I was obedient. And this was, I did it.

The next day, you might have a little more of a taste for it, but I'm telling you, the more you're in it, the longer you're in it. You acquire that taste to the point where you're longing for it each day. Like, I can't wait to see what I'm gonna read today.

Speaker 1

Oh, I love your heart.

Speaker 3

Yeah. My, you know, my journey was so different than both of you.

Speaker 1

Yeah.

Speaker 3

Grew up in a, you know, divorced family. When I was seven, my dad left, my little brother dies, he's five, I'm seven. So all in like two or three months time. Moved from one state to another where my mom's parents were. Anyway, she was a, you know, Bible believing woman. Mom. So she took me to church. Honestly, I sat there and listened to these sermons. Two things I thought, I'll never become one of those. There's no way. These guys are boring. And I felt scared by the Bible because I didn't understand it. And again, some of it was the preaching didn't make it clear. So I felt confused. And anyway, I get older and older. I get into high school and then I'm like, I really don't understand it. And I've got intimidated by it, by it because I'm like, there's not even one book. There's like a whole bunch of books, you know, so I'm very biblically illiterate and I get to college and so long story, but I come to Christ my junior year and a guy says, we have a Bible study on Friday nights, you gotta come. And I remember thinking Friday night when.

Speaker 1

We were supposed to go partying on Friday nights.

Speaker 3

And my first ever Bible study. I don't even remember the Bible I had. I think my mom gave it to me. I think it was the, the book. The living. Remember the.

Speaker 1

Yeah, the living back in the 70s. Yes.

Speaker 3

It was a big campaign green one with the gold letters.

Speaker 2

That's when my mom brought home.

Speaker 1

Yeah, well, I wonder who was giving those out.

Speaker 2

I don't know.

Speaker 3

It was a big deal. I got one. I'll never forget. I walked across campus with my ball state football letter jacket on, Bible underneath because I was ashamed.

Speaker 1

Wow.

Speaker 3

I'm not even a Christian.

Speaker 1

Look at you now.

Speaker 3

Well, I mean, I'm just thinking, yeah, I'm a. I don't want anybody to know I'm going to a Bible study. This is like, what are you doing with your life? And here's what happened. I go to this Bible study. It's in another student's room, dorm room, and he teaches John 3. Nicodemus. I remember it like yesterday. It's the first time in my life the Bible was clear. It was practical, it was alive. I remember when he said, let's turn to John 3. I literally looked around the room like, how do these guys know where that is? I didn't. I'm looking at table content, you know, I'm all embarrassed. I don't want anybody to see that. I don't know what John is. Yeah, that's where I was and here I am. But I mean, it's like I remember walking back to my dorm room like this. Like, this book is amazing. It was my first taste.

Speaker 1

I think it's really important for those who are tuning in to just hear that you were raised in church and there's various degrees of what you do with that.

Speaker 3

Right, right.

Speaker 1

I mean, you could be a. Hey, I never really understood it.

Speaker 3

Right. And walked away.

Speaker 1

The Bible or just the simplicity of the gospel message.

Speaker 2

Yes, right.

Speaker 1

And some people believe it to whatever degree they're able to without ever really getting into it and letting it shape their thinking and their life. And wherever you are in your journey, like right now is a time you obviously tuned in for this episode. But if now's the time where you're gonna tune into the Word and dive into the Word and say, okay, I'm ready to understand it. Like, I wanna know where the Book of John is. I wanna open it to chapter three. I want to read for myself what was so transformational in Dave's life. God. What you did in him, what you revealed to him. Would you reveal it to me?

Speaker 2

Yeah, he will.

Speaker 1

Yeah, he will. He does that.

Speaker 2

The honest prayers that you're offering our listeners, like, just tell God, like, lord, I've struggled with this book. I don't get it. And I don't know, when people say, this is so cool, it doesn't seem so cool to me. Be honest and ask him to reveal himself.

Speaker 3

And what I love about your book, it's a 40 day feast. It's a start.

Speaker 1

And it's a slow start too. And one of the things that's my favorite is I have women reach out to me who are like, I'm talking about the veterans in your church. Okay. These are deeply Bible believing women who love the book. There are women who used to be like on fire, as we used to say. Right. For the word. Like, oh, I was insatiable. Right. You remember that term. And then there are women that say, I have no idea what you're talking about, but I'm willing to give it a shot. And I've heard back from women in all these different stages and women sitting down and doing this with their husbands or their sons as well. And it's hitting.

Speaker 2

It is hitting.

Speaker 1

Of course it would hit because we're just talking about, one, what is God's word? Two, why should we read it? Three, how do we read it? And four, how do we live in response? Because we're told in the book of James, we don't wanna just be readers of the wor or hearers of the Word. We want to grow to do what it says.

Speaker 2

I like how you've divided that up too in your devotional. But before we get on to that.

Speaker 3

Hey, let me just remind people right now, I'm going to look at the camera and say, you can get this book familylife today.com show notes. Get it. Let's commit for 40 days.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 3

And see where it goes. Because I know it's going to keep going, but start small.

Speaker 1

Yeah.

Speaker 3

It's not the rest of your life. Forty days. FamilyLife.com show notes. Get the book.

Speaker 1

Yeah.

Speaker 2

How about this one, Wendy? This is day eight. Bible wounds.

Speaker 1

Yeah.

Speaker 2

Because Psalm 107 says he sent out his word and healed them. But some of us. What do you mean by Bible wounds?

Speaker 1

I mean some. I think the popular term today is church hurt, where either the scripture was weaponized and you always left feeling bad about yourself.

Speaker 2

Shame.

Speaker 1

Or you weren't. Oh, this is a big one. Maybe. Maybe as an adult, maybe as a child you went and you just never quite felt like you were in the. In group. You go to church in this current season and there's nobody outside the person holding the door that really greets you or wants to know you. Women's events go on, men's events go on. But nobody like puts their hands on your shoulder and says, come with me. Hey, let's meet up for coffee first. And you just kind of feel on the outside. I think I tell in that chapter the story of Ruth Gosling. And as a child I loved going to church because I was loved by someone at church. I believe and believed that the God of the Bible loved me because I was told by people who loved me well. And if you have not been loved, well, maybe you've experienced the opposite. Maybe you've been hurt by a very religious mother, father, church leader, grandfather. And maybe you want to trust that God is good. But your experience is that the people that love God or believe God didn't love you. Well, then I just want to encourage you to. I mean, even now, just slow down, take a couple deep cleansing breaths and separate the love of God from the. From the attempts of people in this world to represent him. You know, Jesus came for us because we fail so terribly as humans. All have sinned and fallen short. And some people have sinned by hurting others, by hurting children, by Hurting women. And if you have been hurt, there is healing for you. But they do not reflect or represent the tenderness, the kindness of the God of the Bible. And so if you have been hurt and most of us have.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 1

Invite the Lord to do what he says he does, which is bring healing. I have come that they might experience healing, that they might experience relief, that they might experience release from prison, from bondage, from brokenness. We're told that God loves the brokenhearted. We see throughout the scriptures that he loves the broken bodied. We see throughout the scriptures that he, he restores people to wholeness, restores families, restores people to God. And so often even in the Bible that others do wrong to people. And those people are the ones that Jesus came to and lifted up out of positions of brokenness and brought healing to their lives and he can do it for you.

Speaker 3

I mean, what you just said is so helpful and healing. How have you been able to. Because we all have to deal with this, separate the love of God from the people of God. When the people of God don't live up to the word of God that they even quote and they hurt you. And again, you've said a lot there because there's sin, there's brokenness.

Speaker 2

And those people could be in our.

Speaker 3

Homes, even in your home, in your church. We've gone through church hurt. In some ways you're shocked. We shouldn't be because we're all sinners, but we're shocked. Like we expect people don't adhere to the word of God and know the word of God or preach the word of God.

Speaker 1

Yeah. I think we don't even know we're weaponizing it. I mean even, even well intentioned moms and dads, you know, as we're doing Bible studies, I, and I think that this is true. So I'm going to tell you something that I would say, say to my kids. But if I harp on it, it actually becomes destructive.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 1

So I would say, sons, if you obey me, it goes well for you. It's just like what God says, children, obey your parents in the Lord and it will go well for you. Like that is biblical truth. But it's a very thin line when all of a sudden you're shaming and becoming authoritarian and demanding respect. So the, the most well intentioned loving parent can also hurt their kiddos if they're not careful. So God teach us. I think we will lead us. We're going to, right? Yes. But there are some who very much are. I, I think in positions of power usually Yep. And whether that's a parent or a husband in the home using the scriptures, using his position of power and. And hurting people. It can happen in churches where you, you know, I'm gonna, whether intentionally or not, unintentionally be sending a message of shame rather than an invitation for healing. Right. And then there are churches where it feels like if you're not in the in group, you're in the out group. And that does not represent the love of God. So it can be the word, it can be a lack of loving. Welcome. Right?

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 1

So there are lots of ways.

Speaker 3

I mean, did you have a. And do you have a practice of Bible study that helps you understand? Because one of the things, you know my story is I didn't understand it, you know, and back then there were no online commentaries, you know, where I could tap into scholars who have studied these over generations now.

Speaker 1

Yes. There's so much more literally at our fingertips. Incredible.

Speaker 3

Yeah.

Speaker 1

I. I would encourage people one to open it up.

Speaker 3

Yep. Start there.

Speaker 1

To start there. I have an acronym for feast.

Speaker 3

You have like three acronyms. I love.

Speaker 1

I know.

Speaker 3

Well, I'm an acronym guy.

Speaker 1

Not only do I, but I say, okay, now you come up with an acronym. It's so good to get creative on how you're going to feast.

Speaker 2

Well, this is your middle section is really your devotionals are how to study God's word for yourself. And I love the practicality of that.

Speaker 1

Yeah. So, I mean, I pivoted from your question here because yes, there are ways to get into community. And I think that understanding it is done well in community. But so much of this is getting into a rhythm of opening the word. So when someone weaponizes the word of God, God against you. Yes. You actually have a discerning mind.

Speaker 3

Yeah.

Speaker 1

You know, we're told to test the spirits. We're told to. To handle the word well. And so we can't do that if we're not even opening the Word and reading it for ourselves. So I'd love to just talk about how do we do. What are a couple of things we can do if we're just saying, okay, Wendy, I believe you. So what does it look like to open the Word? And so I have a pre reading plan and that's to pray. If you pray before you eat a meal, God bless this food. Thank you for the people around this table. Would you nourish us our bodies so that we can go out and be your people? Whatever your go to prayer is, you likely have one.

Speaker 2

Let me just say we say These prayers, people. God is listening.

Speaker 1

Yeah, he is. Even your most rote prayers. Right? Repeated prayers. So let's have one for when we. Oh, like it could be Pastor Keating's. Did you come to hear from the Lord this morning? Hey, God, I just want you to know I'm here to hear from you. Give me the ears to hear you. Give me the eyes to see you. Give me the mind to perceive you. Give me the heart to experience your love as I read. Give me the spiritual taste buds to experience the sweetness of your word. And then give me the will to surrender and love you back. Here I am. Show off. I'm yours. Amen. That's good. You know, whatever it is, like, not every. Some people are gonna be like, I don't pray like that. Okay, God, reveal yourself to me. Amen. Here we go.

Speaker 2

Oh, God, I don't get this. Help me to get it.

Speaker 1

Yeah, just. Just give me a nugget, Lord.

Speaker 2

Something like, give me a breadcrumb. Yeah.

Speaker 1

And I'll look for the next breadcrumb. And before I know it, I'm gonna be down the path in relationship with you. But. And that is. So that's my F for my acronym for feast. It starts with friendship with God. He wants relationship, fellowship, friendship with us. This book is a love letter. It is an invitation into knowing him, abiding with him, abiding in him, abiding in his Word. He abides in us. This is a knowing invitation. So we feast on his word to know the one who is the word. We don't feast on the Bible to know the Bible. We feast on the Bible to know the God of the Bible. We don't need to know more of the Bible. We need to know more of God. And the Bible is how we get to know him. Right? So it starts with friendship. E is eat. So whether you're doing the verse of the day on your Bible app, you're just reading through a passage over and over every day this week because a friend of yours said, hey, I'm going to read through this section of Ephesians 6. I've never really understood the armor. Okay? I. I don't even know what you're talking about, but I'll do that every day this week. And then we'll get together on Sunday before church or after church, and we'll grab brunch and we'll talk about what we learned. Okay. Or you're reading a chapter a day. Or you're reading through the Bible. Right? Whatever it is, the next portion is to eat. Right, so we start with friendship. Now we're going to open it up, we're going to eat a is for apply it. Now, there are in depth Bible studies, right? You're really diving deep. You're answering a bazillion questions. I think there's a time for that. I think it's wonderful. But it can be as simple as these three simple questions. What. What did I learn about God just now? Okay, what. What do I realize about myself in light of this? And three, what should I do? Yeah, how do I live differently? Is there something I should stop doing because I'm feeling convicted of sin? Is there something I should start doing because I'm convicted of righteousness? Is there something. I don't even know what it means. And I just need to lean in more about how I should be living. This is part of the sanctification process.

Speaker 2

And Wendy, I don't think we always stop to ask that question.

Speaker 1

No, no, because when you ingest but don't digest, it leads to oftentimes spiritual indigestion or malnourishment. Right? Because we're not. We're not getting the nutrients out of what we just ate. We're like gobbling it up, checking the box and moving on. So you ingest the word, but applying it helps us to digest it. And then. So we got friendship, we've got eating it up, we got applying it. S is for savoring it. Even after you've done the application. Now you gotta take what you learned with you. Like, if all you do is close your Bible and move on, how do you savor it?

Speaker 2

What's that look like?

Speaker 1

Well, sometimes it'll be like, I love keeping little note cards on my. On my desk or wherever I study the Bible. Sometimes they're tucked into the pages and I'm like, oh, I want to write that verse down and I'll tuck it into my Bible. I mean, my pocket or back into my Bible, but usually in my pocket or in my purse or I assume, you know, put it on by my sink or on the mirror or in my car. And I'm like, oh, that's right. God did not give me a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind in Christ. That's the verse I need to savor. Then the verse I need to meditate on. I need to not only read it, I need to believe it. I need to let that verse seep into me and believe because I'm struggling with anxiety and my mind feels just fractured and bouncing. But I read In God's word, that I have a sound mind. That's part of my inheritance. What does that mean? I want to suck on the. I want to chew the. The cut the cow. I'll take it with me. But if I left my snack, if I left my meal, if I left my feast in my Bible, and I was only there for, let's say, let's say I had a meaty time with the Lord. I was in the Bible for 25 minutes. Or you were in the Bible for three minutes. And how many minutes are you not in the Bible? So take it with you so that you might savor the sweetness of that which was so good.

Speaker 2

I know that when our kids were little, it's just like you have kids on you.

Speaker 3

You'll get to the T. Oh, I will.

Speaker 2

I'm gonna get the tea. But they're on you all the time. So I'm like, I don't even know how I read my Bible anymore. And so I would. You probably did this too. I had my Bible everywhere. Oh, yeah.

Speaker 1

That's why I needed the little Bible that I prayed for.

Speaker 2

Yes. I had one in the kitchen. I had one in the bathroom. I had one in the car. As I'm waiting for kids in a school in the school line. And there's such a temptation because now we all have our phones, which has the Bible on them too, which is good. But man, as soon as I pick up my phone, you're just captured by whatever post was on there. And so even to discipline our minds, because how will your life look different if you're in the word, digesting and eating of the word versus social media. Our lives will look so different and our hearts will be so fulfilled as we get in God's word. And maybe we discipline ourselves to think, I'm not gonna go onto social media until I have feasted on God's word.

Speaker 1

The word before the world.

Speaker 2

Yeah, that's really good. All right, now the tea.

Speaker 1

Well, absolutely. And I mean, I think that what you're saying leads to the T, which is we ultimately we want to be transformed.

Speaker 2

Yes.

Speaker 1

You are what you eat. So, I mean, I've got. I joke. God will never call me to a 40 day cheese fast. I love cheese. Who doesn't love a good charcuterie board, right? Yes. But if all I ate was cheese, I. I'd be physically bigger. I would look different. And if all I do is consume reels. If you're listening, I've got my thumb going. I'm like, we're all Convicted with you, by the way. All I do is consume social media. Then I will start looking by that which comes across my feed. But if I start feeding on God's word, then I'm going to start being transformed and looking more like that. I had a friend when my kids were young, Ms. Angie. And she had a sing song voice and she was so patient with the kids and she was always having creative party ideas. And I loved to be with Ms. Angie, my peer. But I would even say to the kids, who's the best mom in the world? And we would all cheer, Ms. Angie, what's the happiest place in the world? And we lived close to Disneyland and we would still say Ms. Angie's house. And when I would spend time with Ms. Angie, I, my voice pattern even sounded more like her. My joy was more like her joy. It was contagious. It was like I was rubbing up against her and I was taking on her character. And that is true when we spend time in God's word. You are what you eat, you are whom you spend time with. You become more like their character. And so we want to consume more of him.

Speaker 2

This is time for you to share the dog fighting story.

Speaker 3

The dog fighting story?

Speaker 2

Yeah, it's the.

Speaker 3

About who wins the dog fight. Yes, you've heard that one that's around for you.

Speaker 1

But it goes with this for generations.

Speaker 3

It's told like it's a true story. Who knows? But it was like this guy, you know, takes dogs down again. This is horrible. Dog fights are terrible. Don't bet money on dogs.

Speaker 1

Don't Google dog fight.

Speaker 3

Yeah, but he would always bring his dogs and he had certain, certain kennel of dogs and his dogs, he always bet on the right dogs. And somebody came to him one day and said, I'll never bet again, but can you tell me, do you know who's going to win the fight? And he goes, yeah. And he goes, how do you know? He goes, I can't tell you. He goes, no, I'm never going to bet again. I'm not going to use this. But you must have a secret. He goes, well, it's not a secret. Whatever dog you feed the most wins. And it's the spirit and flesh, you know, it's how it's used is what are you feeding on? What are you doing? Eating. And we eat the world. We, we feast on the, the world's mindset.

Speaker 1

Okay, can we just a moment ask the Lord, what are we feeding?

Speaker 3

Yeah.

Speaker 1

And it could even be for some of you listening, whatever it is right now that you're binge watching. You know, if I'm not calling out sin, I'm just saying if what you're watching right now is Game of Thrones and Yellow Stone or American Idol or.

Speaker 3

That was me.

Speaker 1

Well, I'm specifically sharing ones that, you know, I'm okay listening to a whole lot of cussing with a whole lot of sex in it. I'm not saying me. I'm saying if that's what you're saying, that that's okay. Actually, I prefer it.

Speaker 2

But no, we at family life don't agree with that.

Speaker 1

No, but if, if you're consuming, let's say three hours with three episodes at night.

Speaker 3

Right.

Speaker 1

You and your husband.

Speaker 3

Oh, it's not influencing me at all. Oh, yes, it is, it is.

Speaker 1

You're feeding that. But you're at church for a, you know, a 37 minute message once a week.

Speaker 3

Right.

Speaker 2

Which one's going to win?

Speaker 1

Which, which one? Which dog's going to win? Yeah, yeah. Do we need to. Do we need to restate what I was trying to say in that one?

Speaker 3

We got it.

Speaker 1

Do you know, like I'm, I'm saying, what am I feeding? Yeah, what am I watching?

Speaker 3

But as a pastor for 40 years almost now, I sense, and there's surveys that back this up when I even say, hey, let's turn to, you know, let's turn to Malachi. We're gonna.

Speaker 1

Malachi is what?

Speaker 3

Yeah, Malachi, the Italian prophet.

Speaker 1

Yeah.

Speaker 3

I mean, honestly, you look out there and today again, everybody's got a device. But back in the day when people would open their Bibles, most of the room can't find that book. They're just not familiar with the book. The only time they open it is right now, this 30 minutes once a week. And if you are a golfer or anything else and you're like, I'm going to become a great golfer, I'm going to play 30 minutes once a week. You'll never shoot par. It's like we don't apply that concept to anything else that we really want to be good at. But the word of God is just like, oh, it's not that important. It's the most important thing you can do.

Speaker 1

I would recommend something if you have a church that has a grounded, theologically grounded and intentional children's ministry. As long as you are a Bible believing Christian, whether this is in your comfort zone and your gifting or not, see if you can serve in children's ministry. If you do not know the word yet, you don't understand the, the, the message, the arc of scripture. You don't know where Malachi is. Start serving in your children's ministry. They won't ask you to teach beyond your knowledge, but you might start learning or get for your children or your grandchildren the Jesus storybook Bible or the Jesus Bible. There are a couple children's Bibles. And I tell you as a. As a woman who to some degree does know the word it is, it is oftentimes in the context of teaching children that I'm most moved by the simplicity of the gospel. And also they're oftentimes learning the fruit of the spirit. They're learning to feed the spirit, not the flesh. And they're learning it on a very, very elementary level, literally and simplistic.

Speaker 2

And you can remember it.

Speaker 1

Yes. And they're going to learn the books of the Bible. You can learn with them. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus. You'll be singing it. You can also just do a Bible search on YouTube for books of the Bible song and then challenge yourself to sing along with young children the books of the Bible.

Speaker 2

It's great.

Speaker 1

Maybe even here in the show notes, you guys can add a link to something like that because there are so many great resources out there.

Speaker 2

Well, even. Oh, gosh, I'm gonna forget his name. Who's the guy that does the little video before each book?

Speaker 3

Yeah, it's the is it on you version Bible project.

Speaker 1

There's so many girls, there's so many.

Speaker 2

Good ones that will just explain it simply.

Speaker 1

And I will do those even. You know, I'm on my. I don't even know how many times through the Bible I've done.

Speaker 3

Yes, I've shown them at church for a series. Yeah, we're gonna study this book. Watch this.

Speaker 1

Yes.

Speaker 3

It's so well done.

Speaker 2

Gives a background, helps you understand. Well, let's end by talking about your last section. Wendy. Commit to stay hungry, faithful and unashamed of a biblical worldview.

Speaker 1

Oh, this is a hard one. But I think so important. There is so much. Well, actually, you and I were talking over. Over lunch. There's a movement that's. Be progressive is the term. Right. We're progressive Christians.

Speaker 2

What do you think that means?

Speaker 1

Well, I think what it was intended to mean originally was, hey, there's this historical reading of the Word in Christian churches in North America, interpretation of the Bible. But we want to be more inclusive. So we just want people who are homosexuals to feel safe and comfortable here. We will have maybe more women pastors preaching. We will end so they start Broadening what a lot of the more conservative churches are doing. And I absolutely think it's okay to have really meaningful dialogues about what does the word say and how do we show the love of Christ to the people in our communities and invite them in and give a safe place. So I think that the purpose of the church, the churches who have become more progressive, I think the intention is really, really good. I think it's. Elisa Childers has a book called Another Gospel. She talks about progressive Christianity as eventually, if you broaden and broaden and broaden what the gospel is, what it includes, you can broaden it to the point where it's actually not the gospel anymore.

Speaker 2

It's no longer.

Speaker 1

It's no. So I say you can progress beyond the Gospel is the way I put it. And so many progressive churches, because they don't want to hurt people's feelings, they want everyone to feel included that suddenly they don't want to address sin. So sin becomes like it's an off the table topic. Well, we don't talk about homosexuality. We don't talk about just anything that might offend someone, gender. And so before you know it, you're not talking about sin. But there is no need for Christ. There's no need for redemption, there's no need for his death, there's no need for his death, there's no need for his resurrection. We don't need Christ if there was no sin to separate us from God. And so.

Speaker 2

And now we've lost the Gospel.

Speaker 1

You've absolutely, you don't need it, right? Why would you need good news when there's never been bad news? We've got to read the Word to know the Word. So when we're taught something that it is counter the Word, we will know it and say, no, I know what the Word is. And we will be like Dave, leaving the Bible study, holding up our Bible, saying, nope, nope, nope. I'm not ashamed of this. I'm not looking to start fights for division's sake, but I am willing to stand up for truth's sake because of love. Not because of the opposite of love, not because I'm looking to be judgmental, but because Christ came, motivated by love, to bring people to the Father. And sin separates us from the Father. So the loving thing to do is to recognize that sin exists. And we want to in love, call it out, speak the truth in love, of course, we have to first shine the light of truth in our own lives, which is why we need to open the Word too. Say, God, I give you access to the cobwebby corners of my life and heart. Shine a light there first.

Speaker 2

And I'm telling you, I've said this so many times. We are being discipled by our culture.

Speaker 1

We are.

Speaker 2

We live in it. You can't help it. We're being conformed. We're being discipled by the culture automatically. It just happens.

Speaker 1

You will be discipled. Yes.

Speaker 2

And so if we don't know the word, you're right, Wende. We will just conform. But if we know the word and we know what it says, and we know that it brings life and it is the best feast we will ever taste. When you taste of the word of God, the world feels much less appetite.

Speaker 1

It loses its sweetness. Yes.

Speaker 3

Hey, I gotta ask this. I got two moms of boys.

Speaker 1

Yes.

Speaker 3

How did you guys do this with your kids?

Speaker 2

Not perfectly.

Speaker 1

Go ahead.

Speaker 2

Wendy, you were amazing.

Speaker 1

I love that you take this one. You know what I've learned is I will answer that question, but just a caveat for the moms listening who maybe have grandchildren. Whether you did it and knocked it out of the park and your kids love the Lord, or you did it and you thought you were knocking it out of the park and they.

Speaker 2

They aren't following the Lord.

Speaker 1

Yeah, they're not.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 1

Let's just remember that the God who wrote the Word, who inspired the Word, is the One who is the Word. Chasing them down in all spirit and.

Speaker 2

Truth today because we feel incredible guilt.

Speaker 3

There's a seed there.

Speaker 1

Yeah, man, did we ever. And so sometimes when I'm praying for my children today and they're grown now, I will just spend time praying for the soil. Lord, I just. I just bless the soil of their lives. Holy Spirit, would you just knock out some of the. Of the rocks, pull some of the.

Speaker 2

Weeds, toil the soil, chase them down.

Speaker 1

Moisten it with your tears, and thank you for the privilege of having planted so many gospel seeds in their lives. Help me, Lord, even now, to model well a life of love and joy and service that represents you well.

Speaker 2

And I think too, Dave, I feel like I have done some good things. And I ask the boys, like, what do you remember? Nothing. They basically remember. But the thing they do say, mom, I do remember this is you reading your Bible. Yes, I remember that Bible always being on the table. Like every day the Bible was out on the table.

Speaker 1

Well, I had, because we were homeschooling for quite a few years. I had. I had all the fun devotionals. I mean, I call them fun. Okay. My kids are like, oh, My gosh. Again. But I mean, I had. And now I'm printing up coloring pages. And now let's make a. Let's make a specific meal that goes with the theme of the book we're reading to go with the. Like, I would walk up to Jesus, if I were your child, would say, she was a little extra. Right. That's awesome. And here's doing a lot. And then they ended up there telling you you did too much or you didn't do enough. It is always the Lord that brings revelation and faith. It is the gift of the Spirit that gives eyes to see and a spirit that receives.

Speaker 2

And if you've done nothing as a mom, just know it's never too late. Maybe your kids are all gone. Maybe you have grandkids or not, but you can still start your own journey. Feasting on God's Word.

Speaker 1

Absolutely.

Speaker 2

Growing in your faith.

Speaker 3

Yeah. And the key that it's an. Would be an overflow.

Speaker 2

Yes. That's what I was concerned.

Speaker 1

Couldn't deny it.

Speaker 3

Because they see it coming out of mom or dad.

Speaker 2

You can't help but talk about it.

Speaker 3

So I'll use one more acronym from your book as we close and say, forget everything and start today.

Speaker 1

Yes, feast. Forget everything.

Speaker 3

I didn't have to look. I remember that one.

Speaker 1

There's so much grace in that, isn't there?

Speaker 3

And it doesn't matter what happened yesterday or last year. Maybe you were in the Word for decades.

Speaker 1

Start now with your husband and let me ask his grace.

Speaker 2

God is never beating you up. He's not saying, well, finally you're in the Word. He is always cheering you on.

Speaker 1

And he one more day I'm giving you.

Speaker 2

He never does that. We say it to ourselves, but that's not who he is.

Speaker 3

When you were saying earlier about praying, you know, you think I don't often think about praying before I open the Word. That was a great reminder to say, wait. All the things that are really, really important to us, we pray. Like being in the NFL as a chaplain. Guess how many teams pray in their locker room before they go on a football field? Every team, really. Because it's so important to the city, to the organization, to everybody there, whether they believe in God or not. Everybody wants to pray. It's like before battle.

Speaker 1

Yeah, Everybody prays in a false battle.

Speaker 3

So when you said, today, pray before you open the Word, I'm like, why wouldn't we? This is just as it's more important than then win an NFL football game. But I remember doing a chapel years ago again I didn't use acrostic. I used seven P's and I called it the seven P's of Bible study. See if this works. I don't even remember.

Speaker 1

I'm sure it's good.

Speaker 3

I'm going to try and remember. It was number one. It's got to be a priority.

Speaker 1

Yes.

Speaker 3

This is one of the most important things you'll do every day. Number two, you need a place. I would say find a place that you love in the house. Doesn't have to be, but it could be a chair or you know, somewhere you do it. Number three, pray. I had that as one of the things before you open the word pray.

Speaker 1

Just so you know, many Bible teachers, pastors, well intentioned bloggers, we've got, we know things and we forget to do them sometimes. Okay, go on.

Speaker 3

You're on prayer. I've even forgotten I had that one when you said I'm like, oh yeah, I had that one passage. You need a passage you're going to study whether you're going through the whole Bible or going through a book. Don't just randomly say I'm going through the book of Psalms, whatever. Have a passage. Get a pen. Now today it'd be maybe a digital device, but take notes or write in your Bible. Scribble things there. You may hand this to your grandkids someday and they'll see that man, he, he, he didn't just look at the passage. He took notes. He had a pen. How many is that? Five? Six. Six was ponder. Think about it. Savor was yours. And then seven was practice. Do it. Live it.

Speaker 1

Transform.

Speaker 2

Nice.

Speaker 3

There you go.

Speaker 1

Nice. Well done.

Speaker 3

It's not as good as. No, it's a good alliteration feast the way it works.

Speaker 2

And you know what? Wendy's book has scripture every day in it.

Speaker 1

Yes.

Speaker 2

And they're good scriptures.

Speaker 1

Food for thought. Some questions afterwards.

Speaker 3

Yeah, food for thought.

Speaker 1

That's her thought.

Speaker 3

FamilyLife today.com show notes. We've got a link. Get her book right there. Bruce is going to tell me something.

Speaker 1

No, that was correct.

Speaker 3

Okay.

Speaker 2

Hey, thanks for watching and if you like this episode, you better like it. Just hit that like button and we'd.

Speaker 3

Like you to subscribe. So all you got to do is go down and hit the subscribe. I can't say the word subscribe. Hit the subscribe button. I don't think I can say this.

Speaker 2

Word like and subscribe.

Speaker 1

Look at that.

Speaker 3

You say it so easy. Subscribe. There he goes.