Matthew 4:4 - Spiritual Food Is Necessary for Spirit Living.
Matthew 4:4 (NIV) Jesus answered, "It is
written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on
every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
COMMENTARY PEARL
The Best Way to Start and Finish Your Day
During these days of uncertainty and
unrest, its important to start and end your day
by refueling your soul. Your soul is the way
you think, feel, and choose. Just like your
physical body has to be fed every day to stay
healthy, so does your soul. If you're not feeding
your soul, youre going to be drained
emotionally and spiritually.
So how do you refuel your soul? By
getting into God's Word every day. Jesus said, "Man
shall not live on bread alone, but on every word
that comes from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4
NIV). The Bible is life! You dont just read it
when you have a problem and need some advice. You
dont open it up just when you need a pick-me-up.
You feed on it every day so that you are
consistently nourished and growing in truth and love.
Do not begin your day by scrolling
through your phone or listening to the news. Dont
let the last thing that fills your mind each day
be something on the TV. None of those things
are going to feed your soul.
If you only develop one new habit during
this pandemic, let it be starting and ending your
day in Gods Word. Wherever you leave your
Bible leave it open if you can. If the Bible is
closed, you will have a tendency to overlook it. But
if you leave it open to where you read last
time, youll have an easier time remembering to
be consistent in Bible reading.
It doesn't matter how long you read. It
matters how you let Gods Word change you - how
you see yourself and others in light of Gods
love, how you view your circumstances, and how
your relationship with God deepens and grows.
"The Sovereign Lord has given me his
words of wisdom, so that I know how to comfort the
weary. Morning by morning he wakens me and opens my
understanding to his will" (Isaiah 50:4 NLT).
Are you weary and worn down? Nourish your
soul and stay emotionally healthy by starting and
ending each day with the Word of God. [Daily
Devotional by Rick Warren:
https://pastorrick.com/devotional/]
COMMENTARY
BIBLE STUDY TOOLS
Remember that time you got ticked off
trying to find a verse in the Bible and couldn't?
That was almost as bad as the day you decided to
read a couple of chapters and got hung up on
"Nazirite" or scratched your head over "cubit."
These are like hardened, glazed coverings
that suddenly obscure our understanding of God's
truth. The pick and shovel of good intentions
simply will not cut through. Sharper tools than
that are needed, believe me!
Listen, you don't have to be a
theological brain to dig into God's riches but you
do need some mining equipment. These tools are
basic to intelligent, meaningful Bible study. They
will enable you to find most of the answers you
need, and they are as easy to use as your TV
guide. There are at least four you should have on
hand.
A BIBLE CONCORDANCE. It contains an
alphabetical index of all the terms found in the Bible,
and it comes in handy when you want to put your
finger on a particular verse but can only remember
a few words in it. It's also invaluable if you
want a complete list of all the verses using the
same word.
The best concordances available are
Robert Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible
and James Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the
Bible. I must also add W. E. Vine's Expository
Dictionary of New Testament Words for you who are
serious students, wanting to learn the shades of
meaning and theological implications of different
New Testament terms.
A BIBLE DICTIONARY. It is more than a
list of words and definitions. It's like a
one-volume encyclopedia, containing vital information
on people, places, doctrines, customs, and
cultural matters. I recommend either Unger's Bible
Dictionary (well illustrated, scholarly but readable)
or the New Bible Dictionary (contains longer
articles on technical subjects).
A BIBLE ATLAS. The most popular is
Baker's Bible Atlas. Another reliable one is The
Macmillan Bible Atlas, containing over 250 different
maps. If you can't afford an atlas, at least
purchase a good set of biblical maps.
A BIBLE COMMENTARY. This is a
single-volume book that offers comments and insights on
every chapter in the Word of God. Hands down, my
favorite is The Wycliffe Bible Commentary edited by
Pfeiffer and Harrison. It is reliable and well
arranged. [Many would add the Life Application Study
Bible which is about the best for Biblical
application to life]
Don't delay now. Get those tools you need
soon and don't let them rust on you!
It's amazing how a few of the right
tools, when used correctly, can open God's
treasures.
It doesnt take a theological brain to
dig into God's riches. These tools help you find
answers you need. [Chuck Swindoll www.insight.org.]
PRAY BEFORE BIBLE STUDY
The person without the Spirit does not
accept the things that come from the Spirit of God
but considers them foolishness, and cannot
understand them because they are discerned only through
the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:14 (NIV)
God intends that even in this life the
truths of His word shall be ever unfolding to His
people. There is only one way in which this
knowledge can be obtained. We can attain to an
understanding of God's word only through the illumination
of that Spirit by which the word was given. {SC
109.2}
Without the aid of God's Spirit, the
brightest human mind will never understand the
simplest spiritual truth. That kind of truth is
revealed only by a divine encounter, not through
study, for Truth is a Person. Jesus is Truth. The
Spirit of God brings us to Christ and then unlocks
the door to our understanding of spiritual
realities. People who are unwilling to accept that
Jesus is who He says He is can do nothing but
follow a lie. People who accept Jesus as God's Son
- and who welcome Him into their lives as
Savior and Lord - continue to receive the Holy
Spirit's help in understanding God's truth.
Consider, for instance, that God chose
the way of the cross for salvation of sinful
humanity. Its raw agony, the public humiliation, and
the excruciatingly painful death were extreme
measures reflecting our intense need for liberation
from sin. No one could have predicted the cross,
and "Christ crucified [was] foolishness" to
the Greeks (1:23) and it still is to many
today.
But an encounter with Truth plus a Holy
Spirit-empowered understanding results in faith - and keeps
our faith growing. [Being Still With God Every
Day by Henry Blackaby]
Why are the Scriptures described as a
sword provided by the Holy Spirit? Quite simply,
it is the Holy Spirit who has given us the
Scriptures. They come altogether from Him.
It was the Holy Spirit who inspired men
to write them: "Moved by the Holy Spirit, men
spoke from God" (2Pt 1:21). Again in 2 Timothy
3:16 we read: "All Scripture is inspired by God"
- a statement which assures us that the
Scriptures come from the Holy Spirit.
The Bible is not a mere human document.
The Holy Spirit breathed into men and inspired
them to write the way they did. This does not
mean that the people who wrote the Scriptures did
so mechanically, in the way that a dictating
machine would record someone's dictation. The Holy
Spirit used their natural way of expression but
gave them an additional ability to write without
error.
It is vital, if you are to win the battle
against Satan, that you not only see this truth but
believe it. When you consider how powerful Satan is,
you need something that is even more powerful.
The Bible, the inspired Word of God, is your
strength.
One step further - only the Holy Spirit
can enable us truly to understand God's Word:
"We have not received the spirit of the world,
but the Spirit who is from God, in order to know
what has been freely given to us by God" (1Co
2:12). Without the Holy Spirit, we would be no more
able to understand the Scriptures than a blind
man could judge a beauty contest.
Gracious Holy Spirit, just as You
breathed into the Bible to give it its life and
power, breathe also into my heart today so that I
might know and understand its truth. I ask this in
Jesus' name. Amen. [Every Day With Jesus Bible with
Selwyn Hughes devotional]
OUR SPIRITUAL FOOD - THE BIBLE " THE WORD
OF GOD
In Matthew 4:4 above, our Lord compares
the Word of God to our daily bread, thereby
teaching us a great lesson. We know bread is
indispensable to life. We all understand this. However
strong a person may be, if he has no nourishment,
he will grow weaker, and he will die. If an
illness prevents me from eating, I will die. It is
the same with the Word of God. The Word contains
a heavenly principle and works powerfully in
those who believe.
Bread must be eaten. I may know all about
bread. I may have bread and give it to others. I
may have bread in my house and on my table in
great abundance, but that will not help me unless
I eat it. Similarly, a mere knowledge of God's
Word and even the preaching of it to others will
not benefit me. It is not enough to think about
it. Rather, I must feed on God's Word and take
it into my heart and life. In love and
obedience I must take hold of the words of God and let
them take full possession of my heart. Then they
will indeed be words of life.
Bread must be eaten daily, and the same
is true of God's Word. The psalmist wrote,
"Blessed is the man... [whose] delight is in the law
of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate
day and night" (Psalm 1:1-2); "O how I love thy
law! it is my meditation all the day" (Psalm
119:97). To secure a strong and powerful spiritual
life, an intake of God's Word every day is
indispensable.
When He was on earth, the Lord Jesus
learned, loved, and obeyed the Word of the Father. If
you seek fellowship with Him, you will find Him
in His Word. Christ will teach you to commune
with the Father through the Word, just as He did
on earth. You will learn, like Him, to live
solely for the glory of God and the fulfillment of
His Word. [Andrew Murray 365-Day Devotional
Bible by Barbour]
CLOSING THOUGHT
Wait Upon God
The more I think of and pray about the
religious situation in our country, the deeper my
conviction becomes that Christians do not realize that
the aim of conversion is to bring them into
daily fellowship with the Father in heaven.
For the believer, taking time each day
with God's Word and in prayer is indispensable.
Each day we need to wait upon God for His
presence and His love to be revealed.
It is not enough at conversion to accept
forgiveness of sins or even to surrender to God. That is
only a beginning. We must understand that we have
no power on our own to maintain our spiritual
life. We need to receive daily new grace from
heaven through fellowship with the Lord Jesus. This
cannot be obtained by a hasty prayer or a
superficial reading of a few verses from God's Word. We
must take time to come into God's presence, to
feel our weakness and our need, and to wait on
God through His Holy Spirit to renew our
fellowship with Him. Then we may expect to be kept by
the power of Christ throughout the day.
It is my aim to help Christians to see
the absolute necessity of spending time with the
Lord Jesus. Without this, the joy and power of
God's Holy Spirit in daily life cannot be
experienced. [Andrew Murray 365-Day Devotional Bible by
Barbour re Daniel 6:10]
LINK FOR FURTHER STUDY ON THIS PASSAGE
Matthew 4:4 - Spiritual Food for Really
Living:
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2019/20190115-1001.html
YOUR COMMENTS
If anyone has a paraphrase, commentary or
testimony on this passage of Scripture, either
personal or otherwise, I would be interested in
hearing from you. Thanks in advance and let's keep
uplifting Jesus that all might be drawn to Him. Fred
Gibbs
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT
Most Important Decision in Life:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/WGnEuGwvXqU?rel=0
A Man without Equal by Bill Bright:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiVa7UoruIo
Seeking God Made Real:
http://vimeo.com/31489782
Prayer Made Real:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc8VdMV26VE
Importance of Choice:
http://creationhealth.com/CREATION-Health/Choice [click on video]
Medical Seminar on Healthful Living by David
DeRose, MD, MPH:
https://www.smartlifestyletv.com/lifestart
LINKS FOR BIBLE STUDIES
Lifting Up Jesus Bible Studies:
http://www.liftingupjesus.net/
Amazing Facts Bible Studies:
http://www.amazingfacts.org/bible-study/bible-study-guides.aspx
Hope Awakens Bible Study Guides:
https://www.hopeawakens.study/lesson-header;id=2
Glow Tract Video Bible Studies:
http://www.bibleresearch.info/
LINKS FOR BIBLE PROPHECY SEMINARS
Unlocking Bible Prophecies by Cami Oetman of
Adventist World Radio (currently live):
https://bible.awr.org/the-warning/
Hope Awakens by John Bradshaw of IIW:
https://itiswritten.tv/programs/hope-awakens
The Last Day of Prophecy by Pastor Doug
Batchelor:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmGvdtMCf1aJTiC59-lPtuUMEq_uEn0BK
Prophecies Decoded by Pastor Ron Clouzet:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1A435C5373550657
