Food For Thought
As a child, I thought that was an odd saying… “food for thought.” When I thought of food I thought of my stomach, not my mind. I thought of being hungry, I thought of cheeseburgers. However, as I got older, I realized that my mind needed wholesome nourishment as well as and perhaps more than my body.
The fact is, the body, the mind and most importantly the spirit needs a good steady diet of healthy wholesome nourishment.
But what of this food for thought idea. Does it have a scriptural basis? Does the Bible use the imagery of food to equip the mind?
Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”
Proverbs 25:11 says, “Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in right circumstances.”
Proverbs 16:24 says, “Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”
There are numerous other scriptural references that support the “food for thought” idea.
I’ve always loved great quotes, first from scripture but then from other great men and women of God, down through history. Quotes from Spurgeon, Chambers, Tozer, Madame Guyon, Calvin and Elizabeth Elliot (to name a few) have often provided just the necessary morsel of “food for thought” to strengthen and sustain me on my journey.
For many years now as I have walked with the Lord and studied His word, I have also greatly benefited from an accompanying devotional such as My Utmost For His Highest (Chambers), Morning and Evening (Spurgeon) and Streams in the Desert (Cowman). As I have gone through these and other devotionals year after year, I have committed numerous quotes to memory. They have often served as spiritual energy bars while “I’m pressing on the upward way.”
This year as I am once again going through Streams in the Desert, I have asked the Lord to prompt within me a daily quote that I may share with a fellow traveler.
At year’s end I hope to have 365 quotes that will be shared as a daily devotional thought online and also compiled in a devotional book tentatively titled: Mile Markers Through the Desert.
The following is a brief sampling of some of these morsels, I pray will be food for thought.
Be untethered to the remembrance of past attainments. Once they were the unknown future, now they are the unimportant past. “Today is the day of salvation.” Live in the opportunity of today and the hope of tomorrow’s potential.
Hold your hand far away from you and you can see almost all that is behind your hand. Hold your hand close before your eyes and you will see only your hand. It’s all a matter of perspective. When enemies arise and seem as though they will overwhelm you, hold Jesus close before you and you’ll see only Him.
In life as in nature, both the showers and the sunshine are necessary for growth. Let God control the seasons.
Success in prayer, much like success in music or sports, requires practice, repetition and discipline; not so much to develop the manner of prayer but rather to develop the qualities of persistence and perseverance which bolster faith and precede prayer’s answers.
An evidence of His nearness we may hold in our hand will never compare to the value of the evidence we may hold in our heart, by the truth of His Word.
How small are our largest needs and pressing concerns, compared to the vast storehouse of God’s limitless, eternal provisions.
What of those who never seem to experience a break in the storm; whose entire lives seem to languish in tribulation? Greater adversity – greater grace! Greater pain – greater mercy! The more one’s life is darkened, the more one’s eternity is brightened. Perhaps those who suffer life’s trials most will enjoy Heaven’s glories best!
Every promise of God is true. Every promise He has made He will fulfill. The “when” of His fulfilling is HIs business. Some promises will be fulfilled in this life…some in the next.
The front of a tapestry displays a uniform and intricate design. The back of a tapestry reveals tangled, frayed and knotted threads. The tangles, frays and knots of our lives give testimony to the fact that we are being carefully and lovingly woven into God’s beautiful and eternal design.
In life as well as ministry, the “final stretch” presents the greatest possibilities as well as the greatest perils. In any race, the start is important but the finish is what matters most.
One of the greatest assaults on our peace is emotional discontent. The surest way to guarantee enduring stability amidst life’s storms is to live by faith, not by feeling.
Those who suffer in silence in this life shall sing loudest in Heaven’s choir!
The perfect and whole Body of Christ is comprised of many crippled saints. He’s building a perfect kingdom with imperfect people. Hell’s loss will be Heaven’s gain. He enlists us by grace. He oversees us in mercy. He loves us unconditionally.
The most beautiful strains of music are born in the most difficult strains of life.
A bright overhead light on a stage can illuminate an actor in a cone of brilliance. However, one step to the side and the actor is lost in darkness. God has shone His light upon us. Stay in the light. Darkness is always just a step away.
A man with a still heart and mind possesses great power. A quieted soul is not easily disturbed.
He is in the sunny days. He is in the cloudy days. He is in the calm and He is in the midst of the tempest. When we learn to discern His presence in every circumstance, fear will flee and faith will flourish.
God does His best work in our worst times.
He has gone before. He pioneered the trail and has led many a weary, wounded pilgrim to safety. He knows every twist and turn, even through the valley of the shadow of death. Hold His hand, step in His steps; stay close. He WILL lead you through.
Virtues are taught by adversity. As wind smooths the mountains and waves dull sharp stones; so tribulation molds our lives.
“I am the Lord, and there is no other, the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these.” (Isaiah 45:6-7) The sooner we accept the fact that God is in absolute control of everything, the sooner we shall find, “The peace that surpasses our comprehension.”
Be encouraged… God is in absolute control of absolutely everything. He hears every prayer. His deliverance is sure and He will never leave you nor forsake you.
I pray these brief and simple thoughts and words have given you some Food For Thought.
