Social media and Netflix can stimulate your mind for a while, but they cannot satisfy your hunger and truly feed you with what you are searching for. Friend, recognize that you are hungry for the true bread that is the Word of God! Stand for your food today and don’t allow yourself to be robbed of the time that you spend in the Word!
Jeremiah 15:16, this is what it
says: “Thy words were found and I
did eat them and thy word was unto
me the joy and rejoicing of my
heart.” The first thing, your first
assignment is not to look at the
Word of God and say: “What must I
do?” Alright, that’s the law
mentality. The first thing you do
with God’s Word is you eat it! It
is for eating, it is for eating! If
you ask the Lord, alright: “Why is
it that people are rebellious,
people are bound by addictions,
people are enslaved to certain
habits, and they can’t break free?
Why are people depressed? Why are
so many people depressed today?”
Right? Do you know what the Lord
will say? “They are hungry.” So
many of you are hungry, but you’re
not feeding yourself with true
bread. So you pass by, you think
you need something from the fridge.
You open up the fridge. You feel
like you need to eat something, you
feel hungry. You don’t realise that
it is a spiritual hunger because
you’ve not been feeding on the
Word. So you take out something to
eat. Now, after a while, you still
feel hungry. So you eat somemore.
Or “I will watch TV. Yes, I think
this is good. I will watch this
drama. I will watch this movie, I
will watch this…Alright, it will
feed me.” For a while, your mind is
stimulated, no doubt. Right? You
are stimulated but after you finish
everything, you still feel like
there’s an emptiness. Like: “What
is it I really want? I think I need
to watch somemore.” You know, it’s
not the answer!
The next day, you have raccoon
eyes, you know, or panda eyes, and
things like that. Because it
doesn’t feed. So the Bible says in
Isaiah: “Why spend your labor for
that which does not satisfy?” Now,
all these things, eating and all
that and watching, you know, I
mean, it all has its’ place. I’m
not knocking them. They are not
sins. It’s not a sin to eat. I’m
just saying realise that you are
hungry. And you might say: “Pastor
Prince, I think I’m hungry for more
of social media. I feel that the
more I read, I think I feel
better.” No you won’t. You’ll feel
empty. You’ll feel more depressed.
You’re hungry, and you’re hungry
for true bread. You’re hungry. The
Bible says in Isaiah: “Why labor
for that which does not satisfy?”
Amen, so you’re hungry! You’re not
depressed, you’re hungry! You’re
not, you’re not actually a
rebellious person, amen. You are
fighting something because you are
hungry. Have you noticed that
people who are hungry physically
can be very bad-tempered? Wives,
have you noticed that? Sometimes
your husband is not angry with you.
He’s not angry. He is hungry. Ah,
look at your husband, smile and
say: “Amen.” Have you experienced
that? Or it’s just me? It’s just
me. Come on. I see Pastor Lawrence
putting up his hand. One honest
man, that’s one honest man. The
Lord loves it. The Lord loves
honesty. Amen. Amen. So many of you
need to repent. Amen.
So a hungry man can be a very angry
man. Right? But the anger is not
actually his problem. His problem
is a deeper problem. He’s hungry.
The enemy always attacks your food.
The Bible says when Gideon was
threshing wheat, he was threshing
wheat in a place called the vine
press. Now that’s not the usual
place that you thresh wheat.
Threshing wheat is like studying
the Word of God, the Word of God is
wheat, right? Bread of life. So
it’s threshing wheat to eat. Right?
But he was doing it at night to
hide from who? The Midianites, the
Midianites have come in. And
everytime there’s a harvest, the
Jewish people have a harvest, they
will come and rob them of their
harvest. So they’re staying in the
mountains and whenever the harvest
is there, they come and rob them of
the harvest. So Gideon does it
quietly so that he has a secret
harvest, and a secret threshing,
and a secret reaping, right? That
he wants to have secret eating as
well, but God called him forth. God
calls those who are studying the
Word, amen, to feed others.
Some of David’s mighty men became
mighty men. They marked themselves
as mighty men when they refused to
let the enemy take their harvest.
They would stand in the middle of a
patch of a field of harvest like
lentils, alright? And they will
stand there with a sword and they
are outnumbered by their enemies.
But the Bible says: “The sword will
cleave to their hand.” And the
sword is a picture of God’s Word.
And they will fight. They said:
“This is my harvest. You ain’t
taking it.” Alright, there’s no
way. I sowed it. Alright, I grew
it. I watered it. And where were
you? You want to come and take the
food? No way. I’m gonna stand here
and stand my ground. And the Bible
says: “Stand therefore. Stand for
your food.” Amen. Don’t let
anything rob you of that time that
you spend in the Word of God. Amen.
Whether in the morning, you’re
sitting on the toilet bowl or—like
I told you, it’s a good time. Some
of you: “Oh, you know, I feel so
irreverent.” No, you’re just being
religious. Because I’d rather you
do that than not do that and spend
the whole day not in the Word. So
if you have a Bible there, Bible
everywhere. Amen. Commercial time.
Look at the Bible. Spend time in
the Word, even a little piece of
it, like a little crumb can bring
healing. Can I have a good amen?
So, here God says: “There’s food,
not just drink.” There is food.
Right? By the way, Jeremiah was
saying that the first thing you do
is to eat and what happens you’re
what was to me the joy, you always
were found in I ate them. That’s
your first response for eat the
Word of God. And number two, it
becomes a joy and rejoicing of your
heart. So eat it until there’s a
joy and rejoicing springing up. And
there’s a joy! I’m telling you, it
is like—that joy heals by the way,
that joy heals your body. The joy
of the Lord is my strength. It is
not just spiritual strength there.
If you read it carefully, it’s
strength, spirit, soul and body. So
the joy of the Lord. So how do you
get the joy of the Lord? Thy words
were found, and what do I do? I ate
them. When Jesus says: “I’m the
bread of life.” What do you do with
bread? You eat it. You don’t just
admire it or else He will say: “I’m
the portrait of life.” Right? But
He says bread. He says He’s the
water of life—a fountain. Amen. He
is the bread of life. What do you
do with bread? You eat!
And because it is called: “I am the
bread of life.” You receive life.
You see, everyday we leak, we leak
life. You know the things that we
do, the things that we watch, the
things that we hear, causes us to
leak life. You know, I thought our
life is intact. Once you get life,
you get life. No, everyday you’re
losing life. Ask the doctors. They
will tell you, it is shown by—death
has set in, that means what?
Where there’s no life, that part
there is death. So different parts
of your body when you leak life,
right? Death comes in. They call it
ageing, they call it whatever which
means reduction of life, but you
can receive more life. Jesus says:
“I am come that you might have life
and have it more abundantly!” Can I
have a good amen? So praise the
Lord, give Him praise! Amen. It’s
true. He wants you to have this
life more abundant. And if you
look, there’s also food in the
land.
Remember I shared about the land
and the Bible? It is a land of
wheat, barley, vines, fig trees,
pomegranates, olive oil, and honey.
In my last sermon, I broke this
down to show you the Word of God
and how rich it is a land wherein
you shall eat bread without
scarceness. You shall not lack
anything in it. A land whose stones
are iron and out of whose hills you
may dig brass or copper here, in
the Hebrew, alright? So it’s a rich
land. Amen. It’s a rich land. It
has different vistas, different
facets, and every part of it is a
blessing. So sometimes you go—for
the Lord your God brings you. So
it’s a land that you go into. So
there are times you take a verse,
you meditate on it until it gives
you it’s iron and it’s precious
metals. Amen. Gold, silver is there
as well. The Bible says: “More to
be desired is the Word of God than
gold.” Amen. But as you study God’s
Word, you find that there are times
you are eating pomegranate, there
are times you’re eating figs. God
has variety. God is a God of
variety, the many-fold grace of
God. Even grace has many folds.
You know, God gave you a tongue.
You will never know the different
tastes. If God gives you one tongue
with one taste, you won’t complain.
You don’t know. You don’t know! You
only have one taste! Imagine rice
is the same. Alright? You eat beef
and it is the same. Right? You have
your pickles, it is the same. All
the taste is just one taste. But
God gave us a tongue with many
tastes.
And recently they discovered
there’s even one more taste called
“umami” hidden somewhere. Amen.
Umami. Right? I’m sure there’s
somewhere else. I prophesy to you
if they study somemore, there’ll be
another one called “Udaddy.” Oh
that one is—Pastor Prince, you’re
so corny. Amen. If there’s an
Umami, they must be an Udaddy
somewhere, you know? Alright. So
there are things that, and they say
that our brains, we only use 10% of
our brains. Right? Amen. Have you
met people that you don’t even
think is 10%. Don’t look at your
neighbour now. Amen. Alright. I
mean, scientists tell us that we
only use 10% of our brain. So I
believe that the other 9, right?
Where is it missing? The Bible
promises the gifts of the Holy
Spirit. Exactly 9. Amen. It comes
when you are filled with the Holy
Spirit. It can maximize your mind.
So it is, it covers every area and
figs is for certain—by the way do
you know figs are very sweet right?
Just want to let you know something
about figs. Figs are very sweet but
it does not spike your blood sugar.
It does not! In fact, it is said
that even people with high blood
sugar and all that, they can
actually eat figs! Amen, don’t
google it now. Go home and you
know, and so it’s amazing the land,
whatever God promised down there is
good for the taste as well as for
health. Amen. If you’re a man, and
you want to be fruitful, “He that
has ears to hear…” Alright, the
pomegranate is very good for you.
That’s why it has a lot of seeds.
Okay, I’m getting ahead of myself
already. Okay, that’s just free.
Okay, that’s free. Amen. Look at
the pomegranate and ask yourself,
why is it full of seeds and all
that. I believe it is going to be
helping you. That’s all I can say.
“He that has ears to hear, let him
hear.” Amen.
Okay, so that’s a promise. Now that
is microscopic. Sometimes we study
the Bible, we study the Bible up
close. Alright, like a microscope.
And sometimes we study the Bible
like a telescope.
Here we look at Moses. His last
stand on Mount Nebo, just before he
passed on to be with the Lord.
Right? He’s standing at Mount Nebo
and he looks into the promised
land. In Deuteronomy 34. Then Moses
went up from the plains of Moab to
Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah.
Many of you had been there. Let me
see your hands up if you have been
there. In Jordan, where Moses last
stand was, let me see your hands.
Yeah, you bless you, man. You saw
that the view? You are seeing the
same view where Moses was.
Somewhere there he stood at Pisgah,
Mount Nebo. And then he looked into
Israel. So today, of course, it is
on the side of Jordan. Okay, the
country of Jordan. But at one time,
it is all one. Right? And they
looked down, he looked down into
the promised land. And here, it
says that: “And the Lord showed him
all the land of Gilead, as far as
Dan.” So he looked far, he looked
like this, okay? I’m looking at the
promised land. This is Jordan. I’m
looking at the promised land. So he
started like this. He looked at
Dan. As far as Dan, then he looked
at Neftali, which is the area of
Galilee, the Sea of Galilee. Right?
Now he could have looked straight
away, upfront. Do you know what is
upfront? Jericho, the nearest. The
city of Jericho, the area of the
Jordan Valley. But he didn’t. He
looked far. Alright? So this is a
picture of the overview of the
land. Sometimes when you read the
Bible, you read the Bible. You
don’t feel like reading like
microscopic or meditating on one
verse, alright? You want to just do
general reading.
Like you read the book of Ruth, it
can be done in one sitting. It is a
very romantic book. Amen. It is a
beautiful story of a young bride.
In fact, not only a young bride,
usually a woman who has been
married before, it’s not so much,
it does not stand as much an
opportunity as someone who has not
been married before. She’s been
married before. And in that day and
age, when your husband dies before
you and all that, they could have
seen you as a person who brings a
curse. Right? But then she followed
her mother-in-law, to a land that
is foreign to her, and ended up
marrying the most eligible
bachelor.
And together they became the great
grandfather of David. And from
David came our Lord Jesus. Imagine
if they didn’t meet. And she
doesn’t belong there actually, like
the Syrophoenician woman of Tyre.
She’s a Gentile. But she was
included in the genealogy of our
Lord Jesus. Isn’t that a beautiful
story? Amen. You can read in one
sitting. So it’s like a panoramic
view, amen, a panoramic view.
Sometimes you just feel like
reading. And what the panoramic
view does is that it washes you.
Alright you say: “Well, Pastor
Prince, when I read the Bible, I
really don’t understand a lot of
things.” Keep on reading and
enjoying it. And I tell you this—a
lot of people who start reading
novels, even children, when they
start reading books and all that,
there are parts they don’t
understand. But just enjoy what you
do understand. Alright?
There was a man who was a devout
Christian, and he wanted his son to
learn about the importance of
studying the Bible, reading the
Bible. He was a farmer. He told his
son, and they had a stream nearby
their farm. He told his son to take
a basket, alright a basket, and go
collect some water. The son looked
at him kind of strange, right? He
was about, the son was about seven,
eight years old. And he was trying
to impress on his son because his
son told him: “When I read the
Bible, I don’t understand. I don’t
understand.” So he said: “Tell you
what, go get the water.” So the son
went, scooped the water, came
back…” Of course, the water
dripped out. I mean, it came out of
the ratten basket. Then the son
said: “Dad, it’s all gone.” “Go get
some more water.” He went and came
back again and the water all left,
you know and there was nothing
left. He said: “Dad, it is
useless!” You cannot take water in
this. “You see, son, how clean that
basket is right now. Even though it
cannot hold water, you don’t
understand the Bible, nevermind.
Keep on reading because it washes
you.”
It washes you. It has a washing,
purifying effect. It has a healing
effect. Same thing. If you’re
honest. You say: “I don’t want to
read anything I don’t understand.”
If you’re honest, because we talked
about reading as eating God’s Word?
Apply that to your eating. Do you
understand every food in its’
components that you eat every day?
Oh yes, over here we have Vitamin E
in this little bean here. And this
chicken rice here, alright, has
this—you know, do you go down all
that or do you just enjoy? When you
approach God’s Word, have the same
approach. Don’t try to understand
its’ components and all that. Just
enjoy. And many a times, God will
speak to you directly from
something that happened in the
past. Are you with me so far? Is
this helping you?