Welcome To The Snack Shack!! God's Word is compared to food all throughout the Bible. The reason: as humans we need food to survive, and as Christians we need God's Word to survive. Not only do we need food, but it's something we desire. Right? Well, God's Word should be something we desire too. It is full of nutrients that we need and flavor that can be compared to the best of physical food that's out there! We're talking gourmet here! :) Now, along with the fried chicken and tri-tip...the ice cream and pie...and all those foods we put on our list of "favorites", are those vegetables like spinach and broccoli...or whatever it is that you eat only because you have to! It's the same way with our Spiritual food, God's Word. There are those verses and stories that we have no problem reading and applying them to our lives (you know, those ones that promise blessings...), and then there's those verses that don't taste quite as good, those ones that are hard to understand or make you feel convicted. Those "vegetables" are just as important to read and apply to your life. We need them to survive! So, take a few minutes and check out these "snacks" from God's Word. Remember, we don't live on bread alone...physical food is great, but we need God's Word, our spiritual food, too! Every word that comes from the mouth of God.... that's real food!

Snacks available in this issue... Devotionals Daily Bread Fruit Bowl

DEVOTIONALS Devotional 1 “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”—Jeremiah 29:11 Does anyone else find this passage of scripture a bit amusing? Nowhere in the verse does it say or even suggest that God will tell us all the plans He has for us, but it does say that HE KNOWS the plans He has for us. Does that mean that we don’t get to know these plans ahead of time? Maybe…that all depends on whether God chooses to reveal such things to you. But at least we can be sure that God knows what’s going on and He does have plans! Now, why do you think God even felt it necessary to tell us that He knows the plans He has for us? Well, do you ever doubt that He knows what’s going on? Do you ever feel as if God is clueless about things in your life? Do you ever question the extent of His control or power? Do you ever wonder if He really does have a plan for you right now and is aware of all the specifics and particulars involved? I’d guess that each of have been there before. Sometimes we may even without meaning to act like God isn’t that close and doesn’t really have a game plan for our lives. But, you see, God DOES know the plans He has for us…they are plans to prosper us and not to harm us. These plans, even if we may not get to know every detail about them, have already been made and are in effect at this very moment. God knows… He knows what’s going on right now, and He knows how things will turn out in the end. He has the “map” and will glad to guide you in the right direction—if you’ll follow! -HK Devotional 2 “The men of Israel sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord.”—Joshua 9:14 Let me give you a little bit of background on the story behind this verse… The children of Israel were a very powerful people at this time because God favored them, and they had taken over several cities and conquered the people of those cities. All the surrounding cities and groups of people heard the battle reports and were very much afraid of the Israelites. So their neighbors the Gibeonites came up with a plan to trick the Israelites into making a peace treaty with them. They packed along worn-out sacks and patched sandals and moldy stale food so that it would appear that they had come from far away, and then they traveled the short 3-day journey to where the Israelites were camped out. And sure enough they managed to deceive the Israelites and gain a promise of peace even though they were in part of the territory that God had told the Israelites He would give them. So, back to our key verse… The Israelites sampled the Gibeonites’ provisions but did not inquire of the Lord. They relied on their own senses and knowledge instead of even asking God if they were going the right thing. They could see (and taste) that the food was old and it was obvious that everything else was worn and tattered. So they immediately accepted the excuse and didn’t even stop to consider that maybe they should talk it over with God first. Ether they felt they could handle things on their own without involving God, or the matter didn’t seem important enough to discuss with Him. One thing is for certain: the God who fought for Israel in their battles and promised them a land flowing with milk and honey would have warned them about the Gibeonites’ true intentions if they had inquired of Him. He was more than capable and had already proved His favor upon them. But they forgot to ask Him… How many times do we make this same mistake?? I believe that we often miss opportunities just because we don’t include God in our plans and considerations. We don’t have to go into a lot of the situations we do blindly… If we’d just stop and inquire of the Lord maybe He’d reveal things to us as well. Remember that the next time you’re not sure about something or things “look” right but may not seem right. All you have to do is ask God…He knows what’s going on! -HK Devotional 3 “Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”—Proverbs 16:24 We all say things that aren’t very nice every once in awhile. Most of the time we don’t actually mean the unkind things we’ve said. Or even if we do mean the words, we didn’t really mean to say them out loud! The truth is, no matter how credible some things that we may say are, they can still hurt someone if they aren’t nice. This verse tells us that pleasant words are like honey. Honey is sweet…we all know that. But did you know that honey is soothing and can help heal as well? Have you ever drank lemon tea with honey in it when you had a sore throat? Well, just like honey, pleasant or kind words can help heal. When someone is sad, depressed, or upset, a few kind words can often help the person and bring joy to their heart. Pleasant word are that powerful!! By the same token, you can only guess the opposite effect of unkind words… Just something to think about. -HK

Daily Bread An apple a day might keep the doctor away, but what about a Proverb a day? What's the importance of reading scripture daily, you might ask. Well, daily reading of God's Word is like eating daily. Do you like to eat daily? I sure do! When you starve yourself of God's Word and don't take the time to read and study it every day, it's kind of like starving your physical body: you become a little weaker...you get kind of irritated and angry easily...you lose out on nutrients that you need...it's just not very comfortable, and besides, it's not very much fun! Proverbs is a good book to read a chapter of every day. It has 31 chapters, and can be read in a month. The wisdom that is offered in these proverbs are written by Soloman, the wisest person (well, except for Jesus) who ever lived. But they are inspired by God. I guarantee that they will help you! But of course, you can't just read them, you have to actually use them for them to work. :) (Note: Proverbs are good...but they aren't the only thing you should read each day. Pick a verse or section of verses from another book of the Bible to read also for best results.) Day 1 Proverbs 1 Day 2 Proverbs 2 Day 3 Proverbs 3 Day 4 Proverbs 4 Day 5 Proverbs 5 Day 6 Proverbs 6 Day 7 Proverbs 7 Day 8 Proverbs 8 Day 9 Proverbs 9 Day 10 Proverbs 10 Day 11 Proverbs 11 Day 12 Proverbs 12 Day 13 Proverbs 13 Day 14 Proverbs 14 Day 15 Proverbs 15 Day 16 Proverbs 16 Day 17 Proverbs 17 Day 18 Proverbs 18 Day 19 Proverbs 19 Day 20 Proverbs 20 Day 21 Proverbs 21 Day 22 Proverbs 22 Day 23 Proverbs 23 Day 24 Proverbs 24 Day 25 Proverbs 25 Day 26 Proverbs 26 Day 27 Proverbs 27 Day 28 Proverbs 28 Day 29 Proverbs 29 Day 30 Proverbs 30 Day 31 Proverbs 31

The Fruit Bowl In Galations 5:22,23 we find a listing of the Fruit of the Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control. We're told in God's Word that people will know us by our fruit. That's how they will be able to tell if we are followers and servants of Christ. The Bible also tells us that God will cut off the branches that don't bear good fruit! Yikes! This fruit thing is pretty important, isn't it?! Well, here we will feature one of these "fruits" in each issue, starting with the first fruit mentioned: Love. Do you think that the "fruit" you bear is good? Do you think that people are able to tell that you are a Christian by the way that you act or respond in different situations? Let's take a look at this issue's featured fruit...Self-control! SELF-CONTROL I remember learning about the fruit of the Spirit in kindergarten at the Christian school I went to back then. For some reason the lesson on self-control is the one I recall the clearest. Perhaps that’s because my teacher especially wanted us to exercise THAT fruit of the Spirit while in class! :) Seriously though, self-control is a very important character trait for anyone to have especially those of us who claim to follow Christ. But it's also an extremely difficult one to portray much less produce consistently. Most definitely being self-controlled takes a lot of practice, effort, and will power. It’s not easy task to undertake! Let’s define what self-control is before we move any farther in this study… Webster’s dictionary has this to say about the meaning of self-control: “Restraint exercised over one’s own actions, impulses, emotions, or desires.” In plain English, self-control is YOU keeping yourself from acting on impulse and doing what you know you shouldn’t do. It’s taking responsibility for your actions AND resolving to discipline yourself. No wonder it’s so hard! We’re talking about controlling our sinful nature here! But can you see why it’s so important as well? Proverbs gives us a clear illustration of the value of self-control. “Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control” (Proverbs 25: 28) In ancient times, large and powerful walls were built around most cities for protection. The walls helped to keep intruders out of the city and provided safety to those who were inside. They also served as a watchtower in many cases for soldiers to monitor things around them from up off the ground and be ready to defend if need be. When the walls were broken down the city was in serious trouble! Anyone could just come in and attack the citizens or steal from them or whatever else. Their security would be damaged and the whole city would suffer as a result. When we act or react without thinking things trough we oftentimes end up with just as many problems and possible disasters as the citizens of the city whose walls have been broken down. It’s like inviting trouble and then not being able to defend yourself. And just as that city can’t operate well without its walls, self-control is necessary for us to function as well. Another interesting thing I found while researching for this study was that self-control was often associated with being alert and clearminded in the Scriptures. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us to be self-controlled and alert because our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. I believe this warning is referring to temptation and the fact that we need to keep ourselves alert to the world around us and self-controlled so that we will be able to recognize the devil even when he is in disguise. If you are easily pulled into worldly things then you won’t realize that you’ve been deceived until the devil has a firm hold on your life. So you must be alert and self-controlled, and as the King James Version Bible says “vigilant”, which basically means “watchful”. 1 Peter 4:7 says, "The end of all things is near. Therefore be clearminded and self-controlled so that you can pray.” I had never really thought about this before but now I think it makes a good point. When you can’t (or don’t) control yourself you end up distracted most of the time. It’s kind of hard to pray when you are distracted and not clearminded. Time is short, how short we don’t know for sure, but every day that passes is one day closer to the second coming of Christ. If we are to be effective servants of God, we HAVE to be focused and self-controlled enough to pray…talk to God AND listen as well. 1 Thessalonians advises us to not be like others (those in the world) who are asleep, but to be alert and self-controlled. (1 Thessalonians 5:6) And then verse 8 of the same chapter says, “But since we belong to day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.” These days self-control doesn’t seem to be a very big issue in the world. Since we’re so often told to do what we want to (even if it’s on impulse), and responsibility for a person’s actions can be explained away by a number of excuses (a bad childhood, not understanding the “offense”, etc.), self-control is rarely advocated. But even if the standards of the world are not so high, God’s expectations and requirements are! We don’t belong to the world…the night…the darkness, we are children of the Most High God and we must be self-controlled and alert whether those around us are or not. Along those same lines, Titus 2:11-12 says, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘NO’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age.” So the grace of God that brings salvation helps us to deny our fleshly nature and other worldly “passions” so that we can be self-controlled and live the way God wants us to even in THIS present age. Then, over in 1 Peter 1:13 we’re given this admonition, “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed." So again we see that grace has a part in this whole being self-controlled idea. The grace of God teaches us to live self-controlled lives, but we also should set our hope fully on the grace to be given us when Jesus Christ is revealed, while being self-controlled and preparing our minds for action. So is self-control something that only those of us who are young have to deal with? No… I think it’s something that we have to perfect and work out our whole lives through. The book of Titus gives us examples of qualities for people of all ages to be taught. Self-control (whether the actual word or just an example of a form of self-control) appears in the list of every age group…older men, older women, younger men, and younger women. Being self-controlled was also a requirement for any person with a position of leadership in the church. Self-control was that important…everyone was expected to have and live in it! So now perhaps we all understand a little better the value and importance of self-control. It’s not simple to keep ourselves from doing the things of the world a lot of times, I know. But we can rely on the grace of God to help us to say “no” to ungodliness and every other thing that distracts us from being clearminded and alert the way God wants us to be. I’ll leave you with this last thought… I believe that the devil works through our lack of self-control and our Heavenly Father works through our self-control put into practice. Think about that…who is working through your actions? PREVIOUSLY FEATURED FRUITS LOVE JOY PEACE PATIENCE KINDNESS GOODNESS FAITHFULNESS GENTLENESS Return To Main Page Return To Cover Page