So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.
Deuteronomy  8:3  NKJV


The lesson God wanted to teach by the manna was that as long as the people trusted in Him and obeyed Him,  He would sustain them.  In other words, man does not live by bread alone, but by believing every word that proceeds out of God's mouth.  How can we believe His Word if we do not personally take time to know it through study?


Several years ago 3,000 church members in one particular area of the country responded to a questionnaire.  One of the attitudes the study revealed was that once a person is baptized, his spiritual welfare depends more upon Sabbath services and fellowship than upon personal devotions.  Half the members responding claimed to derive their prime spiritual uplifts from the Sabbath services, and tragically blamed the minister and his sermons if they felt the lack of spiritual growth.


Little or no Bible study is not only dangerous, but fatal to spiritual growth, and each person is responsible for personal devotions.  If we allow the pressure of our daily programs to steal from us our right to spend time with God daily, who then is to blame?  We alone are responsible for our success or failure in this all-important matter of personal devotions and serious study of the Scriptures.


Those who permit the Bible to gather dust during the most of the week have a slim chance of growing spiritually.  If the Scriptures contain leaves from the tree of life, and if the purpose of the tree of life is the healing of the nations, it becomes obvious that true success in the spiritual life is dependent to a large degree on our personal spiritual development through earnest, Spirit-led Bible study.


How can we experience death to self and life in Christ?  how can we learn experientially  to ask,  "Who is it that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God"  (I John 5:5 RSV)?  What keeps us from falling into the cruel gears of sin?  There is no other way than in and through the Word of God.



taken from: First Things First
                      November 15
                 by: Bob Spangler