Finally, we got to attend service again. It’s been two months since we last attended. Last time, I gave birth the night after we attended, and this time, we had Noah with us! I just love how yesterday’s focus verse was something I can totally understand in a whole new light:
Like newborn babies,
you must crave pure spiritual milk
so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation.
1 Peter 2:2 NLT
I’ve prayed that prayer before—that I don’t merely “escape the fires of hell,” but to really live out what and how God wants me to. There are rewards in heaven waiting for us, as if Jesus, our ultimate Reward, is not more than enough.
Sharing with you my thoughts from going through my notes today.
Like Newborn Babies
Moms are not unfamiliar to how frequent newborn babies crave and need milk. I needed to feed Noah every 2-3 hours round-the-clock, 24/7. No pause button. That’s what was needed to be done. Otherwise, he won’t get the nourishment he needs for him to grow. Like newborn babies, we won’t grow apart from spending frequent time with God’s Word.
Babies would give hunger cues that signal moms to feed them. If not attended to, then they will burst into a cry. So they say, when the baby’s already crying of hunger, that’s already a too-late sign. In the same way, we must go to God and read His Word regularly, and not just when we feel it’s already too late and it becomes our last resort. When Noah would sleep through his next feeding, the nurse would tell me to wake him up so he wouldn’t miss to feed. Even when Noah doesn’t feel the need to feed, he needed to be fed. Like newborn babies, even when we don’t feel like we need to read the bible, even when things seem so peaceful and perfect, we need to read the bible. Otherwise, we won’t get the nourishment we need for us to grow in our walk with God.
Milk
From yesterday’s preaching: milk protects the baby from pathogens that can kill him. In the same way, God’s Word protects us from falling prey to false teachings, lies, and gives us wisdom and strength to flee temptation.
It’s amazing how breastmilk works. A mom’s body produces the right mixture of whatever breastmilk is made up of to meet the specific need of the baby at a specific time. If the baby is sick, the breastmilk will contain stuff that will help the baby fight the sickness. Breastmilk in the early days after giving birth is different from breastmilk days after because in the early days, the baby’s stomach is smaller and needs a “concentrated” drink. As the days and weeks go by, the baby’s stomach gets bigger and the breastmilk composition changes. Breastmilk in the morning is different from breastmilk at night, because the dietary needs of the baby is different in the morning and at night. Like milk, the Word of God gives us whatever we need at any given time. Answers are there—we just have to look in the right place and that’s in reading the bible. Even the same verse can speak differently in different seasons of our lives.
Full Experience of Salvation
We all want to be in a place where there is no sorrow, no pain, no tears, and we know that heaven is the only place without these. From yesterday’s preaching: Why wait until we die? We can live heaven on earth now!
Yes, it’s not going to be perfectly free of sorrow, pain, tears, but we can have lives living out the plans of God—plans to prosper us, to give us hope and a future. We will grow into a full experience of salvation when we keep our hunger for the Word of God.
Who wants to produce much fruit in this life? Who wants to receive anything they ask? Who wants to bring glory to God? I know I do. But I need to remain in the Word of God:
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches.
Those who remain in me, and I in them,
will produce much fruit.
For apart from me you can do nothing…
But if you remain in me and my words remain in you,
you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!
When you produce much fruit,
you are my true disciples.
This brings great glory to my Father.
John 15:5, 7-8 NLT
My prayer today is that you and I will always be hungry for God’s Word, and that every single day, you and I will live out a full experience of salvation.
After a loooong day out (we were at church in the morning and at my parents’ after), Noah who is now 2 months old (no longer that newborn who needs to be fed every 2-3 hours round-the-clock), slept through the night from 10:30 PM to 5:30 AM! I’m so proud of him! I knew he had it in him already! Of course, I didn’t sleep through the night. I was checking up on him every so often!!! ? But I do hope this is the start!!!
