LESSON #1: LIVING BY THE WORD OF GOD
Jesus quoted the scripture above while He was hungry and the devil tempted Him to command the stones to become bread so that He could eat. Jesus could have done that and fed Himself. But, He did not do that because He had decided not to live by bread alone, but by every word of God. It means He would only quench His hunger according to the word of God. In the end, God sent His angels to minister to Him (Matthew 4:11). How? By bringing the bread of heaven for Him to eat.
LESSON #2: MEN EATING ANGELS’ FOOD
The psalmist wrote, “Yet He had commanded the clouds above, and opened the doors of heaven, had rained down manna on them to eat, and given them of the bread of heaven. Men ate angels’ food; He sent them food to the full.” (Psalm 78:23-25) He was talking about how God fed the children of Israel in the wilderness. There was no bread in the wilderness, so God rained down the bread of heaven called manna on them. Manna is angel’s food. It made them strong so that no one was feeble among them for forty years (Psalm 105:37).
LESSON #3: MANNA THE BREAD OF HEAVEN
Manna is the bread of heaven and it comes from every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. In heaven every word that God speaks becomes food for angels and it gives them such great strength. When Elijah was running for his life because Jezebel threatened to kill him, an angel made him a cake baked on coals (1 Kings 19:6). It was probably manna because he could go in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights (1 Kings 19:8).
LESSON #4: JESUS THE BREAD OF LIFE
Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.” (John 6:48,50-51) Jesus is the Word of God because He is the first Word that proceeded from the mouth of God. He is the Word which every angel in heaven lives by. Thus, He is the Bread of Life. So, when He became Man, He said that He was the bread which came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever.
LESSON #5: MEDITATING ON THE WORD OF GOD
How do we eat the bread of life from heaven? By meditating on the word of God. How do we meditate on the word of God? By constantly keeping the word of God in our mouth. God told Joshua, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night.” (Joshua 1:8) When we eat, we chew the food in our mouth. Likewise, when we meditate, we mutter the word of God in our mouth.
LESSON #6: MEDITATION PROCESS
When we chew food in our mouth, we bite it repeatedly and mix it with saliva. Our goal is to break down the food into smaller pieces and soften it so that it will be easier for us to swallow and digest it. When we meditate on the word of God, we mutter it repeatedly and mix it with the living water of the Holy Spirit in us. We break down the word of God into smaller parts, then mutter one small part repeatedly until we feel that it goes into our heart before we go to the next part. We do this until we complete the whole part.
LESSON #7: TAKING OUR TIME IN MEDITATION
Jeremiah the prophet wrote, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.” (Jeremiah 15:16) When we eat we should not do it hurriedly. If we eat hurriedly, we will not be able to chew the food thoroughly and we will have difficulty swallowing it. Besides, we will not be able to enjoy the taste of the food. Likewise, when we meditate on the word of God, we should not do it hurriedly so that it will enter our heart. Besides, the word of God tastes very good and brings joy to our heart. Therefore, we should take our time when we meditate on the word of God so that we will be able to enjoy its taste fully.
LESSON #8: TASTING THE WORD OF GOD
We should take a short scripture for meditation. If the scripture we want to meditate on is too long, then we should divide it into shorter parts. Then, we mutter it repeatedly; sentence by sentence, phrase by phrase, and word by word. Our mind should be focused on every sentence, every phrase, and every word that we mutter. We should move from one phrase or word to another slowly to get a taste of the word of God that we meditate on. When we get a taste of a certain phrase or word, we should pause and enjoy it while it lasts. The Psalmist wrote, “How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103)
LESSON #9: MEDITATION EXAMPLE
Let us say we want to meditate on the scripture, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21) We start by muttering the whole sentence repeatedly. Next, we break down the sentence into three phrases: “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” and mutter each phrase one by one repeatedly. Then, we break down each phrase into one or two words: “For, to me, to live, is, Christ, and, to die, is, gain” and we mutter each word one by one repeatedly. Thus we complete the meditation of Philippians 1:21.
