Living in Asia taught me valuable lessons that I thought I already knew very well. From the most economically impoverished, physically hungry, and physically thirsty people I have ever known, I witnessed and received the YeHoVaH-kind of genuine love and fellowship that I had never witnessed or received from my financially better-off American brothers and sisters in Yeshua. These Chinese poverty-stricken believers that I fellowshipped with were blessed with spiritually fat souls. That’s why they were able to freely share their insufficient measures of food, drink, and housing with me. More importantly, they also freely shared their precious time and their treasured spiritual riches.

My soul benefited greatly from the lessons their generous hospitality taught me. They showed me how deeply concerned they were about their own soul’s daily need to eat spiritual food and drink spiritual water. None was too concerned about eating daily portions of homegrown or money-bought provisions, which only could keep their physical bodies from wasting away.

In truth, no amount of money could buy the gift that satisfies our thirsty and hungry souls. That gift (eternal life that comes with a close, intimate, personal relationship with YeHoVaH) is so important it is priceless! That’s why Isaiah prophesies that only the Messiah (Yeshua HaMashiach) can offer YeHoVaH’s priceless eternal life gift for free (Isaiah 55:1). Centuries later, Yeshua fulfills this prophecy. His death on the cross paid in full the high price of our eternal life gift.

Lastly, my Asian brothers and sisters showed me how being diligent about our spiritual life is the price we pay for our FREE daily portions of Living Bread and Living Water – the spiritual food and spiritual water we need to fatten up (prosper) our souls. We purchase these daily portions with our sincerest pursuit of forgiveness for our sins, our faithful acceptance of the finish work Yeshua fulfilled on the cross, and our devoted hunger and thirst for YeHoVaH’s holiness and righteousness. This diligence is how we make our souls spiritually fat. It works as long as we never let spiritual sluggishness (mere religious desires) keep us from daily renewing our minds.

Is your soul wasting away? Is your soul getting fat off of Yeshua’s spiritual Bread and the Holy Spirit’s spiritual Water? Selah! 

“The slacker’s soul craves, yet has nothing,
but the diligent soul will be satisfied.” ~ Proverbs 13:4; cf. Isaiah 55:1-2

 Keep it real … Live it out … Watch it work!

~ from Keeping It Real: Daily Renewing the Mind (edited)