Proverbs 13: You Are What Your Soul Eats
How do you feed a hungry soul? (Hah, you thought I was gonna say “man” there, didn’t you? 😁 And now you’re humming the TV dinner tune, right? 🎶 Okay, maybe that’s just me.)
But, seriously, for all we’ve talked about hungering and thirsting for The Lord, we haven’t really discussed the care and feeding of that hunger and thirst. Solomon got it in a few verses of Proverbs Chapter 13. Like…
Proverbs 13:2-3, 19, 25 WEBUS
[2] By the fruit of his lips, a man enjoys good things, but the unfaithful crave violence.
[3] He who guards his mouth guards his soul. One who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.
[19] Longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but fools detest turning from evil.
[25] The righteous one eats to the satisfying of his soul, but the belly of the wicked goes hungry.
https://bible.com/bible/206/pro.13.2-25.WEBUS
But there’s so much more depth to it, especially when you learn the meaning of the word soul in Scripture. The Bible Project guys do an amazing teaching on this subject. Watch the video from YouTube here on the blog, or go to their site where you can find all 6 videos in the Shema series plus read the transcripts or download them in PDF. The site is at https://bibleproject.com/videos/nephesh-soul/ and here’s the video…
Once you’ve learned the meaning of the word soul (Hebrew nephesh), go back to those four verses above and read them again. Spoiler: the word represents the complete essence of life in its fullest form. So when you read Psalm 42:1-2, you’ll see it as something like, As the desperately thirsty deer pants for the water, my whole life longs for You, Lord God. It desperately thirsts to be satisfied by The Living God. When can I come before Your Holy Presence again? And when you seek with that kind of longing and get filled up by The Lord Himself, you will wonder how you ever wanted anything less than that. And you will have just an inkling of how God feels and why He pursues us. The Got Questions site has a great article on the question “Does God Pursue Us?”
And now, enjoy this video of the song As the Deer…
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The Heart of The Matter
(CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
As we end “love” month, I’ve got to ask: Do you love maple syrup? I’ve eliminated most sugar from my diet, so I don’t get to enjoy my favorite maple nut goodies (candy) or French toast with lots of syrup, but I can still add maple flavor to a few things like oatmeal and sugar free pecan pralines. Sometimes, even banana (flourless) pancakes. But if you do like fresh maple tapped from trees, and if you are near or can get to Salem, Indiana on March 1st, 7th or 8th, go out to LM Sugarbush LLC and enjoy the free festival loaded with vendor booths, front porch music, old west shootouts by The Cowboy Posse, and, of course, maple syrup. Being winter, there are other syrup festivals around, so if you find one to attend, tell me about it in the comments.
So,this is it; the final day of February. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed coming up with 28+ different ways to present heart shapes along with a few heart inspired titles. And now, as we end the month, what do you think was the heart of the matter? I’m sure you’ve figured out that LOVE is the main theme behind every post, be it God’s love for us, our love for Him, or love in other forms.
Now, I want to end with this wonderful video by “The Bible Project” guys who break down the biblical word for love as used in ”the shema” from Deuteronomy 6:4. I recommend the entire 6 videos from that series, so here’s the one about love (as in to love The Lord)…
I love where these guys show how “heart” really meant EVERYTHING in Bible days and cultures. They mention how you know with your heart, understand with your heart, and have wisdom and discernment in your heart. Even the concept of a broken heart comes from ancient Hebrew understanding.
And tomorrow, we begin a month of 31 days, so I’m using that to take us through the 31 chapters of The Proverbs. Come back to see what treasure and wisdom I find there, and be sure to share your own in the comments.
Now, the shema as stated by YahShua (Jesus)…
Matthew 22:36-38 WEBUS
[36] “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?” [37] Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’[38] This is the first and great commandment.
https://bible.com/bible/206/mat.22.36-38.WEBUS
And His next words expound on it a little more...
Matthew 22:39-40 WEBUS
[39] A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ [40] The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
https://bible.com/bible/206/mat.22.39-40.WEBUS
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I Love the B-I-B-L-E
So Feb 23rd is the anniversary of the first printing of The Bible by Johannes Gutenberg in the year 1455. That makes it a perfect day to share a few things about God’s Holy Word. If you want to read the Today in History article about it, just visit https://thisdayofhistory.com/2026/02/22/february-23-1455-a-printer-changes-the-world/
I didn’t always love the Bible. I mean, I loved parts of it, but until I spent enough time doing my own study, my lack of understanding made it seem impossible to follow. A few teachers that used it more like a weapon than a love letter didn’t help. And it is sharper than a two-edged sword that cuts deeply, but it’s less like a weapon and more like a surgical tool. It will cut away the parts that can damage or destroy you and allow you to live free from the cancer of sin. Of course, anyone using it as a tool like that should also have good “bedside manners” and take care of any wounds created by doing that kind of “surgery.” But even if you haven’t had the best experience with Bible teachers, I promise you that if you’ll devote time to read it (or listen to it from one of many audio sources available now), it will change your life.
There’s an old acronym that says BIBLE stands for, “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.” I also like, “Basic Instructions Before Living Eternally” because following the Bible can make sure you live eternally with The Creator who loves you and has prepared a future for you.
The children’s song says…
The B-I-B-L-E,
Yes, that's the book for me.
I stand alone on the Word of God,
The B-I-B-L-E.
Here's a video of that song: https://youtu.be/lGrPHyK8ns0
One of my favorite Bible studies is the full year of reading interspersed with teaching videos by The Bible Project. It’s called “The Full Story, from The Beginning to the Amen” and you can find the study in the Bible app or at YouVersion at http://bible.com/r/5uC
Now, if you want a fun way to learn all the books of the Bible, check out this video from ApologetiX called La Bible as a parody of “La Bamba.”
An old Christian country song by Alvarado Road Show (formerly Brothers Clark/Clark/The Clark Family) is a tear-jerking song about a family in turmoil called “A Bible, A Bottle, and A Gun.”
And one of my absolute favorite songs about the Word of God is called Just An Old Gideon Bible and it’s sung beautifully by Terri Lynn Weaver.
I hope you enjoyed this variety of Bible-based videos and music. And don’t forget that biblical writers talked about The Holy Bible right in the Bible.
2 Timothy 3:16 WEBUS
[16] Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness,
https://bible.com/bible/206/2ti.3.16.WEBUS
Romans 1:16-17 WEBUS
[16] For I am not ashamed of the Good News of Christ, because it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first, and also for the Greek. [17] For in it is revealed God’s righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith.”
https://bible.com/bible/206/rom.1.16-17.WEBUS
Romans 10:14-15, 17 WEBUS
[14] How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in him whom they have not heard? How will they hear without a preacher? [15] And how will they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!”
[17] So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
https://bible.com/bible/206/rom.10.14-17.WEBUS
Happy Bible Day, and happy journey into falling in love with God’s Word through His love letter to you. ☦️📖💓🕊️ Comment with your testimony of how God’s words have worked in your own life.
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Hand in Hand with God Almighty
Sometime in the past month, I read a quote that said something like, “God is more interested in what you do with Him than in what you do for Him.” I can’t find it again now to correctly attribute it, but those words say so much to my heart. I did find a similar quote by Malcom Smith that says, “While we are in a frenzy of doing for Him, we are in grave danger of missing the whole point of the Gospel – which is being with Him… He has many servants but few friends!”
In the short video I’ve shared above from The Bible Project (I love their videos and highly recommend them), the guys animate a lesson about partnering with God in this life. When I watched it as part of one of my studies, it made me think of that quote, and the whole message has been working in my spirit.
So many religions, and even non-religious ideologies that require good deeds, have leadership (or gods) that demand allegiance in word and deed but not in any sort of relationship. People do good (and even sometimes evil in the names of their gods) to get to their future reward. And they will pay any price because they think that reward must be earned. And it works for keeping people in line with the rules, but it’s too shallow for a life with a Creator who loves His creation so deeply that He actually left His glory to suffer in the flesh to make sure we can spend eternity with Him. He absolutely wants a partnership with each of us.
Another quote states it well by saying, “When you finally realize it isn’t about cutting off sin, it’s about loving God so much that your desires for sin no longer exist.” That kind of love will bring you all the fruit of God’s Holy Spirit and His Wonderful Presence. In Deuteronomy 4;7, Moses says, “What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to Him?” (WEBUS) And if having that kind of close friendship and love with your Creator sounds good to you, memorize this promise from Jeremiah 29:13 (World English Bible/WEB)…
13 You shall seek me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart.
And here’s an older beautiful hymn with lyrics to sing along; What A Friend We Have in Jesus…
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