The Church in Spokane
TestimoniesThe Christian Life: a Matter of EatingI have always enjoyed eating, but before I began to meet with the local church in Spokane, I never considered eating Christ and being constituted with Him (John 6:57). Although I am 52 years old, I am a young Christian. As a child, I attended a denomination with my family and had a great love for the Lord. When my mother died suddenly shortly after my thirteenth birthday, I turned to members of my denomination and asked the question “Why?”; when they told me that God needed her more than I did, I was hurt and felt angry at God. I turned away from Him and although I talked to Him all the time, I considered myself an agnostic. I now know the Lord carried me through all of the difficulties I experienced. He led me to Himself. I was saved in 1995, and along with my husband, started searching for a church. On October 19, 1997, we walked through the doors of the meeting hall of the church in Spokane and knew we were home. Right away the believers began to feed us both physically and spiritually. I have been appreciating that the Lord, throughout the Bible, tells us to eat of Him. Starting in the book of Genesis, He told Adam and Eve to eat of the tree of life and all other trees in the garden except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16-17). We all know what tree they chose to eat from and the consequences of their choice. The Lord said in John, “I am the bread of life…” (John 6:35). In Revelation we are told, “I will give to eat of the tree of life,” (Revelation 2:7), and “I will give of the hidden manna” (Revelation 2:17). I have been enjoying the Lord in the local church, taking Him as my full supply. Just like in my physical being, I need to eat every day. The Bible contains a lifetime’s worth of meals, actually feasts. The more I eat of the Word, the more I am constituted with Christ. I started being fed with milk and am now experiencing the enjoyment of more solid food. Just as when I was a young child, my role was to eat and enjoy the food, I realize the Lord is looking for a group of Christians who will eat of Him and take Him as their full supply to be constituted of Him and become His Bride so that He can come back to fulfill His desire. I want to be a part of the mature Bride, which is a corporate matter. I thank the Lord for saving and making me a part of the Body of Christ. Gail Harding-Thomas |