CHANGE IN THE WAY I RECEIVE MANNA

'Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.' Joshua 5:12

As early as 2013, the Lord has already been telling me about how the way I receive manna from Him will change because I will be entering my promised land. At that time I was feeding mainly from Christian books, devotionals and sermons. There wasn't anything wrong about it, just that I felt the Lord wanted me to wean off milk and take solid food. He wanted to give me fresh revelations from the bible and not depend in others' revelation, however wonderful it may be. 

But this process of change wasn't easy for I didn't know how to study the bible and gain nuggets of truth. I wanted to obey the Lord but I just couldn't feed well from the bible. I still needed to rely on others' revelation. It took quite a while for this transition to be completed for I wasn't ready. Well, I tried but the bible just wasn't coming alive to me. I even used bible study guides but still it was very dry. 

God told me to let go of the old manna in order to embrace the fruit of the land. Just as the manna ceased on the day after children of Israel had eaten the produce of the promised land. God desired for His past provision to so build faith that they could conquer any giant and never give way to a mindset of bondage again. But His best for us was if we are willing and obedient, we will eat the good of the land. 

Once I had the pillar of cloud and fire to guide me in the wilderness, now that I am in the Promised Land, I got to fix my eyes on a small ark. Once I had manna falling from the sky, now I got to glean my own manna. I never realise that at some point in my walk with God, even the way I feed from Him had to change. I got to wean off milk and start talking solid food. 

In Mar this year, I realised that I have not been gleaning as much from the devotionals. It was like suddenly the messages did not speak to me anymore. There was a time when I was very well fed by these devotionals. It was like God was speaking non-stop to me. Oh how I loved it! Then all of a sudden, it seemed like God has gone all silent. Yet not exactly because He was still speaking to me, albeit in a different manner. He was speaking directly to me as I woke up in the mornings. 

It should not come as a surprise fo the Lord did tell me long ago that after I entered the promised land and ate of its produce, the manna will cease. It then occurred to me that the way I received from the Lord has changed. I could not longer depend on these manna coming to me from others' devotionals. I have to receive my manna directly from God. But how am I going to receive from Him? I do not like to read the bible directly. I prefer to read others' interpretation of the bible. 

But because I was not gleaning enough from the devotionals, I was 'forced' to feed from the bible. Yet it was scary and uncomfortable because I still did not know how. I really had no choice but to stay close to the Lord for guidance on how I receive manna, because I discerned that from Mar onwards, I have entered into a new season. Hence the way I receive manna really has to change because I have entered into my Promised Land. Even so, I was still gleaning from the devotionals but not totally fed. 

Until yesterday. During service, the Lord told me to start reading the bible. I was still wondering how when He gave me the secret to receiving the manna. First He told me to start from Paul's epistles, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians. Then He said because I already know many scriptures from these epistles, those could be the landmarks in each chapter. The key was to know a few landmark verses and relate it to the whole chapter. And so, this new journey has begun...