December 11, 1998

One of the many names and titles of God Almighty is El Shaddai. The name means "the many breasted one." God is revealing Himself as strong yet also as a nurturer who willingly holds his babies close in order that we may nurse and gain strength from Him. What is implied here is that whosoever will may draw close to the Lord to nurse. I believe this attribute is what is being referred to when the Lord extends this invitation. Psalms 81:10 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it." It's a beautiful picture of a nursing mother holding her suckling baby close.

My wife and I have two children and because of circumstances, our first baby was bottle-fed while the second was breast-fed. There is a shocking difference between their health. While meditation on the above verse in Lamentations, the Holy Spirit showed me something regarding the spiritual health of His church.

Before I pen this, let me offer a disclaimer. A working single mom raised me and my brother and sister and I know first hand how difficult that situation is. Despite the stress of growing up in a single parent household, we still came out OK! It was not God's ideal for us - He wisely gave us two parents for a reason. He still offers grace in hard places!

Like many verses, this story in Lamentations was rooted in a historical episode. It also has a spiritual application today for the church. God speaks here that even the jackal, an animal associated with cruelty and uncleanness, has enough compassion to suckle her young. He stated that the daughters of his people have become cruel and refuse to breast feed their children and his babies are starving!

"The tongue of the nursling cleaves to the roof of its mouth for thirst; the children beg for food, but no one gives to them." While there are many places where this has had literal fulfillment, let me suggest that many babes in Christ are in a similar place of malnutrition and starvation! Why? Because they are being fed "formula" and are not being "breast-fed!" Allow me to elaborate.

The Holy Spirit showed me a picture of a mother nursing and a can of baby formula. I felt him rebuke his church, specifically his shepherds, who feed his babies "formula" Christianity - who do not teach the babies how to walk in the Spirit and feed from the Word of God. The "formula" can be seen in many Christian bookstores. You know, "God's Keys to make You Rich," "The 7 Steps to This, "The Eleven Steps to That."

A babies immunity system is not fully functional for approximately a year and he has to get his antibiotics from his mother. Formula may be nutritional, but it offers no immunity! Babies need not only the milk, but the mother's antibodies, to grow healthy and strong.

Our son David was sick for the first 3 ½ years of his life. Asthma, allergies, and constant infections were his lot in life. My wife was a career girl and we formula fed our son with our physicians' assurance that it made little difference how we fed him.

Contrast David with our daughter Amber Jade who is breast-fed. Other than teething, she hasn't been ill one day in her life. I joking call her Baby Sumo because of her size. She sniffled one afternoon but it cleared up before sundown. She radiates continual good health and contentment. We are convinced the reason for the difference is because David was formula-fed and Amber Jade is breast-fed.

Formula is Christianity that contains Truth - but it isn't suckled (speaking of a nurturing relationship with El Shaddai). It's just dry Truth. When you go to Christian bookstores, you can find Formulas for starting churches, ABC plans for Bible studies, planning your life, and on and on. We now have so many accurate Formulas that who needs God? We've got this thing figured out!

Truth about God apart from a relationship with Him is exactly what the Pharisees had. New believers are exhorted in 1 Peter 2:2 to, "Like newborn babes, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation." The crux of the issue is that we teach people about God, but do not show them how to know Him!

Instead of teaching the young in Christ how to abide in His Presence, how to meditate on the Scriptures, how to walk in the Spirit and develop spiritual gifts and discernment, many pastors teach easily reciteable Formulas that are really spiritual short cuts to serving God. We look at spiritual truth like an algebra formula - never mind if we understand it or not - just use this faith formula, recite the following verses, plug in the variables, and ta-da! You'll get your answer guaranteed!

When a mother breast-feeds, she has to expose a bit of herself and be willingly to hold someone close. Self-exposure is risky and sometimes you can get hurt so many people won't take the chance. I knew a pastor once that had no relationship with his congregation. Many of the men in his church reached out to him in friendship and all were rebuffed. His church radiates an unhealthy spiritual pallor. He preaches doctrinal Truth but there is no nurturing relationship between him and his congregation. And they all suffer for it.

Likewise, I get disgusted when Rev. Brother so and so tries to sell me his latest tape - full of the latest formulas on being a successful Christian - and then promptly leaves town. God's heart is to have a relationship with His people. He wants us to know Truth, but also to intimately know the Truth, who is Jesus himself!

My wife is constantly thirsty. She has to drink milk and water constantly or she'll be sucked dry! How many ministries has this happened to? For those who will nurse the babies, who will risk self-exposure, there is the danger of going dry. You have to be in vital relationship with the Lord daily seeking Him in prayer in order to stay filled with the Living Water of His presence. If you abide in Him, you will never be thirsty! I suspect that is why Jesus often went off by Himself to pray - to be refreshed by his Father's Presence.

One of the main marks of Formula Christianity is that it lacks compassion. There are inviolable rules that have to work because, hey, this is the Formula! (and they usually have two or three stand alone verses to prove it). For instance, I had a close friend whose young child died. The girls' mom developed cancer while she was pregnant and nearly died herself.

A Faith preacher (and I believe in having Faith!) was actually rebuking these grieving parents for "not having enough faith," to believe for their daughter's healing. (I know her dad fasted and prayed for 5 days till she died.) Then he had the audacity to rebuke them further for not believing God for a resurrection!

You'll respect me when I didn't laugh when this man's weary wife left him a year latter saying he was insufferable. This man had "Faith" out the wazoo but lacked the compassion of Christ. He attended a well-known Faith Bible college and several years passed before I finally realized that he was a victim of Formula Christianity.

The scripture states in Matthew 14:14, "As he (Jesus) went ashore he saw a great throng; and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick." Compassion means to 'suffer together.' This poor man had formulas for every situation and just fell apart when his faith confessions failed. He was confessing for a restored marriage, but he wouldn't respect or love his wife who finally left him. She wanted a loving, nurturing relationship with a man, not someone who would only talk about Love all day long. She wanted to receive and experience the love he always talked about but never gave.

Formula is so convenient. Mix it up, serve it, and you're finished! Breast-feeding takes longer, is messier, and costs you something personal. Do you know Truth, or do you abide in a nurturing relationship with El Shaddai, the many-breasted one, who is the Truth? Consider the state of your spiritual health and see if you have been feeding on Formula or being breast-fed.

Bryan Hupperts
SheepTrax Ministries © 1998

SheepTrax(TM) can be distributed and reprinted for free in their entirety without prior permission PROVIDED it is not for profit. The Copyright serves to protect me legally. Please pass these messages on to friends!

We are available for evangelistic/prophetic meetings:
Bryan & Cyndi Hupperts
c/o SheepTrax Ministries
4744 Stone Hill Drive
St. Louis, MO 63128
(314) 416-0958
http://members.igateway.net/~bryanh
 
 

Back to:  WHATS NEW PAGE or FILELIST of
End Time Prophetic Vision