Pastor Lon Williams | Feeding and Starving | April 12th, 2026

Choice determines what grows in a life. The sermon presents a simple, practical spiritual diet: intentionally feed faith, hope, truth, and God’s promises, and starve fear, doubt, bitterness, and past regrets. Feeding is not neutral; whatever receives attention, words, and action becomes stronger. The teaching uses everyday images—diets, junk food, and eagles—to show how spiritual nutrition shapes vision, energy, and destiny.

A clear life mantra anchors the whole argument: feed what you want to live and starve what you want to die. That discipline requires deliberate speech, persistent thought-life adjustments, and community accountability so fatigue and temptation don’t lead back to junk-food thinking. The roaring lion of doubt prospers when given repeated attention; the same energy devoted to worry can instead fuel praise, confession of God’s promises, and steady obedience. Practical examples—Gideon’s transformation from hidden, insecure man to victorious leader, and the contrast between the twelve spies—illustrate the cost of feeding fear versus faith.

The content presses toward action: change the diet of the mind, speak God’s truth over circumstances, and refuse the slow poison of habitual complaining. Spiritual growth shows up as renewed confidence, clarity of calling, and the ability to rise above storms like an eagle. The result is not mere positive thinking but a supernatural posture—living by God’s word rather than by feelings—and walking into the promised places God prepared. The closing call binds enemy strongholds and declares a blessing for those who choose to starve what should die and feed what should live.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. You choose what you feed Every thought, word, and habit acts like spiritual nutrition; choosing to focus on fear or on faith determines which becomes stronger. This discipline isn’t denial but a deliberate reorientation: confess what God says, replace toxic narratives with truth, and measure success by obedience rather than immediate feelings. Small, daily choices compound into identity and destiny. [43:24]
• 2. Feed what you want to live Faith grows when nourished by scripture, praise, and consistent obedience; it atrophies when left unfed. Speaking God’s promises aloud realigns thinking and trains the heart to trust beyond present circumstances. Steady spiritual diets produce long-term resilience and fruit. [46:56]
• 3. Starve the roaring lion of doubt The enemy prowls by amplifying fear through repeated attention; withholding that feed weakens its power. Refusing to rehearse negative сценарios, replacing them with God’s character, and using community accountability diminishes the roar. Over time the once-intimidating threat loses bite. [48:15]
• 4. Believe and act like Gideon A change of spiritual diet transformed Gideon from hiding to victory; belief coupled with obedience unlocked supernatural results. Choosing God’s identity-word over self-lies rewires courage and produces disproportionate outcomes. Personal calling advances when thought-life aligns with God’s declarations. [63:40]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [17:45] - Opening announcements
• [32:50] - Prayer and declarations
• [36:12] - Celebrations and gratitude
• [41:02] - Curveballs and life changes
• [43:24] - Main thesis: choose what grows
• [46:56] - Mantra: feed life, starve death
• [48:15] - Starve the roaring lion (doubt)
• [63:40] - Gideon: from hiding to leader
• [80:24] - Spies, promised land, and choice
• [85:11] - Practical diet: faith foods
• [87:15] - Closing prayer and blessing

Bible reading:
1 Peter 5:8 (ESV) - Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.
Judges 6:12 (ESV) - And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.”
Numbers 13:30-33 (ESV) - But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone to spy it out is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

Observation questions:

1. In Judges 6, what was Gideon's initial response when God called him a "mighty man of valor" and what does this reveal about what he had been feeding on? [01:02:15]
2. What was the difference between the report of the 10 spies and the report of Joshua and Caleb when they saw the Promised Land? [01:20:24]
3. According to 1 Peter 5:8, how does the enemy operate and what is his goal?
4. What are some of the "junk foods" of the spirit that we are told to avoid? [54:57]

Interpretation questions:

1. The sermon compares the lion's roar to the doubts and fears that roar in our lives. How does "starving" these doubts, as one would starve a lion, actually weaken their power and influence? [48:15]
2. Why is it significant that God called Gideon a "mighty hero" before Gideon had done anything heroic? What does this tell us about how God sees us versus how we often see ourselves?
3. The 10 spies and the 2 spies saw the same land and the same giants, yet came to completely different conclusions. What was the fundamental difference in their perspectives and what were they each choosing to feed? [01:20:49]
4. The sermon states that "faith cannot stay where fear lives." What does this mean in practical terms for a person's thought life and daily habits?

Application questions:

1. The mantra "feed what you want to live and starve what you want to die" is a daily choice. [46:56] What is one specific "lion" of doubt or fear in your life that you need to consciously stop feeding this week? What is one practical step you can take to starve it?
2. The sermon suggests that when we are tired or weary, we are most vulnerable to "spiritual junk food." [01:10:01] What are the warning signs in your own life that you are getting spiritually weak? Who is one person in your community that can help hold you accountable to a healthy spiritual diet during those times?
3. Gideon had to choose to believe God's word about his identity over his own feelings of insecurity. [01:03:40] What is one "mighty hero" truth from Scripture that you need to start speaking over yourself, even if you don't feel it yet? How can you incorporate declaring this truth into your daily routine?
4. The 10 spies infected an entire nation with their fear-based perspective. [01:20:49] In your spheres of influence (work, family, friends), are you more often a "10-spy" who magnifies the giants or a "Joshua/Caleb" who magnifies God's promises? What is one situation this week where you can choose to be a faith-feeder for others?
5. The sermon encourages putting the same energy we use for worry into praise and confession of God's promises. [52:06] Identify one recurring worry. What is a specific promise of God from Scripture that directly counters that worry, and how can you actively "feed" on that promise instead?