Note: To download/print the document, click on the
title below.
Psalms
119:160-176 The
entirety of Your word is truth,
And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever. Princes persecute me without a cause, But my
heart stands in awe of Your word. I rejoice at Your word As one who finds great
treasure. I hate and abhor lying, But
I love Your law. Seven times a day I praise You, Because of Your righteous
judgments. Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to
stumble. LORD, I hope for Your salvation, And I do Your commandments. My soul
keeps Your testimonies, And I love them exceedingly. I keep Your precepts and
Your testimonies, For all my ways are
before You. Let my cry come before You, O LORD; Give me understanding according
to Your word. Let my supplication come before You; Deliver me according to Your
word. My lips shall utter praise, For You teach me Your statutes. My tongue
shall speak of Your word, For all Your commandments are righteousness. Let Your hand become my help, For I have
chosen Your precepts. I long for Your salvation, O LORD, And Your law is my delight. Let my soul live, and
it shall praise You; And let Your judgments help me. I have gone astray like a
lost sheep; Seek Your servant, For I do not forget Your commandments.
Father God, through the power of the
Holy Spirit I ask for conviction of our sinful lifestyle so that we can turn
from our sins (repent) and then have an empty and clean heart for your Son
Jesus to come and live within each of us.
In Jesus
name we pray, Amen!
Matthew 5:6 NKJV
This
Beatitude is about those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Just as a
person or persons shipwrecked on a deserted island hunger and thirst for food,
water, and rescue, a soul that is lost in sin also hungers and thirsts to be
fed and rescued. Many don’t know what that inner desire is, or why they feel
empty within living the life they live, and are always searching for happiness
or something to satisfy that hunger. They don’t realize what it is they are
craving, but it is that gift of Grace from God that comes with confession,
repentance, and accepting Jesus as their Saviour. Without this their soul will
die, and be forever in the flames of Hell when they depart from this earth, based
on scripture. That desire or craving that is deep within each person, is a
desire to live, live eternally with their creator, the way God intended things
to be, but Satan intervened. It is the inherited sin nature from Satan that
keeps our focus on our fleshly wants and desires of the world that keeps us
separated from God. This is why Jesus came in human form, to be the true
sacrifice, so we can choose to place our faith in Him for salvation and Him
only. Salvation is through faith in Jesus and what He did on the Cross of
Calvary for all mankind. There is not enough good deeds, prayers, or offerings
we can do to earn our way to Heaven. Heaven can only be obtained through
repentance of our lifestyle and asking Jesus into our life.
6 Blessed are
those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.
Blessed are those
who hunger and thirst for righteousness; What Jesus is saying here is that many people live in
poverty, spiritual poverty. A. W. Tozer noted, “Great people of Christendom
have had an unquenchable hunger for God”. The writers of the book of Psalms
mentioned many times they hungered for God. Just to name a few; David, Psalms 27:4 One thing
I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of
the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to
inquire in His temple. The
sons of Korah, Psalms
42:1-2 As the deer pants for the
water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the
living God. When shall I come and appear before God? David in the wilderness, Psalms 63:1 O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My
flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. Throughout all of Psalm 119 there is a
hunger and thirst by the Psalmist, as we well know because it is Psalm 119 that
has been listed now since December 25th. Just to mention a few; Psalms 119:34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your
law; Indeed, I shall observe it with my
whole heart. Psalms 119:40 Behold, I long for
Your precepts; Revive me in Your righteousness. Psalms
119:58 I entreated Your favor with my whole heart; Be merciful to me according to Your word. Psalms 119:145-147 I cry out with my whole heart; Hear me, O LORD! I
will keep Your statutes. 146 I cry out to You; Save me, and I will keep Your
testimonies. 147
I rise before the dawning of the morning, And cry for help; I hope in Your
word.
All of these verses reveal
a hunger or thirst for God’s righteousness and by studying God’s Word we know
that Moses, Abraham, Elijah, David, John, Paul, Peter, etc. all had that thirst
to know God more abundantly. This hunger isn’t just a onetime thing, it is one
that grows. The more we satisfy our hunger with the word of God, the more we
want. This hunger isn’t like our appetite of physical food where we are
satisfied once we eat something. This spiritual hunger is one that grows as our
relationship with Jesus grows. The more we read the Bible the more we want to
understand and live it, and that is exactly what we need spiritually to stay
walking close to God. Our hunger for Jesus is controlled by us. Many people claim
to be Christians, but practice religion based on their schedule; what is
convenient for them. Church on Sunday for 1 ½ hours and they are good to go for
the week living their life without change. Jesus said that it is the
spiritually hungry and thirsty who will be happy, for they’ll be filled with
the satisfying presence of the Lord. What do you hunger for?
Is
Spiritual Hunger the Reality of Your Faith? How well do you know God? Do you have a hunger to learn
more about what the Bible teaches? Do you strive to live a better life based
upon the teachings of the Bible? Do you look for Bible based activities to
attend and learn from? These are all good desires to have and indicating we are
seeking a closer relationship with Jesus. We have to have a desire to seek out
a righteous lifestyle. The Bible teaches that we must seek, ask, and knock. Matthew 6:33 But seek first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to
you. Matthew 7:7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock,
and it will be opened to you. These
attributes are a good indication that you have the right relationship with
Jesus and you want to magnify that relationship.
Many people call
themselves Christians, but do not seek after the things of God. These people
have what you would call an entry level relationship with God. They assume
since they know who Jesus is, and that He died on the Cross for mankind, that
is all they need to know. They are more consumed at pleasing themselves by
means of worldly things. If there isn’t a holy dissatisfaction in your heart
about your spiritual life, and a hungering and thirsting to go farther with God,
then there is something missing in your faith. I love God and His word, but the
Bible teaches we are to hunger for His word as we grow in faith. Spiritual
hunger is a blessed assurance within our hearts that we truly belong to Him. A
true Christian will own a Bible that doesn’t collect dust.
Is
Spiritual Growth the Results of Spiritual Hunger? We all know the story about the rich
man that came to Jesus and left with his head hanging because he wasn’t willing
to give up his worldly living and material luxuries. This rich man is the perfect
example of what Spiritual hunger is all about. We can’t ride the spiritual
fence; either we are on Jesus side of the fence or the worlds (Satan) side. We
can’t say all the perfect things and continue living a sinful life, and call ourselves
Christians in God’s eyes, because if we do we are being hypocrites.
Matthew 19:16-22 Now behold, one came and said to Him, "Good
Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" 17 So He said
to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to
enter into life, keep the commandments." 18 He said to
Him, "Which ones?" Jesus said, " 'YOU
SHALL NOT MURDER,' 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY,' 'YOU SHALL NOT STEAL,' 'YOU
SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS,' 19 'HONOR YOUR FATHER AND
YOUR MOTHER,' and, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' " 20 The young
man said to Him, "All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I
still lack?" 21 Jesus said to him, "If
you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you
will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." 22 But when
the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great
possessions.
This rich man represents
modern day society. He knew Jesus, who He was, the miracles He performed, what
He stood for, what He preached and taught, but that is as far as the
relationship went. The rich man knew Jesus with his mind and not his heart,
like so many people do. Many, many people claim to know Jesus because they deem
themselves good (Above; Jesus defines good as; No one is good but
One, that is, God.), they do good deeds, they go to church
on Sunday, they give money to charity, they aren’t thieves, they don’t kill,
etc. These people are banking on their reasoning for eternal life, and
are only fooling themselves. Their faith is in their actions and
thoughts and not faith in Jesus and understanding what Jesus did for them on
the Cross so they could have eternal life. So in essence what Jesus is telling
this rich man is if you can’t give up your love of money, material things, and
worldly pleasures, then you really don’t know me with your heart and you don’t belong
to me.
Early in Jesus ministry He
was followed by huge crowds of people. These people wanted the miracles of
Jesus but not the commitment Jesus required to be in his family. Jesus tells
them what they need to do if they want to follow Him, and as a result many left.
Matthew 10:34-39 "Do not think that
I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to 'SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, A DAUGHTER
AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW'; 36 and 'A MAN'S ENEMIES WILL BE THOSE OF HIS OWN HOUSEHOLD.' 37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of
Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not
worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will
lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. This is not what modern day society
stands for. If a person wants to grow in Christ, they must have spiritual
hunger. Do you know Jesus with your heart or mind?
Is
Your Spiritual Failure Due to Your Lack of Spiritual Hunger? Where does this hunger come from? Is
it developed somehow? Is it something we have and then one day it blossoms? Is
it inspired by something someone says? This hunger is desire, and life
without desire for life is deadly.
Let’s take sports players
as an example whether it be Olympians, football, basketball, baseball, hockey
players, or rodeo athletes’, they all have a desire to be the best. They
practice…practice…practice to hone their skills. It is this desire or hunger of
excellence that drives them. It is the same with business leaders or people in business
for themselves, their focus is on success. With each little bit of success the
hunger grows and the individual wants more, and a vicious cycle begins. All of
this is driven from within the person in hopes of the end result being
happiness. This hunger for happiness and self satisfaction takes all of the
individual’s energy, and many times ends with a void in their life that they
are trying to fill, but don’t realize it. Their focus is so much on success
they often times over look God, spouse, and family responsibilities. These
examples are examples of serving self and the world, which Satan drives and
loves, because if he can keep our minds occupied with self and worldly things
we won’t ever develop a hunger for God. Now don’t get me wrong, there are individuals
that are Christians in business that stay focused on God, and include God in their
business and family, and are successful.
So you see that hunger for
God starts out with a desire to foster or deepen your relationship with Jesus
and then we must practice it daily. We must read, study, and practice His Word
daily which will result in a hunger that will intensify with time. If we don’t
read and study the Bible daily we soon lose the hunger of the Lord and will
drift back into our old lifestyle. It takes diligence to withstand the wiles of
the world (Satan). It’s not easy, but the rewards are great! Do you have Spiritual hunger pangs that
need to be fed? Let me reassure you, that you do since you are reading this. So
the question is will you allow them
to increase? Maybe at one time you
had a close relationship with Jesus and read and studied the Bible daily, but
some life situations caused you set the Bible down and your relationship with
Jesus has become distant. Is it time to rekindle that hunger and relationship?
Are you hungry for God? Do you have as much of Him as you want? Are you
satisfied with where you are with God? Do you want more?
These questions you must
answer in the quietness of your own heart as you examine your relationship with
Jesus. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will one day be filled; the
“being filled” can only come about if we are truly empty of all self-worth and
trying to please ourselves; and then realizing
it! Jesus cannot fill us if we
are already filled with something else.
If you want to have the
satisfaction of being filled up with God, then develop your Jesus hunger now!
visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All
things were created through Him and for Him.
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God,
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Bill
Wiesbrock https://www.facebook.com/bill.wiesbrock?ref=tn_tnmn
The
Lighthouse Full Gospel Church
Sinners Prayer; Pray this, and if you believe
it with your heart, Jesus will save you!
“Lord Jesus
I know I am a sinner. I confess my sins
to you; I am sorry for my sins; I repent (Meaning, desiring to turn from a
sinful lifestyle.) of all my sins, and I am asking for your forgiveness of all
of my sins. I believe that only you can
forgive sin. I commit my life to you and
ask you to come into my heart, direct, and take charge of my life. I believe that you died to set me free from
my sinful lifestyle and you rose from the dead to give me eternal life, and
right now you are seated at the Right Hand of God Almighty. I believe you are
the Son of God; the only Way, the only Truth, the only Life, and my
Savior.” I believe this and have faith
you will make a new person out of me, by sending the Holy Spirit to dwell in my
heart and lead me in a new life. In Jesus name I pray Amen.” (John 3:16,17;
Romans 3:23; 6:23; 5:8; 10:9-13; Ephesians 2:8-10; 1
John 5:11-14; 1:6-10) (Sin: Rom.
1:22-32; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:3-7)
No comments:
Post a Comment