Psalms 63:1-11 NLT O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory. Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you! I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer. You satisfy me more than the richest feast. I will praise you with songs of joy. I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on you through the night. Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely. But those plotting to destroy me will come to ruin. They will go down into the depths of the earth. They will die by the sword and become the food of jackals. But the king will rejoice in God. All who swear to tell the truth will praise him, while liars will be silenced.
God Hunger
The title of one of my recent sermons was "Hunger and Thirst the Way to Happiness." My text;
Matthew 5:6 ESV "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
This scripture comes from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount which was His declaration of the kingdom of God and it declares what the followers of Jesus, the people of the kingdom, are through the grace of God working in their lives.
When Jesus said that those who hunger and thirst will be satisfied He was actually asking, “How much do you want righteousness? As much as a hungry person wants food? As much as a thirsty person wants water?”
In the Greek this verse indicates a desire of, not just a portion but all of the righteousness of God.
As hunger and thirst are the most highly developed of our natural appetites, this hunger and thirst refers to "those whose deepest cravings are after spiritual blessings."
Just as physical craving is urgent, and calls for instant gratification, there is a spiritual craving that is equally, if not more intense.
Jesus is declaring that those who feel an intense desire for righteousness will get it.
The psalmist, David describes his relationship with God. In fact, he says that his experience of knowing the personal God creates a deeper longing for even more intimate knowledge of Him.
In this world, there’s nothing that satisfies us completely. . I’m hungry, I eat, and then later I’ll be hungry again. Only God can totally satisfy.
John Piper said, “If you don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great.”
We all have a spiritual appetite as part of our makeup as human beings. In fact, this yearning for spiritual fulfillment is a constant in our daily life. The question is, where is our hunger being directed?
If we are not hungry for the presence and purposes of God, then you can be sure we are hungry for something else. People chase after many things in response to this hunger: financial security, career success, the praise and affirmation of others, relationships, and more. But only Jesus can impart the abundance of life we crave. The more hungry for God we are, the more alive we are.
The revivalist John G. Lake said that the most powerful prayer any Christian can pray is, “God, make me hungry for you.” We are all a product of our spiritual appetite and none of us is greater than our prayer life.
There is a healthy restlessness that each of us should embrace – the restlessness that longs for heaven, for a deeper knowledge of God’s presence; the restlessness that marks us out as nothing more than pilgrims, passing through this temporary place and heading for our true destination.
Bill Johnson writes, “Never stop looking for His ‘new thing’. The moment we think we have arrived, we will fall. The moment we lose that hunger to travel to find Him, the willingness to wait in line to hear Him, a humility to encounter Him in a package that offends us, we’re in danger of missing His next move.
The title of one of my recent sermons was "Hunger and Thirst the Way to Happiness." My text;
Matthew 5:6 ESV "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
This scripture comes from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount which was His declaration of the kingdom of God and it declares what the followers of Jesus, the people of the kingdom, are through the grace of God working in their lives.
When Jesus said that those who hunger and thirst will be satisfied He was actually asking, “How much do you want righteousness? As much as a hungry person wants food? As much as a thirsty person wants water?”
In the Greek this verse indicates a desire of, not just a portion but all of the righteousness of God.
As hunger and thirst are the most highly developed of our natural appetites, this hunger and thirst refers to "those whose deepest cravings are after spiritual blessings."
Just as physical craving is urgent, and calls for instant gratification, there is a spiritual craving that is equally, if not more intense.
Jesus is declaring that those who feel an intense desire for righteousness will get it.
The psalmist, David describes his relationship with God. In fact, he says that his experience of knowing the personal God creates a deeper longing for even more intimate knowledge of Him.
In this world, there’s nothing that satisfies us completely. . I’m hungry, I eat, and then later I’ll be hungry again. Only God can totally satisfy.
John Piper said, “If you don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great.”
We all have a spiritual appetite as part of our makeup as human beings. In fact, this yearning for spiritual fulfillment is a constant in our daily life. The question is, where is our hunger being directed?
If we are not hungry for the presence and purposes of God, then you can be sure we are hungry for something else. People chase after many things in response to this hunger: financial security, career success, the praise and affirmation of others, relationships, and more. But only Jesus can impart the abundance of life we crave. The more hungry for God we are, the more alive we are.
The revivalist John G. Lake said that the most powerful prayer any Christian can pray is, “God, make me hungry for you.” We are all a product of our spiritual appetite and none of us is greater than our prayer life.
There is a healthy restlessness that each of us should embrace – the restlessness that longs for heaven, for a deeper knowledge of God’s presence; the restlessness that marks us out as nothing more than pilgrims, passing through this temporary place and heading for our true destination.
Bill Johnson writes, “Never stop looking for His ‘new thing’. The moment we think we have arrived, we will fall. The moment we lose that hunger to travel to find Him, the willingness to wait in line to hear Him, a humility to encounter Him in a package that offends us, we’re in danger of missing His next move.
RSS Feed