Still Hungry?

We were talking in general terms about spiritual things. The other person admitted to being deeply discontent with life, in spite of having what appeared to be an enviable lifestyle. Cars, vacations, a nice home … yet she was dissatisfied.  I think I know why.  By her own admission, she had no meaningful relationship with God.  She told me “I believe in God and I trust Jesus as my Savior.”  But daily prayer, regular worship, engagement in service – she admitted they were not part of the way she lived.   

While we talked, my mind remembered the words of an ancient preacher. "Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways." (Haggai 1:5-7, NIV)

Are you hungry? Perhaps you do not recognize it as hunger.  For you it is that sense that there must be more to life or there is the feeling of emptiness. Most likely if you’re reading this, you are a Christian, having made a profession of faith. But, are you a disciple? Like my friend above do you just believe in Jesus or do you follow His ways, desiring to serve Him? 

Some Christians spend day after day in endless diversion trying hard to fill up an empty soul. Their spiritual diet is one of pre-digested devotional material, 2 minute prayers, worship when convenient, and refusal to ‘get real’ with Christ is a sure way to slip into religion without relationship. They avoid the spiritual disciplines of contemplative prayer, silence, generosity (more than money, by the way), or fasting because they are hard or unfamiliar. They practice a form of Christianity that is more about ‘what I feel’ rather than daily discipleship. When life gets rough, instead of working through the situation with the help of the Spirit, patiently learning from it, they reach for a quick lift of inspiration.

And, their soul remains hungry for the Presence of the Living God.

Truth is that we are made to know God and to be filled with His Spirit. If we do not pursue Him, either because of rebellion or ignorance, we will look for something or someone to fill up our soul! Curiously, when we find ourselves stressed by temptation, pressed to our limits by life’s trials, we will feel the pull of ‘the flesh.’  Our soul hunger may get mixed up with sensual desires. All kinds of things we thought we would never even consider can become alluring when life is clouded with uncertainty.

The Lord asks us a question and follows with a promise: "Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare." (Isaiah 55:2, NIV)   Mature disciples know in Whom they find lasting satisfaction. With the Psalmist they say, "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." (Psalm 63:4-6, NLT)

The Scripture teaches us to seek Him and His ways. Will you prioritize your spiritual life, make seeking God more than something fit into a convenient spot in a busy life?  

Put worship first. Find a place to help the needy where there is no reward or recognition. Pray to live for justice, to be full of forgiveness, to love Him and others intentionally, not occasionally.

The word from the Word is a promise. I pray you will live in this deep satisfaction with the things of the Lord.

"The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail."  (Isaiah 58:11, NIV) 

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10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)

(Matt Redman builds our faith with this song of praise)

Bless the Lord O my soul

O my soul

Worship His holy name

Sing like never before

O my soul

I'll worship Your holy name

The sun comes up it's a new day dawning

It's time to sing Your song again

Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me

Let me be singing when the evening comes

You're rich in love and You're slow to anger

Your name is great and Your heart is kind

For all Your goodness I will keep on singing

Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find

And on that day when my strength is failing

The end draws near and my time has come

Still my soul will sing Your praise unending

Ten thousand years and then forevermore

Worship Your holy name

Lord I'll worship Your holy name

Jonas Myrin | Matt Redman

© 2011 Atlas Mountain Songs (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

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Serenity!

Are you confident in God’s love for you, completely assured that you are right with Him?  In my pastoral care, I talk with people who wonder if they have made the cut with God, if an eternal home is really theirs, if He loves them truly.  Sometimes the source of their ‘dis-ease’ is a terrible choice of the past, a regrettable moment of moral failure. Sometimes their faith has been battered by extended suffering or loss. For a few, it is an incomplete knowledge of the Gospel; too much Hellfire preaching leaving out Amazing Grace!

In his letter to the Romans, Paul makes the case for Christ.  Humanity is held captive to sin, subject to judgment, destined to perish – except for the intervention of God. When you get to chapter 5 in his letter, he shifts to the assurance of the Christian. "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." (Romans 5:1-2, NIV)

No Christian need wonder about his acceptance with God!  Because of Jesus, and through faith, there are two amazing declarations God makes to us.

1. We are at peace with Him! This is not just about an absence of conflict. This is about a state of being that envelopes our experience, that is greater than our emotions. There is serenity that flows out of what He has done to justify us – to erase the debt of our sin.  Beyond that He says that we are now reconciled to Him! "For since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life." (Romans 5:10, NLT)

2. We enjoy access to Heaven’s favor!  The barriers are removed. The judgment is gone. We have access to GRACE.  When things get difficult in some area of life, having someone “on the inside” really can help, right?  The right person can open doors of opportunity for us.  Christ Jesus provides us that kind of ‘insider’ status.

 We live in faith that focuses on Christ Jesus, not on ourselves. If we attempt to find assurance by trying harder, peace will elude us. If we measure ourselves against others, we will either fall into false pride or misery of inferiority.  He is our peace. He is our Open Door. What He did on our behalf is complete, totally satisfying the righteous demands of God, and giving us unwavering hope.

Paul anticipated a question that may be forming in your mind – “If God is for me, if I have this status of serenity and access to grace, why is my life filled with pain? Why am I suffering?”  You may not like his answer, but it is truth.  "And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." (Romans 5:2-5, NIV)  Suffering can have a purpose!  If we meet it with faith in Jesus, we can rejoice that He is developing a new kind of person in us – steady, deep, filled with Jesus, and hopeful.

Suffering does not always mean that there is something wrong with our devotion. It is not a punishment. The penalty for our sins and failures was taken by Christ Jesus. Suffering, when matched with faith, can make us beautiful.  That is not a popular idea, but it is grounded in the revelation of God’s Truth.

Whatever your situation, however you may be feeling today, turn your eyes to Jesus. He is our PEACE!

The word from the Word declares the depth of His love for you, for me.  Receive Him and the gift in faith. "When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, no one is likely to die for a good person, though someone might be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s judgment." (Romans 5:6-9, NLT)

What blessed assurance!

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Blessed Assurance

(Elevation Worship invites us to rest)

Blessed assurance Jesus is mine

Oh what a foretaste of glory divine

Heir of salvation purchase of God

Born of His Spirit washed in His blood

This is my story this is my song

Praising my Savior all the day long

This is my story this is my song

Praising my Savior all the day long

Perfect submission perfect delight

Visions of rapture now burst at my sight

Angels descending bring from above

Echoes of mercy whispers of love

Perfect submission all is at rest

I in my Savior am happy and blest

Watching and waiting looking above

Filled with His goodness lost in His love

Fanny Jane Crosby

Public Domain

Responsive?

I like to see a return on investment, don’t you?  When I put my time and effort into a project, I want to know that something positive will come of it. A friendship that deepens into a partnership is a thing of delight, isn’t it?  When we plant a garden, the best part is when we get to enjoy the produce from that plot of ground that we have sweated over for months.

God is looking for a return from us. Jesus calls that ‘fruitfulness.’  "I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing." .  . . . My true disciples produce much fruit. This brings great glory to my Father." (John 15:5,8, NLT) What is this fruit of which He speaks? It is the character and likeness of Christ Jesus in us, the qualities of the Kingdom worked in this world through us by the Spirit; “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”  (Galatians 5:22)   

Is the Lord pleased with the quality and quantity of the fruit of the Spirit in your life?  We cannot be spiritually fruitful apart from the LIFE of the Spirit operating in us, anymore than a dead apple tree can produce apples!  While the Spirit makes the fruit possible, there is a part that we play. Our life must be open to the flow of the Spirit, our daily inclination towards an obedient love of the Father. Jesus spoke of the Father as the Gardener who ‘prunes every branch so that it will be even more fruitful.’  Yes, He uses His Word and our experience to bring us closer to Him, to cut away the things that keep us from the abundant life He desires.  And yet, we know that unlike a tree in an orchard, we have the ability to reject His plan, to resist His work, to become unfruitful by choking off the nourishing work of the Holy Spirit.

I love another story that Jesus told because it reveals the Father’s patience and persistence for us.  "Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ ”‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’” (Luke 13:6-9, NIV)   

Are there situations that are making you face your need, hard things that are confronting you with a call to change, circumstances greater than you can manage that create a sense of desperation?  These are some of the ways that the Spirit digs around our hearts, opening the ground for nutrients!  He pours on grace; words from the Word that show us the Truth, encouragement from a friend that helps us to turn around, moments of revelation that clearly show us His way. Will we receive His work, letting the fertilizer do what He intends – increase our fruitfulness?

Jesus’ story has another possible ending which we cannot ignore. The tree that does not respond to the digging and fertilizer can be cut down! “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." (John 15:1-2, NIV)  It is hard to even think of the possibility of being ‘cut off’ because of our refusal to receive the gift of His life, isn’t it?

Is the Spirit making you fruitful in the things of God, increasingly bearing the image of Christ Jesus?  He desires that very thing from us and does all that is necessary for fruit to grow.

Meditate on this word from the Word, prayerfully today.  "As we know Jesus better, his divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly life. He has called us to receive his own glory and goodness! And by that same mighty power, he has given us all of his rich and wonderful promises. He has promised that you will escape the decadence all around you caused by evil desires and that you will share in his divine nature. So make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life. Then your faith will produce a life of moral excellence." (2 Peter 1:3-5, NLT)

Lord, increase our fruitfulness as we live in You and through You. Amen.

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Your Grace Is Enough

(Matt Maher sings of the work of the grace of God.

Worship along with him today.)

Great is Your faithfulness O God

You wrestle with the sinner's restless heart

You lead us by still waters into mercy

And nothing can keep us apart

(So) remember Your people

Remember Your children

Remember Your promise O God

Your grace is enough

Your grace is enough

Your grace is enough for me

Great is Your love and justice God of Jacob

You use the weak to lead the strong

You lead us in the song of Your salvation

And all Your people sing along

Yeah Your grace is enough

Heaven reaches out to us

Your grace is enough for me

God I sing Your grace is enough

I'm covered in Your love

Your grace is enough for me for me

Matt Maher

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