Hungry?

We are usually yearning for something. Be IT tangible or intangible we crave something, but obtaining my worldly desires has perpetuated an endless cycle of wanting something a little better. I'll admit, I'm insatiable, and obsessing over all the temporal things stresses me out. However, I believe an insatiable ache for something greater is proof the world will never satisfy my deepest longings, which is motivation to grow in relationship with Jesus. He tells us, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. My righteousness is filthy rags, and Christ Jesus is our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. Furthermore, God made Him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, that in Him (Jesus) we might become the righteousness of God. (Matthew 5:6, Isaiah 64:6, 1 Corinthians 1:30, and 2 Corinthians 5:21) These texts remind me to follow the instruction of a popular hymn the next time a craving for worldly stuff emerges.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Look full in His wonderful face,
and the things of this world
will grow strangely dim
in the light of His glory and grace.

Jesus told the women at the well, “Everyone who drinks this water (worldly things) will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give will never thirst again. Indeed the water I give will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Jesus promises to fill us up when we come willing to hear from Him and drink from His Word. (Holy Bible)

Another interesting point about Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well is Jesus met with her privately. He speaks to me personally and intimately when I get away to a quiet place, clear my mind, concentrate on His splendor, and share what is on my mind.

Jesus feeds the hungry when they come to His table willing to eat. (figuratively speaking)

Divine Fuel

What is hope? The following just occurred to me. Hope is my energy, and energy generates motivation. Thus, when hope dwindles, motivation weakens, and when hope grows, motivation strengthens. So, if my hope is fully in God and His promise of eternal life, then I will be completely motivated to let His Son, Jesus, live His life through me, and I will live the life God created me to live.

So, the amount of hope determines the amount of work I am willing and desiring to do. If my hope is chasing a vain aspiration then my motivation and desire to work for God is diverted to my own hope of fulfilling a dream that that is governed by temporal uncertainties. Now the vicious cycle of uncertainty breeds fear, fear of failing evolves to doubt, and doubt, if left to slither around in our mind is like a boa constrictor curling, quickly wrapping, and devastatingly crushing our hopes. We sense the doubt is there, but often will not react until hopes feel crushed. However, conversely doubt should be an alerting siren and flashing warning light going off with a message stating our hope is not to be founded in our own ability, and propel us to a place of seeking God's face, and submitting all we are, and attempting to understand the relevance of God's grace that redeemed us from death to life, and rekindling our faith in God All Mighty.

Isaiah 40:31 “But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.”

Visual Lessons

God is teaching, but learning requires attentive eyes and/or ears. Truthfully, there isn't a moment God isn't teaching, but there are countless moments when His students aren't aware. Momentary awareness could result in a life transforming experience.
Here's one of those moments I witnessed that really left an impression.

Our 2-month-old son has torticollis (twisted column), which sounds much worse than it really is. Actually, this is a fairly common condition due to infants sleeping on their back and repeatedly favoring one side of their head completely turned with chin touching the shoulder. (This is a combination of very little research mixed with my reasoning as to how this occurs and its effects.) After a while the muscles in the neck and upper back region will begin to tighten up and make it uncomfortable for them to face the opposite way, and their head will eventually become misshapen; due to the spine attempting to keep the cranium facing forward, or at most seventy degrees to the to the nearest shoulder. However, a few months of physical therapy and due diligence of the caretakers usually corrects and leaves no evidence of this condition.

So, one evening my wife positioned our son so he would have to turn his head the other direction to see her face, and he was doing everything in his power to turn his body but not his head to see my wife’s face. As I watched this went on for fifteen minutes, he would squirm to allow his body to turn, but not his head to see my wife’s face; then, she would repositioned him and hold his body so he would have to turn his head to see her face.

No doubt there was discomfort for him when he turned his head the other way. My wife was only doing what was necessary to help strengthen muscles on one side and relax them on the other side of his neck, shoulders, and upper back. Beneficial in the long run, but he only felt the immediate discomfort of turning his head, so he immediately responded by moving his head back to a comfortable position, but wanted to keep his eyes on my wife. Eventually, he gave up trying to squirm free of my wife’s hold and keeping his eyes on my wife must not have been worth the discomfort of turning his head. So, he just looked at the floor.

How often am I hell-bent in my mind to keep my eyes on God, but I’m unwilling to let discomfort strengthen me. So, I avoid the discomfort or run from it once uncertainty emerges or become discouraged during discomfort and uncertainty and give up seeking His holy face. When all He is trying to do is strengthen me for the future He has carefully planned.

Mirror or Microscope

I wonder what our blog posts and follow-up comments would state if upon logging onto the internet our souls were entirely revealed, and everyone instantly knew everyone like God knows us. Does identifying others’ darkness bring us into the light? Once brought into the light is our darkness hidden? What if everyone saw us as God saw us. No darkness, no iniquity was out of your neighbor’s sight, and your neighbor’s soul was in the open for all to see. The commonly used verse, “He without sin cast the first stone,” would not be a scripture that was held in the recesses of our subconscious, used to exhort, counsel, and hold others accountable, but would be a truth we personalized and most certainly lived by without evoking thought.

Well, the thing is: all our neighbors’, who we may conceal all our sins from, may very well judge us on earth, but God, you cannot hide a single thought from, is the ultimate judge of our soul. Thus’ knowing that God knows and sees all, why do we cover our iniquities and attempt to reveal everyone else.

May God become so real in our lives that we can not see outside ourselves until we have gazed into the eyes of God.

Temptations

We may not want to give into the temptations in our heart, but emotionally in our mind we hold onto the perceived pleasure the sinful action or behavior may bring. We may say, “I don’t want to lie or cuss or look at pornography or answer the call of alcohol or any voice of addiction anymore, and we very well might mean it from the bottom of our heart with all sincerity. That is great, but are we disconnected emotionally. I mean do our emotions control us. Our mind envisions the pleasure of the sin. This happens to us all, but it is how we act at this moment that shows what is controlling us. Is it our emotions, or is it our heart that only wants to please God?

(The paragraph above is my recollection of others' teachings. I apologize for not remembering the sources from which the above information was compiled.)

For me I have struggled with sexual addiction for far too long. I have asked, pleaded, and accepted God’s deliverance from this sexual sin many times. Now it is time for me to practice self-control, and live like I am forgiven and delivered.

Recently, I have been taking a deep, hard look at how this sin issue is controlling me. I found that emotions are controlling me. I have fallen for desires believing would yield pleasure. However, falling into the temptation always leaves me lying in a pit full of shame and guilt salivating to devour me. I know this, so why do I fall? Like the adage, “To complete a process repeatedly and expect a different result is insanity.” Sometimes, I give in because, I think, “I will eventually. So, I might as well get it over with.” Or simply my flesh is weak, and I do not attempt to look for a God honoring alternative choice. I also recognize my strength to endure the temptation has been relevant to the environment. If I am home alone, and lustful thoughts come I am more apt to succumb, than when I at home with my wife or daughter. Now I am taking steps to control my emotions and make God honoring decisions.

First, I mentally go through the process of what happened last time I allowed my emotions to control me. Then I ask myself, “Is the decision I am about to make God honoring?” This is helping, but I still realize my flesh is weak, but the indwelling Holy Spirit is strong, and I search for the arms of God as soon as I fall even before I commit the sin.

Now for practicing self-control, for me I have planned actions in place when temptations come. I do one or more of the following depending on accessibility: call my wife, do something constructive with my daughter, call a friend or mentor, read the Bible, pray, or remove myself from the tempting environment.

But most importantly, I am allowing the power of Jesus living in me to search me an excise this spiritually lethal sin, which honestly is not clear-cut and easy. This, reminds me of some words from A.W. Tozer’s The Pursuit of God. Here is my version from an excerpt from the book.

- From us we must remove the entirety of the sin plant that has grown strong, and this separation is not easy. In fact it is very painful as we pull the deeply rooted sin, still wrapped tightly around places dark within us we don’t allow visitors. We believe, finally, after many emotional battles and prayer, the sin is removed. Then, returning to find the sin’s roots has sprouted again. Thus, sinful behavioral habits must be removed with constant conscious effort of allowing the Holy Spirit to spot the sinful nature at its first forming, then pulling and digging to the very ends of the root system and removing the still bloody sin from us and disrupting the soil bed and planting God honoring behaviors and actions to guard the sin seed from the soil of our heart.
-

I know that Jesus is not still on the cross or entombed, but He is alive and lives in me, and God has forgiven all my sins. Now, I just need to let Jesus live His life through me, as I continue to surrender all I am and have been given to manage to God. I know the power of the Holy Spirit living in me is greater than any temptation that can come my way, and continually, devouring and digesting the Word will give me divine wisdom and discernment to make God honoring decisions. Furthermore, His power is greater that I will ever comprehend, and amidst all temptations, God always provides an escape. God has promised the crown of life for those who withstand temptations giving God all the glory.

A few of the many words of God that have helped me battle my addictions.

John 3:30 “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Ephesians 1:19-20 “I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.”

Psalms 31:5 “Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth.”

Ephesians 3:20 “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”

Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

1 Corinthians 10: 13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

James 1:12 “Blessed is the man that endures temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”

1 Peter 1 13-16 “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’ ”

I Desire to Desire to Desire You God

Without a true deep longing and an unquenchable desire for God I will never experience the complete manifestation of JESUS in my life. Until I remove the crowns from my vain possessions and glory-seeking positions and rid the sanctuary of my heart designed by God for God of all my selfishness, pride, and everything that competes in my spirit for the crown that rightly belongs only on God, my life will be incomplete. Simply, my life belongs to God, and everything I possess, I am to manage under the authority of God. Everything was created by God and given to His creation, but nothing was meant to compete with my desire for God. I should allow nothing to take my eyes off of God and lessen my relish for Him. I understand I am human, But I am empowered by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to love and trust God above all else, to love my neighbor as I love myself, to resist the devil, to thank God for temptations but not sin, to be holy because God is holy, to seek God like a hidden treasure, to humbly obey the commandments of God (all of them), to give God all the glory, to discern crafty snares and traps and not fall prey, to know I need God every moment of my life, to listen and not speak foolishly, to let God increase in my life as I decrease, to have a pure heart, to be poor in spirit, to be a good financial steward, to not let circumstances dictate who I am, to never deny Christ, to worship God in all I do, to understand I was blessed for the purpose of blessing others, to not be a barrier for others seeking God, to know that health and wealth will fail me, but God never will, to be patient and wait on the Lord, to allow God to change people, to lead my family with grace, to guard my heart above all else, to allow the Holy Spirit to constantly inspect my heart, to give God thanks for all things, to hear the voice of God above all else, to have the fear of God necessary to obtain divine wisdom, to fully surrender ALL of ME to GOD!

(2 Corinthians 5:15-17)
And he (Jesus) died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

I believe there is a world of difference between “being” in Christ and “believing” in Christ, and this verse does not read: Therefore, if anyone believes in Christ, he is a new creation… Even the devil believes in Christ. Is the devil a new creation? No the devil is not IN Christ.

(Revelation 21:5)
He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."

Who is seated on the throne of my heart today? (Possessions, Positions, People)? Job title, car, family member, pride disguised as humility, thoughts, addictions, desires, laziness, deceitfulness (fill in the blank) ______, or is GOD ?

God I ashamed my desire for You has diminished. Lord make me hungry and thirsty for only You and all of You, oh God. Oh God, continue to search me and show me the idols I worship. God, I know my everything belongs to You, and it is only by Your ever endearing grace and mercy that I can come before You. My heart cries out.. Oh God I need You – consume me like a ravishing fire and burn all of my idols to ashes. Clean and restore Your temple that is rightly Yours. Fill me oh God with all of You. Let me only hunger and thirst for righteousness. Oh God come burn down everything that is not You inside of me, and Your light inside of me will shine through me, drawing others to You, and the glory is always Yours forever. Thank You, God – Amen!

(Psalm 73:25-26)
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail,but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

(Revelations 21:6-8)
He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."

For No Other Reason - Than You Are God

This post came from the impact this post by Perry Noble, had on me.

God I want to know you because you are God and for that reason alone. I do not want to seek your attention because of something I want you to do for me, or even something that I know you can do. I want to come to you with pure motives, undefiled love, and a true heart that offers you everything I have, I am, and everything I consider myself.

For you alone are God, and deserving of all I am, and all I am able to offer. God you stand on your own. Everything of this great universe and beyond, from the abyss of the great oceans to the endless skies of the heavens are fashioned and created by Your great hands. Who am I to stand amidst You, all mighty and infinite wisdom, and think that I can manipulate Your power by empty worship and ulterior motives. For me to sit here and even consider the thought of my next sentence to be possible by any other means than Your grace and mercy is ludicrous. I am here because of You. I am right here in this chair this very moment like the potential pollen resting on a petals edge waiting to be deposited by the wind of Your voice blowing on a summer day. You alone have allowed this time for me. My decisions have placed me here, but only by Your grace, which never ceases to manifest, have I arrived at Your holy feet. I am honored to be clothed in Your mercy and grace, and the very thought of You, God, calling me out of the bowels of hell and into Your kingdom is completely inexpressible through mere words. My emotions are fires of joy stoked by breath mentioning Your name. Your unfading love drapes around me like a mother owl protecting her young, You vanquish my fears like a lion driving off hyenas from his own. The Holy Spirit transforms my heart, mind, and soul to the likeness of Your Son, the Holy Lamb of God, and the only perfect sacrifice. Who suffered a horribly gruesome death while I was yet a sinner; so, that I would have hope of salvation through His righteousness for my sake to experience a relationship with His Father. Jesus, who sinned not once, yet willingly bares all my sin; so, God can look upon my face. Jesus, You are amazing and my words hold no value describing who You are. Thank you God, oh thank you. Hallelujah!



All glory to You God, all glory to you. You are God, and Your very essence draws my soul to want You to need who You are – all the characteristics of Jesus to inundate me, to overwhelm me, to fill me until I am a spring from the water of life; an aqua duct dispersing Your grace and love. Just the thought of Your majesty reigning over all the seen and the unseen makes my body and spirit quiver in Your sight. Your eyes scorn the hearts that only seek consumption of your blessings of grace, and squabble about serving others’ needs and replenishing the earth with the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

You are the great I am! I am here, God. I know I need you. I tried to live life on my own and through my own devices, and all I found was shame, guilt, and dissatisfaction that spawned and fostered insatiable desires and tendencies to seek pleasure stemmed by pride and selfishness. You fill me with joy, peace, and a desire to seek goodness and maintain peace. I do thirst and hunger for righteousness, but I know I need a ravenous appetite for YOU, and Your will for me will be an unconscious effort, because Your passion will be my passion, Your desire will be my desire, Your heart will be my heart, Your eyes will be my eyes, Your arms and hands will be my arms and hands. Your feet will be my feet; Your pain for the lost and suffering will be my pain for the lost and suffering. Your comfort for the weary and lonely will be my comfort for the weary and lonely. Your mercy for those entangled in a web of addictions and bad choices will be my mercy. Your song will be my song. Your hope for the imprisoned will be my hope for the imprisoned. Your suffering for the homeless and needy will be my suffering. Your hurt for the hungry mouths that have no food will be my hurt. Your pain will be my pain, and your joy will be my joy. All glory is Yours and always will be. Thank you God.