Posted on 04/11/2017 6:55:19 PM PDT by metmom
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied" (Matt. 5:6).
Your appetite for righteousness should equal your appetite for food and water.
David was a man after God's own heart. In Psalm 63:1 he writes, "O God, Thou art my God; I shall seek Thee earnestly; my soul thirsts for Thee, my flesh yearns for Thee, in a dry and weary land where there is no water." He communed with God and knew the blessings of His sufficiency: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. . . . He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness. . . . Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me" (Ps. 23:1-4). He endured unjust persecution for the Lord's sake: "Zeal for Thy house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach Thee have fallen on me" (Ps. 69:9).
David's zeal for God illustrates what Jesus meant when He said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness" (Matt. 5:6). The words translated "hunger" and "thirst" speak of intense desire. They are present participles, which imply continuous action. The idea is paradoxical: the believer's continuous and intense desire for righteousness is continually satisfied by Christ.
J.N. Darby, an early leader of the Plymouth Brethren movement, said, "To be hungry is not enough; I must be really starving to know what is in [God's] heart towards me. When the prodigal son was hungry he went to feed upon husks, but when he was starving, he turned to his father" (quoted in Martyn Lloyd-Jones's Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, vol. 1, p. 81). When you have that kind of desperation, only God can satisfy it!
Does your desire for righteousness drive you to Christ for satisfaction? I pray that the words of the psalmist will be yours as well: "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness" (Ps. 17:15, KJV).
Suggestions for Prayer
Ask God to use the events of today to increase your hunger and thirst for righteousness. Look to Him in all things, knowing that He alone can satisfy.
For Further Study
Read Philippians 3:1-14.
What does it mean to place confidence in the flesh? How did Paul define true righteousness?
Studying God’s Word ping
A sure way to reignight your “Spiritual Appetite” is to begin each day by taking Communion. I use regular grape juice (small amount), along with a small piece of a saltine cracker.
After you have done that consistently for several days, you’ll find your hunger for more of GOD has increased.
bookmark
But what about your appetite for coffee?!
j/k, good article
You know, many people want to know what God’s will is for their lives and seek to find out what person they should marry, and what job they should take, etc.....
Be here is something that we can pray for as God’s will for us. We can ask Him to make us hunger and thirst more for righteousness.
After all, he does promise that if we pray according to His will,He will hear and answer and that if we ask for the Holy Spirit, He will give Him to us.
I had a friend who many years ago told me that he didn’t worry about finding the right girl. He figured that if he was walking close to God and living in a good relationship with Him, that he would recognize God’s will when it happened, in effect, that he would recognize the right girl when he met her.,
And he did.
I thought that was pretty good advice from a 23 year old. A lot of wisdom and something I have tried to put into effect in my own life.
Good points. We know for sure that God’s will is for us to seek holiness and to love Him above all. If we strive for that, a lot of other things fall into place, more or less.
“I had a friend who many years ago told me that he didn’t worry about finding the right girl. He figured that if he was walking close to God and living in a good relationship with Him, that he would recognize God’s will when it happened, in effect, that he would recognize the right girl when he met her.,”
Last night I gave nearly identical advice to my three teenage daughters just last night.
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
If we seek first the kingdom of God all the rest will be added to us.
GMTA.
I didn’t even read your post before posting my previous one.
Kind of punches holes in the health, wealth, and prosperity doctrine, doesn’t it?
All that God wants for us. God doesn’t always give us what we want, but He always gives us what we should have.
It’s rather like the weather: no matter what the forecast says, what lands on me when I go outside is today’s weather. Similarly, whatever happens to me is God’s will for me.
GOD cannot MAKE US do anything .. GOD gave us FREE WILL; HE can’t take it back. We must choose.
If we need to hunger and thirst for more of GOD, then it’s up to us to seek out scripture which will guide us to achieving just that. After you find the scripture to support your desire for more of GOD, just set the words to paper, post it somewhere in your house where you will see it all the time; then commit yourself to read it every time you see the notes. It’s repetition; it feeds your spirit.
It’s called “the washing of the water of the Word”.
It works every time it’s tried.
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