August 18, 2021
Praying Partners,
Thank you for your commitment to pray each Wednesday for our prodigals and for revival. May God produce a deeper longing within all of us for the advancement of His kingdom and the honor of His name.
Are you satisfied or are you running on empty? This is not a trick question. Nor is it meant to be mysterious or misleading. It is a genuine question that asks you to dig deeply and search your life before God.
Jesus is very concerned about your satisfaction; by that I mean, your satisfaction in Him. In the fourth beatitude He says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6).
Let’s answer a few questions about the meaning of this text:
What does hunger and thirst signify? We are all hungering and thirsting after something. It is our physical makeup to desire, to need food and water.
When it is getting near mealtime, I often hear one of my children saying, “I’m starving!” I usually remind them that they have never been truly starving. But the small hunger pain is a reminder that food is needed.
It is also our spiritual makeup to seek things to satisfy our spirits and souls. It is normal and natural. We are more than physical beings. What we sometimes forget is that God has designed us for Himself.
When we hunger and thirst for things that cannot satisfy our souls, we shrivel. We become spiritually malnourished. These could be things that are selfish, things that are sinful, or even legitimate things that displace closeness with God.
John R. W. Stott said, “There is perhaps no greater secret of progress in Christian living than a healthy, hearty spiritual appetite.”
What is this righteousness? Firstly, it is the need to be made right before God. By nature we are guilty sinners, but through faith in the person and work of Christ we have been made right. This is what the Bible calls justification. This is the starting point in a person's walk with God.
Secondly, it is a reference to what God is doing within us. He is in the process of making us more and more righteous. The Bible calls it sanctification. The purifying work of God in our lives. It is more than just being made right in His presence, but being changed into His image and enjoying an ever closer relationship with Him.
A good relationship requires at least two people in pursuit of each other. There is no doubt that God desires a close walk with you, the question is, do you desire a close walk with Him? Above everything else?
If He is committed to us (He is) and we are longing after Him, the result will be beautiful. God, the Father who will be honored and pleased, and you will be satisfied in Him.
What is true satisfaction? It is not complacency. It is not found in relaxing, pleasant, comfortable circumstances. It is not knowing that your bank account is full or your retirement funds are at their peak. No. Satisfaction is being filled up by God.
When God fills our souls with His food and His drink, we will be satisfied. This was the psalmist’s experience. “As a deer pants for the flowing streams, so pants my soul for you O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (Psalm 42:1). This was Jeremiah’s experience. “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart” (Jeremiah 15:16).
In all that God has called you to do in your life, whatever endeavors, whatever plans He has, ensure that you seek Him and His righteousness. (Matthew 6:33). The promise of Jesus will never fail, you will be satisfied.
The prophet Hosea summed it up well. “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you” (Hosea 10:12).
Love in Christ,
Bryan and Rachel