Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled ~
Matt 5:6
These days we don’t properly understand what it is to hunger and thirst. No wonder we take cold spiritual snacks once a week(on Sundays) and are okay.
The people to which this was written understood this very well. They did not have water flowing through a tap in their homes; or sachet water which you could buy at every corner. They got water from the well or the brooks and sometimes you have to journey for miles to get some. Your throat could be very dry and burning. They really understood thirst and hunger. The working man in Palestine at the time ate meat only once a week.
That kind of hunger and thirst is not one you quench with a snack. You must cultivate an intense appetite, hunger, thirst, desire for God, for His Word; for that is the only way you will be filled. Let your soul long after Him as the deer panteth for the waters.
Isaiah 55:1-2
Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
The Lord wants you to sincerely DESIRE Him. Proper hunger and thirst: The hunger of a man who is starving. And the thirst of one who will die unless he drinks..YOUR APPETITE FOR THE WORD OF GOD MUST DRIVE YOU TO IT EVERYDAY.
So question is, how much of the Lord do you desire? Do you want him as much as a starving man wants food, and as much as a man dying of thirst wants water? How intense is your desire..
In fact God is surprised that we spend our 24hours and a huge chunk of our resources on things that will not satisfy our inward man.
“WHY DO YOU SPEND MONEY FOR WHAT IS NOT BREAD, AND YOUR WAGES FOR WHAT DOES NOT SATISFY?”
There are still believers who struggle with all kinds of vices. Sins and acts you don’t like. God tells you in his word to lay it down. If God tells you to lay it down, it means he knows you have the ability to lay it down.
I Peter 2:1-2
“Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby”
Then He says you can do this by growth.
First cultivate a desire for God’s Word and it will make you grow to a point you will no longer struggle with those sins. When a baby is born who doesn’t like to eat, do we leave him to himself? No. The mother forces him to eat for health and growth purposes.
That’s what you must do with God’s Word. There are days you will like to eat the Word of God, there are days you will not like to eat at all. In both instances you must still eat the Word so you may grow. That’s why we preach the Word. That’s why I send you these messages. Even if you don’t feel like reading it, still consume it. For as the Word grows you, your desire for the word and the things of God will grow accordingly. Praise God.
As a believer, you have Christ in you. But your level of manifestation of the Inward Christ is equivalent to the KNOWLEDGE and the CONSCIOUSNESS OF HIM you have – which is also by how much desire you have for Him. The secret to having Jesus manifest himself to you is loving him sincerely. Jesus said, ‘And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” -John 14:21
Your love for God is demonstrated in how you fellowship with God in prayer and His word. This is not a feeling. Because there will be many times you won’t feel like praying, or studying God’s Word, and keeping God’s Word. But your love and reverence for God will make you still spend time with God in prayer and the Word, and fellowship with the Spirit of God. This is how you cultivate desire for God. Glorrrrry!
