Hunger and Thirst...

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled (Matthew 5:6)


Did you know that the human body often confuses thirst for hunger? As a result we sometimes eat when we should be drinking. Our bodies are made up of 70% water and it is necessary for us to drink frequently to remain healthy and living. We certainly know all about hunger and being filled. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, most folks put on lots of extra pounds. In fact, the very word ‘filled’ found here in Matthew 5:6 means...to be satisfied in the sense of being stuffed after a sumptuous meal. There are times when we get really hungry...most noticeably when we are young and growing and our bodies demand food and between meal snacks. When we go without eating, we end up with headaches and a sense of gnawing in our stomachs. Yes, we know all about physical hunger and thirst, but how much do we really know about being spiritually hungry and thirsty?

Jesus drew the attention of the woman at the well when He offered her a drink of living water that would so satisfy that she would never thirst again.  The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” (John 4:15) She was apparently weary of coming to that well every single day, pulling up containers of water and then carrying them home on her aching shoulders or head. We know that Jesus was speaking of Himself as the ‘living water’. He was referring to a spiritual thirst that is in every person. It is as demanding on our spiritual man as natural thirst is on our physical beings. Just as Jesus taught the Samaritan woman at the well about water, He also taught His disciples about food. They had gone to town to get some food and they encouraged Jesus to eat some of it. “But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” (John 4:32) then He went on to teach them what spiritual food is all about… “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. (John 4:34) Walking in obedience to God, doing His will and accomplishing the assignment was an important part of spiritual hunger being satisfied. That’s what righteousness is all about—not doing what we want, doing it our way, whenever we want to do it—but rather seeking to do His will, His way! So often we think of righteous living as just being holy, and not sinning. But true righteousness is walking in daily obedience to God and His will and plan for our lives. If we are trying to live on the spiritual junk food of entertainment, busyness, and good deeds, trying to make ourselves look good, trying to fill the void in the human heart with activities in which God did not ask us to partake—we are dying a little each day as we begin to spiritually starve to death. What we need to ask ourselves is—”What does God want me to do for Him today?” We need to spend time in prayer, spend time in His Word, carefully listening to His voice speaking into our hungry souls. There He will give us just what we need—direction for life. Our part is to trust and obey. It’s just like the old hymn that tells us:

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

There are some people who are hungry but don’t know it. If they are ill, hunger sometimes fades into a distant memory. Some have to be placed on artificial feeding tubes to maintain their health. Those who do not know God are much like this in their spiritual lives. They are hungry for God, but don’t know it. They try to fill the hunger gnawing at them by filling their lives with the many seductions of this world, only to discover like the woman at the well—they just do not satisfy. They are hungry and thirsty, but in their lost condition, they don’t know what they are thirsty or hungry for.

We all know the old saying “You are what you eat.” In America, we just have to look around at any average crowd of people and we can see those who have overindulged on things that do not satisfy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that American men eat 7 percent more calories than they did in 1971; American women eat a whopping 18 percent more—an additional 335 calories a day! Our lives have become more sedentary, and our diets have been modified with fillers, chemicals and modified forms of sugar to make it all ‘taste good’. We may not be hungry physically, but we are not healthy either. Our spiritual lives are in much the same condition. When we feast on selfish indulgences in the church rather than fast, pray, and read the Word, our spiritual lives get out of balance. It’s time for a return back to the basics, both in our physical diets, (eating fruits, vegetables and lean meats) and in our spiritual diets (feasting on the milk and meat of the Word of God.) Anything else will bring disease and death.

Our main meal should be centered on the Bread of Life. Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty...Jesus taught us in John 6:35. It is our desire to eat and be satisfied, but what we eat is the key. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray he prayed... Give us each day our daily bread. (Luke 11:3) We usually think of this as getting enough food for our daily physical needs. I believe Jesus was talking about much more—our spiritual bread. We need our spiritual man fed daily with the Bread of Life. Jesus goes on in this same chapter of Luke 11 to describe a man who comes to the house of his friend at midnight asking for 3 loaves of bread. He persists until the man gives it to him. Then he draws an analogy with God—who gives to us the Holy Spirit—”If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:13 We need to be persistently asking and seeking God for more of Himself, more of the Spirit...and yielding more of who we are to His control. God wants to satisfy our spiritual needs, and He has provided all that is required—the living water of Jesus, the Bread of Life and the Holy Spirit. All we need to do is ask!

What are you asking God for today? Too often we get caught up into the ways of the greedy world around us. We crave the best car, the nicest home, the biggest pile of gifts under the Christmas tree and when we don’t get what we want, we go buy it and charge it on our the credit card. America is swimming in debt. It is trying to fill its emptiness with “stuff.” Our closets and garages are overflowing. Goodwill stores are stuffed to the rafters. We “feel good” when we shop and bring home just one more bag full of goodies. It’s time to stop! It’s time to feast once again at His table. There He will satisfy the soul, fill our spirits with Himself, and make us into the righteous men and women of God He wants and longs for us to be. Look once again at the verse we started out with: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled (Matthew 5:6) Here it is again in the Amplified Bible: Blessed and fortunate and happy and spiritually prosperous (in that state in which the born-again child of God enjoys His favor and salvation) are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God), for they shall be [completely satisfied! I don’t know about you, but I want that. I want to so hunger and thirst after God, thirst for His righteousness, that God comes through—completely satisfying my needs. This prosperity is a spiritual prosperity. I am rich when I rest under His blessing, and when I am in right standing with God. When that happens, everything else just falls into place.

Are you seeking happiness? Find it in God and His forgiveness and righteousness. Are you empty? Nothing but God can fill the empty place in your life! Where are you looking to satisfy your deepest desires and longings? Just look at your checkbook or bank statement and see where you have been spending your time and money. Our values reflect our diets. We do what we love. Do we love Him more? He sacrificed Himself for us, but are we willing to sacrifice for Him? Parents, the things you value are being taught to your children. Do you value spending time worshipping God at His house? Or do you sleep in, telling yourself, we’ll go next week or next month—and the years slip on by. Soon the kids are teenagers and have no interest in God or church. Your values have become their values. You feel it is important to give a good tip at a restaurant for good service—but in church, well, God does not need my tithes… And so the blessings fail to flow—for Jesus taught—”Give and it shall be given…”

Do you want blessings to flow in this New Year? Blessings come to those who hunger and thirst after God and His righteousness. Nothing less will do! Take some time to go pray at your church. Your pastor might go into shock, and it might just spark a revival! Spend time praying with your wife and your children. Make prayer an important part of your daily life. Let them learn that when there are needs, we must go to God. God is the One who hears and answers prayer. If there are no prayer meetings at your church, start one! Men, if you want to be the priest and spiritual leader in your home, take the lead and lead your family in prayer. Anything worth doing is work and it will take determination and consistency. The reward is in the blessings that follow...your hunger and thirst will be satisfied and you will be filled to overflowing in righteousness.

J. Johnson

The Silent Killer

The Silent Killer

We listen to the advise of experts to protect our home and families from things that can harm them, even kill them. One of those deadly silent killers is radon while another is carbon monoxide. Radon, an invisible radioactive gas that seeps into homes through foundation cracks, causes 100 times more deaths than carbon monoxide poisoning, says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. We learn that there are ways to deal with these two deadly problems. We place detectors in our homes that will alert us to the impending danger. Those detectors have saved many lives while homes without them, have sometimes had fatal consequences. As families have slept, the gases have filled the homes gradually eliminating healthy life giving oxygen with deadly odorless gases, causing the human body to begin to shut down, go into coma and sometimes die from lack of good clean air.
There is a silent killer lurking in many homes and churches across America. Daily it does its task of destroying the plans and purposes of God in the lives of God’s people. Like the deadly gases, radon and carbon monoxide, it seeps into our lives when we least expect it, and begins gradually doing its deadly work. This silent killer begins with a casual remark, a careless word, an undeserved jab or even a thoughtless deed. It results in cracks in our clay vessels that cause our love to leak out and the painful killer to seep in. What is it? Unforgiveness! You may lightly say…”Oh, but that’s not my problem!” Unfortunately, it’s everyone’s problem. In our own personal lives, it colors our view of life. In the church, it affects everyone with whom we rub shoulders. It has been known to destroy marriages and families, as well as dividing churches and ruining ministries. Most pastors have at one time or another heard someone say, “I’ll NEVER forgiven them!” They say they are Christians, but the pain of the deadly silent killer has already tainted their soul. They forget everything they ever learned from the Bible and make the pain of the past more relevant, more significant. They unconsciously choose to never forget, and in doing so, they also never put it behind them.
How To Clear the Air.
Forgiveness clears the air in our spiritual lives. Refusing to forgive invites poison that pollutes our souls. But how can we forgive those who have hurt us in such awful ways. How does a child forgive the incest? How does a woman forgive the date-rape? How does a mother forgive an abusive husband who damages not only her but her children? How does a wounded Christian forgive abuse of another Christian? It is not impossible. Just as you choose to love and trust, you can choose to forgive.
1. Recognize that the anger and frustration you feel comes from a moment of hurt that needs attention. Sometimes we tend to sweep it under the rug and ignore it, hoping it will just all go away in time. Yet the wound continues to fester.
2. Remember that others who may have hurt you are also vulnerable to hurts and may have been hurt in the past. Abusers often were abused themselves. When you see them as victims, it creates compassion rather than hate.
3. Forgive yourself. Perhaps you did something for which you blame yourself, resulting in the problem. We all make choices, some good and some bad. We learn from our mistakes. A baby learns to walk by falling down and getting up again and again.
4. When you can, restore relationships. Some have a habit of ‘snipping’ others out of their lives. Each person who wounds them in any way gets ‘snipped’ from their list. A story was told of a woman who did this all of her life. She began with many friends, but on the day she died, her family expected a large crowd at her funeral, only to be surprised when only the immediate family came to pay their respects. All the old friends of the past knew they had been snipped out of her favor years before. How sad! When we ostracize family and friends, we are expressing our lack of forgiveness. How sad it is to see families where parents and children no longer speak to each other, or churches where whole groups leave because of a lack of forgiveness. Practice reconciliation.
5. Take the Initiative. Be the bigger person and look beyond the faults of others. Don’t let the past keep you in the past. See the future God sees. Let your forgiveness build a bridge over troubled waters. Launch your lifeboat and watch what God will do. Tell your abuser sincerely… “I forgive you….” and watch them bend over backwards to make things right. Guilt will do that. Use your experience to help others be free from the past and the pain.
6. Remember what the Bible teaches! Forgiveness is Biblical. Jesus always practiced forgiveness instead of condemnation. He told the adulteress, “Go and sin no more.” He told the Father “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” One key verse we must lock onto is found in Matthew 6:14-15 14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. According to this verse, we cannot expect God to forgive us if we fail to forgive others who sin against us. Our eternal destiny depends on our willingness to forgive. Even Paul taught the principal of forgiveness. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (Col 3:13) Jesus sets the example for us all. Just imagine how many of us would not make heaven our eternal home if we failed to forgive.
I love the Message Bible version of Psalm 130:3 If you, God, kept records on wrongdoings, who would stand a chance? As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit, and that's why you're worshiped. Our God chooses deliberately to forgive...and forget. Unlike God, it is difficult for us to forget. While me may not forget, we CAN forgive!
7. Forgive with eternity in view. Life here is not all there is. We are planted on this small blue planet for just a few brief years. In those years, we are given opportunities and choices. We can become better or bitter. We can cut and snip, or glue and paste. We can give Satan a foothold or allow Christ to be the center of it all. Ask yourself these questions: “In eternity, when I stand before the Lord, what will matter the most? Will it be my anger or my forgiveness? How will it affect my eternity?” One person who learned to forgive put it this way: When you haven't forgiven those who've hurt you, you turn your back against your future. When you do forgive, you start walking forward. (T. Perry) Have you stopped in your tracks, paralyzed by the past? Your attitude will affect everything around you. It will cause you to be angry….and your children will be just like you. But the moment you forgive, you break the chains that bind you to the past, and set your steps moving forward again into freedom. God cannot use your potential when it is bound in unforgiveness.
Joseph in the Egyptian jail had every right humanly speaking to be a hateful bitter man. His own brothers had sold him into slavery and deceived his father into thinking he was dead. His employer had him thrown in jail on false charges of rape. His own cell mates forgot all about him after he had helped them. But GOD...had a plan bigger than anything Joseph could have imagined! God’s plan was based in Josephs attitude. He never allowed bitterness to take root. He let God take the lead and God used Joseph for the saving of his family and the nation.
8. Forgive with a Helper. There are many things that the Christian often discovers he cannot do on his own. He needs help. Jesus sent us a Helper. It is the Holy Spirit. He comes along side to speak into our lives, to guide us, to give us boldness, to make us more like Christ. He comes into our lives at salvation, and the moment we receive God’s forgiveness, He is there to help us forgive others. He is the ‘wind’ that blows away the poisonous gases in our spiritual lives. He fills us with His Presence. He points out to us all of our failures so we can let Him help us each day. He convicts us of our sin so we can see His forgiveness. He prods us to reconciliation with God and others. He is the potter who mends our broken vessels, then fills us to overflowing with Himself.. He lifts us above the circumstance, above the past, and gives us a hope and a future. (Jer 29:11)
What about you? Have you forgiven? Are you forgiven? Will you choose to forgive? I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Phil 4:13: . Remember these words...Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Cor 5:17 Put the old ways of unforgiveness and vengeance behind you. God wants to give you a new day. Let it begin right now. Let the Holy Spirit be your ‘unforgiveness detector’. When His warning sounds, take immediate action. Forgive completely and immediately. Make forgiveness your habit and change your world! Let the wind of the Spirit blow away the silent killer of unforgiveness in your life today. J. Johnson

Restore the Balance!

When I was little, my brother and I used to go to the park at the end of our street and play on a device called a ‘teeter-totter’ It was great fun when we were about the same size and weight. But as he grew, the fun disappeared as things got all out of balance. Because he was bigger, he could take advantage of me, sometimes holding me up in the air, sometimes causing me to land hard on the ground. The result was painful and unpleasant. Being out of balance tends to do that.
We live in a world out of balance. Those with power and strength tend to take advantage of those who are weaker. Those with money victimize the poor. Those in power use their positions for their best advantage. While Jesus taught just the opposite—-to be a servant to all. Where are the servants? Where is the balance?
Jesus operated in perfect balance. He knew his purpose and He kept His focus on fulfilling that purpose. Some might say he was ‘purpose driven.’ I tend to think He was ‘balance driven.’ He understood the need for teamwork and co-operation. That teamwork began at the top and flowed downward. The Godhead worked in perfect balanced precision. Each had a key part to play in the redemption of mankind from the curse of sin. Without that balanced precision, the plan of God would have failed miserably.
Belshazzer was weighed in God’s balances and found wanting, lacking...not measuring up to God’s standards. His life was out of balance. He enjoyed his party life, until something happened that he could not control, could not explain and could not change. While giving a huge drinking party for thousands of his rich friends, he decided to ‘thumb his nose’ at God, asking his servants to bring the holy vessels of gold and silver which were sacred, to be used in the temple. His purpose was for all his guests, both men and women, to drink from them, and to praise gods of his own making, the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone. When they began to abuse these holy vessels which were dedicated to the Lord God Jehovah, God’s hand appeared, writing on the banquet hall wall. Belshazzar had stepped over a line. Judgment was about to fall.
Just as King Belshazzar was warned of impending doom upon his kingdom, so today God continues to warn mankind that judgment is coming. All whose lives are out of balance will face the ‘handwriting of God’ as their ‘kingdom’ comes crashing down.

Balance in the church
America has often been compared to Babylon. Although it was a nation founded on Biblical principles, guided by godly men and the local church, it has gradually deteriorated into a nation that no longer reveres God, and instead tolerates compromise, taking what was once sacred, and using it for pleasure, lust, perversion and self-satisfaction. While 90% of Americans say they believe in God, only 47% act like they do, by regularly going to church, and less than that read their Bibles, pray daily, teaching their values to their children. I fault the church for failing to hold the standard high. While not all churches have failed, the majority of churches in America refuse to take a stand against sin, against laws that undermine faith and values, and at the same time fail to model for their people, the God who works in power and might. We need the hand of God writing on the walls of our churches as they party and entertain each other. The church has become a theatre and restaurant instead of a place of spiritual transformation and miracles. It needs to discover that God is still God, that He has power, that He is a jealous God, and that He has power to judge the sinner.
I do not like to see people suffer. However, suffering has a way of restoring values and focus. When the church of God discovers that God sees them, that He cares about them, that He is grieved by their sin, they must repent. Only repentance can change the judgment that is coming. A balanced church teaches a balanced Biblical doctrine, based on a solid foundation of proper Biblical interpretation. A balanced church will be a servant church….not just serving each other, but serving the Lord. Each member of a balanced church will desire to find their place of ministry and do it—no complaining, no excuses, no bargaining. Jesus is lifted high in a balanced church.

Balance in the family
How does the family unit today fail to measure up to God’s standards? For the most part, today, a family consists of a single parent with multiple siblings from multiple fathers. Premarital sexuality, divorce and co-habitation have destroyed what used to be a family in America. Children come home from school to empty homes and wait for their work-a-holic parents to arrive and toss some fast-food supper on the table. It’s both amusing and sad to watch families struggling with trying to be parents in shows like ‘Super Nanny’. Where is God and faith and gentleness motivated by love in these homes? Many had worked so hard to provide a glorious ‘house’ but have no clue how to make it a real ‘home’. They have forgotten how to have fun together. They are so busy being busy.
Belshazzar was raised in a home that had been a godly one. He knew the story well of how his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had spent 7 years out of his mind until he finally came to his senses and repented to God. But he ignored the warnings. He ‘did his own thing.’ Are you and your family doing your own thing? Or are you setting a godly example for your children and grandchildren? Does it include faithful church attendance. How you choose to spend your time sends a message to those little ones watching you. Your example speaks louder than your words, even if you shout. What do you value most? Take a look at your monthly expenses and see where you spend most of your excess funds—that’s what you value most! How many fail to give generously to God, yet give generously to themselves. The mark of a family that has healthy priorities is one that gives joyfully to God so His work can go forward—-giving time, giving talents, giving material goods, and giving finances. Jesus was a giver. He gave His all. Teach your family to give generously to the Lord.

Personal Balance
It’s one thing to point a finger at the church, and at the family...and another to point it at yourself. Yet everything you do for God begins with a one-on-one relationship with God. Without God in your life, you are already out of balance. As each person in the body of Christ maintains a balance, the whole will also be balanced. God is the balancing point in the ‘teeter-totter’ of life. We each struggle with keeping a balance between the things of the ‘flesh’ and the things of the ‘spirit’. Paul warned the church in Galatia… “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.” (NIV) Galatians 5:16,17 The spiritual is at war with the carnal sinful nature in man. But when we learn to identify the sinful, we can steer clear of it. He clearly identifies it: “It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on…..If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God's kingdom.” TMB Galatians 5:19-21 The Bible tells us not only what we need to avoid, but also what we need to be like. “But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.” TNB (Galatians 5:22-23) When the Holy Spirit is in charge, guiding our daily walk, things are different. The Spirit filled, Spirit-led believer will be growing spiritually, will be spiritually discerning, and will be motivated to do the things that please the Lord. Too often today, Christians tend to tolerate sin in their lives. They loose their tempers, they lie, steal, cheat, and do it all because ‘everyone else is doing it.’ Too many Christians have chosen to live together without the commitment of marriage, have decided even if they did marry, that divorce was their choice to solve their marriage problems. When we fail to thrive spiritually, we fail to maintain a spiritual balance. Flesh dominates the spiritual. Choices become selfish. The world points its finger at the carnal Christian and says “You are no different that me.” We wonder why our friends and family do not want our ‘faith.’ It’s a flawed faith.
Let’s restore the balance—balance in the church, balance in our families and balance in our lives. We will meet many along the way whose lives are out of balance and who will need assistance in steadying their out of balance world. Let’s get back to the basics where balance begins...Jesus Christ!
J. Johnson