Desperate? Hungry? Thirsty?
This was written 2-27-2009, but I have been hesitant to post it. Yet, it is Biblically sound, so why? I know many in the church totally believe the teaching I deal with here to be correct. I believe that searching the scriptures to see if thses things are so can lead us to freedom from wrongly held ideas. These ideas are defeatest to our lives, undermine our faith, cause us to feel dissatified and may lead us to sin. So I want to challange all of us who bought into this, as I did, to rethink this entire area and subject.
Desperate for Jesus?
It all began when I was thinking about the phrase “I’m desperate for You, Jesus,” (sorry, if you like the popular song this phrase is in). I felt a little guilty for not feeling desperate for Jesus…because right while this was being expressed or sung, I was feeling quite content and not really desperate. I guess I was examining myself to see if I was somehow at fault for not being desperate. I felt very happy in Jesus, very hopeful in Jesus, well satisfied…He was right there with me; why wouldn’t I feel this way?
I got to thinking, “Am I desperate for Jesus? What does desperate mean?” I looked up the meaning of the word “desperate” in the Merriam Webster dictionary (on line). The first meaning said “having lost hope” and “giving no grounds for hope.” So, I said, “No! I’m not desperate for Jesus! I have EVERY HOPE that I can contact Jesus.” The other meanings, except the last, are also incorrect: “moved by despair,” “involving or employing extreme measures in an attempt to escape defeat or frustration,” “ suffering extreme need or anxiety,“ “involving extreme danger or possible disaster.”
None of these meanings had anything to do with how I was pursuing Jesus. I had all kinds of HOPE that I could find Him, just as His Word says we will find Him if we seek Him with all of our hearts (Jeremiah 29:13) and “those who seek me find me” (Proverbs 8:17). We are not instructed to be desperate in scripture, but quite the opposite:
--guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. (Psalm 25:5)
Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God (Psalm 42:5, see also 42:11 and 43:5)
Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD. (Psalm 31:24)
Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. (Psalm 62:5)
But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more. (Psalm 71:14)
Psalms has so many more similar scriptures, so I will go to another in Isaiah:
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
(Isaiah 40:31)
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)
I just glanced up and saw the time was 3:33. There is hope in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!!!
New Testament:
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (Romans 5:5)
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)
--may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. (Ephesians 1:17 - 19)
12remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. (Ephesians 2:12)
How straight forward is that? It can’t be two ways. When we were without God we had no hope; we are with God, we have hope!
4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— (Ephesians 4:4)
1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, (1 Timothy 1:1)
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23)
that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe. (1 Timothy 4:10)
So, so many more. I suggest for a complete list, you look up the Bible Gateway dot com, and type in “hope” on the key word search bar.
There were many in Psalms that said he had put hope in God’s Word as well…and we must never forget that His Word is always there 24/7 (in free countries) for us to read. In Revelation Jesus is called The Word of God, so His Word can remove all desperation as well as His Presence.
The conclusion of the matter for me was that no, I was not desperate as they seemed to be saying I should be. I had/have an ongoing relationship with Jesus 24/7; I knew/know He was/is always there. How then, can I lack hope of finding Him? I don’t go through my days in constant conversation with Him in a state of “having lost hope” or “giving no grounds for hope.” So, when they are singing how desperately they wanted Him or were seeking Him, I knew I already had Him and had already found Him.
By saying they are desperate, they seem to be saying that they are having a hard time reaching Jesus…but, according to scripture, once we are saved, He is with us always (even to the end of the age) -- Matthew 28:20. And He said He would not leave us orphans but would come to us in the form of the Holy Spirit -- John 14:20. So, that led me to conclude that desperation for Jesus is impossible. In Hebrews 13:5, we are told to be content with what we have because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
I know their intent is to say that they are going after him in a desperate way (which would be the last meaning of the word in Merriam Webster, which is “of extreme intensity.”) Perhaps, better is the way David says it:
O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.
(Psalm 63:1)
Sometimes, I wonder if this whole idea about being desperate isn’t undermining our faith. Scripture is full of the idea that God should be enough for us. So, why do we say we are desperate? It causes us to search, hard, for something that is right there within our reach -- God’s Presence.
Remember when Elijah was hiding in the cave (from Jezebel) and there was an earthquake and a wind and a fire? BUT: God was not in the earthquake, in the wind or in the fire. When all fell silent, there was God! God is in the restful, quiet moments. We quit seeking Him desperately, and suddenly realize, He is right there. Be still and know that I am God, says the famous verse from Psalms. But people are not satisfied unless they have the earthquake, the wind and the fire (the experience).
I believe what we are really saying is “We are desperate to FEEL Jesus or to EXPERIENCE Jesus…” as in when we have a physical manifestation (tingles in our body, feeling fire burn inside, shaking in the Spirit, falling under the power, being overcome with peace) because His power is so strong. But if we are desperate for a feeling/experience, then we are making the feeling/experience our god and God is no longer our God. Because God is available to us 24/7 and not Someone we need feel desperate about, and, rather than be satisfied with KNOWING He is always there, we are wanting something more.
If we don’t “feel” something when we seek Him, we feel disappointed. I think that this may lead people to sin…because when they don’t get a “sensation” when seeking God…they quit seeking God for their satisfaction and go to various addictions that make them feel good -- drugs, drinking, sex, food and the like. We kind of treat God like a drug...need more of that FEELing...can't get ENOUGH!...got to have MORE!...an "I need my Jesus fix" mentality. This is a sensation seeking generation...and we have presented God as a sensation, a feeling, an experience...rather than the Great, Almighty, Sovereign, Awesome God that He is.
By telling a generation of people that there is “more of God” that we can experience (what they really mean is more FEELings God can give us), they are breeding dissatisfaction in people. (I should not say "they" since I also was pushing this at one time.) This causes all these people to desperately seek God trying to force God to give them some sort of sensation. Often, there are feelings when we seek God. But sometimes not. And it doesn’t mean we have less of God than the next guy if we don’t “feel” all kinds of stuff when in His Presence. We have ALL of God there is available to us. We can’t get “more.” And knowing God is ENOUGH should keep us well satisfied!
When I hear people say, “I’m dissatisfied [at how much of God I have, is what they mean]," I cringe. After ALL God has done for us and given us, we say we’re dissatisfied? Again, here we go enforcing the idea that God is not enough…and might we begin searching in other places for satisfaction? It's like the song, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." In saying they are dissatisified, they are giving the idea that God is not enough for us...and we need to keep looking. And might this be why some go looking to other religions and cults -- because they could never attain that level of "satifaction" that was always eluded to in saying "I'm dissatisfied"? By saying they were dissatisfied, were they not saying, that if they just sought God long enough and hard enough, they would some day reach "satisfaction"? But this particular group never seems to, becasuse no matter how strong God's Presence is in a meeting, they are back the next night saying they are not satisfied.... And so this goes on and on in an endless cycle. That's one reason I had to give up this way of thinking. Why seek satisfaction in God, then keep saying "I'm not satisfied" no matter how much God touched me and moved on me when I sought Him the day before? What we are really saying (though we aren't meaning to) is that God can not satisfy. Because, obviously, even though He moved mightily on us, we still aren't satisfied...and on it goes....
Hungry? Thirsty?
I got to thinking about other such things Christians say. They say they are hungry or thirsty. But look at what His Word says, which leads me to believe there is no need for us ever to be hungry or thirsty:
1 "Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.
(Isaiah 55:1)
8 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for men,
9 for he satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things. (Psalm 107:8 & 9)
35Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6:35)
20Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. (Revelation 3:20)
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18)
37On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38Whoever believes in me, as[c] the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." 39By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. (John 7:38 - 39)
13Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:13)
53He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty. (Luke 1:53) Mary’s testimony after conceiving Jesus
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (Matthew 5:6)
Empty?
Another one I hear is, “I emptied myself” or “I came here empty” or "I am SO empty." Why? …so He could/can fill me, is the idea. But, WAIT! That makes no sense. Go to a meeting empty, to get filled? Shouldn’t we go FULL, so we have something to flow out of us into others and into the atmosphere there? If a whole room of empty vessels comes together, how do we have anything to get full on? No one has anything to impart. We are told above to be filled with the Holy Spirit, so being empty is NOT a Christian trait to be honored. Also, in light of the scripture below, I will never aspire to empty myself:
43"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied (or empty), swept clean and put in order. 45Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation."
What the Bible says is this:
30He must become greater; I must become less. (or He must increase; I must decrease in KJV) (John 3:30)
And that fits with being FULL of God. How do we decrease? By being FILLED with Him!
We are called vessels in Romans (or the New International Version says “Pottery.”). Vessels are not made to be empty. Vessels are made to be filled. There is a story in 2 Kings 4 where the woman’s husband died and she went to the prophet, Elisha, asking him what to do, because the creditor was going to take her son’s as bond’s men. Elisha asked what she had, and she said she had a pot of oil (it wasn’t empty). He told her to gather all the vessels she could from her neighbors. So, after gathering all these vessels, she poured out of the original pot of oil and when she was done pouring, she told her sons to bring her one more vessel, and there wasn’t one. So the oil quit pouring. Do you see the Biblical principle? Vessels are to be filled, and they are not filled from an EMPTY vessel. She sold the oil and paid off the creditors and her sons remained with her.
Also, this reminds me of when Elijah went into the poor woman’s house, and she had only one more meal in the barrel. What happened? After she gave what she had (again, the barrel was not EMPTY), she had food until the end of the famine (the barrel was always filled with just enough for each day). So, God is not into emptiness. God will take the little we have in us (even if our anointing or filling of the Spirit is running low) and He will fill us ALL THE WAY. But it is not a prerequisite that we come empty in order to be filled.
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22 & 23)
(So, if we are filled with the Spirit, will we not be filled with the above? Where is the room for emptiness?)
Also, I noticed that being empty was always a judgment sent by God or a curse put on them from sinning or something an evil person visited on another (as in sending them away empty). The only reference to someone saying God had sent them back empty was Naomi, but Naomi means “bitterness,” so her heart was full of bitterness and that’s what came out. (9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. James 3:9 - 12)
What you fill yourself with will be what comes out, which leads to another thing I hear Christians say, that I think does not have to be the case: "I'm not satified."
Not satisfied?
I alreay dealt with this at length above (the part I added in today). Here is what I orginally had written, with the corresponding scriptures:
In saying "I'm not satisfied," they are saying they are not satisfied with where they are in God or the level or amount of God they have. But what does scripture say?
You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. (Psalm 16:11)
5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you. (Psalm 63:5)
4 The sluggard craves and gets nothing,
but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.
(Proverbs 13:4)
Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. (Luke 6:21)
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. (Philippians 4:11 & 12)
But godliness with contentment is great gain. (1 Timothy 6:6)
But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. (1 Timothy 6:8)
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. (1 Timothy 6:17)
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5)
I was asking the Lord why it was that some who have experienced great amounts of anointing have fallen into sin, and I realized it’s related to the ideas expressed above. By the scriptures I have quoted it’s obvious that we can be hopeful, satisfied, fulfilled, happy. We can have our hunger filled, our thirst quenched. And we don’t have to be empty (in fact are warned not to be).
The revelation God gave me is that by saying we are desperate, empty, hungry, thirsty, not satisfied…we are reenforcing a negative, rather than stating the positive truths of scripture. So, we get the idea God is not enough. God is Omni-present (always present). (It’s 5:55, the number of rest if you add it up to 15, which confirms what I was saying above.) So, why are we desperately searching for Him, as if He can’t be found? And then thinking the reason we aren’t satisfied is because we can’t find Him? How can you not find someone whose RIGHT THERE?
I admit I went through quite a “dry spell” where I did not “feel” Him, so I concluded I couldn’t find Him. But what if it was a “Be still and know that I am God” time? And I was desperately trying to find Him…and reenforcing the desperateness because I couldn’t seem to “find” Him? When He wasn’t lost? He was there ALL THE TIME!!!
I was wondering why those under a great anointing can fall into sin (I don’t mean the little, daily things we all struggle with), I mean something of a nature that will bring reproach to the Gospel and malign the Word of God. And, a truth started hitting me: those who are desperate are desperate because they have not found wholeness and completeness in God. They go after Him in this way because they know they need Him to fill those broken and empty places. They think that by striving after His Presence perhaps they can get the life changing touch they so desperately want (basically, thinking there is no hope of getting it, as goes with the definition of the word). My Bible does not say His Presence is something to be desperately sought after; my Bible says from the moment of salvation I have His Spirit Who will ALWAYS be with me.
John 14:15 - 17 says: 15"If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”
So, these people, by telling themselves and others they are desperate (often wearing the desperation with pride) are reenforcing the idea that they need more than God. If God is right there 24/7, I don’t get “having lost hope” or any of the other meanings. If I simply say, “He’s more than enough” as another popular song goes, I quit looking for anything else or anyone else to satisfy or fulfill me. And, therefore, I won’t reach for sin in that quest, either. Is not their desperation the very thing that leads them to think they need more than God? By all this striving and not finding Him or just coming back desperate the next day, do they not feel like they will never be over the desperation? So when something else that offers a hope of satisfying them presents itself, they will reach for it?
My pastir preached on Eve thinking God is not a good God…thus she sinned. And, what did she do? She ATE the fruit! She should have been satisfied with all God offered (all the other food available) but she wasn’t...felt like she had to reach for the forbidden fruit. And I think this could be where the "I'm despearte," "I'm hungry," "I'm thirsty," "I'm dissatisfied," "I'm empty" group might be headed. All of those words are negatives...and God is a positive! God wants us to experience the exact opposite of what these people (and me at one time) are confessing. So, I think it's time to quit being dissatisfied and the rest of it and start confessing the truth, "I'm HOPEFUL in God!", "I'm FULL of God!", "I'm SATISFIED in God!" That way we won't feel like Eve did...that something more is out there for us, and we need to try to find it....
Truth is: the only reason you are desperate, hungry, thirsty, empty and dissatisfied is because you left Your First love, Jesus, who is The Hope of Glory, The Bread of Life, The Living Water, All the Fullness of the Godhead Bodily and the Prince of Peace. Return to Your First love and do the things you did at the first. Read His Word and you will never be hungry! Be filled with the Spirit, and you will never be empty! Drink of His living water, and you will never be thirsty! Jesus is our hope and our satisfaction, and if we stay in close, loving relationship with Him, we will leave off desperation and dissastisfaction. And we need never be in a Christian gathering again and make these kind of negative confessions about our life. We can come together filled to the brim and full of joy and rejoice in the Lord.
Desperate for Jesus?
It all began when I was thinking about the phrase “I’m desperate for You, Jesus,” (sorry, if you like the popular song this phrase is in). I felt a little guilty for not feeling desperate for Jesus…because right while this was being expressed or sung, I was feeling quite content and not really desperate. I guess I was examining myself to see if I was somehow at fault for not being desperate. I felt very happy in Jesus, very hopeful in Jesus, well satisfied…He was right there with me; why wouldn’t I feel this way?
I got to thinking, “Am I desperate for Jesus? What does desperate mean?” I looked up the meaning of the word “desperate” in the Merriam Webster dictionary (on line). The first meaning said “having lost hope” and “giving no grounds for hope.” So, I said, “No! I’m not desperate for Jesus! I have EVERY HOPE that I can contact Jesus.” The other meanings, except the last, are also incorrect: “moved by despair,” “involving or employing extreme measures in an attempt to escape defeat or frustration,” “ suffering extreme need or anxiety,“ “involving extreme danger or possible disaster.”
None of these meanings had anything to do with how I was pursuing Jesus. I had all kinds of HOPE that I could find Him, just as His Word says we will find Him if we seek Him with all of our hearts (Jeremiah 29:13) and “those who seek me find me” (Proverbs 8:17). We are not instructed to be desperate in scripture, but quite the opposite:
--guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. (Psalm 25:5)
Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God (Psalm 42:5, see also 42:11 and 43:5)
Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD. (Psalm 31:24)
Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. (Psalm 62:5)
But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more. (Psalm 71:14)
Psalms has so many more similar scriptures, so I will go to another in Isaiah:
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
(Isaiah 40:31)
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)
I just glanced up and saw the time was 3:33. There is hope in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!!!
New Testament:
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (Romans 5:5)
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)
--may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. (Ephesians 1:17 - 19)
12remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. (Ephesians 2:12)
How straight forward is that? It can’t be two ways. When we were without God we had no hope; we are with God, we have hope!
4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— (Ephesians 4:4)
1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, (1 Timothy 1:1)
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23)
that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe. (1 Timothy 4:10)
So, so many more. I suggest for a complete list, you look up the Bible Gateway dot com, and type in “hope” on the key word search bar.
There were many in Psalms that said he had put hope in God’s Word as well…and we must never forget that His Word is always there 24/7 (in free countries) for us to read. In Revelation Jesus is called The Word of God, so His Word can remove all desperation as well as His Presence.
The conclusion of the matter for me was that no, I was not desperate as they seemed to be saying I should be. I had/have an ongoing relationship with Jesus 24/7; I knew/know He was/is always there. How then, can I lack hope of finding Him? I don’t go through my days in constant conversation with Him in a state of “having lost hope” or “giving no grounds for hope.” So, when they are singing how desperately they wanted Him or were seeking Him, I knew I already had Him and had already found Him.
By saying they are desperate, they seem to be saying that they are having a hard time reaching Jesus…but, according to scripture, once we are saved, He is with us always (even to the end of the age) -- Matthew 28:20. And He said He would not leave us orphans but would come to us in the form of the Holy Spirit -- John 14:20. So, that led me to conclude that desperation for Jesus is impossible. In Hebrews 13:5, we are told to be content with what we have because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
I know their intent is to say that they are going after him in a desperate way (which would be the last meaning of the word in Merriam Webster, which is “of extreme intensity.”) Perhaps, better is the way David says it:
O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.
(Psalm 63:1)
Sometimes, I wonder if this whole idea about being desperate isn’t undermining our faith. Scripture is full of the idea that God should be enough for us. So, why do we say we are desperate? It causes us to search, hard, for something that is right there within our reach -- God’s Presence.
Remember when Elijah was hiding in the cave (from Jezebel) and there was an earthquake and a wind and a fire? BUT: God was not in the earthquake, in the wind or in the fire. When all fell silent, there was God! God is in the restful, quiet moments. We quit seeking Him desperately, and suddenly realize, He is right there. Be still and know that I am God, says the famous verse from Psalms. But people are not satisfied unless they have the earthquake, the wind and the fire (the experience).
I believe what we are really saying is “We are desperate to FEEL Jesus or to EXPERIENCE Jesus…” as in when we have a physical manifestation (tingles in our body, feeling fire burn inside, shaking in the Spirit, falling under the power, being overcome with peace) because His power is so strong. But if we are desperate for a feeling/experience, then we are making the feeling/experience our god and God is no longer our God. Because God is available to us 24/7 and not Someone we need feel desperate about, and, rather than be satisfied with KNOWING He is always there, we are wanting something more.
If we don’t “feel” something when we seek Him, we feel disappointed. I think that this may lead people to sin…because when they don’t get a “sensation” when seeking God…they quit seeking God for their satisfaction and go to various addictions that make them feel good -- drugs, drinking, sex, food and the like. We kind of treat God like a drug...need more of that FEELing...can't get ENOUGH!...got to have MORE!...an "I need my Jesus fix" mentality. This is a sensation seeking generation...and we have presented God as a sensation, a feeling, an experience...rather than the Great, Almighty, Sovereign, Awesome God that He is.
By telling a generation of people that there is “more of God” that we can experience (what they really mean is more FEELings God can give us), they are breeding dissatisfaction in people. (I should not say "they" since I also was pushing this at one time.) This causes all these people to desperately seek God trying to force God to give them some sort of sensation. Often, there are feelings when we seek God. But sometimes not. And it doesn’t mean we have less of God than the next guy if we don’t “feel” all kinds of stuff when in His Presence. We have ALL of God there is available to us. We can’t get “more.” And knowing God is ENOUGH should keep us well satisfied!
When I hear people say, “I’m dissatisfied [at how much of God I have, is what they mean]," I cringe. After ALL God has done for us and given us, we say we’re dissatisfied? Again, here we go enforcing the idea that God is not enough…and might we begin searching in other places for satisfaction? It's like the song, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." In saying they are dissatisified, they are giving the idea that God is not enough for us...and we need to keep looking. And might this be why some go looking to other religions and cults -- because they could never attain that level of "satifaction" that was always eluded to in saying "I'm dissatisfied"? By saying they were dissatisfied, were they not saying, that if they just sought God long enough and hard enough, they would some day reach "satisfaction"? But this particular group never seems to, becasuse no matter how strong God's Presence is in a meeting, they are back the next night saying they are not satisfied.... And so this goes on and on in an endless cycle. That's one reason I had to give up this way of thinking. Why seek satisfaction in God, then keep saying "I'm not satisfied" no matter how much God touched me and moved on me when I sought Him the day before? What we are really saying (though we aren't meaning to) is that God can not satisfy. Because, obviously, even though He moved mightily on us, we still aren't satisfied...and on it goes....
Hungry? Thirsty?
I got to thinking about other such things Christians say. They say they are hungry or thirsty. But look at what His Word says, which leads me to believe there is no need for us ever to be hungry or thirsty:
1 "Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.
(Isaiah 55:1)
8 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for men,
9 for he satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things. (Psalm 107:8 & 9)
35Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6:35)
20Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. (Revelation 3:20)
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18)
37On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38Whoever believes in me, as[c] the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." 39By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. (John 7:38 - 39)
13Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:13)
53He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty. (Luke 1:53) Mary’s testimony after conceiving Jesus
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (Matthew 5:6)
Empty?
Another one I hear is, “I emptied myself” or “I came here empty” or "I am SO empty." Why? …so He could/can fill me, is the idea. But, WAIT! That makes no sense. Go to a meeting empty, to get filled? Shouldn’t we go FULL, so we have something to flow out of us into others and into the atmosphere there? If a whole room of empty vessels comes together, how do we have anything to get full on? No one has anything to impart. We are told above to be filled with the Holy Spirit, so being empty is NOT a Christian trait to be honored. Also, in light of the scripture below, I will never aspire to empty myself:
43"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied (or empty), swept clean and put in order. 45Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation."
What the Bible says is this:
30He must become greater; I must become less. (or He must increase; I must decrease in KJV) (John 3:30)
And that fits with being FULL of God. How do we decrease? By being FILLED with Him!
We are called vessels in Romans (or the New International Version says “Pottery.”). Vessels are not made to be empty. Vessels are made to be filled. There is a story in 2 Kings 4 where the woman’s husband died and she went to the prophet, Elisha, asking him what to do, because the creditor was going to take her son’s as bond’s men. Elisha asked what she had, and she said she had a pot of oil (it wasn’t empty). He told her to gather all the vessels she could from her neighbors. So, after gathering all these vessels, she poured out of the original pot of oil and when she was done pouring, she told her sons to bring her one more vessel, and there wasn’t one. So the oil quit pouring. Do you see the Biblical principle? Vessels are to be filled, and they are not filled from an EMPTY vessel. She sold the oil and paid off the creditors and her sons remained with her.
Also, this reminds me of when Elijah went into the poor woman’s house, and she had only one more meal in the barrel. What happened? After she gave what she had (again, the barrel was not EMPTY), she had food until the end of the famine (the barrel was always filled with just enough for each day). So, God is not into emptiness. God will take the little we have in us (even if our anointing or filling of the Spirit is running low) and He will fill us ALL THE WAY. But it is not a prerequisite that we come empty in order to be filled.
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22 & 23)
(So, if we are filled with the Spirit, will we not be filled with the above? Where is the room for emptiness?)
Also, I noticed that being empty was always a judgment sent by God or a curse put on them from sinning or something an evil person visited on another (as in sending them away empty). The only reference to someone saying God had sent them back empty was Naomi, but Naomi means “bitterness,” so her heart was full of bitterness and that’s what came out. (9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. James 3:9 - 12)
What you fill yourself with will be what comes out, which leads to another thing I hear Christians say, that I think does not have to be the case: "I'm not satified."
Not satisfied?
I alreay dealt with this at length above (the part I added in today). Here is what I orginally had written, with the corresponding scriptures:
In saying "I'm not satisfied," they are saying they are not satisfied with where they are in God or the level or amount of God they have. But what does scripture say?
You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. (Psalm 16:11)
5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you. (Psalm 63:5)
4 The sluggard craves and gets nothing,
but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.
(Proverbs 13:4)
Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. (Luke 6:21)
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. (Philippians 4:11 & 12)
But godliness with contentment is great gain. (1 Timothy 6:6)
But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. (1 Timothy 6:8)
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. (1 Timothy 6:17)
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5)
I was asking the Lord why it was that some who have experienced great amounts of anointing have fallen into sin, and I realized it’s related to the ideas expressed above. By the scriptures I have quoted it’s obvious that we can be hopeful, satisfied, fulfilled, happy. We can have our hunger filled, our thirst quenched. And we don’t have to be empty (in fact are warned not to be).
The revelation God gave me is that by saying we are desperate, empty, hungry, thirsty, not satisfied…we are reenforcing a negative, rather than stating the positive truths of scripture. So, we get the idea God is not enough. God is Omni-present (always present). (It’s 5:55, the number of rest if you add it up to 15, which confirms what I was saying above.) So, why are we desperately searching for Him, as if He can’t be found? And then thinking the reason we aren’t satisfied is because we can’t find Him? How can you not find someone whose RIGHT THERE?
I admit I went through quite a “dry spell” where I did not “feel” Him, so I concluded I couldn’t find Him. But what if it was a “Be still and know that I am God” time? And I was desperately trying to find Him…and reenforcing the desperateness because I couldn’t seem to “find” Him? When He wasn’t lost? He was there ALL THE TIME!!!
I was wondering why those under a great anointing can fall into sin (I don’t mean the little, daily things we all struggle with), I mean something of a nature that will bring reproach to the Gospel and malign the Word of God. And, a truth started hitting me: those who are desperate are desperate because they have not found wholeness and completeness in God. They go after Him in this way because they know they need Him to fill those broken and empty places. They think that by striving after His Presence perhaps they can get the life changing touch they so desperately want (basically, thinking there is no hope of getting it, as goes with the definition of the word). My Bible does not say His Presence is something to be desperately sought after; my Bible says from the moment of salvation I have His Spirit Who will ALWAYS be with me.
John 14:15 - 17 says: 15"If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”
So, these people, by telling themselves and others they are desperate (often wearing the desperation with pride) are reenforcing the idea that they need more than God. If God is right there 24/7, I don’t get “having lost hope” or any of the other meanings. If I simply say, “He’s more than enough” as another popular song goes, I quit looking for anything else or anyone else to satisfy or fulfill me. And, therefore, I won’t reach for sin in that quest, either. Is not their desperation the very thing that leads them to think they need more than God? By all this striving and not finding Him or just coming back desperate the next day, do they not feel like they will never be over the desperation? So when something else that offers a hope of satisfying them presents itself, they will reach for it?
My pastir preached on Eve thinking God is not a good God…thus she sinned. And, what did she do? She ATE the fruit! She should have been satisfied with all God offered (all the other food available) but she wasn’t...felt like she had to reach for the forbidden fruit. And I think this could be where the "I'm despearte," "I'm hungry," "I'm thirsty," "I'm dissatisfied," "I'm empty" group might be headed. All of those words are negatives...and God is a positive! God wants us to experience the exact opposite of what these people (and me at one time) are confessing. So, I think it's time to quit being dissatisfied and the rest of it and start confessing the truth, "I'm HOPEFUL in God!", "I'm FULL of God!", "I'm SATISFIED in God!" That way we won't feel like Eve did...that something more is out there for us, and we need to try to find it....
Truth is: the only reason you are desperate, hungry, thirsty, empty and dissatisfied is because you left Your First love, Jesus, who is The Hope of Glory, The Bread of Life, The Living Water, All the Fullness of the Godhead Bodily and the Prince of Peace. Return to Your First love and do the things you did at the first. Read His Word and you will never be hungry! Be filled with the Spirit, and you will never be empty! Drink of His living water, and you will never be thirsty! Jesus is our hope and our satisfaction, and if we stay in close, loving relationship with Him, we will leave off desperation and dissastisfaction. And we need never be in a Christian gathering again and make these kind of negative confessions about our life. We can come together filled to the brim and full of joy and rejoice in the Lord.
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