Hunger

Few of us in America will ever experience hunger to the point of complete despair and even death. According to the United Nations, about 25,000 people die of hunger or hunger related causes every day.

God’s word speaks of hunger and of those who die from it. Often it is talking about physical hunger for food. I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately. I guess it is because of the high price of food and eating out. I hear so many complaining about food prices...yet in America mortality rates associated with obesity continue to rise. Obesity related illnesses continue to rise. What a contrast to other parts of the world.

Hunger. I have experienced it but not because of an inability to buy food. When I was much younger, a child really, I was very busy playing and having fun. Sometimes I would play so hard that I would forget to take time out to eat. I only remembered when my stomach hurt so bad I thought I would throw up. When my hunger got that severe I had to eat something very slowly and only in small portions or my stomach would quickly reject it. I experienced a similar sensation in the early stages of pregnancy.  None of that compares to hunger that can kill.

Starvation. Some have starvation forced on them and some purposely starve themselves. Hunger and starvation can also apply to things other than food. We can be starved for attention. We can be hungry for love. 

What scares me the most is that we can, and often do, suffer from a self-inflicted starvation from God. The symptoms can be obvious and severe or they can be gradual and hard to recognize. The obvious and severe symptoms often involve crisis and find us quickly on our knees. The other symptoms sneak up on us and can go undiagnosed for years and even entire lifetimes. Symptoms like: indifference to others, having a critical heart attitude, selfishness, lack of interest in Church or reading the Bible, busyness, and list goes on. Left untreated these symptoms rob us of life as God intends it to be.

I believe we need to hunger sometimes in order to really crave what is good for us. I find as I age that I hunger more after the Lord and understanding how to draw closer to Him than I did in my youth. I find that as I spend more time developing an eternal perspective I spend less time worrying about things that don’t matter after death.

If you are hungry, please read on:

Psalm 17:14   <NLT>

“By the power of your hand, O Lord, destroy those who look to this world for their reward. But satisfy the hunger of your treasured ones. May their children have plenty, leaving an inheritance for their descendants.”

Amos 8:11   <CEV>

“I, the LORD, also promise you a terrible shortage, but not of food and water. You will hunger and thirst to hear my message.”

Matthew 5:6   <NASB>

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

John 6:35   <NASB>

“Jesus said to them, “ I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.”

May you be treasured by the God of all creation, Maker of heaven and earth. May He and He alone satisfy you.

May you experience a hunger and thirst for God’s word so severe that it brings you to your knees and causes you to be unsatisfied with everything else.

And may you be so filled with the Lord that you NEVER hunger or thirst again.

AMEN!

finished

John 19:30
"Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “ It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit."

nuf said

Words

Ephesians 4:29 <NASB>

“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.”

Wow this short verse has a lot of wisdom and challenge in it. “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth”. YIKES! Just thinking of the many times I failed and continue to fail on this one really humbles me. If every human being on the planet practices this the world would be a much quieter place. I better stop there with my commentary because any more would most likely cause me to fail on this command yet again.

But this isn’t saying DO NOT talk. In fact, it is encouraging talking and giving instruction on how to talk. Words that are “good for edification”. Other translations use the descriptive “helpful”. And it goes on to say these edifying or helpful words should address the “need of the moment”. Hmmmm…the need of the moment. How many times have I given advice that had my own agenda and did not really address the hearer’s immediate need? Probably more than there are grains of sand in the desert. This, for me, is the challenge part of this Biblical verse. To even begin to accomplish this I must remember there is a reason God gave me TWO ears and only ONE mouth. It is to remind to listen more than I speak. To listen with purpose and intent; to uncover what the meaning is behind the words someone is sharing with me. This requires patience and a genuine desire to put the other person’s needs above my own. Yes, this part of the verse comes with a great challenge.

Yet, if I accept that challenge and practice what is described here there is a GREAT reward. God will use me to “give grace” to others. The NLT states it this way “your words will be an encouragement to others”. WOW! Another translation says you will “help others by what you say” and the NIV says that it may “benefit those who listen”.

Dear Lord,

Help me this day to apply all that this verse from your Holy Word is teaching. Help my words be few and do not allow anything that tears people down to escape from my lips. AMEN!

Doubt

Genesis 3:1-6a <NLT>

The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”

“Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”

“You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

 The woman was convinced.

And so it began. This entire exchange between Eve and Satan is only about six verses long. That’s it. Depending on the translation you look at there are over 31,000 verses in the Bible. But these six verses certainly tell a big story.

What do these verses tell us about Satan “the serpent”? God made him. He was shrewd. And may I suggest that he is perhaps a bit lazy? I know, based on exposure to modern film, books, and media I have this vision or idea of him being really busy and loud and really REALLY scary. Those things could be true as well but when I read these passages I see him as lazy. Cleaver and lazy…a very dangerous combination. Yes, he could have got in Eve’s face and scared her into eating the apple. He could have threatened her into it. There are so many things he could have done but he didn’t. All he did was say, “Did God really say…?”

That is all it took. He planted a seed of doubt and pretty soon after that he leaves the scene. And the rest is…well shall we say…history.

Doubt. That may be our biggest enemy. With doubt comes fear. Fear clouds reason. Without reason, logic and truth are forgotten. Where logic and truth are void: faith becomes fruitless.

Jesus said in Matthew 21:21 “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen.”

Often I find myself wishing I trusted God more. Knowing if I could only do that, I wouldn’t worry about things as much. Yet, I wonder. Is it that I lack trust or is that I wallow in doubt?

Respect

'Parable of the Evil Farmers'              Mark 12:5b-6 <NLT>

“… Others he sent were either beaten or killed, until there was only one left – his son whom he loved dearly. The owner finally sent him, thinking, “Surely they will respect my son.”

As I read Jesus’ words this morning I was struck by the fact that He was teaching them about Himself. I meditated on the owners words “surely they will respect my son”. At dictionary.com it states respect is “esteem (honor) of the worth or excellence of a person”. When God sent Jesus to earth I wonder if He hoped His Son would be respected despite the fact that He knew man would reject Him.

In our society respect must be earned. Yet, there are times when respect is expected. Example: we are to respect those in authority – police, firefighters, etc. Typically we give people in positions of authority respect which they continue to have unless they do something to violate that honor. Jesus, the Son of God, does not have to do anything to earn my respect. I give it to Him because of who He is. But how often do I neglect showing God my respect?

Just yesterday I was thinking about how my husband and I exchange these words every single day, “I love you today.” It is the way we remind each other how much we value our relationship and how we remind ourselves to guard our love and never take it for granted. As I thought on this, I was challenged with how many days go by and I neglect having any quite time with the Lord. I neglect saying “I love you Lord” because I’m too busy or I just figure He already knows that. God will never do anything to violate my respect yet I could be in danger of letting it slip away if I don’t find myself in His word daily and in communication with Him daily.

That time is critical for me and cherished by Him. I should never rush through it so I can check it off my daily "to do" list. I should never “fit it in” while driving to work where I can be easily distracted and can never give it 100% of my attention. NO, it must be intentional time that is set aside and never pushed aside. It is how I not only say “Lord, I love you today” but it is how I show Him I love Him. It is how I remind myself of the gift His love is to me and the priority my relationship with Him should be.

Every

     single

            day!