Desperate Enough For God That We Are Chasing After Him?

Desperate Enough For God That We Are Chasing After Him?

Sunday April 28, 2002

Psalms 42:1-11

1 As the deer pants for streams of water,

so I long for you, O God.

2 I thirst for God, the living God.

When can I come and stand before him?

3 Day and night, I have only tears for food,

while my enemies continually taunt me, saying,

“Where is this God of yours?”

4 My heart is breaking

as I remember how it used to be:

I walked among the crowds of worshipers,

leading a great procession to the house of God,

singing for joy and giving thanks—

it was the sound of a great celebration!

5 Why am I discouraged?

Why so sad?

I will put my hope in God!

I will praise him again—

my Savior and

6 my God!

Now I am deeply discouraged,

but I will remember your kindness—

from Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan,

from the land of Mount Mizar.

7 I hear the tumult of the raging seas

as your waves and surging tides sweep over me.

8 Through each day the LORD pours his unfailing love upon me,

and through each night I sing his songs,

praying to God who gives me life.

9 “O God my rock,” I cry,

“Why have you forsaken me?

Why must I wander in darkness,

oppressed by my enemies?”

10 Their taunts pierce me like a fatal wound.

They scoff, “Where is this God of yours?”

11 Why am I discouraged?

Why so sad?

I will put my hope in God!

I will praise him again—

my Savior and my God!

A young teenage boy had just gotten his driver’s license.

When he got home, he asked his father, who was a minister, if they could discuss the use of the car.

His father took him into his study and said to the boy, "I’ll make a deal with you.

If you bring up your grades, study your Bible, and get a haircut, then we’ll talk about the use of the car."

After about a month, the boy came back and again asked his father if they could discuss the use of the car.

They again went to the father’s study where his father said, "Son, I’ve been so very proud of you.

You have brought up your grades, you’ve studied your Bible diligently, but you didn’t get your haircut."

The young man waited a moment and replied, "Dad, I’ve been thinking about that.

You know, Samson had long hair, Moses had long hair, Noah had long hair, even Jesus had long hair..."

His father interrupted him at that point and said, "Yes son, and they walked everywhere they went!"

He was so close, but so far, from getting what he wanted.

The boy was willing to pay most of the price, but not all of the price.

The boy knew what he wanted.

His desire was strong.

But, there was a problem: he wasn’t willing to go all the way.

He wasn’t willing to pay the entire price.

He wasn’t desperate enough to drive the car to pay the full price required of him.

The Problem with most Christians today is they have not become desperate enough for God.

In other words we have put our hope in things besides Him.

A lot of good Christians are only willing to go just so far but not all the way.

We are not desperate any more to Touch God, to seek His Face.

To Be a disciple.

To be filled with the power of the Holy Ghost.

Have signs and wonders following us and to be filled with His Presence.

Raise the dead, Heal the sick, Cast out devils.

Most of the church today is not even desperate for revival – the renewed zeal to obey God.

To many people today have the attitude of ok God what ever will be will be and that is as far as they want to go.

We have allowed the sin of this old world to be our teacher and not the love of Jesus Christ in our heart.

We need God; He is to be had for the seeking; and He will not deny Himself to any one of us if we personally seek His face.

Look at what the scripture tells us in,

Psalms 25:21 Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope (I am desperate) in you.

Its time for all of us to become desperate for the touch of God and quit settling for just any thing that comes along.

It is time that you and I start settling for the best things of God.

It’s time to put all of our hope in God.