FINDING SATISFACTION WITH GOD
ISAIAH 55:1-8
INTRO-
ISAIAH 55 1-9 READ
CHAPTER 54 IS A PREPARATION FOR WHAT HAS JUST HAPPENED IN 55. GOD IS LETTING HIS PEOPLE KNOW THAT HE WILL TAKE CARE OF US.
SOMETIMES WE GO THROUGH THINGS AND WE CAN FEEL THAT GOD HAS WENT ON VACATION OR HAS SELECTIVE HEARING. ISRAEL WAS TOLD TO BREAK FORTH IN PRAISE TO THEIR GOD EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE DOWNTRODDEN AND BEATEN DOWN. THAT IS THE HARDEST THING TO DO WHEN YOU FEEL YOU CAN’T. GOD PROMISES TO ISRAEL IF THEY WILL PRAISE HIM, THAT HE WOULD SEE THEM THROUGH THESE TROUBLES.
GOD OFFERS UP HERE A GREAT INVITATION, IF YOU HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF DOING THINGS YOUR WAY, IF YOU HAVE GOTTEN TIRED OF TRYING TO FILL THAT VOID WITH EVERYTHING BUT GOD, GOD SAYS TO COME.....
DR. JENNINGS , A HEBREW SCHOLAR PUTS IT THIS WAY. THE INVITATION IS FOR ALL WHO ARE DISSATISFIED AND DEEPLY FEEL THAT THEY ARE MISSING A VITAL INGREDIENT IN THEIR LIFE.
THE QUESTION I WANT TO ASK YOU;
ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD?
DO YOU REALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT REAL SATISFACTION WITH GOD IS?
GOD WANTS US TO BE SATISFIED BUT THAT SATISFACTION IS IN HIM, NOT ONLY OUR MANMADE PLEASURES.
SATISFACTION GUARANTEED-THAT IS TODAY’S SLOGAN- WE PROMISE YOU’LL LIKE IT OR YOUR MONEY BACK
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION- IF YOUR NOT HAPPY, WE WILL MAKE IT RIGHT
YOU MUST UNDERSTAND DISSATISFACTION TO APPRECIATE SATISFACTION. YOU MUST UNDERSTAND WHERE YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SO YOU’LL APPRECIATE WHERE YOU WANT TO BE.
YOU MUST KNOW EMPTINESS, TO LIKE FULLNESS.
YOU HAVE TO HAVE BEEN THIRSTY, TO KNOW WHAT QUENCHES IT
WE CAN GET SO BUSY WITH LIFE THAT WE MISS OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND SPENDING TIME WITH CHRIST.
COME... BELIEVE THE GOSPEL, COME AND TASTE OF GOD’S SALVATION, EAT AND DRINK AND KNOW WHAT FULLNESS REALLY IS.
JESUS IS SAYING- YOU WHO HAVE NO MONEY, AND YOU WHO REALIZE IN YOURSELF YOU DON’T DESERVE HEAVEN. HE SAYS COME.
CHRIST CAME TO SAVE THE LOST. THOSE WHO REALIZE WITHOUT HIM THEY ARE SPIRITUALLY BANKRUPT.
KING SOLOMON WHO HAD IT ALL, SUMMED UP LIFE WITHOUT GOD AS MEANINGLESS.
THIRST IS COMMON TO ALL- WE UNDERSTAND DRY TIMES, WE UNDERSTAND THE CRAVING FOR WATER TO SATISFY.
THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF WATER- ONE IS PHYSICAL AND ONE IS SPIRITUAL. YOUR BODY IS THIRSTY- YOU QUENCH IT BY PHYSICALLY DRINKING WATER. YOUR SPIRITUALLY THIRSTY YOU COME TO THE ONE WHO CAN SATISFY THE SOUL.
GOD TELLS US TO COME TO HIM; IT IS A ACTION WORD, YOU MUST MOVE TOWARD YOUR DESTINATION.
YOU MUST BE;
I. THIRSTY FOR GOD AND THEN COME TO HIM
QUESTION- WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO THIRST FOR GOD? IN CHURCHES TODAY, WE THROW THAT SAYING AROUND. IF YOU ARE THIRSTY FOR GOD, YOU ARE GOING TO TAKE WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT THIRST AND APPLY IT TO YOUR NEED FOR GOD.
WHEN YOU THIRST- YOU GO TO THE SOURCE THAT WILL SATISFY THAT- WATER
WHEN YOU SPIRITUALLY THIRST- AGAIN , YOU WILL GO TO THE SOURCE THAT WILL SATISFY, YOU WILL GO TO GOD.
YOU UNDERSTAND THAT ONE WILL NOT FULFILL THE OTHER.
SATISFACTION BEGINS WHEN YOU REALIZE THAT YOU CANNOT DO IT ON YOUR OWN. YOU ADMIT SPIRITUAL POVERTY AND REDEMPTION BEGINS AS YOU MOVE FORWARD TOWARD JESUS CHRIST.
JESUS SAID, BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT FOR THEIR’S IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN” (MATT 5:3)
POVERTY IS WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE SOMETHING- THERE IS POOR AND THEN THERE IS POOR TO THE POOR POOR- THE LORD IS LOOKING FOR THE POOR TO THE POOR POOR- THOSE WHO WILL ADMIT SPIRITUALLY THEY ARE BANKRUPT.
THE RICHEST PERSON IN THE WORLD, MONEY WISE, WITHOUT GOD IS THE POOREST PERSON SPIRITUALLY., AND THE POOREST PERSON WITH A VIBRANT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD IS SPIRITUALLY RICH BEYOND MEASURE.
JESUS ALSO SAYS - BLESSED ARE THEY WHICH HUNGER AND THIRST AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR THEY SHALL BE FILLED.
HUMAN EFFORTS WILL ALWAYS FALL SHORT AND FAIL.
PEOPLE CONSTANTLY LOOK TO FULFILL THEIR LIVES OUTSIDE OF GOD FOR THE SATISFACTION OF THEIR SOUL
YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT I SAW IN SCRIPTURE THIS PAST WEEK, NUMEROUS TIMES THROUGHOUT THE BIBLE, THE PHRASE IT CAME TO PASS.... THAT IS A GREAT VERSE WHEN YOU ARE WAITING ON GOD TO DO SOMETHING. THIS WEEK I SEE IT AS AN ENCOURAGEMENT FOR WHAT YOU ARE GOING THROUGH, IT WILL NOT LAST FOR EVER, IT WILL PASS, IT WILL MOVE OUT OF YOUR WAY, IT MAY HURT SOME, BUT IT WILL NOT LAST FOR EVER.
THE SECOND QUESTION WHEN JESUS SAYS COME... WILL YOUR RESPOND?
II. RESPONDING TO HIS CALL
SEEK THE LORD WHILE HE MAY BE FOUND; CALL ON HIM WHILE HE IS NEAR.
THE NEXT THING IS EASY- ONCE YOU HAVE HEARD THE INVITATION FROM THE LORD TO COME- YOU HAVE TO BE DETERMINED THAT YOU WILL RESPOND.
YOU STOP GOING YOUR WAY, AND YOU TURN AROUND . IT IS A 180 DEGREE TURN.
YOU STOP RUNNING FROM GOD AND BEGIN TO TRUST HIM BY FAITH.
FOR MY THOUGHTS ARE NOT YOUR THOUGHTS, NEITHER ARE YOUR WAYS MY WAYS DECLARES THE LORD. AS THE HEAVENS ARE HIGHER THAN THE EARTH SO ARE MY WAYS HIGHER THAN YOUR WAY AND MY THOUGHTS THAN YOUR THOUGHTS.
WE ARE THIRSTY WE ARE RESTLESS, IT IS A DRY DESERT WITHOUT JESUS !
I AM TALKING TO CHRISTIANS THIS MORNING, WE NEED TO HEAR THE VOICE OF GOD CALLING US TO COME TO HIM.
ILLUSTRATION-
LITTLE GIRL WAS IN THE HOSPITAL FOR SURGERY AND THE DOCTOR CAME IN TO SEE HER BEFORE HAND. HE WAS TELLING HER WHAT HE NEEDED TO DO AND THAT SHE WOULD BE PUT TO SLEEP. SHE IMMEDIATELY TOLD THE DOCTOR THAT IF SHE WAS GOING TO SLEEP THAT SHE HAD TO SAY HER PRAYERS FIRST. THE LITTLE GIRL SAID HER SIMPLE PRAYER RIGHT THERE IN THE BED AND TEARS BEGAN TO FILL HER DOCTORS EYES. HE HAD FORGOTTEN ABOUT WHO HE NEEDED TO PUT HIS FAITH IN. HE HAD FORGOTTEN THAT IT WAS NOT ALL ABOUT WHAT HE LEARNED IN MEDICAL SCHOOL.
YOU SEE WE FORGET, WE GET TO BUSY, WE HAVE SELECTIVE HEARING, SOMETIMES WE DON’T LIKE THE ANSWER.
CLOSING
WHAT ARE YOU REACHING FOR TO QUENCH YOUR THIRST?
HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THE MOVIES WHERE SOMEONE IS ON A DESERT AND THEY BEGIN TO SEE MIRAGES. THERE THIRSTY AND THEIR TONGUE IS HANGING OUT AND JUST OVER THE RIDGE THERE IS A COOL BEAUTIFUL BODY OF WATER, ONLY TO FIND OUT IT IS NOT THERE.
THAT IS THE POISON WE HAVE WHEN WE FILL THE NEED OF GOD WITH STUFF.
IF THERE IS A DEAD ANIMAL IN YOUR WATER SUPPLY, YOUR WATER IS POISONED.
IT MAY NOT KILL YOU RIGHT AWAY. YOU MAY BEGIN TO BE ILL, MAYBE A LITTLE GUILTY, MAYBE YOU FEEL SEPARATED FROM GOD.
LISTEN- DO YOU WANT TO BE CLOSER TO GOD, DO YOU WANT TO HAVE A FRESH RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD?
DO YOU WANT YOUR FREEDOM BACK?
JOHN 4:7-15
JESUS OFFERS LIVING WATER TO SATISFY YOUR SOUL. HE SAYS FOR THOSE WHO DRINK THIS WATER , THAT IT WILL BECOME IN HIM A SPRING OF LIVING WATER
NOW THAT IS SATISFACTION GUARANTEED.
