If you can't make them drink, leave them thirsty!
Matthew 5:6 NKJ
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled!
The MSG bible says it this way....You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.
Everyone was created with a different personality, a different set of fingerprints and a DNA makeup known only unto them.
God created each of us in His image, but yet each uniquely different, no two of us the same...."what an amazing God He is!"
It has been estimated that 106 billion people have been born to and have walked on earth since the beginning,
Can you imagine 106 billion different sets of finger prints, again I say
"what an amazing God He is!"
While all different in many ways, there are at least two things we all share in common with one another.
We all hunger and thirst, most of us have no problem eating, but the thirsting part for most people, leaves room for improvement,
because if you ask anyone how much water they drink, hardly anyone ever says the right amount, their suppose to.
Something so important to our well being, we heed so little importance to partake of.
Illus. Do you know the importance of water to our physical bodies? When our bodies fail to retain the right amount of water, dehydration sets in.
It is the water in our body that determines the vitality, strength, and energy associated with daily living. Think about these facts associated with our body and water:
Ø The human body is ⅔ water.
Ø The body absorbs cold water faster than hot water.
Ø By the time you are 70-years-old, you will have
required 1½ million gallons of water.
Ø Studies show that increasing water consumption can
decrease fat deposits. Water is a natural appetite
suppressant.
Ø If you loose 2% of your body’s water supply, your
energy will decrease by 20%.
A 10% decrease in water,
you will be unable to walk, and a 20% decrease – you’re dead.
Well, I think you get the point.
And what is true of the physical is also true of the spiritual.
Because God has made you with a spirit, soul, and body that get thirsty, if you fail to satisfy that thirst, your spirit, soul, and body become dehydrated.
And I got to thinking, what is our thirst level, when it comes to the things of God?
Sure we all have a thirst for God when we come to salvation....you know with lots of questions....but as our relationship grows....
How much do we truly thirst for the things of God in our lives?
Not just when things are going wrong in our lives, but on a continual basis!
Because our text indicates, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.
So the degree of our desire, indicates how much of Gods righteousness we have in the gas tank!
Are you one of those who can drive on empty and not be bothered by it, or do you like it better when the gauge reads half full or more?
And then we get to the question, is the tank half full or half empty?
Isn't it interesting that God left it up to us to decide, how much righteousness we could have in our tanks, or in our lives, at any given time?
Isaiah 44:3 MSG.
For I will pour water on him who is thirsty,
And floods on the dry ground;
I will pour My Spirit on your descendants,
And My blessing on your offspring;
When I think about the word thirsty, I wonder about the different degrees of the word.
(slightly thirsty) Like, when you realize I haven’t had a drink since lunch, at 5 in the afternoon and your kind of thirsty,
But you wait until supper, because you don’t really want to spoil your appetite.
(pretty thirsty) When you are working out in the hot sun on a humid day,
And you drink all the water, or tea your brought for the whole day by 10:30, but your pretty sure you can make it to lunch time with know problem.
(desperately thirsty) you are so thirsty, you can't even swallow and there’s no way you can wait any longer, you need a drink and you need it now.
And all you can think about is drinking the bottom out of the well!
It doesnt matter the circumstance that caused your thirst, you just know that you are willing to go to any extreme, to have your thirst quenched!
This morning, I want to speak to you about being thirsty for God.
What is your thirst level for the things of God?
Is it dangerously low, or running over like springs of living water?
We all know that David, was a man after God’s own heart, but why did God loved him so much?
One thing about it is, God loves being sought out, if you seek Him (it's not like the game, hide and seek) if you seek Him, you will! Find Him!
Matthew 7:7-8 NKJ
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
Aren't you glad we serve a risen Saviour that is not only willing, but wants to be found? Amen?
We know that God is a re-warder of those who seek Him out,
From a Shepard boy, to ruling a nation and being a King that was David, he was blessed his whole life through,
Because he never stopped seeking God!
David in Psalm 27:1-6 MSG
1. Light, space, zest—
that’s God!
So, with him on my side I’m fearless,
afraid of no one and nothing.
2 When vandal hordes ride down
ready to eat me alive,
Those bullies and toughs
fall flat on their faces.
3 When besieged,
I’m calm as a baby.
When all hell breaks loose,
I’m collected and cool.
4 I’m asking God for one thing,
only one thing:
To live with him in his house
my whole life long.
I’ll contemplate his beauty;
I’ll study at his feet.
5 That’s the only quiet, secure place
in a noisy world,
The perfect getaway,
far from the buzz of traffic.
6 God holds me head and shoulders
above all who try to pull me down.
I’m headed for his place to offer anthems
that will raise the roof!
Already I’m singing God-songs;
I'm making music to God!
What a great testimony, that should be our testimony!
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for Righteousness, for they shall be filled!
Psalms 63:1-4 NKJ
O God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.
2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.
3 Because Your loving kindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
4 Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
David knew where to find God, it wasn’t out in the world in a dry thirsty land,
It was in the intimacy of worship he found, that his soul was nourished
and that Gods power and Glory could be experienced first hand.
It's still the same for you and I, that's what praise and worship and hearing the Word is all about, when we come to the House Of God! Amen??
Davis spent his whole life in the desperately thirsty category, constantly seeking after the things of God!
its no wonder God wanted the world to know the kind of relationship He had with David, "a man after His own heart!"
We should all strive to have the same or better relationship with our maker,
we can you know, we have the same opportunity that David did.
What He did for David, He will certainly do anyone who desperately seeks after Him.
Do you have a need this morning?
How desperate are you to have your need met?
He has the means not only to meet, but exceed your desire with living water
and to make it flow in every area of your life in abundance! Amen?
But I'm not, and I've got, and if only....quit objecting....objection overruled once and for all....
start partaking and consuming a steady diet, of the spiritual nutrients that you need!
He did it for the women with issue of blood in Mark 5:25-29 MSG.
25-29. A woman who had suffered a condition of hemorrhaging for twelve years—a long succession of physicians had treated her, and treated her badly, taking all her money and leaving her worse off than before—had heard about Jesus. She slipped in from behind and touched his robe. She was thinking to herself, "If I can put a finger on his robe, I can get well." The moment she did it, the flow of blood dried up. She could feel the change and knew her plague was over and done with.
She could have given up you know, a lot of people in her position have,
I mean she had tried everything under the sun, but to no avail.
Anyone ever been there???
She had been aggressive to say the least, in her pursuit to wellness,
but it wasn’t until she quit focusing on what she was capable of,
And became desperate for what Jesus could do, did she see relief from her condition,
She stopped drinking of the things of the world and started drinking from the well of Living Water! Amen?
And she not only saw relief, she saw total victory, complete wellness, healing and restoration from head to toe!
Her faith had moved Jesus to heal her, her hunger and thirst for Jesus....not her condition
and certainly not her pleas, brought about the miracle she was so desperately seeking! Amen?
Its easy to get distracted by circumstances (both personal and of the world)
But the only thing that matters is not what we can do for ourselves, or what the world has to offer,
But what the Unlimited God of all possibilities can do in our lives,
when we seek His righteousness with all we have, in every situation and rely on His unmerited Love and Favor, for everything in and around our lives. Amen?
Paul the Apostle learned that lesson almost better than anyone.
Philippians 3:7-9 MSG.
7-9. The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant— dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules (he’s talking about the law and all of its do’s and don’ts) when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ— God's righteousness.
(which is, the unending grace that still flows freely from the cross)
All three examples that I have shared with you, have been individuals that were willing to use their faith,
To desperately seek God and were rewarded by doing so.
If you hunger and thirst for the things of God, God will pour out His Spirit on you.
Its only then, you will experience, life changing Grace of Jesus and the presence of Gods blessings, power and anointing that comes with it! Amen?
TBS. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled
John 7:37-38 NASB
37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”
And the living water won’t just be on you, it will be evident to everyone around you! Amen?
People will say, I don’t know what happened to you, but whatever it is that happened......Lord let it happen to me!
Thirst and Hunger after the righteousness of God and He will let it happen to you to,
Luke 6:38 NKJ.
38. Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
If you don’t hold anything back, neither will He!
Thirst for the things of God,
If you give a little, He'll always give more
If you give a lot, He'll always give a lot more
If you give all you have, He'll freely give you....all He has, as much as you want!
So much so, it will overflow in your life and spill out and over into the others lives of all who come around you!
Illus. The young salesman was disappointed about losing a big sale, and as he talked with his sales manager he lamented,
"I guess it just proves you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink."
The manager replied,
"Son, take my advice: your job is not to make him drink. Your job is to make him thirsty."
So it is with evangelism, Our lives should be so filled with Christ that they create a thirst for the Gospel.
Hunger and thirst for the things of God, Live the life, you may just be the vessel God uses
to supply the river to someone else's desert that their experiencing and that no one even knows about!
Matthew 25:37-40 MSG
37-40 “Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’
Share Jesus with someone this week, help give someone a drink of Living Water they'll never forget!
Let's pray!
