Today I find myself responding to the heart of God because I have this same feeling in my heart which just affirms to me that The Father and Jesus are living there, just like they said they would. (John 14:23)
I was reading Matt 5:6 which says, " Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled". Then I asked myself why there are so few people in the body of Christ who don't hunger and thirst after the things of God. I've been in leadership in the church for many years and I witness this lackadaisical desire among many to follow after Christ.
I am currently a leader of a home group along with my wife and have done so for about five years. It's a wonderful group filled with wonderful people, but the commitment that Jesus requires to follow him as a disciple by giving God first priority in your life is somewhat lacking there, just like it is every where else I look in the church because I don't see the hungering and the thirsting that Jesus talks about. What I do see is people giving priority to the things that are happening in their life, life's issues (and they can be big time issues), over the things of God. Let me be the first to say that I am as guilty of what I am saying here as anyone else is, and I think that is what hurts me the most. I understand why people put there things ahead of God's things, but that still doesn't make it right. God speaks to this very clearly in Mark 4:13-20. You need to read this and meditate it especially verses 18 and 19. And then in verse 20 He tells you what happens to those that hunger and thirst after Him.
Our church is currently taking a spiritual journey through this Lenten season. We have done this for about the last five years. We are supposed to be doing this together through our different home groups so that we can grow together. But I've watched from a distance these past years and have seen the desire of the people on these journeys wane more and and more each year. The commitment to the Home Group during this journey is much more than normal. During Lent we meet once a week, and all other times twice a month or less. To commit to a seven week journey with the group takes a real commitment and discipline to be there every week. Every person has to set their priorities with what they will do with this time and only they know if they have put something ahead of God or not (you need to look at Luke 14:26 right now. If your bible uses the word "hate" in this verse that word means "to love less). God knows when you can be there and when you can't.If you are not hungering and thirsting after the things of God, it's hard to stay on the path of the disciple.
God then took me to Luke 14:15-24, The Parable of the Great Supper. God has an invite out for us to come to His table and eat with Him. But so many make excuse not to come. And the excuses that make God angry, yes I said angry, are the kind that are listed in these verses. God understands when life's crises happen and you have to tend to things, but it's all the other things that we put before God that does not please Him.
As I sat contemplating these things the Spirit of the Lord said to me, "They are content knowing that Heaven is their home and that they have escaped Hell and the Judgement to come, but they have no desire to follow Me. They are not willing to be transformed by the renewing of their minds. They are not willing to leave their familiar surroundings for new and unknown territory. They have no desire to learn how to live victoriously over this world's system but would rather live according to it. They have no desire to change into the person I desire them to be. They will reap what they sow and they will not enter into the promise land, but they will remain in the wilderness for the remainder of their days. I give man the choice on how he desires to live his life. With Me, or without Me, the choice is his, but the results of his choice are his as well. When things don't turn out well for man because of his choice, he will blame Me instead of himself. This should not be so but it is. Choose you this day who you will serve. Me or you. The Kingdom way or the world way. Whatever you give yourself to that is what you shall reap. I desire to bless you, what is your desire My child? The choice is yours".
I really didn't want to share this with you and I was just going to keep it to myself for my own learning of God's ways. I knew He was speaking to me about things that I have given priority to over God and I knew He was speaking directly to me. I was judging what I was seeing by how God is judging me. He was allowing me to see things through His eyes and I became angry, just as it makes Him angry. But God reminded me about the purpose of this blog site and my commitment to Him concerning this site. I told Him I would reveal the Truth here, no matter the cost to me. So that is why you are reading this today. I plan to heed His voice, how about you?
9 comments:
Terry,
This, “Then I asked myself why there are so few people in the body of Christ who don't hunger and thirst after the things of God.” and this, "They are content knowing that Heaven is their home and that they have escaped Hell and the Judgment to come, but they have no desire to follow Me. They are not willing to be transformed by the renewing of their minds. They are not willing to leave their familiar surroundings for new and unknown territory. They have no desire to learn how to live victoriously over this world's system but would rather live according to it. They have no desire to change into the person I desire them to be”. (Your words), is because, regardless of what they say or how they act, they don’t have this, “I have this same feeling in my heart that just affirms to me that The Father and Jesus are living there”, (again, your words). Like me they continue to struggle with how to be content or satisfied w/ that which can only be received by faith and can’t actually be experience.
They suspect, and rightly so according to our bibles, that this “I desire to bless you”, (His words to you), is pain and sorrow as often as not. So without much of this “I have this same feeling in my heart that just affirms to me that The Father and Jesus are living there” why or how could they?
Roy,
Thanks so much for your comment. As I was reading your response the Lord spoke to my heart"Rom 8:14-17"
(please read this) Thank you for your insight, for you are speaking as one who does not experience that sense of knowing that God abides in your heart, and I must admit there is feeling associated with that. If you have ever been in love with another person, then you know what your heart feels toward them. You know what the experience is like. And the more you are with that person you love, the more you know them,you sense their presence with you even when you don't see them. It's the love relationship between you and the Father and Jesus that enables you to have those feelings in your heart of His closeness and His care for you. But that love relationship has to be developed. You must truly receive His forgiveness and walk free from your past and know that you are a new man in Christ. It's the new man that hungers and thirsts after Jesus and the Father.
Also, this suffering and pain that the believer experiences has been very misunderstood and perverted in the body of Christ. There is a suffering for the man who chooses to do it God's way, the right way, in this dark and ungodly world. The suffering comes from rowing upstream in a downstream world. It can be hard to stand in righteousness when the forces of hell come against you, but if you stand against it, God calls you blessed and you are. This kind of suffering is a Godly suffering for doing right. But somehow the church has grabbed ahold of the idea that the suffering that comes from the curse of the law such as sickness and disease, poverty, broken relationships, anything that steals, kills and destroys is some kind of blessing from God, but this just isn't so. Jesus came and paid a big price for us so that we could be redeemed from the curse of the law. If you associate your suffering that comes from the curse and treat it as a blessing from God, you have been deceived by the god of this world, satan, who has ravaged the church with his lying deceit. Many who have been deceived this way find it impossible to believe that God loves them, therefore they never enter into that loving relationsip with God, but only have a legal realtionship with God that is very cold and unloving.
What you long for, God holds out to you. He loves you more than you know and He wants to walk in that loving relationship with you. When you do this, you will know Him for real, and you will feel Him and be very aware of His presence within you. This is what God desires, and this is what man desires as well, for God made us for just this purpose.
Be Blessed my brother, and thank you so much for sharing your heart.
God loves you and I do to.
Terry,
Hello again. I would first like to thank you for your response.This is not the first time we have corresponded, I responded to one or two of your earlier entries and identified myself only as "Anonymous" as a function of haste and ignorance.
I continue to return to your page because I perceive on some level that you posses something which I covet. The fruit of that love relationship to which you referred in your response,(peace, joy, love,etc.). In your response you struck very close to my heart when you made reference to the experience of being "in love".
I have used that idea to describe my struggle several time in recent months.
When you experience being in love it is a RESPONSE to how you EXPERIENCE the presence, qualities,and character of the other person and the other persons response to you.I didn't just decide to be in love with my wife When I ,(hypothetically) found her to be repugnant.
I was provoked to that response by my EXPERIENCE of who she is and how she responded to me. I would equate this process to what you have referred to as the development of that love relationship. However, we don't get to EXPERIENCE God or Jesus in that way, instead we are required to substitute faith for that experience.For example When I go to church I don't EXPERIENCE God craning his neck to see me come in and breaking into a big smile because the one he loves has arrived, (or when I come home from work either).I don't get to EXPERIENCE my God looking at something I've worked hard on and saying to me " that looks great" or "how talented you are",or "I like how you did that". But I've had to continue to EXPERIENCE the opposite, rejection, being taken for granted, being unappreciated, with no faith required. This is why people continue to seek comfort and relief in the world. For the same ancient reason, lack of faith. WE are not content to read that God loves "the world" or to just believe as much as we can that God loves us because of what He said or how He acted in the lives of people who lived 2-10 thousand years ago. WE long for the EXPERIENCE.I frequently beg him to touch me to fill me. The love is meaningless without the lover.
Terry,
It got very late as I was entering my last response and I got really sleepy. There are so many things that you said that compel a response.
You mentioned truly receiving His forgiveness and KNOWING, (INFORMATION), that I am a new man in Christ. These things have no meaning or value to me. I have asked God for forgiveness but not because I desired it but because I desired relief from emptiness and sadness. I don't remember ever feeling contrite or convicted.Also,both of these things are spiritual in nature and as such again bypass any EXPERIENCE of them.
I don't understand how a human being can establish an emotional connection with a piece of information.
How can I develop a love relationship with God when I've never even heard him say my name.
Faith itself is a gift from God and I can not seem to find enough of it to receive any joy or comfort from an eventual heaven or a 2000 year old act of supreme love and sacrifice.
There is food in my house, my children are generally healthy,I have a job, but I remain empty and frustrated.
I apologize if my thoughts seem scattered or confusing. This is an emotionally difficult subject for me.
any help, (from anyone), would be much appreciated.
Dear Roy,
First let me say that Terry is my cousin. God has given him an amazing gift. Terry has helped me in my walk of faith more than he could even imagine. I am thankful for him. There is no doubt that the things he writes helps me to "hunger and thirst after righteousness".
In reading your first letter, I wonder if you are looking to other people for happiness that you need to find within yourself? And then wanting to know that God is pleased with you. Well, He tells us in scripture that we are "wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14) and made in His image (Genesis 1:26). He gave gifts and talents to each one of us. Of course, He is pleased with any good thing we might do. We just need to BELIEVE. Because His Word says so.
I have been a Christian for 27 years. I still fail. I am not perfect. I remember the day I was saved. I was forgiven of my sins. "For all have sinned". God touched me that day and I was filled with joy overflowing. That EXPERIENCE I cannot forget. God healed me of cancer in 2005. He spoke to my spirit. I heard His voice. That is an EXPERIENCE I cannot forget. Once I was slain in the Spirit. That is an EXPERIENCE I cannot forget. Some days are just plain days, some days are gloomy. Sometimes I feel His presence and sometimes I don't. Sometimes, in trials, I feel like He is unreachable. But, His Word says "He will never leave us or forsake us" (Hebrews 13:5). We just need to BELIEVE. We serve a LIVING GOD! If you think of him as a "piece of information", maybe He is waiting for you to BELIEVE? I'm glad you have an interest in finding Him, for that is the Holy Spirit's work. I hope that you will soon have your experience. May God Bless You!
Hi Terry and Nancy,
Thank both of you for your input.
I'm trying to figure out how to have more faith. I ask God, like the man asked Jesus " I believe but help me in my unbelief". I know the bible says faith comes by hearing so I listen. But I don't hunger and thirst for righteousness. And I don't hunger and thirst after the "things of God". I hunger and thirst after relief from emptiness, loneliness sadness and fear.
After 40 years of longing for closeness, connection and acceptance, "His word says so" isn't personal enough.
My name is not in there.
My name is not "whosoever".
Documentation isn't enough.
The amount of belief I am able to muster is not enough.
How do I change my own heart?
How do I want what I don't want?
How do I not want what I do want?
I went to a charismatic church for nearly twenty years I saw people "slain in the spirit" on a weekly basis. I heard people speak in "tongues". I have asked God time after time to touch me or to fix me or to fill me.
I so want to feel real love, adoration and worship for the Lord.
I guess it would be safe to say that I also covet your prayers.
Thanks
I will pray for you. I have felt those same feelings you feel at different times in my life. The "valleys" are not a fun time. If you are not in The Word, you need to be even if you don't feel like it. I cannot tell you where to begin. For me though, that is where I always found my answer and my comfort. I'm sure Terry will be able to give you many scriptures to help in your situation. Keep the faith no matter how little you think you have! Think of that tiny little mustard seed! I know you must have that much! (Even if you don't think you do) So, you WILL move mountains! God Bless You!
You Know, the reason I responded the first time was not to lament my condition or my circumstances but to point out why there aren't very many "sold out" people in Terry's Church or small group,(or any other Church or small Group). The Parable of the Sower explains it well enough, The weeds are choking them.They are not content with their experience of God, or where they are, they don't really experience peace or joy and they are trying to keep it hidden to protect their image instead of "squealing" about it and trying to get it fixed at all cost as I am. Otherwise, if they really do experience peace and joy and the love and presence of God and the world is still more important, then their in even worse shape than me.
I've heard it said and I believe it's true that drug addicts and alcoholics, addicted people of every kind are closer to the truth than many. They know something important is missing and they know it's too important to ignore and pretend it's not.
Roy,
I’m sorry that it has taken me a few days to get back with you, but I must say the Lord is keeping me busy. But I see you got to meet my cousin Nancy during this time and I was so blessed to see her corresponding with you and sharing her life with you.
I’ve been reading your responses and praying that God would give me some words that might be helpful to you and there are a few things on my heart that I will share with you.
The first thing that comes to mind is that you have never met the Man from Galilee. Jesus is His Name. Now please don’t misunderstand me. I didn’t say you didn’t know Him and I didn’t say you are not saved if you have accepted Jesus into your heart as your Lord and Savior. The church has done a fairly good job of introducing Jesus to the people and even where you can find Him (in the Bible), but they have not done very good in explaining how you can have a personal relationship with the Savior. The church promotes one thing and it is this one thing that you are so familiar with. This thing is called a religious experience that is brought about by learning something from a book about a person. It amounts to a history lesson where you get all the facts and you gain knowledge about the person. So with this knowledge you say, “I know about this person” but you can’t say “I know him” because to know him is to be with him and learn about him by watching him and listening to him and seeing how he reacts in different situations.
I know about a lot of different people because I learned about them in History class and I answered my test questions correctly because I knew the information about them. But these people were all long gone through death and only their information remains about them. And I know about a lot of people that are living today, because I’ve read about them and gathered information about them so that when someone mentions their name, I know about them, but I certainly don’t know them, because I’ve never spent any time with them.
Now I will admit that this is the way to Jesus as well. You fill find Jesus in a book just like all the others. And Jesus just like all the others died, but that is where the common ground ends. This Jesus who died on the cross for you and me, suffered in Hell itself for 3 days paying the penalty for man’s sins, was raised up from the dead by the Father and set at the Father’s right hand with all authority over principalities, powers, might and dominion and every name that is named. HE LIVES and that is what separates Him from all the others. And though He may of introduced Himself to you through the pages of a book by telling you His story, He has not called you into a religious experience with Him, He is calling you to a personal living experience with Him where you will know Him, not just know about Him.
How you say do I get to know Him this way. Have you heard the song, “He walks with me and He talks with me”?. Well this is the relationship the Father has always wanted with His Man, (the children of God).The good news is, that God has room for anyone who will come to Him and desire this relationship with Him.
So How do you do it? You start the same way you found out about others you know about by looking into the words written about them. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and verse 14 says the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Now the difference here is the “Word “ you are looking at. Did you notice the capitol letter W for word. The capitol letter W declares a huge difference between word and Word. The small letter word is a dead word with no life in it, But the capitol letter Word is filled with God’s life, for it is alive and He can live not only in you but with you.
So you meet Jesus on the written page, but how does He come alive to you. By first watching Him live as the Word in the flesh in the four gospels , then doing what James says in James 1:22-25 and 2:14-26 says. (you must read this and meditate this until the Holy Spirit reveals the Truth to you).
Here is the long and the short of it. You must do what Jesus does or you can say it this way, you must do what the Word says (Jesus and the Word are the same) to know Him. As long as you look at the Word, but don’t do it, you’ll only know about Jesus, you won’t know Him. But it’s when you do the Word that you see in the book, that is when you will know Him, for when you do the Word, the Word Himself (Jesus) will join you and enable you to do it and it’s right in the middle of this doing is where you will see Him and the more you do, the more you know Him and the more you know Him, the more personal the relationship becomes until there is no room between you and Him, but you are one with Him.
The key to the personal relationship with Jesus and the Father is in doing the Word. He will breathe His life into you and transform you into the image of His dear Son. That is what the Father has wanted from the beginning of time, and yes Roy, you can have that relationship with Jesus if you’ll do what the Holy Spirit has shared with you this day.
I am what I am today, because of doing what I’ve just shared with you. I’m 30 years down the road with Jesus, and every time I do the Word, I know Him more, because He reveals more of Himself to me. He is waiting for you to join Him on this journey. There is plenty of room, for there are very few who desire to know Him this way even though it is available to all. Whosoever comes!! That’s God’s heart desire.
Now Roy say this if you mean it:
I want to walk in your resurrection power. I desire to experience the power to live a new life every day. Thank you for the power that I have in my life because of the blood of Jesus.
Then Pray:
Lord I pray that Jesus’ resurrection would be real to me in a new way this week. His sacrifice gives me access to all of God’s benefits and blessings. I receive them now by faith in Jesus Name.
Roy, I will be praying for you to meet Jesus and experience His person, when you choose to do the Word. I’m believing Jesus will meet you there and then you can say you know Him. Be Blessed my brother.
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