Do You Thirst for God?
Psa. 42:1, 2 As a deer pants for flowing streams (water brooks –KJV), so pants my soul for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? PSA. 42;1,2&n bsp; (also Matt. 5:6)
The word “pant” we get an image of “immediate need” and spiritually it describes our intense desire and overwhelming longing for the presence of God.
Well you’re not unlike the deer the psalmist mentions in the first verse of Psalm 42, because like the deer you know if you don't get any water you will die. As the life of a deer depends upon water, so our spiritual lives depend upon the water of our soul, God.We have drives amongst them most importantly are hunger and thirst!Most important thing for survival is Water = Survival 3-4 days Food 4-6 weeks.
God is the living water that is required to sustain our life, without God we will die, plain and simple. Those who pant for God and long to understand him find everlasting life.
As we look at the subject of “Do you thirst for God”, we are going to talk about 3 kinds of Thirst today!
Three Kinds of Spiritual Thirst
1. Thirst of the EMPTY Soul .
Quote: “Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.” ~Augustine
The natural /lost person has an empty soul, devoid of God.
This person is constantly searching for something to fill the emptiness, but is not sure what to search for. The empty soul is always seeking and never resting; going from one thing to another, unable to find anything that will fit the God-shaped vacuum in the heart. But without the work of God in his heart he will NOT seek the true and living God, but everything else under the sun to fill that void.
As C. H. Spurgeon states, “When a man pants after God, it is the work of God within Him; he would not long after God by nature. No man thirsts for God while he is left in his carnal state. The unrenewed man pants after anything sooner than God: . . . It proves a renewed nature when you long after God; it is a work of grace in your soul, and you may be thankful for it.” [Based on Romans 3:11 & Psa. 14:2, 53:2]
2. Thirst of the DRY Soul. Read John 4:14 – Never thirst again!!!
The difference between the empty soul and the dry soul is that one has tasted the living waters and the other has not. Dry souls have not lost the presence of the well of springing up within them, but they may cease to drink of it as they ought, and for a while thus become dry.
We cannot lose the indwelling presence of the Spirit.
Reasons for having a dry soul:
1. Drink of the fountains of the WORLD. Trying to partake of the world as a Christian it doesn’t work!
2. Prolonged times of mental or physical FATIGUE.
Our body affects our spirituality and our spirituality affects our body. When you're tired or sick, you may not want to pray as much. If you are really tired, you can feel very unspiritual and you may not sense the spiritual growth that occurred in the battle that made you tired. We may feel spiritually dry because we are fighting a battle or a battle has just been won.
3. GOD sometimes puts us through DRY spells.
During these times (dry spells) God wants us to learn to TRUST Him and not our good feelings. Sometimes God steps back to see if we will still find Him worthy of following even when there is no earthly reason to do so. So metimes God withdraws a sense of His presence to teach us to walk by faith.
Quote: When the sun goes behind the cloud its no less near.
Three Kinds of Spiritual Thirst 1. Empty (lost) 2. Dry (dry spell) and NOW:
3. Thirst of the SATISFIED Soul Read Psalm 34:8
Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Psa. 34:8
Practical Steps we should ALWAYS take for our thirst:
1. MEDITATE on Scripture (26) Go for quality NOT quantity!
2. PRAY in line with and actual Scriptures (make it personal).
The Psalms are great for this! Name a Psalm you would turn into a prayer?
3. Read Thirst-making WRITERS.
This is important to read of men and women of God who make you thirsty for more of God. Read especially from time-tested books (not faddish books – See list below)
Such as classics and other time tested books like Pilgrims Progress by John Bunyan, Armor of God by Gurnall, classics, Thomas Watson, Richard Sibbes’ The Bruised Reed and the Smoldering Wick, John Owens, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, A.W. Tozer and the like, also read Christian biographies, and read/listen to good sermons by ministers that make you thirsty for the truth – John MacArthur, John Piper, C.J. Mahaney, etc.
“O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need for further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made thirsty still.” - A.W.Tozer
Nothing but the living water of God will satisfy!
In His Service,
This devotion may also be found in audio at: www.Sermon.net/biblefood
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