Some thing they are spiritually hungry when they have a newly awakened interest in the things of God. But awakened interest is not yet hunger. Buying a book on a Kingdom topic is good, but it is not yet hunger. Hunger is when we cannot live without more, when we make radical alterations to our lifestyle in order to pursue God. A good way to measure the reality of our hunger is to measure the extent to which we rearrange our lives, our time, our money and our comforts to pursue that for which we hunger.
-Dana Candler “The Rewards of Fasting”
http://ihop.org/Group/Group.aspx?ID=1000036187 (Free e-book online)
You say you are hungry. You say you are desperate. Really? Are you? Is it just a feeling that goes away? Or is it a deep inner longing that says you cannot go on with life as normal? You must have more. You must have Him.
Mark 5 describes a woman who was truly desperate. She had a flow of blood for twelve years. She had spent all she had on doctors and they didn’t make her any better. She actually had gotten worse. She heard of a miracle worker. She heard of Jesus. He was her one chance. It was Jesus or die. She pushed through the crowd, trying not to cause a scene because she was ceremonial unclean. She believed that if she could just touch the hem of Jesus’ garment, she would be healed. She reached in faith, and she was instantly healed.
Matthew 5:6 – “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”
Luke 1:53 – “He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty.”
Psalm 107:9 – “For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.”
Jeremiah 29:12-13 – “Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”
The Lord loves hunger. He loves it when we hunger – when we are so desperate for him that we will sacrifice our selfish pride, our money, our time, and our hearts so that we can have a touch from Him.
With one touch, we can be changed forever. But a touch requires our reaching. Jesus is always there to meet us, but we must take that step, that reach, first.
We must come to the conclusion: It’s Jesus or die. I’ve tried everything else. Nothing works. I need a touch and I will do whatever I have to do to get to Him.
-Dana Candler “The Rewards of Fasting”
http://ihop.org/Group/Group.aspx?ID=1000036187 (Free e-book online)
You say you are hungry. You say you are desperate. Really? Are you? Is it just a feeling that goes away? Or is it a deep inner longing that says you cannot go on with life as normal? You must have more. You must have Him.
Mark 5 describes a woman who was truly desperate. She had a flow of blood for twelve years. She had spent all she had on doctors and they didn’t make her any better. She actually had gotten worse. She heard of a miracle worker. She heard of Jesus. He was her one chance. It was Jesus or die. She pushed through the crowd, trying not to cause a scene because she was ceremonial unclean. She believed that if she could just touch the hem of Jesus’ garment, she would be healed. She reached in faith, and she was instantly healed.
Matthew 5:6 – “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”
Luke 1:53 – “He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty.”
Psalm 107:9 – “For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.”
Jeremiah 29:12-13 – “Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”
The Lord loves hunger. He loves it when we hunger – when we are so desperate for him that we will sacrifice our selfish pride, our money, our time, and our hearts so that we can have a touch from Him.
With one touch, we can be changed forever. But a touch requires our reaching. Jesus is always there to meet us, but we must take that step, that reach, first.
We must come to the conclusion: It’s Jesus or die. I’ve tried everything else. Nothing works. I need a touch and I will do whatever I have to do to get to Him.
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