MEMORISE:
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6
READ: Psalm 42:1-8
1As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?
3 My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
4 When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.
5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.
6 O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.
7 Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.
8 Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the day time, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.
MESSAGE
A hungry and thirsty fellow is one who is desperate for food and water. Have you ever seen someone who has been stranded on a desert for a whole month? If he sees water anywhere, he would do anything, and I mean anything, to drink it. The same applies to a person who has been deprived of food for many days. In the same vein, God expects us to hunger and thirst for righteousness. He expects us to desperately pursue righteousness. Jesus gave a parable in Matthew 13:44-46 that the kingdom of God is like a man who found treasure in a field and went to sell all that he had so he could buy that field and own the treasure. Psalm 63:1 says:
“O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;”
You should be willing to give up anything just to remain righteous. The revenue is the case these days; people are very quick to sacrifice their righteousness in order to gain some pleasure of this world.
Don’t deceive yourself with contemporary Christianity. If you are desperately hungry to live a holy life, you become easy meat for the devil. You need to be desperate enough to cut off your right hand if that is going to cause you to sin (Matthew 5:30). In other words, if social media is the means through which immoral thought get into your mind, then you must be ready to delete those social media apps from your phone. If you are lusting after your secretary, then you must be ready to let go of such a person. If being a staff in that organization causes you to stain your garment of holiness, then resign! Only the violent can take the kingdom of God and they must take it by force. Don’t be afraid to be asked why you pursue this Jesus so much. Fear of what people may say will make many lose their righteousness and consequently, the kingdom of God. You must hunger and thirst for righteousness at all times.
REFLECTION:
Is there anything or person limiting you from being holy? Let go of such now so you don’t lose the kingdom of God.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Genesis 16-18
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 12: I AM THINE OH LORD.
1. I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice,
And it told Thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith
And be closer drawn to Thee.
o Refrain:
Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died;
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.
2. Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord,
By the pow’r of grace divine;
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,
And my will be lost in Thine.
3. Oh, the pure delight of a single hour
That before Thy throne I spend,
When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God
I commune as friend with friend!
4. There are depths of love that I cannot know
Till I cross the narrow sea;
There are heights of joy that I may not reach
Till I rest in peace with Thee.
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