What is flowing through your soul, living water or natural sewage? What is most alive deep within you? To my amazement, I see many believers having achieved their career success, financial stability, and a loving family but still feel empty and disappointed with what they have accomplished.
I believe the awareness of emptiness comes from the realization of losing the spiritual appetite along the way. In reality, what we want to accomplish for the kingdom of God is easily lost by what we want to possess and not by what needs to possess us.
My children are already counting down the months to their birthdays. Their excitement does not lie in their appreciation for mom and dad bringing them into this world, but it is in the anticipation of getting presents from others. Once their presents are opened, the excitement dissipates with time. Then, they start to think about Christmas. This is an exhausting pursuit of the human soul that leaves us emptier than before we opened the gifts.
Like children, we want blessings from God more than we want intimacy with God. We are so aware of what we want from God we totally fail to realize what God wants from us. God desires to bless us so that all peoples on earth can be blessed through us (Acts 3:24-26).
I believe the scriptures reveal Gods commands, and there are only two responses: obedience or disobedience. If you are obedient, then your heart will become lively towards God; but if you are disobedient, then your heart will become stagnant and dry.
God out of His grace will continue to give greater insights from His word to those who are obedient to His commands (John 14:21). However, to others, out of His mercy will allow them to stay stagnant to keep them from committing greater sin of disobedience.
Believers who are spiritually dry will not gain greater insights into Gods word, because they do not apply the truth already given by the Holy Spirit. Thus, your spiritual dryness is Gods mercy upon your life by keeping you from committing the greater sin of disobedience. Remember, God does not throw pearls before swine (Matthew 7:5-7).
We don’t realize that we hurt people far more with our shallow passion for God than with our moral failures. We are made to enjoy God, but personal desire has over-powered what was meant to be. Here, we seek to be happily intimate with ourselves at the cost of our diminishing spiritual appetite for God.
Here, my encouragement: When we repent, our hearts become aware of our shame and brokenness, and as a result, our hearts open to be filled with His Spirit and our ears will hear the promises of God that give us strength to fight against our deadness.
When we repent, the weight of our shame and guilt is lifted from us and will purify our hearts to genuinely love the infinite God of the universe. However, if we fail to repent, the weight of our shame and guilt will become unbearable and supernatural passion and power will disappear from our lives. Many of us have taken a pride pill laced with a strong dose of denial and see no need for repentance.
We must ask God to reveal the real battle that is being waged in our souls (1 Peter 2:11) and follow the Spirit to penetrate every defense we have built against brokenness and self-sufficiency until true self is released to love God and others at any cost.
P. Tae
No Comments to "Spiritual Appetite"
