'SEEK and THIRST'

Psalm 63

'O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live;    in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. But those who seek to destroy my life    shall go down into the depths of the earth; they shall be given over to the power of the sword; they shall be a portion for jackals. But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swear by him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped'.

Do you ever use the fact that The Lord Jesus was/is The Son of God as an excuse for any lack of zeal and commitment you may have for/to God when you are tired, hungry, overwhelmed etc.? I think I probably have at times.

Check out the Psalm above. It was not written by The Lord Jesus but a mere human just like you and I (David). Like you and I, David was not perfect and perhaps like you and I, made some horrendously bad choices at times but it is Psalms like Psalm 63 that help us to see why David is described in 1 Samuel 13: 14 as 'a man after His (God's) own heart'.

Even when he was facing a really tough time in his life and literally in a desert place, He appears to be more focused on spiritual food and drink than physical food and drink.

When The Lord Jesus was in the desert 40 days and 40 nights, He was then approached by Satan. When The Lord was at His weakest physically, Satan tried to defeat Him but so strong in Spirit, The Lord Jesus still overcame Satan. This was all very real and challenging for The Lord Jesus and preparation for the cross where He would be even weaker still physically but be even stronger spiritually than in the desert, overcoming Satan, death and all darkness.

Now, we should not expect to be like Jesus and only He could overcome Satan, death and all darkness. I am also confident that only He could handle the desert experience and spiritual attack He faced like He did but Psalm 63 is one example of how strong we can be with God's help, with God's Spirit.

LHM hold SEEK events and THIRST gatherings where we unite the world in Christ to worship and pray in different ways BUT it is an individual constant challenge and aim to increasingly grow in our spiritual strength and not be ruled by the flesh.

This is not about fasting, though fasting is a great thing to do if you have no medical reasons not to and only for the amount of time that is wise for you to fast.

This is about more than fasting, this is about truly loving God and hating sin and remembering you only have one enemy and he is not human so do not fall into the trap of hating or resenting people but love them with His love.

This is about fulfilling the 'Two Greatest Commandments' the best that we can with His help.

Let's SEEK HIM and THIRST for HIM increasingly by asking for more of The Holy Spirit regularly.

Pastor Steve