Psalm 145 Let's Go!

Psalm 145:16

You, O’ God, open Your hand and

Satisfy the desires of every living thing.

What do you want?

I mean really……

What is it you dream about…..

Spend your time and energy pursuing?

What is that one thing you think will satisfy you?

Now……

What is there about that thing….

That relationship….. That experience….

What is there about it that will make the difference?

Guys,

Our desires…..

And what is underneath them….

These very desires that rise up in us….

They are clues….. Steps even…….

Along the way to…..

Knowing God.

Guys,

Father has opened His hand.

Let’s go…….

John 6:35

  Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life.

Whoever comes to me will never go hungry,

and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Father, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit,

Thank You for the hunger and thirst…..

Thank You for the desires…..

That have led me to You.

Amen

Psalm 103 Desire

Psalm 103:1 and 5

Praise the LORD

O’ my soul……..

He who satisfies your desires with

good things.

What do you want?

In the depths of your soul fellas,

What do you……..

Desire?

I think I spend a lot of energy fighting-

Fighting the very desires God has placed in me.

I think I might be afraid…….

Afraid of where they might lead me.

Oh, I know…..

I know so many of my desires have been……

Corrupted.

I have been down that trail too many times.

But let’s look past that for a moment-

Past the corruption,

And maybe……

Go deeper.

Christian-

You who have brought from death to Life-

You who have been made new by the Life of Christ-

Can we go deeper?

Can we go down into the new heart?

The good heart God has brought to life in us?

Maybe from there-

From the new man-

We can………

Embrace our desires.

Maybe from there we can turn to the One-

The One who satisfies our desires…………

With Good Things.

Psalm 37:4

Delight yourself in the LORD

And

He will give you

The desires of your heart.

Father, O’ Father,

Thank You for the promise that You

Will satisfy my desires……….

With good things.

Rise up in me to courageously embrace the desires

You have given me,

And so be drawn to You

For satisfaction.

Amen

Psalm 72 Are You Thirsty?

Psalm 72: 6

He (Jesus) will be like

Rain falling on a mown field,

Like showers watering the earth.

I cut the grass yesterday-

No, check that-

I ran over the yard with the lawn mower.

Everything is still a bit brown and looks…………

Well- Thirsty!

What about you guys-

Are you ready for another spring-

Are you ready to start mowing your lawns?

There’s just something about fresh cut grass-

Maybe it’s the sharpness of the manicured lines-

You know-

Where the mower has found its path,

Gliding over the top of the blades.

I love the elegance- the orderliness of it all-

It’s the earth…………………. subdued!

But there’s something else-

It’s as if the mowing has ignited some longing in the lawn.

It’s as if even the hint of rain causes the blades to rise……………..

Rise in anticipation-

Anticipation of…………….

Life!

John 4:13-14

Jesus answered,

”Everyone who drinks this well water will be thirsty again,

But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst-

Indeed the water I give you will become in you a Spring of Water

Welling up to

 Eternal Life.”

Father

Make my heart like the freshly mown lawn-

Ready for-  Anticipating- Even Longing for-

The Life Giving Spring of Jesus.

Amen

Psalm 63 Lesser Things

Psalm 63:1

“O’ God, You are my God,

Earnestly I seek You……..”

What do you want?

What are you longing for?

What are you pursuing?

What is it you think………..

Will make you………

Happy?

Do you remember the story of the Rich Young Ruler?

Do you remember why he came to Jesus?

It’s odd actually-

Even though he had followed the commands-

Even though he was rich-

Even though he was……….  

Well…………… a Ruler……..

He still sensed there was something…….

Missing.

“One thing you still lack………”

Leave behind these lesser things

 “Come follow Me”

Psalm 63:3

“Because Your Love is better than life,

My lips will glorify You.”

Holy Spirit, Lord Jesus, Father in Heaven-

Expose in me today any belief that there might be something…….

Anything-

Anything else that can give me what only You can give-

Life- Abundant Life.

Amen

What do you want?

It usually starts with an innocent enough statement- "Hey lets go out to eat!" my wife might say. To which I reply," Sure, what do you want?" To which Julie will reply, "I don't care- you pick". Now is where the fun begins- You all know- You have been there. "What about Chinese?" "No, I had that yesterday." "Well what about Mexican?" "You know My stomach can't handle that right now." "Okay then well what do you want?" "I don't know- I guess what I was really thinking was........"

I am not sure we will ever really be able to hear God or unite to His heart and purposes as long as we have our own ends in mind.

Isn't this how we are with God so often. He comes and invite us into His enterprises and even give us some options about how we might fit into what He has going.

It' s like He is saying, Hey Charles, let's get together and do this (Whatever this is) and I come back and say Great, Lord I would love to spend some time with You, but I was thinking we might do this (Something else) instead.

Lord, why don't You join me in what I want to do?

In fact, here are my plans, would You just please bless them-

You know they are good-

You know lots of people will be helped-

Lord, why don't You just join me in what I want-

You could be a big help.

I believe what God wants for us more than anything else is that we unite to His Heart in such a way that our greatest desire become simply.............Him.

When will I reach a point in my life where all of who I am revolves around Him- Where He is my great desire?

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord

Matthew 6:33 Seek ye first the Kingdom of God

Oh, I know these verses have second parts- Promises even- but can we just forget those for a while and say along with our Lord Jesus to the Father, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done"?

Father in Heaven, work out Your ways in my life today and tomorrow and every day. Holy Spirit, cultivate in me a desire for being united to the Great Heart of God- For being united to my Lord Jesus in all His Love and Grace and Mercy and Goodness. All Praise be to You Father in Heaven for how You are working all these things out.

Amen