Desiring More of Him

by Susan Sampson

I hated vegetables growing up.  Don’t most kids?  But now I actually like them and even crave some of them.  I wouldn’t be caught dead eating green peppers as a kid, but now I love green peppers and onions on my pizza!  So what changed?  My pediatrician tells me to keep offering new foods to my children and once they taste them enough times, their taste buds will change and they will desire them.

Psalm 34:8a says, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!”  Our Falling in Love Again with Your Lord lecture notes say that, “In Psalm 63 David is feasting on the royal delicacies of a divine banquet.”  But this didn’t happen overnight.  He developed an appetite for the Lord.  He learned to do this.  He sought the Lord earnestly — over and over again.  When he fell, he repented of his sin and returned to the Lord.  He tasted over and over again and discovered that the Lord was good — that His lovingkindness was better than life itself!

I wrote that my favorite meal is Thanksgiving turkey and all the trimmings.  But I know if I ate 2 or 3 candy bars beforehand I absolutely would not want any of the Thanksgiving meal — in fact, it would be repulsive to me and I would feel sick at the sight and smell of it.  When I fill up on the counterfeit which looks so incredibly appealing, I lose all desire for the real thing — the only thing that can truly satisfy — Christ.

I love when Laurie told the story of the homeless man who used to look for food in dumpsters.1  What a helpful and vivid picture of our flesh!  Rotten, foul, repulsive, disgusting and yet we continue to plunge right in.  “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6).  I don’t want to go dumpster diving any more. I want what David has in Psalm 63.  I want my soul to be truly satisfied in Christ alone.  Lord, lift us out of the miry pit, out of the dumpster!  Turn our eyes away from worthless things!  May we no longer be deceived by the taste of Turkish Delight!  Turn our eyes away from the temporal.  Give us grace to stop bowing to the world around us, the enemy, and our flesh!

We are so weak, Lord.  We are unable.  Please by your grace carry us to your banquet table.  Cause us to thirst for Christ alone.  Give us grace to kill off the filthy flesh.

Help us STOP

  • believing the lies
  • indulging the flesh
  • thinking according to our old girl
  • being carried along by the ways of the world

Help us START

  • Trusting in Christ
  • Delighting in Christ and His Word
  • Fasting from wrong thinking
  • Resting in His love and sovereignty
  • Being content in His purpose
  • Following Him in His Word to be filled2

“…man does not live by bread alone, but man LIVES by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deut. 8:3b).

This week in our small group we talked about really asking the Lord to show us what is preventing us from living out the truth He is speaking to our hearts each week.  This week take time not just to write out your 2 sentences on how you did with your Taking the Truth to Heart, but if it didn’t go well, let us ask the Lord to show us why.  Laurie encouraged us to take time to write down all the junk we’ve been turning to and digesting to be able to see it for what it truly is.  Please, Lord, show each of us what is keeping us from having a soul that is so satisfied as with fat and rich food that our mouths would be praising you with joyful lips!

The Word of the Lord tells us that He delights in us at all times.  Will we delight ourselves in Him?  Or will we choose the dumpster?  Lord, give us grace to choose you as you first chose us!

Footnotes:
1Laurie owed this illustration to Bob George in his book Classic Christianity.
2These START/STOP points modified from the Falling in Love Again with Your Lord lecture (or notes).

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Do We Know How Poor We Are?

Thistlebend Quiet eMoment

by Laurie Aker

Focus Scripture: Luke 6:20-26 ESV

20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:
“Blessed are you who are poor now,  
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who are hungry now,  
for you shall be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,  
for you shall laugh. 
22 Blessed are you when people hate you  
and when they exclude you and revile you  
and spurn your name as evil,  
on account of the Son of Man!
23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy,  
for behold, your reward is great in heaven;
for so their fathers did to the prophets.
24 But woe to you who are rich,  
for you have received your consolation.
25 Woe to you who are full now,  
for you shall be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,  
for you shall mourn and weep.
26 Woe to you, when all people speak well of you,
for so their fathers did to the false prophets.”
______________________________

God has promised blessing to those who are His,
to those who walk in His ways,
to those who put their trust in Him.
He blesses those who believe.
They are blessed not because of their own merit,
or their own ability,
or their own perfection,
but because of their faith and trust in Him.

When pressed to answer, do we believe this to be true?
I think most of us would answer yes, of course.
However, what do our daily schedules tell us
or others of what we actually believe?
What do our actions, our purchase decisions, or our priorities say?
I sense underneath the surface, our underlying motives,
reveal that our flesh believes something quite different.
And without realizing it we subtly follow the flesh.

The flesh of some is convinced that
living in the right house on the right street,
in the hippest part of town will make them blessed.
The flesh of others is convinced that
the house out in the middle of the country,
with no traffic, no other houses in sight,
with plenty of land to grow their
own veggies would be the answer.

For others
it is education, the right job, the right friends,
the right clothes, well-behaved children, or no debt
that they think would make them happy or secure.
The list could go on and on.

Most Christians if asked think that they put their trust in
Jesus, but underlying this “belief” is the belief that
having Jesus plus the right whatever is what they really need.

How can we really hear what Jesus is saying and listen?
Take a moment to ask the Lord to reveal what you really believe.
Do you want to know?

Jesus says,
blessed are those who know their poverty, know their need,
and look to God for they will receive blessing.
Blessed are those who know that
they are absolutely destitute and desperate.

Ask Jesus to help you know and feel your poverty.
Ask Him to help you see that without Him
at the very center of your heart and life–
Him as your all and your everything–
that you have nothing.

TAKING GOD’S WORD TO HEART

It is a gift from the Lord when we feel powerless over our sin,
it is His mercy and grace that enables us
to stop trying to cover over our failings and faults and turn to him.
Those who are “poor” in spirit and turn to God
and cry out for His mercy are truly blessed.
They have been given eyes to see their need and their inadequacy.
In their desperation they run to God.

They pray with the psalmist:

Psalm 28:2, 6, 8
2  Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy,
when I cry to you for help,
when I lift up my hands
toward your most holy sanctuary.

6 Blessed be the LORD!
For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.

8 To you, O LORD, I cry,
and to the Lord I plead for mercy…

And when they confess their sins to the Lord,
the Scripture says of them:

Romans 4:7-8
7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the man against whom  
the Lord will not count his sin.”

And not just concerning sin.
Those who are “poor” in wealth, in talent, in physical ability,
in intellect, or in any way, who look to the Lord
and place their trust in Him are blessed.
For it is not by might, nor by power but by His Spirit.
Christian, are you feeling weak and impoverished?
Is your cupboard bare?
Are you unable to measure up?
Be blessed.
Acknowledge your finitude, your frailty,
your faults, your feebleness and look to God.
Rest in Him.

Trust Him and obey His Word.

MEDITATE or MEMORIZE

Write out the following passage from Luke 6 and recite it 3 times.
Take it with you throughout the day.

23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy,  
for behold, your reward is great in heaven;
for so their fathers did to the prophets.
24 But woe to you who are rich,  
for you have received your consolation.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, show me my poverty.
And show me your riches of blessings
for those who will trust in you.

In His hands for His glory,

Laurie
_____________________________

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Make Every Effort

Thistlebend Quiet eMoment

by Laurie Aker

Focus Scripture: Luke 6:17-19 ESV

17 And he came down with them and stood on a level place,
with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people
from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, 
18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. 
And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 
19 And all the crowd sought to touch him,
for power came out from him and healed them all.
______________________________

Though it was many, many miles from Jerusalem
to the part of Galilee where Jesus was teaching,
and though there were many wise rabbis in Jerusalem,
still they came to hear Christ.

They came also from Tyre and Sidon.
Those who lived in these areas were generally men of business,
with busy days, much to do, and much on their mind.
Yet they made Jesus a priority.
They came to hear Jesus.

And Jesus preached to them.

We too need to be under godly, biblical,
and doctrinally sound teaching.
Teaching that exalts God and His Word.
We need to have teaching that feeds us, that challenges us,
that focuses our minds and our hearts,
not on man’s ways, but on God’s ways.
We need to have teaching that addresses our sin,
calls us to die to self and pick up our cross and follow Him.
We need to go out of our way to hear the Word of God.

TAKING GOD’S WORD TO HEART

Each and every day we want to make every effort–
to do whatever we need to do–
so that we can be in the Word of God.
Listening to God’s Word.
Learning from God’s Word.
And submitting to God’s Word.
Not to the ways of the world,
the ways of our flesh,
or the ways of the devil.
We need to do all that we can do and look to God to
do what only He can do.
Thankfully, you don’t have to travel from Tyre or Sidon.
You have been given the Holy Spirit,
the mind and heart of Christ within,
if in fact you are in Christ.

So, spend time with Him.
Submit to His Word.
And Serve Him.

MEDITATE or MEMORIZE

Write out the following passage from Luke 6 and recite it 3 times.
Take it with you throughout the day.

18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. 
And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 
19 And all the crowd sought to touch him,
for power came out from him and healed them all.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, give me the strength to make every effort
to be in your Word.
Show me the importance of the Scriptures
for my life.

In His hands for His glory,

Laurie
_____________________________

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