Thoughts for Life: #109 Hunger and Thirst for the Spirit's Fullness

Dr. Wesley L. Duewel: #3. Hunger and thirst for the Spirit's fullness. God is always moved by spiritual hunger and thirst and repeatedly promises to meet the needs of our soul.

Jesus assures us, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Matt. 5:6). He stood in the temple and called, " 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.' (Google image,Woman Worshipping the Lord)

By this he meant the Spirit" (John 7:37-39). Water is the symbol of the Holy Spirit. "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters," God calls through Isaiah Isaiah (55:1). I will pour water on the thirsty land . . . I will pour out my Spirit" (Isa. 44:3). "Land" is not found in the Hebrew. It is a promise to the "thirsty," and the Spirit satisfies our thirst.

As long as the fullness of the Spirit is not your whole-souled desire, you will probably not be filled. As long as you treat the experience as something desirable, but are willing to continue as you are without it, you will not receive the fullness.

Torrey said, "No man ever got this blessing who felt that he could get along without it."

We read of the people of Judah that, "They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them" (2 Chron. 15:15).The literal Hebrew is "They sought God with their whole desire." God said through Jeremiah, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart" (Jer. 29:13).

Probably not desiring the Holy Spirit with all the heart and not making a total surrender of the self are the major reasons for failure to enter upon the experience.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Used by permission of the author and Duewel Literature Trust, Inc., Greenwood, Indiana. Creative reading style by Jean.

Ablaze for God
#109 Hunger and Thirst for the Spirit's Fullness
by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
(pp. 310-311) ZondervanPublishingHouse

Let's pray-

Father, thank You for being moved by our spiritual hunger and thirst, and that You have the promises that meet the needs of our souls.
Increase our thirst, Father, so our whole-soul's desire may be to experience Your Spirit's fulness, and to be satisfied.
Help us realize that what we lack is an experience You want us to have. But by thinking we can get along just fine without it, the chances are we'll not receive this fullness. Change our thinking, Lord!
Your Word tells us that when we seek You with all our heart, we'll find You, so may we make a total surrender of ourselves to enter into the experience.
We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Today's Bible verses-

Jer. 29:11-13 (NKJV) "For I know the thoughts that

I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace

and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. (v. 12)

Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and

I will listen to you. (v. 13) And you will seek Me and find

Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."

John 7:38, 39 (NKJV) "He who believes in Me, as the
Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of
living water." (v. 39) But this He spoke concerning the
Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for
the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was
not yet glorified."

1 Cor. 12:13 (NKJV) "For by one Spirit we were all
baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks,
whether slaves or free—and have all been made to
drink into one Spirit."

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 (NIV) "Now it is God who makes

both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us,

set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in

our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."

Today's quote-

~ Larry Lea- "Just consider a moment what comes after a battle and ultimately after a war: peace. Walking in the victory of the Holy Spirit is knowing that while there may be a battle, you'll win because of Jesus inside you. It's knowing that peace will be established and declaring the outcome even in advance of taking any action or confronting the enemy.
As soon as you declare the praises of God, God activates the solution to your problem, the supply for your lack, the answer for your dilemma. All of heaven gets to work on the problem the minute you start praising."

(p. 117 of THE WEAPONS OF YOUR WARFARE Equipping Yourself to defeat the Enemy)

Today's question-

Do you place a "No Vacancy" sign on your heart to Jesus?

Joseph found no room at the inn some 2,000 years ago for Mary to deliver her newborn Son, our Savior, Jesus. Many people continue to declare that they have "no room for Him" today, even though He proved to be God's Son, who came in His Father's image.
The Father is seeking those who are looking for help today; those who'll believe He can meet their needs, when they can't. Will we be "like Jesus," and meet others' needs by loving them with what we can do for them? (A kind word of encouragement, a helping hand, a letter to a shut-in, or a phone call).
The [good] Samaritan proved to be what the Father is looking for; someone with kindness and mercy responding to the needs of someone.
Folks may actually be looking for Jesus, so let's be "Jesus" to them today, and meet their need. We can point them to the Savior through our acts of kindness and provision.

List of recent sermons of CFC ministers

Upcoming posts-

#110 Surrender Totally to Christ's Lordship

20th- Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel

The Word and Wisdom
22nd-Saturday's post by Charles Spurgeon

#111 Remember These Spiritual Realities [last one]
25th- Tuesday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel

#1 My Testimony of the Infilling
27th- Thursday's post by Jean Oathout