SUSTAINED LONGING FOR GOD

PRAYER - "Effectual Prayer" 

Effective prayer produces the intended result. So how does it work? A hammer rarely drives a nail in a single blow. We must strike at the need again and again until prayer works its miracle. The Syrophenician woman asked Jesus to heal her daughter. Because His ministry was to Israel, and she was a Gentile, He refused her request. But she argued with God and won! She impressed Him with her great faith, so He healed her daughter. Strike another blow with prayer!

James 5:16 - "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."

PRINCIPALS - "Eve"

She must have been beautiful. I can't imagine God creating less. From Adam's rib came his helpmate. First woman (man with womb). First wife. First mother. Satan deceived her. She transgressed, then handed a portion of the forbidden fruit to Adam. For that, God cursed womankind with pain in childbirth. Graciously, however, seed of the woman would one day conquer the foul Tempter: God's son, "...made of a woman."

Genesis 3:6 - "...she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."

PRINCIPLES - "Exponential Potential"

If I give you one kernel of corn, can you plant every kernel that may ever grow from it? One kernel produces one plant, but one plant produces many ears of corn with thousands of kernels. Here is infinite exponential potential - a world full of corn! Your godly, obedient act of faith has infinite future potential. Commit that act today!

Genesis 1:12 - "And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good."

PROPHECIES - "As the Days of Noah"

Jesus warned that the end of this age will come as it did in Noah's day. The SAME DAY Noah entered the ark, the flood came and destroyed them. God's mercy and God's wrath come together.

Luke 17:26-27 - "And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all."

SUSTAINED LONGING FOR GOD

Jesus longs for us always and forever. Wouldn’t it make sense that He wants us to long for Him in return? To "long for" means to have a strong desire for something or someone.

*Sustained in definition is continuing for an extended period without interruption. To sustain something means to support something or keep it going; to keep it existing by continual, intentional effort; to bear (a burden, or a charge...); to endure without giving way or yielding; to keep (a person’s mind or spirit) from giving way as under trial or affliction. 

To have a "sustained longing" for the Lord is all of the above motivated by a deeply and determinedly settled, love for our Savior, JESUS CHRIST. We will not go through our days in a euphoric atmosphere of butterflies and rainbows. That’s what some come expecting from living for God and when that doesn’t pan-out they drift away because what they really want is a "sustained euphoria" in God. When we understand and follow JESUS’ example as described in Philippians 2:7, "But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant..." then we will come to Him motivated by our love for Him. It has never been about personal gain or emotional highs. It has always and will forever be about loving and serving faithfully just because He is God, because He loves us ultimately and because He is worthy.Paul instructed the Corinthian church to grow in their relationship with God. He addresses the church with graciousness, but immediately conveys his concerns. 

They were living in division, contention and strife. He explained that such foolish debates stemmed from "worldly wisdom". Paul said they were drinking baby’s milk in a stage of their spiritual walk that they should be eating meat as maturing Christians. "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not carnal?" (I Corinthians‬ ‭3:1-4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬) Paul is describing ‘soulish’ behavior’ (i.e. behavior lead by emotions, human will and carnal reasoning). 

*Soulish by definition is collaborated by several commentators as that which amuses, entertains, appeals to or ignites man’s emotions, will or intellect.

(**The Greek of the New Testament has a special adjective, formed directly from the Greek word for soul, psuche, which describes action initiated by the soul. The adjective is psuchikos. The logical way to render this in English would be soulish, but unfortunately such a word does not formally exist in the English language.) 

For comparative purposes, let’s look at the scriptural distinctions between a life lead by a soulish nature and one guided by the regenerated spirit. 

One commentator describes the distinctions of soul and spirit as follows:  

     "In the original pattern of creation, the spirit of man came directly from God, related directly to God, and enjoyed a perfect ordered relationship with God. God moved upon man’s spirit; man’s spirit moved upon his soul; and his soul directed his body. Through the devastating effects of man’s rebellion, however, his spirit was compromised, and his soul took over control. As a result, unregenerate man is now controlled by the three functions of his soul: the will, the intellect, and the emotions.

     When God reconciles a person to Himself, His purpose is to restore the original order, by which He once again relates directly to the person’s spirit, whose spirit in turn moves upon his soul, and the soul moves upon the body." (dpm)

The Apostle Paul clarifies to the Galatian church, "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another." (Galatians‬ ‭5:16-22, 24, 26‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

The Spirit referred to in these verses is that of the Holy Spirit of God. But when one is spiritually reborn through faith, the human spirit, which was dead, is "quickened" (made alive) by the Holy Spirit. That spiritual part of man is awakened or revived and enabled to walk in newness of life in the image of God. The spirit leading this person now is that of the Holy Spirit and no longer that of an unregenerated human spirit (nature).

"And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus," ‭‭(Ephesians‬ ‭2:1-6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬)

We are talking about having a ‘sustained longing’ for God. Remember this is only possible to achieve after we have surrendered to God in repentance and our spirits have been awakened by the infilling of the Holy Spirit. 

A true sustained longing for God is a deep desire to know; to be close to; to understand; to be loved by and to be cared for by God. It is a passion to please Him, to give our all to Him. (Matt.6:10 "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven.") These things are more of a heart commitment, than a feeling. A heart commitment is made in the deep eternal seat of our spirit; whereas a mere feeling is fleeting, seated in our soul (emotions/will).

The spirit of man is the life within us. It comes from God and when we die it returns to God. ("Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it." Eccl. 12:7‬). Our spirit is therefore eternal. Our soul, on the other hand, is the seat of our emotions, our self-will and our human intellect or reasoning. These facilities will not inherit eternal life. The soulish nature is where passion, anger, love, hate, happiness, sadness....(see Ephesians 5 above) all originate. All of these emotions are dependent upon and triggered by our circumstances. This is why, if we allow our shallow soulish nature (our emotional feelings) to rule us, our lives are going to be like a roller coaster, up and down as our circumstances change.

Sustained longing has to go deeper than our soulish nature of emotions or feelings. It goes deep down into our spirits where truly enduring commitments are made and where we are transformed. Sustained longing is where spiritual disciplines are established and lived out faithfully no matter life’s changing circumstances. 

I long for JESUS always because I look at all He has done for me before; I look at all He has promised in His Word and I long for that! I look at how He calls us friends (John 15:15). He tells us He’ll be as a mother to us (Isa.66:13); He’ll be your Father (1 John 4:10); He said He is our husband (Isa.54:5)... anything we lack or need He has promised to be that for us. I long for Him continually because I want Him to be all those things to me! I want to be holding His hand and walking with Him when the trials of life come. He will not let me fall and He will not let go of my hand if my feet get knocked out from under me (Jude 24). These sustained longings are not based on my feelings or my emotions but the reality of Who He is! My longing is to be in intimate relationship with God because He first loved me, because I love Him above all else. The icing on our spiritual cake is that when JESUS is close we can’t help but feel Him. And YES, to feel Him is beyond wonderful! But we must be extra watchful that we do not grow dependent on our feelings. Our souls (our emotions) are given to us as a gift to enhance our spiritual and physical lives, but absolutely not intended to guide our lives. 

Remember the poem "Footprints In The Sand"? It describes a time a person is looking back over their life. There were always two sets of footprints except during the most difficult times. At those times there was only one set. They say to God, "When I needed You the most You left me." The Lord answers, "No My child, but during your times of trial and testing... I carried you." This poem depicts a person dependent on feeling God rather than knowing and trusting God. The fact is that God sometimes chooses not to allow us to sense His presence for whatever reason, but we can rest assured that He’s there carrying us. "...He shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in His bosom..." (Isaiah‬ ‭40:11‬ )

Sustained longing is holding on to and believing His Word. JESUS promised in Hebrews 13:5-b, "...For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’."

Oh how I long for Him! Let us remain faithful come what may! May we discipline ourselves in devoted prayer, study of His Word, service and obedience that we may enjoy a lasting desire, a sustained longing for God. 

"For we walk by faith, not by sight" (II Cor.5:7)

"While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:18)

Lord bless you,

Sheila Ashcraft 

Tithe With Joy

And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance...that thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth...and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name there.

– Deuteronomy 26:1-2

Tithing. Most Christians aren't very excited about it. But they should be--and they would be if they understood how to do it properly.

Scriptural tithing stirs up faith. It activates the power of God in our lives when we do it in gratitude and joy, expecting our needs to be met abundantly.

In Deuteronomy 26:8-9, God told the Israelites exactly what to say when they brought their tithes. He instructed them to acknowledge the fact that He had brought them out of the bondage of Egypt and to say:

"The Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders: and he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey."

What does that have to do with you and me? God has done the same thing for us! He's brought us out of a life of bondage and poverty into a life that flows with the abundance of God.

So when you bring your tithe to the Lord, follow the example set by the Israelites. Make it a time of rejoicing. Make it a time of realizing anew the wonderful things Jesus Christ has done for you.

Thank Him for delivering you from a land of darkness and scarcity and bringing you into His promised land of plenty. Thank Him that it is a land of mercy, a land of joy, a land of peace and a land of prosperity.

Tithe in faith, expecting the rich blessings of that land to be multiplied to you. You may soon find it to be one of the most exciting things you can do.