February 26, 2009
A Satisfied Soul
Gwen Smith
Today’s Truth
“Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” (Psalm 90:14, NIV)
Friend to Friend
Our souls constantly demand to be fed, and make no mistake about it: if God does not have the proper place in your life, your soul will remain hungry. When I invite God into my days, I experience His satisfying presence no matter what I face. But when I don’t set aside time to pray, when I don’t read my Bible, and when I don’t praise, I get hungry. Really hungry … and grouchy.
Christians are hungry people. Just like the Israelites who wandered in the desert, we need God’s daily bread, His spiritual manna. Jesus taught us to ask for a daily portion. In the New Testament book of Matthew, Jesus took a moment to teach His followers how to pray. In that prayer, commonly referred to as the Lord’s Prayer, He said, “Give us today our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11, emphasis mine).
He didn’t ask to be fed for an entire week—just for today.
We would be wise to do the same.
Some people might think that once we become Christians all of our spiritual hunger subsides. Not so! I’ve found that the more I get to know God, the more I want to know Him. The more I experience His peace, presence, and power in my life, the more I want to experience His peace, presence, and power. I crave Him more.
In John 4:13, Jesus says to a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again.” He was referring to the water in the well and a body’s physical thirst. But then He tells her what He can offer her soul: “but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (v. 14).
Jesus also addressed spiritual thirst and hunger when He spoke to a large crowd outside Capernaum. The day before, He had met their physical need by miraculously feeding over five thousand hungry people on a hill near the Sea of Galilee. But on this day, the crowds questioned him about what God wanted them to do. Jesus told them that they must “believe in the one [God] has sent” (John 6:29). (God isn’t satisfied by what we do, but by whom we believe.) From there, the conversation went like this:
So they asked him, “What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
“Sir,” they said, “from now on give us this bread.”
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:30-35).
In his book, Come Thirsty, Max Lucado writes:
You’re acquainted with physical thirst. Stop drinking and see what happens. Coherent thoughts vanish, skin grows clammy, and vital organs shut down. Deprive your body of necessary fluid, and it will tell you.
Deprive your soul of spiritual water, and it will tell you. Dehydrated hearts send desperate messages. Snarling tempers. Waves of worry. Growing guilt and fear. Hopelessness. Resentment. Loneliness. Insecurity.
But you don’t have to live with a dehydrated heart. God invites you to treat your thirsty soul as you would treat your physical thirst. Just visit the WELL and drink deeply.
Every day we eat bread (food) to keep us healthy and strong. We stay healthy and strong spiritually by continually communing with Jesus. He calls Himself the Bread of Life as well as the Living Water. In order for food and water to sustain and strengthen us physically, we must eat and drink it. Likewise, we need to call on Jesus each day to sustain us spiritually. Call on Him now.
Let’s Pray
Dear God, Thank You for the invitation to come, eat, drink, and be satisfied in You. You are all that I need, and more than enough. I pray that You will bear the weight of the burdens on my heart today, and ask that You would fill my soul with Your rest. Finally, please increase my cravings for You, Lord – so that you can be glorified in and through my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
- Spending time with the Lord through His Word is one great way to feed your soul. Read and meditate on Psalm 63:1-8.
- Read it silently the first time, then read it again out loud.
- When have you witnessed God’s power in your life? Thank Him!
More From The Girlfriends
Although your physical cravings might include dark chocolate, coffee, and warm, fresh bread - your soul constantly craves intimacy with God. Spend some time worshiping Him today. Sing to Him. Gwen’s Unsearchable CD is a live worship recording, filled with songs that illuminate the immeasurable goodness of God.
Today’s devotion includes excerpts from Gwen Smith’s book, Broken into Beautiful. In Broken into Beautiful, singer and Gwen invites you to hear the stories of women with shattered dreams, shameful secrets, and damaged souls…and of the loving heavenly Father who makes them beautiful again.
Are you into FaceBook?? Check out Gwen’s MUSIC PAGE on FaceBook!!
Seeking God?
Click here to find out more about
how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Girlfriends in God
info@girlfriendsingod.com
www.girlfriendsingod.com
Originally published Thursday, 26 February 2009.
SHARE
