Saturday, January 12th: My Soul Thirsts For God

Saturday, January 12th

My Soul Thirsts For God

Topic: The Key To Experiencing His Presence

² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When shall I come and appear before God?

Psalms 42:2 (NKJV)

63 O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.

Psalms 63:1 (NKJV)

Bible In A Year Reading Plan 2013

Genesis 21:22- 23:20; Matthew 15:1-39; Ecclesiastes 5:1-17

Bible Versions:

Psalms 42:2 (NLT) — ² I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him?

Psalms 63:1 (NIV) — ¹ You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

Thoughts of Devotion:

This morning we must think on our spiritual condition. We must ask ourselves, how is our spiritual appetite? Do we truly hunger and thirst for God? We’ve come to the conclusion that without this, without spiritual seeking and desire we will never see Christ exalted in our lives. This year 2013 the Lord desires for us the experience his presence in a real and tangible way. But for this to happen we must have an insatiable thirst for more of Him. A strong longing and desire as Psalms 84:2 tells us, “My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of the  Lord ; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God”.

I’ve come to the conclusion that losing your hunger and thirst for God will take you to being lukewarm, indifferent and finally to a spiritual death. This is one of the saddest conditions for a Christian, to fall into lukewarm spirituality. We come to a point where spiritual things lose there value, shine, and importance. We lose the desire to read, pray, and spend time alone with God. For this reason we must never allow anything to diminish our deep desire for the things of God in our lives. May this scripture in Jeremiah never happen to us, ““For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the  fountain of living waters, And  hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water (2:13).

In my journey as a believer I’ve seen certain things that can take a person to diminish and lose all hunger and thirst for God. These things could completely remove the desire to experience His glory in a fresh new way. Ask yourself, what things in my life are suppressing my hunger and thirst for God? It could be the worries of this world, the attraction to temporary things, laziness, lack of spiritual discipline, etc. there are so many things that if we’re not careful we may come to live in a state of indifference and anemic of God’s life.

To increase our longing and desire for God it will take for us to be more intentional. We must resolve and make a firm decision, just as the psalmist did, “One  thing  I have desired of the  Lord , That will I seek: That I may  dwell in the house of the  Lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the  Lord , And to inquire in His temple. (Psalms 27:4). We must pray this morning that not a day will go by, without us being in his presence. Whatever it takes! We must determine ourselves to spend time with God. It’s these times with God that will give us greater hunger and thirst for his presence.

We must commit to seek God in the earliest part of our day, if possible. As for myself, I have formed a discipline and habit to seek Him early in the morning. This is the ideal time for me. Before I begin my day, before doing anything, my desire is to spend some quality time with God. I have found this to be clearly in scripture:

• Proverbs 8:17 I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me.

•  Psalms 5:3 My voice You shall hear in the morning, O  Lord ; In the morning I will direct  it  to You, And I will look up.

•  Mark 1:35 Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.

Let us pray that we may never lose our hunger and thirst for God. Make a decision this year to increase your desire for more of God. Together we will experience another level of his presence. We will exalt Christ like never before in our lives!

Foundational Scriptures:

Psalms 84:2 (RVR60) — My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of the  Lord ; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

Psalms 84:7 (RVR60) — They go  from strength to strength; Each    one    appears before God in Zion. (Psalms 84:7 NKJV)

Psalms 27:8 (RVR60) — When    You    said,  “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face,  Lord , I will seek.”

Psalms 36:9 (RVR60) — For with You  is  the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.

Job 23:3 (RVR60) — Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, That  I might come to His seat!

Psalms 27:4 (RVR60) — One  thing  I have desired of the  Lord , That will I seek: That I may  dwell in the house of the  Lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the  Lord , And to inquire in His temple.