Are You Hungry and Thirsty?

Are You Hungry and Thirsty—Come Be Fed

What do you do for your body when you are hungry and thirsty? You give it food and drink to satisfy the craving. You can’t just eat one meal and never have to eat again. No, your body demands that you feed it regularly. It nags at you until you give it something to stop the craving. You also learn to love the food you feed your body, so now you eat for two reasons. You eat because you need to and you eat because you like to eat.

Our spiritual bodies have these same needs. We walk around with a nagging hunger, but we don’t always recognize what the hunger is for. So generally, we try to fill this hunger by purchasing material things we think will satisfy this hunger. Eventually, we realize this is not working, but quite often do not realize that the craving is really on a spiritual level. We hunger and thirst for something to fulfill us and make us feel content.

Let me tell you what I have learned…. Some of us know who Jesus is, but we do not KNOW JESUS. There is a big difference. We might know the identity of the President or a performer or sports star , but we don’t know that person personally. There is a big difference. Knowing a person’s reputation and knowing the person are completely different. In the case of Jesus, it makes all the difference in the world and in eternity. For if we don’t know Him personally, we may as well not even know of Him. Only by knowing Him and having a personal relationship with Him can we accept the gift of live that He offers us.

Let’s start with Who Jesus Is…. (We learn from the Bible as follows:)

John 1:1-4
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (NIV)
He was with God in the beginning. (NIV)
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (NIV)
In him was life, and that life was the light of men. (NIV)

John 1:14

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (NIV)
John 1:34
I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God." (NIV)

Now, we have learned that He is the "Son of God" and that He is the "Word", and also that in Him is "Life". Now, let us hear Jesus’ own words of who He is…..

John 6:35-40
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. (NIV)

John 6:48
I am the bread of life. (NIV)

John 7:37
On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. (NIV)

And hear His promise to those who come to Him…

Matthew 5:6 
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (NIV)

Matthew 4:4
Jesus answered, "It is written: `Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" (NIV)

Matthew 26:26-28
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body." (NIV)
Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. (NIV)
This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (NIV)

Now, if you were paying attention, you will have learned that Jesus is the Word of God and that He gave it to us to eat and drink to satisfy our hunger and thirst. We also know that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. Does it not follow that we are to use the Bible to get the Word of God to fill our spiritual body’s Even the Manna given to the Israelites in the wilderness only lasted one day. It was necessary to gather more each day in order to feed their bodies. In this same way, we need to feed on the Word of God daily to be refreshed and to help us grow. It is not a one-time fix. We are not just to take verses here and there or go to Church to hear the Word once a week. That will not be enough to sustain us. No, we must eat ALL of it and on a regular basis. How can we KNOW Him if we only know portions of His Word. We must read all of it to really know His Heart.

David tells of God’s provision for his body and soul in 

Psalms 23: 3,5
He restores my soul
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

God’s Word tells us over and over of His love for us. He tells His plans and how He will sustain us in times of trouble. Times of trouble are all around us now and are going to get much worse soon. We must know God’s voice and His plans if we are not to be mislead by the enemy. The way banks get to know a good dollar bill from a counterfeit bill is to study what the good bill looks like. That way when a counterfeit comes along, they will recognize that it is NOT a good bill because they know what a good bill looks like. This is the way we are to be with God’s Word. We need to study it and know it well, so that when someone tries to pass off counterfeit words as words of God, we will know better. Jesus gives us this warning of those counterfeits who would lead us astray……