Where to Take the Hunger

O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Psalm 63:1 NASB

David penned these words in a wilderness. A place where food and water would be scarce if existent at all. He could easily relate his physical hunger and thirst to his spiritual hunger and thirst. The way his body craved sustenance was the way his soul craved God! God often times will use our physical world to help enlighten us on the spiritual world. Hence, Jesus’ use of parables to explain kingdom principles to His disciples. God knows I am a visual person so He is creative and extravagant with the visual aides He uses in my life.

Yesterday He used a moment of hunger to teach me some valuable truths. He reminded me of all the times I sought to avoid hunger at all costs. I would often choose to eat before hunger sat in as a way of preventing myself from even experiencing it. Food choices were poor, amounts were ridiculous, and the results were not good. I could not grasp the idea that hunger did not have to be feared. I can remember many days whereby I would eat whatever I wanted, in whatever amount I wanted, and every time I wanted. Yet, it never satisfied me. Talk about frustrating! What I had to learn was that there were right times to eat and right ways to eat.

God took those thoughts and opened my eyes to the spiritual significance. Just as I would avoid hunger at all costs, I had learned to avoid emptiness at all costs. I needed to be on spiritual highs and looked to fill my soul with relationships, knowledge, and activities. Always on the hunt. Always trying to take in “stuff” from my external world to fill up my internal world. God has shown me that although those things are good in themselves they are not my answer. He keeps saying, “Let Me be the One you hunger for and let Me be the One to satisfy you. When no one is available it becomes OUR time to be together. I will answer your questions, meet your needs, fill your emptiness, and satisfy your heart needs. I created you and know what’s best for you. Let me take care of you. Trust Me.”

Will going to Him bring about permanent results? No. As long as I live in this world and in this body I will have needs to bring to Him. I will have areas that need fixing. I will have places that need filling. Going to Him is a daily necessity! He will let me know when I am “feeding” on the wrong things and when I am looking to the wrong sources. He will not let the substitutes work for me. He loves me that much!

Father, I know what it is to be internally hungry. Keep teaching me to come to You with the needs and find true filling and satisfaction. Amen.

Whose Will?

I do not seek or consult My own will [I have no desire to do what is pleasing to Myself, My own aim, My own purpose] but the will and pleasure of the Father Who sent Me. John 30:6b Amplified Bible

Jesus set the standard high when He spoke these to the very people who were seeking to kill Him. They were the truth by which He lived His life. From the moment of His conception to His ascension, He had but one mindset….to do the will of His Father. With Jesus, there was no other longing, desire, or purpose in life. His actions stemmed from it. His words were birthed from it. His attitude was a result of it. He did not make a plan, perform a miracle, have a conversation, or draw a conclusion that did not coincide with His Father’s will and pleasure.

As I go through my day can His words be my own? Will I allow Him to do such a work in me that everything comes down to God’s will over my own will? Knowing that His ways are higher than my ways and His thoughts are higher than my thoughts should be grounds enough for preferring His will over mine. With that said, what makes it so difficult?

I live in a fallen world…so did Jesus. I taste rejection and hurts from people….so did Jesus. I come up against trials, temptation, and troubles…so did Jesus. I have faced misjudgment, mistreatment, and misunderstanding….so did Jesus. I know hunger, tears, and heartache…so did Jesus. I have an enemy who seeks to destroy me…so did Jesus. The list could go on and on but my point is this, Jesus faced most of what I face in this world. He knows what I face each day because He faced it as well. And yet there are differences that reveal the nature of my difficulties to voice His words for myself.

I have a sin nature. My view of life is limited and my view of the future is blocked. I can only be in one place at a time. While I house divinity within myself in the form of the Holy Spirit, I am not divinity itself. My flesh is at war with my spirit. These are just a few of reasons it is imperative that I pattern my life after Jesus. He spent time in prayer, saturated Himself with Scripture, spoke the truth to Himself and others, and lived with the sole purpose of doing His Father’s will. In order to do that I must come to the place of seeing my need for His help. May I learn to whisper “Not my will by Thine be done” to every circumstance, situation, difficulty, loss, and tear as I go through my day. Trust Him, follow Him, listen to Him, and obey Him with abandon! May His words be my heartbeat today!

Father, may Christ’s words live in me! Amen.

Only God

Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Psalm 62:8 KJV

Charles Spurgeon once wrote, “Happy is the man who feels that all he has, all he wants, and all he expects are to be found in his God.” David must have lived by this same truth when he penned such phrases as My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation. Any believer who finally comes to realize the same thing as these two men steps into a whole new realm of faith. I want that kind of walk!

I look at Psalm 62:8 and I want God to be the one I trust in at all times, confide in with abandon, and rest in with complete confidence. I don’t want to go after the counterfeits. I don’t want to seek out someone else’s ear or heart. I don’t want to look for a person to make me feel safe, secure, or protected. I want all of that to come from my relationship with Him. The truth of the matter is that I am not there yet. I have known it for decades but was only able to admit it in recent years. Does that admittance discourage me? No! It frees me!

I am coming to realize that growth in the Christian life is a step by step, gradual process. Many times I have had to look back over months or even years to see that any progress has been made. In the area of looking to God alone I see two encouraging advancements. First, I now long to experience God in the way I have described. Years ago it never entered my mind…wasn’t even something that appealed to me. Second, I don’t sense condemnation or disappointment from my Father. He knows where He intends to lead me in all of this and cheers me on as I move toward His goal for me. Within that context of acceptance and embrace I now feel free to admit the things He already knows about me.

This morning I am asking myself some necessary questions. What are my trust issues with God? What is it that I need to voice to Him? What are my insecurities that need to find refuge in Him? I will find the answers and healing as I acknowledge anything He reveals to me. No more hiding, excusing, blaming, or running. Trust, communication, and safety are but a few of the many gifts He holds out to me on a daily basis. Praise Him!

Father, I hear Your invitation to intimacy. Show me anything that still hinders me from seeing You as the ONLY one! Amen.

I Still Miss Her

In March of 2000, I sat in the balcony at my church and took in the fact that I would soon be facing my first Mothers' Day without my mom. She had been killed in a car accident after suffering a heart attack the previous February. I still remember the profound ache and extraordinary loss that enveloped me. Physically I felt like someone had taken a piece of barbed wire and shoved it into my chest...then proceeded to twist it. My mom who was so full of life. The one with whom I could laugh the hardest. The one I took after in so many ways. The one with whom I enjoyed Christian fellowship for the last 14 years of her life. The one who over came her alcoholism but struggled with depression. The one who loved me and cheered me on in life. The one who adored my children. Gone. Heaven held her and I couldn't get to her.

It was in March when the Lord gave me a poem which I would like to share with all of you. Written with my mom in mind, I now dedicate it to all of you who have lost your mothers....whether years ago or recently. While my personal pain and sorrow have subsided and good memories have replaced them, my heart goes out to any who face a difficult Mothers' Day this year. God bless you and may His presence be your comfort.

I Still Miss Her

It seems like only yesterday
I sent a Mother’s Day card away.
I didn’t think it would be the last,
I signed it with love and mailed it fast.
Now that she has gone away,
It doesn’t feel like Mother’s Day.
There are no more chances to send a card,
To ship some flowers, to make a call.
There’s no more thanking her for all she’s done.
No more visits,
No more fun.
I cannot hug her or kiss her cheek.
I cannot even share a laugh.
It all too quickly became the past.
I took each visit with her for granted.
I thought there’d always be more to come.
The camera lies still now
From her use and mine.
All the pictures have been taken,
All the memories have been made.
All the words have been spoken,
All the letters have been mailed.
The thing I miss the most of all
Has got to be her voice
Whether on the telephone or talking face to face.
I’d wish for one more conversation either here or at her place.
I know I’ll see her again some day,
We’ll share the sights of heaven.
We’ll talk, we’ll laugh, we’ll hug,
We’ll kiss….it’ll be Mother’s Day once more.
But until then I’ll be a mom for Mother’s Day instead of
Being a daughter.

Pam Shattuck
March, 2000

Wanting What Seems Good to Him

But if He says thus: ‘I have no delight in you,’ here I am, let Him do to me as seems good to Him.” 2 Samuel 15:26 NKJV

David knew how to trust God with abandon! He knew that his best choice in life was to allow God to do whatever seemed good to Him to do. So often we think we know what is best for us. We think we know what we want our lives to be like. And yet we are not God and we do not possess the capabilities of God. He is omnipresent….everywhere at once. He is omnipotent….all powerful. He is omniscient….all knowing. We are not!!!

What is it this morning that each of us is longing for Him to do? What is it we want? Are we able to do what David learned to do and leave the decisions and directions of our lives in God’s capable hands? Are we willing to admit we really don’t know what is best for us? We really don’t know life as God knows it.

Is it wrong to dream? No! Is it wrong to ask God to give us the desires of our heart? Absolutely not! Is it wrong to want certain things in life? No way! But in the midst of it all, we must admit that God’s ways and thoughts are higher than our own. Anything we can think of is miniscule compared to His vastness and wisdom. So why is it so hard at times to trust God absolutely the way David trusted Him?

Could it be we still fail to understand His heart? We often think God is out to deprive us and hold out on us. We fail to grasp that His plans go far beyond our own. He is a bigger dreamer and a bigger “carry outer” of those dreams then we are. Convinced that we have better dreams and a clearer understanding of how our life should work is the ultimate in pride! No wonder God speaks so much about humbling ourselves before Him. He is not trying to ruin our life, He is longing to enrich it! He is not trying to deprive us, He is passionate about filling and fulfilling us!

Adam and Eve come to mind this morning. God wanted the garden for them and they reached for the fruit. Anything apart from what God intends for us is always a move in the wrong direction. What a shame that we often settle for less than His best. As one author so aptly put it, “We are often satisfied to play with mud pies while God is offering us an ocean side resort!” Anytime I can let Him do to, through, for, and in me what seems best to Him, I am always opening myself up for an unbelievably better life than what I could come up with on my own.

Father, I entrust myself to You today. I cannot possibly know, see, or do more than You. Do what seems good for You to do with me for the rest of my life! Amen.

His Presence and His Words

And as they thus spoke, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them and said unto them, “Peace be unto you.” Luke 24:36 21st Century KJV

Scripture is meant to be more than nice thoughts on a page. It is meant to house itself in our life! In every situation, every circumstance, every detail. There is not a thing that we face as God’s beloved child whereby Luke 24:36 is not able to be our experience. Wherever we are, whatever is happening, Jesus stands in our midst and voices these same words to us personally….”Peace be unto you.” He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is a God who never changes. His heart of compassion that was so evident in Bible times is still beating for us today.

Some who are reading this devotional are facing unbelievable challenges today. It may be a health issue, a financial crisis, a tragic loss, extraordinary pain, or any number of things. My prayer for them is that they would profoundly sense the presence of Jesus in their midst. That their ears would detect the sound of His voice.

The peace He speaks of can truly be more powerfully felt than the tragedy at hand. It surpasses any peace that the world offers. It is a quietness and rest that accompanies a confidence, trust, and dependency on an almighty, loving Heavenly Father. He is not only the Shepherd of Psalm 23, He is OUR Shepherd. Tender, compassionate, and ever attentive. While many things may block our view of Him, NOTHING can rob us of His presence. He cannot be kept out or silenced when it comes to His child. He does not leave, He does not forsake, He does not abandon, He does not miss a thing. He is still a very present help in time of trouble.

Someone once said, “Every step in the journey we may take in the Lord’s own company.” And within that company we can allow His words in Isaiah 43:1,2 to be our comfort and strength. “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned.”

Along with all this let me assure you of a few things. Tears are appropriate and He invites us to cry on His shoulder. Fears are understandable and He longs for us to voice them to Him. Uncertainty is natural and He will listen as we confide in Him. There is no thought, feeling, or emotion that He is not aware of and willing to replace with His peace, confidence, and assurance. He will be the only One available 24/7. In the midst of it all, speak to Him, take Him at His word, hold on to the Scriptures He gives to you, lean on Him, and keep receiving all that He offers you. And when it all passes, you will know Him in a way you never knew before.

Father, my heart is heavy for those who are hurting. I take comfort in the fact that Your heart is touched by their hurts, losses, and troubles. May they sense Your presence and hear Your words to them today. Amen.

My Daily Choice

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. John 3:6 KJV

I was physically born on November 5 , 1958, and spiritually reborn on July 13, 1973. The first birth placed me into my family. The second birth placed me into God’s family. The first birth allowed me to live out of the physical aspects of my life. The second birth allowed me to live out of the spiritual aspects of my life. It was then that I was able to make real choices to choose between my flesh and my spirit.

This morning God is helping me to grasp a concept that has eluded me for a long time. My flesh will always live independent of God, be self absorbed, want my own way, yield to sin, think the worst of others, thrive on negative thinking, and feed on what is not good for me. It will nurse hurts, hold on to grudges, and refuse to let go of the very things that obstruct growth in my Christian life. It will always be my enemy. Outside of Christ, I have no other way to live.

But as a child of God, my spirit will always seek God, embrace His ways, seek His approval, view life through His grid of truth, desire His perspective on things, and long to live in intimate fellowship with Him. It will readily submit to His ways, entrust hurts to Him, and daily make exchanges with Him. It will always be my greatest ally and will always find satisfaction and delight in Him.

Knowing these two things becomes the basis for how I choose to live my life. If I choose to live out of the flesh I will journey away from God. My thoughts, actions, and words will not be aligned with His. I will curl up with lies, befriend anger, make myself at home with selfishness, and lack any semblance of satisfaction. If I choose to live out of my spirit I will journey arm and arm with the Creator of the universe for my spirit ALWAYS seeks God, desires God, and aligns itself with God above all others. It is never torn between its own way and God’s way. It is never disloyal to Him, distrusting of Him, or dishonest with Him. It is the only part of me that knows how to continually connect with Him.

Each day I must choose the things born out of my spirit over the things that are born out of my flesh. May my spirit give birth to many thoughts, words, and actions. May my choice of habitation be from my spirit. For it is the most alive part of me that lives linked to God.

Father, because Your Spirit lives in me, my spirit is alive and well. Help me to live out of my spirit. May it give birth to much today! Amen.