Holy FireSample

ONLY YOU WILL DO

PART ONE: Can’t Get Enough

○ Psalm 73:25-26 (NIV)

“Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

○ Psalm 42:1-2 (NIV)

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?”

○ Philippians 3:8 (NIV)

“I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

Possibly you’ve sought out this devotion because you find yourself with this hope and desire that this year is the one that you will finally crave and want God more than the other things you have craved.

As believers we know what will get us there – we know that reading our Bible and praying will grow our desire for Jesus more than anything else. The truth is, often we just wish for a quicker, newer, more exciting, more 2020 answer.

Sometimes it is helpful to have something to get us started. Here are two things we want to encourage you with today…

We need to tell God that we want Him most.

Psalm 63 in the Message version says:” God - you're my God! I can't get enough of you! I've worked up such hunger and thirst for God.”

The difference between wanting more from God and wanting more of God is subtle.

There are so many things we can’t get enough of in this world. But too many times we view God as a means to an end, rather than an end in himself. We want God’s stuff, rather than God himself. We tell God about the things we want, more than telling God that He is what we want!

The love Jesus wants from us is our affections, our emotions, the longing of our hearts.

What if you were to tell God today that you want Him most? What if you were to be emotionally honest before Him and tell Him the things that you have been craving or pursuing that haven’t satisfied?

This kind of honest conversation with God is a great place to start!

We need to constantly do things that stretch us for the Kingdom so that we want God most.

We need to be a part of something we would rather not do, and we need to interrupt our regular life so that we facilitate hunger for Him.

We want God more when we constantly put ourselves in positions to expose ourselves to His transformative work. Constantly. Because we are a quick-to-forget-and-move-on people.

What does that mean in daily life? We constantly do things that stretch us for the Kingdom. If we want to find God, that’s where God will be. Then we see Him. Then we are amazed. Then we reach for our Bibles to know more, and we pray to move closer because we can’t stay away.

The ‘life to the full’ that the Bible promises will remain out of reach until we seek out the One who offers everything we need. We will never want God by sitting still and hoping growth will come to us. 

Wanting God is a purposeful pursuit.

All other pleasures have their proper place only in relation to this overarching want of Jesus.

C.S. Lewis said “God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.”

The next time you feel a pull of dissatisfaction and a desire for something more than the world is offering, give into that craving! Grab your Bible and get alone with Him.