hunger and thirst Archives – Sonshine's Journal

July 6, 2016

Discipling 101: Come and See

john 4 ron sumners well2 Jesus gave us a mandate: “GO and MAKE Disciples.” To teach us what he meant and the “how to” He went to the little town in Samaria and there he shared Himself as “Living Water.” He met made a new disciple; simply known as the Woman at the Well. She not only became a disciple but she began the discipling process by telling others about her experience with Christ. She told the villagers “come and see….”

Listen to the villager’s words after she shared the change in her life: “No longer do we believe because of your words, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this one really is the Savior of the world.” And that is what a discipler is to do today as they meet new people who are unchurched or churched but do not know. She was the presenter of the words of life but they made a decision for themselves.

Don’t you wonder what happened after Jesus stayed there for three days? Where did the words of life go as they and other disciples of Christ shared their life altering experiences that came to them as they accepted Christ as their personal savior? They were sent around the world and you and I are the recipients. Jesus said “blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness” and that is the premise where we must begin. We are the “now” generation to go and tell, to say “come and see…” in order that we may be fulfilling the “go and make disciples” command.

As you begin with your new disciple you must, as Matthew recorded; have a hunger and a thirst for God’s Word just as Jeremiah. “Your words were found and I ate them, and Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart;” As we begin our journey with a new disciple we first say: “Come and See.” He told me everything I ever did. We want our new disciple to come and see the Christ and from there to plant a hunger in the hearts of those to whom we are sent. Our prayer and our desire is that they too find God’s Word a joy and a delight.

The how to is simple but must be determined by you. Next time we will discuss training the disciple One2One.

Photo Credit: Ron Sumners/Dreamstime.com

June 14, 2016

Beware of the Deadly D’s

Hebrews chapter 5: The author of Hebrews has not been remiss to remind the reader that even though they are facing persecution and difficulty in their lives they should beware of drifting and disbelief which is part of the disease of the deadly d’s.

Christ is supremely appointed as our high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. He is and was the perfect Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. As the Son, Jesus is superior to angels, superior to Moses and now superior to Aaron. And yet in his humanity he suffered, prayed deeply, was tempted yet without sin. This is why he could “[become] the source of [our] eternal salvation.”

The next deadly d has to do with diet. The readers were still infants feeding upon milk, the basic principles of the gospel and not feeding upon the meat of the Word. They knew Jn 3:16 but not the greater implication. They were like the disciples who over and over asked: “what does he mean?” They should have been teachers but just want their ears tickled. Instead of hungering, thirsting and being trained to discern truth from error they were satisfied just being spectators leaving the study of the scriptures to others. We see them today in our churches. They come faithfully to service but do not attend classes for instruction and fellowship. They may have accepted the WORD but are not feeding upon the WORD.

We need to be asking if we too are failing. Do I hunger for the solid food of the Word? Can I discern truth from error? Am I obeying Matt 28: “go and make disciples?”

February 23, 2016

Does God See?

prov 5 stand before Goda As a wise parent, Solomon continues to admonish or to gently reprove his children. Why? Because “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child.”[Prov 22] If we truly love our children, then we will spend our lives teaching life principles using the inspired, God breathed scripture which is useful for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness. It cannot be done once but over and over, precept upon precept, line upon line. [Is 28].

Solomon zeroes in on the two commandments that are easily broken when one’s eyes are led astray: “thou shalt not commit adultery and thou shalt not covet.” Once again he begins “be attentive, pay close attention” for we are easily distracted and foolishly think we are master of our own souls. He who would be wise would heed and run from the whispers of the evil one: “The Lord does not see this.” [Ps 94] But, God does see: “the ways of a person are in front of the Lord’s eyes” [Prov 5:22] And not only does he see but he records the names of those who respect the Lord and distinguishes between the one who chooses to serve God and the one who does not. [Mal4] “He, the Lord, weighs all that person’s path.” [Prov 5 21]

In order to be protected from the lies of the evil one, we must “hunger and thirst for righteousness.” In this way, we may discern what is true or false and be assured of keeping the Commandments.

June 13, 2015

God’s Hard Questions

Have you ever been hit between the eyes with hard questions that stir you to move beyond where you are? You know the facts but you are failing to implement them in real life. The Holy Spirit comes and use the Word to wake you up. This is what the author of Hebrews 5 hopes to achieve. He lovingly has drawn a picture for the reader of the supremacy of Christ in all facets. Now in Heb 5 he adds that is Jesus alone is the eternal priest who was appointed by God to be the perfect Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. He is an eternal high priest after the order of Melchizekek. Thus Jesus is superior to angels, superior to Moses and now superior to Aaron. And yet in his humanity he suffered, prayed deeply, was tempted yet without sin. This is why he could “[become] the source of [our] eternal salvation.”

Why then does the author digress? It is because he had warned the listeners of drifting, of neglecting their salvation. But, there is a greater problem–they were still infants in their understanding of the basic principles of the gospel. They knew Jn 3:16 but not the greater implication.[In fact that is all they have in their arsenal of weapons when they should have memorized and used more against the wiles of the evil one.] They were like the disciples who over and over asked “what does he mean?” They should be teachers but just want their ears tickled. These readers were not hungering, thirsting or being trained to discern truth from error. Truly Beloved these are some hard questions we need to answer also for ourselves.

Do we hunger for the solid food of the Word? Can we discern truth from error? Are we going and making disciples?

May 18, 2015

What Sustains You?

It has been said that if we don’t know God in times of peace we will not recognize Him in times of trouble. Also, if we are the Martha’s rather than the Mary’s we will be just too busy to hear the Master say “Stop your striving and recognize that I am God!” I am the God who can be your refuge in trouble as well as in peace. I am the Mighty God Almighty who rules over all, for I the Lord am king and I will be exalted. My promise to you the believer is this: “ If you remain in me and my words remain in you,” [Joh 15:7] I will abide with you so that you can go forth and bear the Fruit of the Spirit after being filled and nourished from Me, the Vine.

So what sustains each of us in times of peril or cosmic upheavals? It is this; we are never alone! He is our ever present help in times of trouble or times of peace for He is dependable. We will know who God is when we hunger and thirst for righteousness. Just as the Living Water for which the Samaritan woman longed He will be our satisfaction. He will be the voice speaking behind us saying, “This is the correct way, walk in it,”[Is 30 paraphrase]

Do you know Him?