Here are some random thoughts & quotes about a Hunger For God.
Do you hunger for God? To the degree that you ignore other “hunger pangs” that rumble in your being/your body? As I sit here, I haven’t eaten in over 12 hours - no, I’m not fasting - yet. But I am waiting for lunch. I’m reading, thinking & getting “cranked up” about a thought that John Piper has brought to my attention again.
Here are a few quotes from the beginning of his book (John Piper’s) “Hunger for God:”
“Christian fasting, at its root, is the hunger of a homesickness for God… Half of Christian fasting is that our physical appetite is lost because our homesickness for God is so intense. The other half is that our homesickness for God is threatened because our physical appetites are so intense.”
“Fasting is not the forfeit of evil but of good.” It is not the act of “purging“ evil from our lives as much as it is the act of keeping the good things in our lives from taking higher priority, a stronger love than our love for God. It is keeping the good things in our lives that cry for more time, more attention, more energy in their proper places, perspectives and keeping our love for God supreme, above - HIGH above - all other desires!
“We easily deceive ourselves that we love God unless our love is frequently put to the test, and we must show our preferences not merely with words but with sacrifice. (Fasting)It forces us to ask repeatedly: do I really hunger for God? Do I miss him? Do I long for him? Or have I begun to be content with his gifts?”
“I humbled my soul with fasting” [Psalm 35:13]
“I will not be mastered by anything” (1 Corinthians 6:12).
How often do we medicate ourselves with food, activity, habits, things?
I love coffee. Especially GOOD coffee. I’ve found a few kinds of coffee that I really enjoy. I enjoy the warmth of the dark brunette-colored liquid as it flows across my tongue and down my throat, splashing into my empty stomach and warming me from the inside. I savor the flavor of the roasted & ground beans radiating different flowery or woody aftertastes & aromas.
The question is: Does it master me? If I have 10-15 minutes in the morning before I dash out on some meeting or whatever, am I willing to forego the coffee to spend that brief time with my Lord to allow Him to prep me for my day? Or do I “need” my cup, the caffeine, the ritual....
Fair question is it not? That is what Piper is saying. That is what JESUS is saying. Coffee is a gift from God just as many other things are gifts from God. But what place does coffee take in my life?
For that matter, what place does anything I own, care for, manage, enjoy, etc. - what place do my relationships take? Am I really serving the Lord or am I medicating some kind of pain in my heart?
Fasting from that “whatever” brings to fore the pain and enables me to spend time with my Great Physician, my Shepherd, my All-wise One, my Father, my Friend, my Pure One, my Light of the World, my Joy above all joys, my Hope, my Peace -- my Jesus. And in that time, He works with me, in me, through me and -- often -- in spite of me to help me grow in and through those pains to become more like Him.
Fasting. Hm. Makes me want to fast a lot more when I look at it that way.
Do you hunger for God? To the degree that you ignore other “hunger pangs” that rumble in your being/your body? As I sit here, I haven’t eaten in over 12 hours - no, I’m not fasting - yet. But I am waiting for lunch. I’m reading, thinking & getting “cranked up” about a thought that John Piper has brought to my attention again.
Here are a few quotes from the beginning of his book (John Piper’s) “Hunger for God:”
“Christian fasting, at its root, is the hunger of a homesickness for God… Half of Christian fasting is that our physical appetite is lost because our homesickness for God is so intense. The other half is that our homesickness for God is threatened because our physical appetites are so intense.”
“Fasting is not the forfeit of evil but of good.” It is not the act of “purging“ evil from our lives as much as it is the act of keeping the good things in our lives from taking higher priority, a stronger love than our love for God. It is keeping the good things in our lives that cry for more time, more attention, more energy in their proper places, perspectives and keeping our love for God supreme, above - HIGH above - all other desires!
“We easily deceive ourselves that we love God unless our love is frequently put to the test, and we must show our preferences not merely with words but with sacrifice. (Fasting)It forces us to ask repeatedly: do I really hunger for God? Do I miss him? Do I long for him? Or have I begun to be content with his gifts?”
“I humbled my soul with fasting” [Psalm 35:13]
“I will not be mastered by anything” (1 Corinthians 6:12).
How often do we medicate ourselves with food, activity, habits, things?
I love coffee. Especially GOOD coffee. I’ve found a few kinds of coffee that I really enjoy. I enjoy the warmth of the dark brunette-colored liquid as it flows across my tongue and down my throat, splashing into my empty stomach and warming me from the inside. I savor the flavor of the roasted & ground beans radiating different flowery or woody aftertastes & aromas.
The question is: Does it master me? If I have 10-15 minutes in the morning before I dash out on some meeting or whatever, am I willing to forego the coffee to spend that brief time with my Lord to allow Him to prep me for my day? Or do I “need” my cup, the caffeine, the ritual....
Fair question is it not? That is what Piper is saying. That is what JESUS is saying. Coffee is a gift from God just as many other things are gifts from God. But what place does coffee take in my life?
For that matter, what place does anything I own, care for, manage, enjoy, etc. - what place do my relationships take? Am I really serving the Lord or am I medicating some kind of pain in my heart?
Fasting from that “whatever” brings to fore the pain and enables me to spend time with my Great Physician, my Shepherd, my All-wise One, my Father, my Friend, my Pure One, my Light of the World, my Joy above all joys, my Hope, my Peace -- my Jesus. And in that time, He works with me, in me, through me and -- often -- in spite of me to help me grow in and through those pains to become more like Him.
Fasting. Hm. Makes me want to fast a lot more when I look at it that way.
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