{"id":18808,"date":"2014-04-02T00:10:35","date_gmt":"2014-04-02T04:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=18808"},"modified":"2014-04-01T22:46:23","modified_gmt":"2014-04-02T02:46:23","slug":"hunger-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2014\/04\/02\/hunger-god\/","title":{"rendered":"A Hunger for God"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SeekingHimLogo.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13840\" alt=\"SeekingHimLogo\" src=\"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SeekingHimLogo.jpg\" width=\"560\" height=\"280\" srcset=\"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SeekingHimLogo.jpg 560w, https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SeekingHimLogo-300x150.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>We have now entered the season of Lent. \u00a0For many Christians, Lent is taken as a time of preparation for the celebration of Easter where God miraculously redeemed mankind by resurrecting His Son from the dead. It is also a time to consider what Jesus said and did; and how we should be living in light of His Words. \u00a0\u271e \u2665<\/p>\n<p>During this season, here on the\u00a0<strong><em>Seeking Him<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0devotional blog, we have chosen to focus our devotionals on Jesus\u2019 instructions and admonition communicated in Matthew chapter 5\u2014the Beatitudes. \u00a0Jesus said, \u201cBlessed are\u2026\u201d and He went on to give instruction as to how to be \u201c<em>blessed<\/em>.\u201d \u00a0To be \u2018blessed\u2019 is to \u2018be happy, or to be envied.\u2019 \u00a0 Truly for the Christian, we ARE blessed\u2014oh, how very blessed we are! \u00a0Those who observe our lives should clearly be able to tell that we ARE blessed\u2014and that we KNOW it! \u271e \u2665<\/p>\n<p>Please consider Jesus\u2019 instructions along with us. \u00a0We pray that our words will encourage you and spur you on to be prepare your hearts for the joyous celebration of His Resurrection! \u00a0\u271e \u2665<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #51a8ae;\"><strong>Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness\u00a0<\/strong><strong>for they will be filled.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #51a8ae;\"><strong>Matthew 5:6<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Ever had that overwhelming desire to know our Creator and God more fully? \u00a0To know His forgiveness is complete? \u00a0Sure you have&#8230;me, too! \u00a0As we walk through our life there are those moments when the desire is so intense that we want to devour every bit of information we can glean.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, God.<br \/>\nI thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and appear before God?<br \/>\nPsalms 42:1-2 HCSB<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">God, You are my God; I eagerly seek You. I thirst for You;<br \/>\nmy body faints for You in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water.<br \/>\nSo I gaze on You in the sanctuary to see Your strength and Your glory.<br \/>\nPsalms 63:1-2 HCSB<\/p>\n<p>How can we satisfy our hunger and thirst for God?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>By becoming immersed in His Word<\/li>\n<li>By listening to music that uplifts us<\/li>\n<li>By simply being still and listening to His creation that is all around us<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When was the last time you sat in communion with God? \u00a0I cannot remember the last time I was able to sit for more than 2 minutes and listen for God.<\/p>\n<p>You may say, &#8216;How can I hear God?&#8217; \u00a0That is as simple as listening and observing God&#8217;s creation. \u00a0Most of us have a devotional time. \u00a0When we are in those moments, is it by ourselves, with no distractions, no television on to distract or the radio? \u00a0Do we listen to our devotion while we are driving to work?<\/p>\n<p>Barnes&#8217; Notes on the New Testament says,<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Never was there a desire to be <span style=\"color: #4fa2b0;\"><em>holy<\/em>,<\/span> which God was not willing to gratify. \u00a0And the gospel of Christ was made to satisfy all who truly desire to be holy.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This past weekend, our pastor continued his teaching on \u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>God, Our Deliverer<\/em><\/span>. \u00a0He stated that no matter how many times we fail, we should not give up on repentance, and coming to know our heavenly Father more intimately. \u00a0The evil one would love nothing more than to discourage you from seeking the knowledge, peace, and comfort that only God can provide.<\/p>\n<p>Just as the woman at the well asked Jesus about the <em>living water<\/em>\u00a0He spoke of and explained, we can continue throughout our lives seeking for it as well. \u00a0It is not given just once, but continuously as we seek to know Him (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=john+4%3A14&amp;version=AMP;ESV;NASB\" target=\"_blank\">John 4:14<\/a>). \u00a0God wants no one to perish. He has adopted us, grafted us into His family, and He will fight to keep us in it. \u00a0Oh, what a <strong><em>wonderful Father<\/em><\/strong> we serve!<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #51a8ae;\">\u00a0\u00a0* \u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~ \u00a0\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">\u271e\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0~\u00a0\u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~ \u00a0*<\/span><\/h4>\n<p>Father, we humbly thank You and praise You for Your mercy and grace so freely given. \u00a0Forgive us for when we fail to admit our shortcomings and our sins to You. \u00a0Help us to rid ourselves of our selfish pride and arrogance and seek to model our lives after Your Son, Jesus. \u00a0Holy Spirit, be with us and guide us. \u00a0Show us when we stray and help us turn back to our Father. In Jesus&#8217; name we pray, Amen!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We have now entered the season of Lent. \u00a0For many Christians, Lent is taken as a time of preparation for the celebration of Easter where God miraculously redeemed mankind by resurrecting His Son from the dead. It is also a time to consider what Jesus said and did; and how we should be living in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":13840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3020],"tags":[5966,127,3367,1287,425,3910,5784,5967,1624,5969,5968,3174,1071],"class_list":["post-18808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-devotions","tag-barnes-notes-on-the-new-testament","tag-beatitudes","tag-daily-devotions-2","tag-gch","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-hunger-and-thirst-for-god","tag-jesus-speaking","tag-john-414","tag-matthew-56","tag-psalm-421-2","tag-psalm-631-2","tag-seeking-him-devotional","tag-tina-marin","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SeekingHimLogo.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-4Tm","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18808"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18862,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18808\/revisions\/18862"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}