Matthew 5:6 CSB "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."
As I suffered from the effects of Covid, I knew I needed to eat, but nothing satisfied my appetite. Danny Akin says, "The world is hungry for happiness, and it is starving. The Bible tells us to hunger for holiness and be satisfied" ("Sermon on the Mount," Christ-centered Exposition, 10). Jesus, in the sermon on the mount, teaches us that, suffering from the effects of sin, we know we are hungry for happiness, but nothing tastes good.
When I recovered from Covid, my appetite had changed considerably. I no longer had a taste for fast food, junk food, or fatty foods. Jesus says, people, recovering from the pandemic of sin (repentant, born again believers in new life in Christ Jesus), also have changing appetites. We are no longer hungry for happiness because our hungry for holiness satisfies our joy. When we receive the antibodies of Jesus' righteousness be begin recovering, start living redeemed, and our appetite changes. Recovering sinners no longer hunger for the world's junk food. We have a taste for the proper ethics that satisfy God. John Piper says believers are most satisfied when God is the most glorified.
"Blessed" describes happy recipients of God's grace and favor: "It refers to the deep inner joy of those who have long awaited the salvation promised by God and who now begin to experience its fulfillment" (Donald Hagner, quoted in Akin, 5). As bread satisfies a hungry man and water satisfies a thirsty woman, saved sinners intense appetite for living holy and right before God, and God satisfies us by conforming us into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). God gives saved sinners a new appetite that only Christ can fulfill. We feed on the Bible, drink of grace, and our desert pleases God by letting other people see Jesus living in us.
Dear Gracious Heavenly Father, You have put eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Only a closer relationship with my Perfect Heavenly Father can fill the "hole in my soul" (Akin, 10). Today, my hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied. I am happiest when closest to Jesus. I am delighted when a world starving for happiness sees Your transforming grace satisfying my appetite. I am so satisfied when holiness is my deepest longing. My happiest moments are walking so closely with Jesus that I will bump into Him if he stops to check on me.
Lord, I have read the menu: “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matthew 6:33 NASB95). Today, I will have a "Happy Meal." In Jesus' name, amen.
Daily Devotion
Has your appetite changed?
Verse of the Day, September 25, 2021
Matthew 5:6 CSB "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."
As I suffered from the effects of Covid, I knew I needed to eat, but nothing satisfied my appetite. Danny Akin says, "The world is hungry for happiness, and it is starving. The Bible tells us to hunger for holiness and be satisfied" ("Sermon on the Mount," Christ-centered Exposition, 10). Jesus, in the sermon on the mount, teaches us that, suffering from the effects of sin, we know we are hungry for happiness, but nothing tastes good.
When I recovered from Covid, my appetite had changed considerably. I no longer had a taste for fast food, junk food, or fatty foods. Jesus says, people, recovering from the pandemic of sin (repentant, born again believers in new life in Christ Jesus), also have changing appetites. We are no longer hungry for happiness because our hungry for holiness satisfies our joy. When we receive the antibodies of Jesus' righteousness be begin recovering, start living redeemed, and our appetite changes. Recovering sinners no longer hunger for the world's junk food. We have a taste for the proper ethics that satisfy God. John Piper says believers are most satisfied when God is the most glorified.
"Blessed" describes happy recipients of God's grace and favor: "It refers to the deep inner joy of those who have long awaited the salvation promised by God and who now begin to experience its fulfillment" (Donald Hagner, quoted in Akin, 5). As bread satisfies a hungry man and water satisfies a thirsty woman, saved sinners intense appetite for living holy and right before God, and God satisfies us by conforming us into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). God gives saved sinners a new appetite that only Christ can fulfill. We feed on the Bible, drink of grace, and our desert pleases God by letting other people see Jesus living in us.
Dear Gracious Heavenly Father, You have put eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Only a closer relationship with my Perfect Heavenly Father can fill the "hole in my soul" (Akin, 10). Today, my hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied. I am happiest when closest to Jesus. I am delighted when a world starving for happiness sees Your transforming grace satisfying my appetite. I am so satisfied when holiness is my deepest longing. My happiest moments are walking so closely with Jesus that I will bump into Him if he stops to check on me.
Lord, I have read the menu: “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matthew 6:33 NASB95). Today, I will have a "Happy Meal." In Jesus' name, amen.