DEVOTIONAL: OPEN HEAVENS - How Hungry Are You?

TOPIC: HOW HUNGRY ARE YOU? (17 January, 2020)

TEXT: Psalm 42:1-8 (KJV)

MEMORIZE: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” – Matthew 5:6

MESSAGE:

A hungry and thirsty fellow is one who is desperate for food and water. Have you ever seen someone who has been stranded on a desert for a whole month? If he sees water anywhere, he would do anything, and I mean anything, to drink it. The same applies to a person who has been deprived of food for many days. In the same vein, God expects us to hunger and thirst for righteousness. He expects us to desperately pursue righteousness. Jesus gave a parable in Matthew 13:44-46 that the kingdom of God is like a man who found treasure in a field and went to sell all that he had so he could buy that field and own the treasure. Psalm 63:1 says:

“O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;”

You should be willing to give up anything just to remain righteous. The reverse is the case these days; people are very quick to sacrifice their righteousness in order to gain some pleasure of this world.

Don’t deceive yourself with contemporary Christianity. If you are not desperately hungry to live a holy life, you become easy meat for the devil. You need to be desperate enough to cut off your right hand if that is going to cause you to sin (Matthew 5:30). In other words, if social media is the means through which immoral thought get into your mind, then you must be ready to delete those social media apps from your phone. If you are lusting after your secretary, then you must be ready to let go of such a person. If being a staff in that organization causes you to stain your garment of holiness, then resign! Only the violent can take the kingdom of God and they must take it by force. Don’t be afraid to be asked why you pursue this Jesus so much. Fear of what people may say will make many lose their righteousness and consequently, the kingdom of God. You must hunger and thirst for righteousness at all times.

ACTION POINT: Is there anything or person limiting you from being holy? Let go of such now so you don’t lose the kingdom of God.

CREDIT: Open Heavens Daily Devotional Lessons was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical Churches in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer's Ministries.