Addicted to Jesus!
James 4:3 3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
How do we ask amiss?
Guess you cannot get around this verse, so I’m going to preach it. God’s desires are people to get saved, instructed and grown up in the word of God, ministry to the poor, healing, prosperity, missions, caring for orphans, building Bible schools, churches, and just about every other good thing.
When we come to the place that we honestly want what He wants, He will give it to us, but so many of us say we will do great things with our money when we get some, but how well we discover that we fail miserably, when we actually have some in our pockets.
God is determined to prosper us, and His prosperity includes much more than money. A life full of purpose, love, joy, selfless giving, abundance, evangelism, and serving in the myriad ministries in His kingdom, will include money, but is not defined by it.
Want to ask for something worth giving every ounce of your life for? Ask Him for the purpose He created you, and press into that. You will then stop having to ask for His blessings and discover that His plan is already blessed.
Movies, expensive vacations, video games, the newest tacky gadget, fancy homes and gardens are all good things, but cannot define us.
1Ti 6:17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;
God loves us, and gives us richly, wonderful things to enjoy, just because He loves us!
Yet, unless those things are received in union with Him, for His plan and purposes for your life, they become a waste of your time.
How much stuff is enough?
Solomon, the richest king that ever lived, thought through some of the typical worldly pursuits, we all find ourselves entertaining in our minds from time to time:
Ecc 2:4 I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards:
5 I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits:
6 I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees:
7 I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me:
8 I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts.
9 So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.
10 And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.
11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.
12 ¶ And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done.
13 Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.
14 The wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.
15 Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.
The whole book is about the search of a once wise king, that had been radically blessed by God, to discover something that I can tell you right now, for a fact.
Without Jesus, it is empty, hollow, and vain, and of no eternal consequence.
Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
The old king James word ‘quickeneth’ used here, means ‘to make alive’.
Those of us who have been around the movings of God for awhile, are worse in some respects, than the worst case hard core drug addict on the face of the planet.
We’ve found a drug that truly satisfies, and we want MORE! Holy Spirit is a life giving spirit, and one of the incredible privileges is to have Him flow through you, like now, bringing His Word, or delivering a miracle, or in any of the other myriad ways His rivers flow up out of us, to meet the needs of those around us.
I’m an addict, and a pusher!
I pray you get addicted to this life flow like I am.
Solomon eventually figured it out, that nothing here on this earth can truly satisfy, apart from Him.
With Him though, all the vacations, toys, money, buildings, projects, and pursuits, can be a wonderfully fulfilling journey, full of love, life, and joy.
Solomon figured it out, at the end of His life, after trying about everything he could pursue to try to find satisfaction.
So if Jesus is the author of all life, and the sole purpose of passionate pursuit, what should we ask Him for?
Wisdom?
Obviously, as great as wisdom is, it is not enough to keep a man holy.
Solomon was the wisest man that ever walked the earth apart from Jesus, and he found that all the riches, wealth, projects, and women produced, did not satisfy his deepest hungers.
God has designed us, that only He can do that.
Ec 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
To know Him, and to see Him, afresh an anew, in the beauty of His holiness…Like a moth to a flame, and addict seeking his next fix, we run, our lives encircling His throne, moving from strength to strength and glory to glory, and the nations come to see the brightness of our rising!
All of this is in Jesus, our wonderful Lord!
Let’s pray:
‘Father, bring your fire to my heart again, the fire of your holiness, and purity, the passion of Your love! Burn away my games, my lies, my sin, and teach me Your ways of holiness, love, truth, and power towards the people of this generation. Use me Lord Jesus for your glory, as I remain hungry for what only You can truly give. Amen!
I like watching this video with my children: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB6ydNSI6Sw