1 1.every aspect of your relationship with god hinges on how you see god relative to self. 2.since...

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1. Every aspect of your relationship with God hinges on how you see God relative to self.

2. Since God is our life, those who are miserable are because they don’t know and believe what they need to know and believe about God.

3. While what may be known of God will NEVER even begin to be scratched, what God has revealed about Himself far exceeds what we need to live deeply satisfying lives on earth.

4. What God reveals, and what we effectively assimilate corresponds directly to the level of the hunger we have to know God.

Let’s review the facts we mentioned last week.

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1. Every aspect of your relationship with God hinges on how you see God relative to self.

2. Since God is our life, those who are miserable are because they don’t know and believe what they need to know and believe about God.

3. While what may be known of God will NEVER even begin to be scratched, what God has revealed about Himself far exceeds what we need to live deeply satisfying lives on earth.

4. What God reveals, and what we effectively assimilate corresponds directly to the level of the hunger we have to know God.

We are going to pick up today with the concept that God fills the heart that is hungry to know Him.

Let’s set a few facts down as a foundation.

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“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Matt 5:6

Let’s remember our supporting verses.

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added

to you.” Matt 6:33

“As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for

God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God?” Ps 42:1-2

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“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be

opened. Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a

stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil,

know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in

heaven give what is good to those who ask Him.” Matt 7:7-11

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The necessity of a hunger in our hearts to receive the revelation of God to us is well documented.

Now let’s turn our focus to God’s process of how He draws us so that we can work with it when God engages us and not fight it, or even allow it to slip

through our fingers as a loss.

God often begins with some sort of revelatory exhibit that invites a response of interest from

man. At that point, free will either picks up on that revelation and inquires further, or ignores the

revelation as irrelevant and lumbers on in darkness.

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“Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. So Moses said, “I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”” Ex 3:1-4

What is the drawing revelation?

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Why do you think Jesus did this?

Do you think He stood before a mirror and said to an angel, “I have a big meeting with Moses today.

What do you think I should wear? Pillar of fire – dark cloud with thunder and lightning, or burning

inconsumable bush?”

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Jesus presented Himself in a way that He knew would get Moses’ attention and accomplish His

purpose. Bushes don’t often spontaneously combust, and they burn to ash in seconds if they

do catch fire.

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It burned but didn’t consume, but what if Moses would have seen the bush, said, “Hhhmmm –

weird”, and turned back to watching the sheep?

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It IS important to have a hunger to present to the Lord when you come before Him.

God does EXACTLY what He knows He has to do to accomplish His will and yet still preserve the

free will of man.

Hunger prepares OUR hearts to receive from Him. It pleases Him to see it, but it isn’t necessary to

Him.

Let’s track Jesus doing this in the lives of others. Watch what He does to gain attention in those He

pursues, and then how He stimulates hunger.

One more thing, it isn’t your responsibility to “decide” to develop a hunger for Jesus. You can’t

do that successfully, because what you turn on can be just as easily turned off again.

Our option is to agree that the lack of a hunger for God is unhealthy, and then ask Him to raise the

level of our hunger. Then we must respond obediently in faith when He takes us into His

unique, tailor-made hunger development process for each one of us.

Bear in mind, the condition of the heart and mind determine what God must do in each of us in

order to accomplish His objective of developing hunger for Him in us. Each of us must determine

before the process begins that whatever God decides is necessary, and that we are in it for the

long haul.

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“While He was saying these things to them, a synagogue official came and bowed down before Him, and said, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.” Jesus got up and began to follow him, and so did His disciples. And a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak; for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch His garment, I will get well.” But Jesus turning and seeing her said, “Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well.” At once the woman was made well. When Jesus came into the official’s house, and saw the flute-players and the crowd in noisy disorder, He said, “Leave; for the girl has not died, but is asleep.”

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“While He was saying these things to them, a synagogue official came and bowed down before Him, and said, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.” Jesus got up and began to follow him, and so did His disciples. And a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak; for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch His garment, I will get well.” But Jesus turning and seeing her said, “Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well.” At once the woman was made well. When Jesus came into the official’s house, and saw the flute-players and the crowd in noisy disorder, He said, “Leave; for the girl has not died, but is asleep. And they began laughing at Him. ” Matt 9:18-24

Why would Jesus say something like that when the father said clearly that his daughter died?

He is looking for contrast, which was afforded by the crowd reaction, and IMPACT by what He was

about to do.

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“But when the crowd had been sent out, He entered and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. This news spread throughout all that land.” Matt 9:25-26

You just saw a rich man track down Jesus and ASK Him (hunger) to come to touch his dead

daughter and raise her from the dead.

While He is on His way to raise the dead, a woman sick for 12 years, chases Jesus down (hunger)

and basically “steals” her healing from Him.

So Jesus is on a roll. Let’s see how He finishes out this text.

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“And they began laughing at Him. But when the crowd had been sent out, He entered and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. This news spread throughout all that land. As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” When He entered the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” Then He touched their eyes, saying, “It shall be done to you according to your faith.” And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them: “See that no one knows about this!” Matt 9:24-30

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“And they began laughing at Him. But when the crowd had been sent out, He entered and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. This news spread throughout all that land. As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” When He entered the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” Then He touched their eyes, saying, “It shall be done to you according to your faith.” And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them: “See that no one knows about this!” Matt 9:24-30

What inspired these two blind men to start crying out for healing?

Might it be that people were running out of the house shouting that Jesus just raised the dead?

So for these blind men, it was at least the resurrection of a dead girl that caused their hunger to peak and drive them to seize the

opportunity.

To this point we have a synagogue official, a woman afflicted 12 years and two blind men who heard or saw something that convinced them to

seek out Jesus to get what they needed. But He is not yet done.

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“Then He touched their eyes, saying, “It shall be done to you according to your faith.” And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them: “See that no one knows about this!” But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout all that land. As they were going out, a mute, demon-possessed man was brought to Him. After the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.” But the Pharisees were saying, “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.” Mt 9:29-34

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“Then they came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.” So they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.” Throwing aside his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. And answering him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!” And Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.” Mark 10:46-52

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You see – HUNGER IS critical to our ability to receive from God, and He must initiate the hunger,

but WE MUST respond to what He initiates.

In 5 cases, we have seen how information that was available, caused each person to take action out of a hunger that was produced by what they

heard, or saw.

To further make our point let me demonstrate another fascinating tactic that Jesus used to

stimulate hunger.

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Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon. And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.” But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.” But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she said, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once. Matt 15:21-28

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Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon. And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.” But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.” But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she said, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once. Matt 15:21-28

What is obviously going on in this text? Clearly Jesus is NOT making it easy for this woman to get what she came for. But why is He

being so seemingly hard to entreat?

We don’t value the things that come easily to us nearly so much as the things that we sweat and

bled to gain. Jesus wants to reach into this woman’s heart and that is why he points to her

faith after she was tested and she persisted in the face of blatant rejection. What He prepared her

for and what she received was more of an eternal value.

If His purpose in coming was to fix everybody’s boo-boos, aches and pains, wouldn’t it have been a lot better to stand on a mountain and shout “All

of you be healed” than to spend all the time talking to each of them and pretending that you

didn’t want to heal them even more than they wanted to be healed? Everything Jesus did had an eternal value to it, not physical healing on a

bunch of dying bodies.

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The synagogue ruler in our first example was a member of the same group that said that Jesus cast out demons by the power of Satan. So how can we account for the difference in the hearts?

I think it would be good for each of us to have a look at the level of hunger that we have for Him.

It is really very simple.The Pharisees had absolutely no consciousness

of need. They thought they were masters.The synagogue ruler had a dead beloved daughter and an enormous need that he could see, and He

saw Jesus as the Solution to his need.Let’s get a fix on the hearts of the Pharisees.

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“I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.” They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. “But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. You are doing the deeds of your father.” They said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.” John 8:38-43

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“I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.” They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. “But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. You are doing the deeds of your father.” They said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.” John 8:38-43

What do you see in these hearts?These hearts are filled with self-confidence, pride, need for control, ownership of the temple… There

is absolutely NO consciousness of “need”.

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“And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.” John 9:39-41Can you identify any sense of weakness or need

in these people?

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I want to be clear. There are many ways that we cover our weakness and have even unknowingly

convinced ourselves that we don’t have many needs.

If you find it hard to be viewed by others when your weaknesses are exposed, then you may

know that your confidence is in what you present as your strength.

Most of us aren’t really comfortable with our weaknesses and yet Paul teaches in 2Cor 12 that it is our weakness that provides a place in us for the power of Christ to dwell. So why value the

illusion of human capacity?

1 1.every aspect of your relationship with god hinges on how you see god relative to self. 2.since...

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