Matthew 5:6 – Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.
Part 1 ~ Hungry And Thirsty For Heavenly Things
The Lord requires we learn to live by His Word and walk by the direction of the Holy Spirit. If we are not hungry, we will not live by His Word; and if we are not thirsty, we will not drink of the things of the Spirit. However, the spiritual life given to us in Christ Jesus causes us to be both hungry and thirsty for the things of God; and if we are hungry and thirsty, then we will be filled.
God led Israel through the wilderness and allowed them to get hungry so He might teach them how men do not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Deuteronomy 8:3). By this principal, Jesus overthrew the temptations of Satan in the wilderness when He was tempted (Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4). Jesus, as the model Son of God, did not have a long protracted life of dealing with the same problem over and over again; but with perfect obedience to the Word of God, He delivered a deathblow to the devices of Satan.
God taught Israel how He alone could satisfy the thirst of their souls. He showed them that if they would trust Him, He would give them to drink from the spiritual Rock, Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 10:1-4). He testified of His great provision supplied by Christ, Who when He was smitten, would provide the true water for every thirsty soul – a thirst that only comes because His people are willing to walk wherever He leads them to go (Exodus 17:6; Psalms 78:20). He testified of the blessing that would come once Christ had been smitten, the blessing of an unending flow of these waters of life for all who would follow. God made provision that would only require us to speak to the Rock, Christ Jesus, and the waters of the Holy Spirit would flow to our thirsty souls (Numbers 20:8).
As Jesus cried out by the Spirit in Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit continues to cry out today saying, “If anyone thirst, come and drink; and just as the Scripture says, out of the innermost being, rivers of the Holy Spirit will flow out,” which are the rivers from on High (John 7:37-39; Isaiah 41:18; Revelation 22:17). This is the source of all the life of God – the life of Christ, the abundant life of the Spirit that lasts forever! This is the Heavenly realm that fills men with every good and perfect thing so they never thirst for a life of sin again (John 4:14).
Many have been born of God and have not been willing to fully step into the life He has provided. The great things of God are on the inside of them, but they are unwilling to allow them to be activated by obedience. It’s high time to walk with the Father and let Him take us where He wills. We must let the Holy Spirit teach us how to be hungry, and live on Heavenly Bread (John 6:32-33, 58). Through faithful obedience to His Word, we must allow the Holy Ghost to show us how spiritual thirst will lead us to the Rock where we can drink continually of His Presence and be filled with all His fullness (Ephesians 5:18, 3:16-19).
Blessings, Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
