Longing For God

“As the deer longs for streams of water,

So I long for You, God.

I thirst for God, the living God…”

Psalm 42: 1, 2

                                                                                                                      

A song released by Maranatha Singers in the 90s has the first verse drawn from Psalm 42: 1. The song   continues to be much loved among believers in Christ Jesus till now. In these verses, the Psalmist expresses a passionate desire for the living God.

A similar expression is found in Psalm 63:

“God, You are my God; I eagerly seek You.

I thirst for You;

My body faints for You

In a land that is dry, desolate, and without water.”

The Psalmist compares his desire for God to human longing for water. It is interesting that over and over, God in His word communicates to us His people in images and languages that relate with basic human needs such as food and water.

“Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!” Isaiah 55:1

In His discussion with the Samaritan woman in John 4, Jesus also used the imagery of thirst and water to explain a deep spiritual reality. Other passages of the Bible that use similar imagery are Amos 8:11 and John 6:25–58.

The reality is that there is a deep void in man that only God can satisfy. There is an emptiness is man’s soul that only God can fill. There is a “God-sized hole” in every human being that only the living God can fill. I believe that God made man with the natural physical desires of thirst and hunger so that we can understand and appreciate to some extent our need for Him. People try to fill that void with entertainment, music, drugs, women, science, philosophy, and occultism and so on but you see, just like the Psalmist realised, true satisfaction is found only in God.

For believers in Christ Jesus, at salvation we enter a wonderful love relationship with God which needs to be nurtured in deep intimacy and longing. It is in this context that the Psalmist’s expressions spring to life in our hearts. We ought to eagerly desire His word that we may understand His heart (1^st Peter 2:2). We should long for times of fellowship with Him in prayer and praise.

Muse with me on this Psalm and rise above complacency, busy schedules, distractions, entertainment and other pleasures to an increasing experience of intense desire and longing for the living God.

*All Scripture quotations are from Holman Christian Standard Bible translation.

The Heathen Rage, God Laughs!

"Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed...He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall leave them in derision..." Psalm 2:1-4

Psalm 2 is regarded as one of the Messianic Psalms-those Psalms that have verses that contain prophecies about our Messiah (the "Anointed One"). The verses above were quoted by the Apostles in Acts 4 when they prayed to God concerning the opposition they faced as they began to propagate God’s message of grace. For the Apostles, in their prayer they related the "raging heathens" and the "Kings and rulers" to Pontius Pilate, the Jewish elders, King Herod and others who plotted against our Lord Jesus while He was on earth (see Acts 4:23-30).

The vain plots however didn't stop with the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. All through the book of Acts, the Apostles and the early church faced similar plots just as it happened to them in Acts 4. And in every generation since then, the raging heathens and the plots of kings and rulers has not stopped. God never promised His children an opposition-free life.

What is so comforting for me personally is God's response to the opposition as expressed in Psalm 2:4 -He laughs! God laughs! We get so worked up, we sometimes get very scared in the face of opposition to God’s work in our lives. We even begin saying things we shouldn't say. We sometimes despair of even our very lives. We almost think that God Himself should roll up His sleeves and take things seriously. But as this Psalm shows us, God sits calmly in Heaven and laughs! (Read also Psalm 37:13, Psalm 59:8).

God is not agitated or disturbed by their efforts. His plans cannot be thwarted. His power cannot be withstood. God simply proceeds to the execution of His plan in a calm manner. Even when an assorted conglomerate of opposition forces aggregate against Him, God laughs!

Muse with me today and be reminded that we have a God who is Almighty and All Powerful. The early church recognized that these verses contain a powerful encouragement and firm assurance to the believer in Christ even in the face of fiery opposition and assault. So should we. Just remember when the opposition rages, God laughs!

The Rule Of The New Creation

Good day dear friends. 

It is another new week, and this post will be the last in the first series of Vignettes of Grace. This week we’re looking at verses 15 & 16 of Galatians 6:

“For neither is circumcision [now] of any importance, nor uncircumcision, but [only] a new creation [the result of a new birth and a new nature in Christ Jesus, the Messiah]. Peace and mercy be upon all who walk by this rule [who discipline themselves and regulate their lives by this principle], even upon the [true] Israel of God!" Galatians 6: 15 and 16 Amplified Version.

During my years as an undergraduate in University of Ibadan, I was exposed to lectures and presentations. With time, I also became involved in making presentations myself and I have come to the realization that sometimes, the audience tend to miss out on some important information in the presentation. As a result, I have learnt that it is not only proper to always end one’s presentation by reminding the audience of the key points, it is also very effective in helping them leave with the right messages. 

Like I pointed out last week, we are now at the end of this epistle to the Galatians and in this closing section, Paul was concluding the letter.  In these last verses to sum up, he identified 2 key things he wanted the Galatians to always remember; the cross of Jesus (as we saw last week), and the new creation in Christ which we are considering this week.

This week we are reminded again that circumcision or uncircumcision, fastidious adherence to codes of conduct, superficial external niceties, powerless sanctimony and several other things are not the heart of the matter. Not at all. The real heart of the matter is the new creature; the new being created in Christ Jesus; the newness of life that is a result of our union with Jesus in His death and resurrection. 

"When anyone is united with Christ, they become a new person. God makes them new. Old things have gone. See, they have become new!" 2nd Corinthians 5:17 Easy English Version

Romans 6:4 speaks of a newness of life for all who have been united with Jesus in His death and resurrection. Ephesians 4:24 also talks about "the new man created after God in righteousness and true holiness. Do you now see that as the main issue or are you still bothered excessively about issues that do not count?

Paul in verse 16 made a statement affirming God’s blessings upon everyone that lives according to this rule. As the Amplified version puts it, living by the rule of the new creature is about disciplining ourselves and regulating our lives by the principle of the supreme importance of the new creation in the new life in Christ. Make it your standard. Make it your canon. Make it your code. Make it your guiding principle. Nothing else is of greater importance than the new creation. As you wake and as you sleep, in every sphere, in all your considerations, let the predominating thought be the reality of the new creation!

One of my greatest desires is to see believers in Christ living in the reality of this revelation. Too often it appears we are not aware of the amazing implications of the grace of God upon our lives. We allow quite a number of things unsettle us but I want to believe that in the past weeks during which we have reviewed this epistle, the Spirit of God has helped us discover some wonderful insights while also re-appraising some glorious concepts concerning God and the new relationship we have with Him.

I almost do not want the series to end. I have been richly blessed posting them and I’m trusting God you have been blessed too in some way. Remember all what we’ve gone through have been snapshots of God’s truly astounding grace. God's grace has done so much for us, it has taken us away from such depths of depravity and doom, brought us to new glorious positions, given us new matchless possessions, bequeathed on us new incomparable privileges and commited to us new awesome responsibilities. 

My song for the week is "I Am New" by Jason Gray.

Enjoy His grace, take full advantage of it. Have a great day and a wonderful week. 

"I Am New" by Jason Gray