Tag: desire

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Tasting God’s Goodness

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"Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.  Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good." 1 Peter 2:1-3

When out walking the other day, I was contemplating the good gifts of God.  Gifts in which I yearn to be wrapped daily.  Peace, love and joy are a few that spring to mind.  Weirdly enough this pondering made me think of southern buttermilk biscuits.  Yes, biscuits.

For the past, I don’t know, 20 years or so I’ve been on this quiet pilgrimage to make and eat the perfect buttermilk biscuit.  A good spicy, pork gravy on top isn’t so bad either.  But that elusive biscuit keeps calling my name.  I’ve tasted many a biscuit from California to South Carolina and Texas to Missouri.  A few biscuits found their way onto my plate in Louisiana and Georgia.  None have met my dreams and expectations. 

I’ve made a number of attempts to make such a mythical biscuit.  I’ve even come pretty close with a famous lifestyle influencer’s recipe.  The process, which took a few days, included chilling various ingredients, grating butter, and what seems to be the most important part, carefully yet not over handling the rolling and cutting of the dough.  My neighbors were gifted much of my last batch which met with mouthwatering approval. 

Yearning for Goodness

So here we are, wondering what biscuits have to do with God’s gifts?  Well, let’s back up a bit.  In our sanctification journey we’ve looked at the importance of knowing who God is, who we are in God, and knowing God’s character and promises.  Then we took on the challenge of how trials take us down bumpy roads.  Yet, they lead us to greater trust in how all that knowledge comes together for our good.  This week we’re cooking up ways to live the life we yearn for each day.

So, let’s start this week with a question: What do you most want out of your short life here on earth?  What do you yearn for each day you wake? 

In the July 24, 2023 edition of CNBC’s “Make It,” therapist Charlotte Weber wrote of the nine things people want most in life.

  1. To be loved
  2. To be understood
  3. To have power
  4. To have and give attention
  5. To have freedom
  6. To create
  7. To belong
  8. To win
  9. To connect

If you answered my questions with yearnings such as a desire for marriage, children, money, or even the perfect biscuit, you could probably attribute any of those with something on Ms. Weber’s list.  But here’s the thing, her ingredients to attaining those nine desires are all temporary.  A spouse who loves you, a friend who understands, a situation where you have power and win.  Getting attention and belonging may last for a day, a month or a season.  And freedom?  From what?  There are rules everywhere we go!  None of these ingredients are bad or even frowned upon by God.  But they are temporary fixes.

My biscuit journey made me realize we make commitments large and small to the things of this world for which we yearn.  I had to submit to the rules of biscuit making.   And if I plan to fulfill my goal, I need to be obedient to that cause.  

Recipe For Tasting God’s Goodness

I want to give you a recipe for the big life goals Ms. Weber revealed which, when followed, last throughout eternity.  You’re probably not going to like it.  But it’s a recipe that been tested for literally thousands of years and those who have tasted it all agree it is good.  You might have guessed it — submission and obedience to God.  

"As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:14-16

Let’s be honest, when anyone talks about obedience and submission a little red flag goes up in our mind.  Unfortunately, so many Christian teachers and pastors these days seem to blame our lack of obedience to the Lord on our western culture.  Here’s a Bible pro-tip: humans have struggled with obedience since the third chapter of Genesis.  We need to stop blaming modern culture and realize it’s a human problem that spans all time and location.  The Israelites didn’t live in western culture yet I recall a few times where they had kings that “did evil in the sight of the LORD” and were found very wanting.

We do, however, love to compound our basic disobedience to God by being fearful of disobedience to man.  Nowadays that means we’re to be a planet saving, animal loving, anti-capitalists it seems.  We are asked are you using recycled containers?  If not, you’re killing the planet.  Have you given enough money to the homeless?  They are destitute because of you!  Have you ethically sourced your jacket?  If not, you’ve probably destroyed an entire rainforest.  The food you eat, the leisure activities you enjoy, the car you drive – you’re being called every day to submit to new worldly rules.  And if you don’t comply, then you can’t possibly be a good person and be happy!  How could you, you planet destroyer and animal hater? Submit to the modern rules and feel good about yourself!

You may throw up your hands and call the recipe for eternal happiness and joy impossible.  But as Christian author Kevin DeYoung writes in his great little book, Impossible Christianity, “When genuine discipleship becomes impossible, hell often becomes impossible as well.”  In other words, when we believe failure is the norm, we forget the reality of hell.

Lasting Goodness

And I don’t know about you but hell is not what I’m yearning for when I’m done here.  I also know I want lasting, deep peace and joy.  It’s true that what we all yearn for in the now will only be a shadow of what is to come in eternity.  Jesus reminds us that He knows we can’t do everything perfect and need to lean on Him all the time.  We seek holiness as a life goal and know it’ll take the Holy Spirit to do the work in us.  Urging us, teaching us, and even admonishing us.

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14

The world wants to tell Christians God’s only ingredient for the world is love.  They conveniently leave out that God is also to be feared and revered.  And separation from God, which is what Jesus was experiencing on the cross when He said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me,” is what we call “hell.”

Our disobedience tells God we don’t revere Him and instead revere ourselves.  We want to be the author of our own recipe.  So, while we have declared our faith in Jesus Christ, we continue to turn away from the holiness He so desires for our life.  To the unbeliever it must be confusing to see us acting this way!  

This holiness is not impossible.  And while perfection may be our eternal goal, in all honesty we won’t achieve it here on earth.  But like my biscuit making we need to keep thirsting and hungering for it.  

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."  Matthew 5:6

Next week we continue our look into obedience and submission, seeking the perfect recipe of holiness.

This week’s question: When you hear obedience and submission, what is your reaction?

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Eat Up His Words

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When your words came, I ate them;
they were my joy and my heart’s delight,
for I bear your name,
Lord God Almighty.  
Jeremiah 15:16

I visited some friends recently outside Austin, Texas.  One day we were trying to decide where to eat for lunch and I mentioned seeing a place that served Louisana-style shrimp and crab.  My friend exclaimed, “Oooo those are my two favorite foods!”  And off we went!

As our food was placed before us – heaping piles of crab, shrimp, corn and potatoes — I thought I heard my friend moan.  And when she started in, slurping and sucking on her crab I actually did hear her moan!  We started laughing so hard!  That lunch is what came to mind when I read this verse from Jeremiah.  Eating joyously and to our heart’s delight.

Jeremiah was in a pretty tough spot with God and the people of Israel.  He had to tell the people of God’s coming wrath.  You see, God was done being placated by Israel’s rulers.  It was time to pay the piper for their egregious and continuing sins.  But God promised to save Jeremiah after he makes his plea of faithfulness.

Just think if we all devoured God’s word like my friend did her pile of crab and shrimp!  Or like Jeremiah in his plea for rescue!

“The stiff and wooden quality about our religious lives is a result of our lack of holy desire. Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people.”-

A.W. Tozer

Acute desire.  To yearn to read more about God.  To seek with all our heart ways to serve God.  To sit in mediation with anxious expectation to hear from God.  That’s the kind of love God wants from us.  Like lovers that can’t get enough of each other!

My husband and I started out in a long distance relationship.  He lived and went to college in Colorado and I was in California.  We began calling each other every day.  Spending hours on the phone.  We wanted to learn everything we could about each other.  Then our phone bills started arriving!  As poor college students we couldn’t afford to call each other anymore so we took to writing.  Each day I would anxiously await the mail.  And each letter that came was pages long.   I ate up those words with joy and with a happy heart.

The Bible is like those love letters.  It tells us all we need to know about God’s character.  It regales us with stories of how He makes promises and keeps them.  He tells us about how much He sacrificed to show us love.  And He shows us the way to be united with Him again.

If what we call love doesn’t take us beyond ourselves, it is not really love. If we have the idea that love is characterized as cautious, wise, sensible, shrewd, and never taken to extremes, we have missed the true meaning.

Oswald Chambers

Loving God is not a passive pursuit.  We need to love with abandon.  We need to eat up every word from His lips!  

Then you will call on me and come 
and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 
You will seek me and find me when 
you seek me with all your heart.  
Jeremiah 29:12-13

Friends, the enemy is like that jealous school girl who wants to steal your boyfriend away.  She’d love to see you get a bit complacent with your relationship.  She’ll even find ways to distract you and put a wedge between you.  The difference is, the enemy can only work on one side of this relationship.  God is never distracted.

The presence of passion, faith, and belief in our hearts is a gift.  It’s on loan to our souls. 

Priscilla Shirer, Fervent

In other words, we don’t need to conjure up that passion or desire to eat up God’s Word.  The Holy Spirit is already there, waiting for us to access that burning faith!  We need only to call out to God and say, “I love you, Lord with all my heart!  Teach me everything about you so that I may serve you!”  And He will certainly place a feast before you.