He Satisfies the Longing Soul

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I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire!  (Luke 24:32)

You gotta have the want to.

That’s the title of an old book on my shelf by Pastor Allan Oggs.

You gotta have the want to.

As we square up for a new year, 2019, do you have the want to?

Even if you feel battle weary, even if 2018 wore you out – maybe you don’t have the motivation, maybe you feel depleted, maybe 2018 drained you – but do you WANT to do better?  Do you WANT to rise up and be all that God wants you to be in 2019?

WANTING it is the key.

Look at Matthew 5:6, where Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness...”  It doesn’t say, “Blessed are the righteous” though the righteous are surely blessed, but it says, “Blessed are those who HUNGER AND THIRST for righteousness.” 

In other words, blessed are those who WANT it.

I’ve spent the year 2018 doing a deep dive into the Psalms, and my reading today stopped suddenly at the powerful Psalm 107 verse 9, “For He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.”

What is my part in that verse?  My part is to have a longing and hungry soul.

I long for the Lord.  I hunger for more of Him in 2019, more of His character in me, more of His will done in me and through me, more of “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” in ME as it is in heaven, in my family as it is in heaven, in my work as it is in heaven, in my church as it is in heaven.  HIS will be done.  I hunger and thirst and long for that.

And the good news is, He satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with goodness!

Do you feel it?  Are you hungry for it?

Psalm 42:1 – as the deer pants for the water, Lord, my soul longs for You.  I need You and want You and desire You.  I want to walk in Your Spirit and live by Your Spirit and bear the eternal fruit of Your Spirit.

I want it, and long for it, and seek it, and pray for it.

And everyone who asks, receives.  And he who seeks, finds.  And to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

And today I plant my flag of hope firmly in Psalm 107:9, for He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with good things.

May God bless you as you long for Him today.

I’m Doug Apple.