Spiritual Hunger

Given the materialistic nature of our times and the steady increase of wickedness around, people are hungry of spiritual refuge and nourishment. If the emergence of numerous religious groups and churches is any indication, then many are veering toward religiosity and spirituality. With such trend, we can only surmise that there is indeed a great need to meet many people's spiritual hunger and longing. We should not, however, be surprised of this because wih the prevalence of crash materialism and evil in our surroundings, there are those who have reached the point of emptiness within themselves and long for a spiritual reprieve. And it doesn't help that the recent global economic meltdown has drastically affected countless people's lives and their lifestyles. Thus, in the midst of uncertainties, people seek spiritual solace in religion or in the churches of their own choosing. But do all religions, or belief systems, for that matter, genuinely satisfy man's spiritual hunger or longing for a regufe? Apostle Paul gives us the answer, thus:

"For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness." (Rom. 10:2-3, New International Version)

There are those who are zealous for God but their zeal is not based on His knowledge and righteousness. Instead of submitting to God's righteousness, they seek to establish their own. Surely, such kind of religiosity and zeal for God will not bring them near to Him and will not truly satisfy their spiritual hunger.

It must be understood that for man's spiritual needs to be satisfied, he should follow not his own but God's righteousness. the apostle Paul tells us where we can find God's righteousness that should be the basis for man's religiosity and zeal for Him:

"For I am ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith." (Rom. 1:16-17, New King James Version)

It is in the gospel that God's righteousness is revealed. this is also God's power unto man's salvation. If man wants to be brought near to God for the satisfaction of this spiritual hunger, he should base his faith in and zeal for God on the gospel.

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The Carnal and the Spiritual

The life of a carnal man is so devastating

Full of fear, violence, greed, hate and envy

The lust of the flesh works desperately

Till its prey is doomed without mercy.

The carnal is in the world without hope

He doesn't care to find the truth

His life drowned with wordly pleasures

Enjoyed by them whose eyes and ears are closed.

They are sheep without a shepherd, roaming around,

Grazing from grass contaminated with deadly poison

Polluted by false preachers, false doctrines and traditions

Believed by the world as the truth there on.

The carnal mind was truly deceived

He was enticed by his father, the devil

Who was a murderer from the beginning

No truth, all lies abide in him.

The spiritual believes in the living God

Who gave His only begotten Son to us

He obeys His laws and commandments

Always ready to obey without complaint.

He believes he will not condemned on Judgment Day

Being a true member of the Church of Christ today

The Church built by Him and purchased by His blood

The Church the world never wanted to recognize.

The spiritual believes that God is only one

No other else, no shape, no image or form

He is the Creator of all and not a creature

To be worshiped with whole mind, heart and soul.

He believes that God is only one

And Jesus Christ His only begotten Son

Whom He sent to the world to save mankind

From His wrath that will surely come.

God's Promise

Therefore, anyone who wants so much to be heard by God in prayer, especially when times are hard, cannot escape becoming a member of Christ's body, thus:

"For as we have many members in one body, but all the members to not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another." (Rom. 12:4-5 Ibid)

One ought to followthe Savior Jesus Christ's command to enter by Him and be in fold or flock, which is the Church of Christ (John 10:9, Revised English Bible; Acts 20:28, Lamsa Tranlation).

Membership in the true Church of Christ therefore, is necessary for one to benefit from God's goodness. When one becomes a member of God's nation is coming God's people by becoming a member of the Church of Christ, he is assured of receiving that which he asks God, even in this life.

Hard times will continue to beset mankind, which is not at all surprising as this was forewarned by the Lord Jesus Christ. But God's faithful servants are never daunted nor are they perplexed. Their courage stems from the truth that above everything else, being in Christ or members of the Church of Christ means not having anymore condemnation when Judgment Day comes, thus:

"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." (Rom. 8:1, NKJV)

Where the truly renewed are

The time of the Israelites already passed. A new dispensation came, hence, the Christian Era. But before the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heave, He left His teachings with the apostles, who in turn taught men, thus:

"Being justified freely by the grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed." (Rom. 3:24-25, Ibid)

One can glean from the verses cited that man needs to have faith in Christ and in His blood. Why? How precious is the blood of Christ? Writing to the Christians at Ephesus, Apostle Paul declared, thus:

"That at that time you were without Christ, being alive from the commnonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of division between us, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity." (Eph. 2:12-16, Ibid)

We ought to be reminded that because of sin, man has been alienated from God, hence the need for reconciliation. Otherwise, man will remain a stranger before the sight of God. Christ's blood effected man's reconciliation with God. And thhis was made possible with creations of the one new man made up of one body which is the Church (Col. 1:18, Ibid), whose head is Christ. The sinner then needs to be put right with God through the Church which is Christ's body.

Who will not be heard

But whom shall God not hear? What prevents the flow of God's blessings? Isaiah, the prophet of old, proclaimed, thus:

"But your iniquities have separated you from your God: And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear." (Isa. 59:2, Ibid.)

The Almighty Father is a benevolent God and should not be faulted should man not receive anything from Him. God is not at fault. Certainly, man is. If God does not hear man's pleadings, the latter alone is to blame. The prophet Isaiah further says:

"And there is no one who calls on Your name, Who stirs himself up to take hold Your face from us, And have consumed us because of our iniquities." (Isa. 64:7, Ibid)

Man's iniquities or sins have separated him from God. Sin has hidden God's face from man so that He will not hear the latter's plea. Hence, shedding of the sinful self and a complete renewal of life is called for and necessary for one to be answered by God.

Ask and it will be given

However, to avail oneself of God's beneficence, Christ's instructions ring clear, thus:

"Ask, and it will 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 and it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 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 good things to those who ask Him!" (Matt. 7:7-11, Ibid.)

Clear and conveniently easy, a lot have appropriated these instructions of Christ for themselves. People sought out God in their prayers. Religious counselors would even say matter-of-factly, "Pray. It works" or "Prayer can move mountains." Nut not receiving what they prayed for, there are those who begin to doubt and start asking questions. "Why was I not answered? Why did I not receive my request?" wails a disappointed parent or youngster.

What God Can Do

Never should man doubt God, the Divine Providence. Neither should he underestimate His ability to provide us our needs. Christ assures: "...'With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible'" (Mark 10:27, Ibid).

This is one big difference between God and man in terms of giving assistance. Not only does God care for us, but He can also provide us all our needs beyong any humanity possible means, "For with God nothing will be impossible" (Luke 1:37, Ibid). Man can onl do so much. A person may be able to help once, twice or more, but not always. Not only is there a limit to his resources, but that he may also at the receiving end, as a problem may also come hi way. And no individual on earth can claim of a worry or problem-free existence

There's more to life than food and clothing

In the course of His ministry on earth, our Lord Jesus Christ, the greatest of God's messengers, reminded His disciples, thus:

"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value that they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neigther toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in al his glory was not arrayed like one of these." (Matt. 6:25-29, New King Version)

Our Lord Jesus Christ's teaching is clear: There's more to life than food and clothing. To emphasize an all important truth, Christ pointed out how the birds are fed and the lilies in the field clothed by the Almighty Father. God's people then ought to entrust their worries unto Him whose loving-kindness is great and whose mercy is beyond compare.

This does not mean, however, that God tolerates laziness or promotes a parasitism of some kind, for birds are constantly on the watch for ripe grains to peck, and plants, unnoticed by the human eye, are created as such to silently manufacture their own food to promote growth and development that goes on the cellular level. The result, according to Christ is that "even Solomon in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these." He was referring to the lilies.

Leaving One's Cares unto God

With the welfare of the brethren at heart, Apostle Peter exhorted the early Christian, thus:

"Leave all your worries with him, because he cares for you." (I Pet. 5:7, Today's English Version)

One's response to this advice reflects how one recognizes what God can do for His people. But the problem is that there are people who keep their worries very much to themselves, thus aggravating or compounding the situation in the process. On the other hand, a lot would look for someone to bail them out, only to be disappointed, not because those whom they asked for assistance were unwilling, but because the latter do not have the resources, meaning, the solution to the problem is beyond their capacity or capability to help. Whichever way, it will therefore do well for God's people to listen to Apostle Peter's admonition, "Leave your worries to God'"

Who can leave his worries to God and be assured of His loving care? King David of old speaks, thus:

"Give yourself to the Lord; trust in him, and he will help you." (Ps. 37:5, Ibid)

So, he who trusts God and entrust or commits his worries to Him can avail himself of His assistance or help. We should never doubt God's ability to giveor provide us all our needs, for He greatly cares for His people. He knows who among them are going through hard and harrowing times.

When Times Are Hard

In life days are not always sunny. There are times when clouds unexpectedly gather and we are caught by a sudden downpour in the middle of an open field. Soaking wet, we look for shelter only to find that the nearest is till some distance away. The combined wind and rain hammering our vulnerablwe bodies slow us down even more, keeping our quest interminably longer. Then, we find ourselves shivering from the cold and seemingly unable to go on.

Indeed, how many have found themselves in trying situations? HOw many have been unable to find the right solution to their problem? The fact is, there are those who, failing to fix the mess they are in, lose hope and resign themselves to their fate. Of course, others would not just easily give up trying to find a solution. They would put up a fight or exhaust every possible means until they are able to find a way out of their dilemma. The sad thing is, the unscrupulous would not care whether their solution is morally and ethically valid and sound or not, or whether it is permitted or sanctioned by society and the duly constituted authorities are not. And what's worse, there are those who would not even give the divine law a thought. A lot, in fact, try to circumvent, if not directly break, the law, both the man-made and the God-given, so as to get what they want.

Members of the Church of Christ, God's people in these last days, however, are guided by the words of God found in the Holy Scriptures. More than the morality or ethics of an act, they see to it that there actions are sanctioned or permitted by God. And that His authority is respected and followed.

Even when times are truly hard, faithful members of the Church will never do an act that is opposed to or at variance with the divine mandates, for that will alienate them from the Almighty Father. In other words, they will not risk earning God's ire for violating His commandments.