"Hungry For The Right Food"

Text: Matt 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (NIV)

J.B Phillips “Happy are those who hungry and thirsty for true goodness, for they will be fully satisfied”.

Righteousness
Righteousness is holy and upright living, in accordance with God's standard. The word righteousness comes from a root word meaning "straightness." Righteousness is a moral concept. God's character is the definition and source of all righteousness.

In the Old Testament the term righteousness is used to define man's relationship with God.

Since the FALL in the Garden of Eden, man is inherently unrighteous. As the prophet Isaiah said, "We are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away" Is. 64:6.

Rom 7:21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wishes to do good. (NAS) This is why we must allow the Lord to change our nature. Phil 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
(KJV) The Greek says to exercise the mind or to be of the same.

For us to have the same mind that Christ has we must have God's righteousness within us. When we accepted Jesus he came to live in us. We became the righteousness of God through Him. 2 Cor. 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

We do not become righteous because of our own goodness; God sees us as righteous because when He sees us He sees Jesus in us.

Phil 3:8-14 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ-- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (NIV)

1 Cor 1:30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God-- that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.

What an honor to have Christ made of God to become our righteousness, for us to be made the righteousness of God in him. And then to have the whole man renewed in righteousness. And to become a new man, and to bear the image of God; to have an interest in Christ and the promises-- this is righteousness.

Hungry for God
We say that we are hungry for God, but if we are honest with ourselves, we are really looking to benefit from His power. The power of God is something to be pursued with all of our heart. Spiritual power is exciting. But, what if we desired to have Christ’s character operating in our lives as much we desire the operation of spiritual gifts and annointings!

We must seek the giver more than the gift! When we follow the giver, the gifts follow us.

Paul said; “My God will supply all our need”. When we get enough of God, we will have enough of everything else. Matt 6:33.

Our desires of spiritual blessings must be earnest and persistent. Hunger and thirst are appetites that return frequently, and call for fresh satisfactions.
As our text in Matt 5:6 says; If we hunger and thirst for righteousness we will be filled.

Paul prayed for the Colossians, Col. 1:9-17 We are asking God that you may be filled with such wisdom and that you understand His purpose. We also pray that your outward lives, which men see, may bring credit to your maser’s name, and that you may bring joy to His heart by bearing genuine Christian fruit in all that you do, and that your knowledge of God may grow yet deeper. We pray that you will be strengthened from God’s glorious power, so that you may be able to pass through any experience and endure it with joy. You will be able to thank the Father because you are privileged to share the lot of the saints who are living in the light. For He rescued us from darkness, and re-established us in the kingdom of His beloved Son. For it is by Him that we have been redeemed and have had our sins forgiven. J.B Phillips

Ro. 12:1-3 With eyes wide open to the mercies of God. I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to Him and acceptable by Him. Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God re-make you so that your whole attitude of mind is changed. Thus you will prove in practice that the will of God is good, acceptable to Him and perfect. J.B Phillips

Getting On The Cross
To truly be a follower of Christ we must not only come to the foot of the cross, we must be willing to get on the cross. How many of us would really follow Christ if there were no healings to be had, no outpourings to rejoice in?

Paul challenges us to pursue a right relationship with the Lord. 1 Tim 6:11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.

His Presence Brings
Our Hunger and Thirst for the Lord will produce His Glory, His Manifest Presence. When his Glory is revealed, darkness turns into light, it reveals or exposes our sin, even the hidden sin.

When His presence was manifested on Moses the sin of the Israelites were exposed.

So the first thing His Presence brings is a revelation of our sin. The closer we get to God the further we will get from the world. As the song writer said “The thing of life will grow strangely dim, in the light of His Glory and Grace”.

His Presence brings Revelations of His Word

His Presence bring Revelations of His Will

Maybe if we would seek the face of God more than the hand of God, God would manifest His presence.