Reverend Michael Mwangi
Senior Pastor, Fedha Church, Kenya Assemblies of God
This is one of the most important one because without this intense desire for righteousness, a person will not pursue a deeper relationship with God. Or try to develop the rest of the character traits Jesus describes.
The foundation requirements for all godly living is a hunger and a thirst for righteousness.
We see it in Moses in Exodus 33:13, 18
13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”
18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
Psalm 42:1-2
1. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.
2. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
Philippians 3
10. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
The spiritual condition of any Christians throughout their lives will depend on their hunger and thirst for righteousness.
You are as godly as your hunger for him
Men of the world hunger and thirst for pleasure and happiness but they are never satisfied. If a man seeks for happiness he will not find it but if a man seeks first for righteousness, he will find both righteousness and true happiness that’s brings satisfaction.
Ecclesiastes 2:1-11
I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. 2 “Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?” 3 I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.
4 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem[a] as well—the delights of a man’s heart. 9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil.
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.
Solomon was left with a terrible emptiness.
For they shall be filled
Meaning he will be filled until he will be fully satisfied.
Jesus promised to fill the hungry; to fill them with as much as they could eat. This is a strange filling that both satisfies us and keeps us longing far more. It a profound hunger that cannot be satisfied by materialism. This is a longing that endures and is never completely satisfied on this side of eternity.
Men hunger for happiness but remain unhappy. Why? Because of sin. To become free from unhappiness, one must become free from sin that is, one must become RIGHTEOUS.
We see Christians hungering for many things: power, authority, success, comfort, happiness – but how many hunger and thirst for righteousness?
Unfortunately, even many Christians don't understand this teaching. As such they seek joy, peace, spiritual power and other blessings; they hunger and thirst for these things. But Jesus said hunger for righteousness first of all and then all other things shall be added.
Matthew 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you
To be righteous means to be holy, to be near God, to be Christ-like, to be filled with the Holy Spirit. For us to be righteous, we must be free from sin, because sin separates us from God and blocks the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Ephesians 4:30
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption...
A person who has not eaten for days hungers for food. Our hunger for righteousness must be like that. If we hunger a little, God will give us a little. If we hunger much God will give us much.
If we come to God hungry, he has promised to fill us.
John 6:37
All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
When he gives us righteousness we gain salvation. We become righteous in God's eyes through faith in Christ.
Romans 5:1
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Galatians 2:15-16
15 “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles 16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.
We are no longer under condemnation.
Romans 8:1
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
We must continue hungering for God and He will continue filling us thus we shall continue becoming more and more holy manifesting the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus wants to give us more
John 1:16
from the fullness of his grace, we have all received one blessing after the other.
Jesus’s desire is that we be filled to the measure of the fullness of God.
Let us avoid everything that will reduce our hunger for righteousness.
Let us not partake in worldly pleasures that distract our minds and hearts from seeking God. If we eat snacks before meals, our appetite for real healthy meals is decreased or goes away. Snacks may not be a necessary evil but if they take away our appetite for real nutritious food, thus they do us harm.
Worldly snacks are the same, they reduce our hunger for God and righteousness.
Luke 6:25
Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.
Instead, we need to increase our appetite for righteousness by reading God's word and prayers as well as fellowshipping with believers
How does this hunger and thirst for righteousness express itself?
- A man longs to have a righteous nature.
- A man wants to be sanctified, to be made more holy.
- A man longs to continue in God’s righteousness.
- A man longs to see righteousness promoted in the world.
Christian's hunger for God and his purposes is hindered and even destroyed by the worries of life, deceitfulness of wealth.
The desire for temporal things
Matthew 13:22,
The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.
Lust for life's pleasure
Mark 4:19
but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.
Failure to trust Christ and remain in a right relationship with him
Luke 8:14
The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.
John 15:4
Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
When a Christian loses his or her hunger for God and his standards, he will begin to die spiritually. For this reason, it is therefore important that we be sensitive and responsive to the Holy Spirit work in lives and consciences, keeping us away from evil and drawing us near to God.
John 16:8-13
8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
Rom 8:5-16
5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
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