Here are the notes from the message at New Life Community Church for Sunday, August 5, 2012. You can listen to this message by going to our website at www.newlifesite.com.
Inside Story, Part 7 Sunday, August 5, 2012
“Satisfaction”
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:13-14 (NIV)
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24 (NIV)
Example of an MRI.
What if we had an MRI of our souls?
What if we could have a spiritual MRI? What if we could do an MRI on your soul?
MRI looks inside and figures out what’s going on. It helps make a diagnosis so you can do something about it. MRI’s never fix anything. They just make it possible to get fixed.
Example of my knee. AVN – don’t know why it happened. Same way with injuries and death in your soul. You may not know what or when it happened, you just know you’re not well on the inside – you’re angry, you’re depressed, you’re fearful – you’re dissatisfied.
Two kinds of DESIRE – two ways Scripture talks about desire and being satisfied.
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, 3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. Psalm 103:1-5 (ESV)
5 who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. Psalm 103:1-5 (ESV)
Throughout Scripture there is the promise of God that He will satisfy the hunger of His people. We will be satisfied with His goodness.
Examples:
Psalms 36:8. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.
Leviticus 26:5. 5 Your threshing shall last till the time of vintage, and the vintage shall last till the time of sowing; you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.Joel 2:26. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the LORD your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to shame.
John 4:13-14. 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
Conversely, one of the indicators of God’s judgment or that man is off base is the presence of chronic dissatisfaction. If living a satisfied life is the fruit of God’s blessing, then living in a constant state of dissatisfaction is not so good. Now we’ve got to explain this a little further because someone might say, “well than I guess I must really be messed up because there are a lot of thing I’m dissatisfied about. Which is the reason for this message. We’ve got to know how to handle all these crazy contradictory DESIRES that run around inside us.
WE ARE ONE GREAT BIG BUNDLE OF DESIRES. And the worst part is that they never seem to get truly satisfied!
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. I Timothy 6:6-10 (ESV)
We are a FACTORY OF DESIRES.
14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. James 1:14-15 (NKJV)
Desire can lead to FULFILLMENT .
Or
Desire can lead to DESTRUCTION.
“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
Three Steps to True Satisfaction
1. Acknowledge (confess) your chronic DISSATISFACTION.
4 “See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright—but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness —5 indeed, wine betrays him; he is arrogant and never at rest. Because he is as greedy as the grave and like death is never satisfied, Habakkuk 2:4-5 (NIV)
Nature of human soul – always craving, always wanting, always “never enough”
Proverbs 30:15. The leech has two daughters— Give and Give! There are three things that are never satisfied, Four never say, “Enough!”:
If you are ever dissatisfied, whiney, cranky,
I'm going to ask you to actually raise your hand just as a way of confession.
Categories:
1. Your job
2. The work you have to do at your job
3. Your marriage
4. Because you’re not married
5. Because you ARE married
6. Your kids
7. Your body
8. Your boss
9. Your hairline
10. Your waistline
11. Your bottom line
12. Your neighbors
13. Your house
14. Your car
15. Your dog
16. Your cat
17. Your relatives
18. Any aspect of your life
2. SIN and DOUBLE-MINDEDNESS fracture the soul.
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:7-8 (NIV)
Double-Minded – Gk. Dipsuchos which literally means “two minds”. You are internally divided.
We have numerous phrases in our culture that we use to describe this condition:
“I’m falling to pieces.” “My life is coming apart.” “I’ve got to get my act together.” “I can’t seem to get myself together.” “I’m shattered.”
WE RATIONALIZE AND MAKE EXCUSES.
Two answers to double-mindedness: submit to God or cave in.
The “What-the-hell” Effect
Sometimes, we just cave in and say, “That’s the way I am.” We don’t like it, but we feel helpless to change.
Illustration from Open Range:
There is a scene in the movie Open Range that speaks to this. Open Range is about two crusty range cowboys played by Kevin Costner and Robert Duvall. They are herding their cattle across country but have to cross territory dominated by an Irish guy who hates “free rangers.” This Irish land baron pretty much owns the town and one young boy gets killed and another injured. So there’s a show-down between the Coster/Duvall good guys and Baxter and his bad guys.
At one point in the final street shoot-out, a young woman confronts the sheriff who has sold out to Baxter and his men.
Sue Barlow: You're a disgrace, Marshal Poole. You always have been. Sheriff Poole: I know it. That's just the way it is.
Sue Barlow: You're a disgrace, Marshal Poole. You always have been. Sheriff Poole: I know it. That's just the way it is.
One additional note:
A little earlier in the movie, Charley Waite and Boss Spearman are having a little talk before the big gunfight. Charley wants to know Boss’s real name!
Charley: I'm not goin' to my maker without knowin' your given name. Mine ain't Waite; it's Postelwaite. Charles Travis Postelwaite. What's yours? Sure ain't Boss.
[Boss hesitates] Charley: I mean it, Boss. I'm asking you straight up. Boss Spearman: It's Bluebonnet. Charley: Bluebonnet? Boss Spearman: Bluebonnet, yeah. Charley: No middle name? Boss Spearman: No, just Bluebonnet Spearman. And don't you tell no one. I want to hear you swear an oath now, go on.
[Boss hesitates] Charley: I mean it, Boss. I'm asking you straight up. Boss Spearman: It's Bluebonnet. Charley: Bluebonnet? Boss Spearman: Bluebonnet, yeah. Charley: No middle name? Boss Spearman: No, just Bluebonnet Spearman. And don't you tell no one. I want to hear you swear an oath now, go on.
3. Jesus makes you WHOLE.
Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name. Psalm 86:11 (NKJV)
23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. I Thessalonians 5:23-24 (ESV)
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