Holy Desperation:
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Desperation (def.)
-Cambridge Dictionary - (1) the feeling that you have when you are in such a bad situation that you are willing to take risks in order to change it: (2) the feeling of needing or wanting something very much:
-Oxford Dictionary - a state of despair, typically one which results in rash or extreme behavior.
15 When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. 16 And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” 17 Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.”
I wanna rile you up & provoke you to some “rash” & “extreme” behavior that will change your state of being!
***Any high-achieving person knows what I’m talking about (Olympians, professional athletes, business achievers, etc.)*** Michael Phelps trained 5-6 hours a day 365 days a year
Have you ever been parched of thirst?!
Humans can live ~70 days without food, but only 3-4 days without water & just minutes without air.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
What would your life look like if you began to thirst for God like you would literally die without Him and His presence?
I’m pretty convinced, through experience, that most people who are unsatisfied and unexcited in their walk with Christ are that way because they have become dispassionate and have begun to live their life in neutral!
Desperation causes us to seek & take risks:
Desperation causes us to seek & take risks:
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
43 Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, 44 came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped.
Even the very real probability of death didn’t stop her from her pursuit of Jesus!
46 Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
When people told him to hush, he just cried out louder.
How do you respond to people telling you to hush and calm down about pursuing an impactful relationship with Jesus?
Do you quit or do you just pursue Him all the more?
Desperation compels us to cry out to God!
3 ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’
Desperation is not casual or cool, it is everything
Woman washed Jesus’ feet with her hair (Luke 7:36-50)
David Dancing in front of the Ark. (2 Samuel 6:12-22)
David’s own wife despised him for his passion for God & not out of spite, (but out of a genuine desperation for God), David doubled-down to say that He would be even more vile and undignified the next day!
Desperation is not, “I could take it or I could leave it!”
When we are desperate for God no one needs to ask us, bribe us, beg us, inspire us, etc.
We will personally go after anything God needs for us to do or become to be used.
I’m desperate to be used by God and to be useful to God!
That’s why I have a Ph.D. in Theology, I know how to run sound & set up sound systems, I know how to install lights and projectors & how to repair electronic cables, I’ve learned to play the guitar. I know how to coach fitness, I know how to preach, I’ve traveled to the other side of the planet to help pastors, etc.
Incubate Desperation:
Incubate Desperation:
The way to stir up and incubate desperation for God is to meditate on Him and “fixate” on Him.
Think and talk yourself hungry for God.
Proverbs 23:7a(NKJV)
7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
Psalms is a great book to catch the heart of a God-chaser!
4 One thing I have desired of the Lord, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in His temple.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Some thoughts to get you started & for meditation:
Some thoughts to get you started & for meditation:
What if you treated God like your cell-phone?
I love You more than anything else, Jesus!
Where would my life be without You, Jesus?
I don’t want to live a single day without Your presence.
I can’t wait to be with You and hear Your voice.
Just One Thing:
Just One Thing:
Decide to get desperate for God this week! Think & behave yourself thirsty and desperate for God & His presence.