Friday, September 16, 2011

Digging for Gold

"In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 2:3) This verse is part of our theme verses for this blog. So how do you find these treasures? Jesus gave us a hint in John 15:7-8 - "If you remain in Me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." Remaining or abiding in Christ is key to answered prayer and to Christian maturity (fruit-bearing), so that people will know that we are learning from Him (discipleship). A major component of this abiding is the taking in of His Word. Since Jesus was steeped in the Old Testament Scriptures in His teaching and could show the twelve, after His resurrection, how He could be found in the entire Old Testament, and since later He tells the apostles that the Holy Spirit will remind them of everything He said as well (our New Testament), I believe He wants us to be saturated with the whole Bible. We will find all of the treasures of Christ, both in the types and shadows of the Old Testament as well as in the full and final revelation of the New Testament.
     But here is where the paradox comes in. I, for one, do not buy this idea that the Bible is full of contradictions. People who say this simply do not take the time to research apparent contradictions in order to find that the law of contradiction is never violated in God's Word. However, Scripture IS full of paradox.
     In this case, the paradox is shown in two passages. The first is in 1 Corinthians 2:9-10. "However, as it is written: 'What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived - the things God has prepared for those who love Him' - these are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit."
     Now it is always tempting to apply this quote from Isaiah 64 to heaven. But in context, Paul is not talking about heaven, but about truth. He is saying that the truth of Scripture cannot be figured out by either inductive or deductive reasoning, or logic. It can only be revealed to us by the Holy Spirit - like when Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God. Flesh and blood had not revealed that to him, but the Father. We can only know what God has for us to know if He chooses to reveal it to us - and He has. BUT...
     The other side of the coin is in Proverbs 2:1-5: "My Son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding - indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God."
      Look at the energy and effort described here: Accepting (welcoming) it, storing it up (memorization); turning your ear and applying your heart (meditation); calling out and crying aloud (praying as we read and listen); searching and looking (hard, careful, diligent study, comparing Scripture with Scripture, checking context, watching the grammar, etc.). That's when we will understand and find the treasure. Yet verse 6 echoes 1 Corinthians 2. "For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding."
     So there's the paradox. We can only find the treasures of Christ in His Word if God reveals them to us. But He will only reveal them to us if we are in an attitude of seeking and digging. Yet when we have sought and dug, we will, in the end, find it only because He reveals them to us. But He will not reveal them to the lazy and idle - only to the diligent.
     So we dig and scratch and search, even as we abide and listen and pray. And then we will begin to see the treasure and put things together and see the wisdom of God's eternal plan. This is the only way we will be able to have the Bible shed light on our day-to-day living, with each day's joy and pain, and gradually move forward in maturity, becoming more like Him as we get closer to home.
     The treasure is here, right before us. "X" has already marked the spot. We just have to start some serious digging and then humbly wait for him to show it to us, one gem at a time.
     "And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him. ... In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."  (Colossians 1:18-19; 2:3, NIV) So let's start digging like this is true.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Never Forget

"Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on  which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:1-3, NIV)     In the last few days, in the wake of the 10th Anniversary of 9-11, we have frequently heard and seen one short but potent phrase - "Never forget." Well, the Bible is also full of calls to remember. In the Old Testament, Israel was commanded always to remember her deliverance from slavery in Egypt. She was given a Feast to help her remember, the Feast of Passover (Exodus 12). The entire intricate layout of the Tabernacle and the sacrificial system was intended as visual aids to enable them to remember. The nation was also called to remember her crossing of the Jordan River into Canaan by placing twelve stones in the river, one for each tribe, after she had miraculously crossed in safety. These stones were to be a memorial so that she would never forget (Joshua 3-4). In 1 Samuel, after the Lord gave a great victory to an outnumbered Israel over their Philistine enemies, Samuel set up a stone and named it "Ebenezer," meaning "Thus far the Lord has helped us." It was to serve as a reminder.
     But things did not change in the New Testament. Jesus gave us new symbols to remind us of our greater deliverance from sin through His death on the cross. The night before He died, He shared bread and wine with His disciples, saying, in essence, "This is my body, this is My blood, don't you dare forget it."
     In the passage we began with, Paul wrote to remind the Corinthians of the gospel. Remember now, he was writing to Christians, not to pagans. He knew how quickly we can forget. He was amazed at how easily the Galatian churches allowed themselves to be duped by the Judaizers. He cautioned the Colossians about being taken in by "hollow and deceptive philosophies." some of which involved the worship of angels and strict adherance to special days. On more than one occasion, he wrote that he did not want the church to be ignorant about specific matters related to the faith, such as spiritual gifts, or the second coming of our Lord. To Timothy, Paul gave instructions to remind the people he served of the trustworthy sayings that deserve full acceptance, among them, that "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." Pretty basic stuff - but they had to be reminded regularly so that they would not forget.
     The writer to the Hebrews picks up this theme when he quotes from Psalm 95, "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts..." We all tend to be fickle at times in matters of faith. No one decides to reject the gospel's teachings in a moment. Rather, we drift - and we do so because we forget. Hence, the constant call to remember.
     Peter also echoes this thought. "I will always remind you of these things, EVEN THOUGH YOU KNOW THEM and are firmly established in the truth you now have" (2 Peter 1:12, emphasis mine). The danger comes when some in the church, come to believe that since they know the truth, they no longer need to be reminded of it. Yes, Hebrews 6 tells us to move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ, but that does not negate the need to be reminded. In the first Lord of the Rings film, as the Hobbits start out on their journey, Sam, the faithful companion tells Frodo, as they step over a piece of ground, "I have never been this far away from the shire before. I cannot see my home." He says this with sadness and with some trepidation. They know they cannot go back until their mission is finished. But what sustains them through the perilous journey through all three films is their remembrance of the shire. We move toward new horizons, but we cannot ever forget home, where we began.
     We must also let John weigh in on this. In 1 John 2:12-14, the Apostle says he is writing to three distinct groups - he calls them "dear children," "fathers," and "young men." In other words, he writes again about the basic truths of what it means to be "born of God" to Christians at every stage of growth and maturity. No one is exempt.
     To think that we no longer need to be reminded of the basic truths of our faith, to think that we no longer need catechesis - ah, that is a dangerous place to be. To think that we no longer have need of apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers - that is when we find ourselves again to be "infants, tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitul scheming" (Ephesians 4:11-14).
     The gospel is where the power of God is. So we keep coming back to that. We fail to do that at our peril. If we ever lived in a day of theological and doctrinal shallowness, it's today. Christians so often want to be entertained, not fed. They say they cannot handle theology intellectually, they cannot remember all of the important things the Bible teaches. Yet, they can easily tell you the latest minute details from the world of politics, sports, entertainment, and the stock market.
     It is easy for preachers and teachers to be discouraged. But we, too, must never forget. We must not forget the gospel, and we must not forget our primary calling - to "preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season: (i.e., when it is popular and when it is not) correct, rebuke, and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction" (2 Timothy 4:2). They may not want to hear it - but for their souls' sake, they must. It is the only way we and they will never forget.
     "And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him. ... In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knwledge." (Colossians 1:18-19; 23, NIV) So let's remember like this is true.     

Friday, September 9, 2011

Profit and Loss

"What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things." (Philippians 3:8)
     In Philippians 3, Paul speaks in terms of profit and loss. He is using a spiritual "ledger" if you will. This is a personal testimony about his discovery of the reality of the parables Jesus told in Matthew Chapter 13.
     "The Kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it." (Matthew 13:44-46, NIV)
     For Paul, nothing was worth keeping in order to gain the treasure. That included what the world would consider to be good things - his religion, his good upbringing, his morality, his faithfulness to the Torah of Moses, his zeal to be faithful to God. What could be wrong with those? He answers this question in verse 9: None of these things compared to having a righteousness that was not his own from the law, but the righteousness of Christ, which is by faith. This is what is so hard for so many to grasp - that God is absolutely unimpressed with our good deeds, our efforts to please Him that do not arise from faith in what He has already done.
     This, along with the Incarnation of Christ, is what separates Christianity from every other religion of the world. Every one of them depends on pleasing God through human effort. That includes Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Christian-like cults, as well as atheism and agnosticism, and even secularism. Press most Americans (including faithful church-goers), and they will say they believe in God, but they will also say that the way to heaven is by being good enough and hoping that their good works outweigh their bad ones when God puts them on the final scales.
     Brothers and sisters, the symbol of our faith is not a set of scales! It is a cross! Ours is an alien righteousness. We would be utterly hopeless if righteousness were not granted to us through the substitution of Christ on our behalf. He who fulfilled the law to the letter was pronounced guilty, so that we who had no hope could be pronounced righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21). This is the treasure that Paul discovered on the road to Damascus. As a result, he bundled up all of his works, good and bad, and filed them in the "loss" column of his ledger. He only had one asset in his asset column - Christ - and it was more than enough.
    An old Puritan saint named David Dickson once said in a sermon, "I have made a heap of all my bad works AND of all my good works, and I have fled them both to Christ" (emphasis mine). Until we flee ALL of our works, including our best ones, we have not yet fully discovered and appreciated the Treasure that is Jesus Christ, who accomplished the ultimate good work at Calvary on our behalf. Can we say, in our heart of hearts, with the hymn writer:
     "Could my tears forever flow, could my zeal no languor know,
     These for sin could not atone, Thou must save, and Thou alone,
     In my hand no price I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling."
     (Augustus Toplady, Rock of Ages, verse 2)
     That's the only treasure worth keeping.
     "And Christ is the head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him. ... In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 1:18-19; 2:3, NIV) So let's total things up like this is true.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Satisfied

"I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of food, with singing lips my mouth will praise You. On my bed I remember You; I think of You through the watches of the night. Because You are my help, I sing in the shadow of Your wings. I cling to You; Your right hand upholds me." (Psalm 63:5-8)
     A good old hymn says:
     "All my life long, I had panted for a drink from some cool spring
     That I hoped would quench the burning of the thirst I felt within.

     Feeding on the husks around me till my strength was almost gone,
     Longed my soul for something better, only still to hunger on.

     Poor I was, and sought for riches, something that would satisfy;
     But the dust I gathered round me only mocked my soul's sad cry.


     This is the right attitude to have. Hungering and thirsting leads to satisfaction. The wrong atttiude would be that of the Laodocean Church, as described by Jesus Himself: "You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.'." (Revelation 3:17a, God's Word Translation) We can only receive blessings with empty hands.
     I am not down on America like a lot of Christians seem to be today, who favor a more liberal side of politics. I believe there are many good values we have in this land that we should keep, But one American value we can do without is this idea of independence to an extreme, of self-sufficiency, of an appreciation of "pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps" (I really don't like that phrase at all). The Bible teaches just the opposite. We are totally dependent creatures. We do not get our next breath unless God deigns to give it to us. We would not even be Americans if God, in His grace, did not allow us to be born here or to become citizens here. I have a sort of "trinity" of verses that sum up my views on this matter. Here they are.
     "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me." (1 Corinthians 15;10, English Standard Version)
     "Who says that you are any better than other people? What do you have that wasn't given to you? If you were given what you have, why are you bragging as if it weren't a gift?" (1 Corinthians 4:7, God's Word Translation)
     "I am the vine, you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me." (John 15:5, Holman Christian Standard)
     Did you catch the key phrases in those three verses? "By the grace of God I am what I am." "What do you have that wasn't given to you?"  "You can do nothing without Me." Let's put it this way: Without Christ, I AM NOTHING. Without Christ, I HAVE NOTHING. Without Christ, I CAN DO NOTHING. The Good News is that in Christ, I find true satisfaction, because I discover that I am a new creature in Christ, a child of God, deeply loved, forgiven, freed from my guilt, a person with hope and deep joy. In Christ, I have everything I need, I am provided for, I have spiritual gifts to use for His service, I have a church family that loves me, I have His Word to guide me, I have access to His throne of grace, I have His indwelling Spirit for the daily living of this new life, and so much more. In Christ "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13), that is, I can be content whether I am prospering or wanting, I can sing in a prison, I can smile at suffering, I can aspire to true holiness and Christlikeness, I can love my enemies, I can keep my word, I can give with joy, and so much more.
     The hymn writer got it, Here is the final verse and chorus of the song.
     "Well of water, ever springing, Bread of Life, so rich and free;
     Untold wealth that never faileth, My Redeemer is to me.

     Hallelujah! I have found Him, Whom my soul so long has craved!
     Jesus satisfied my longings, thro' His blood I now am saved."
     (Clara T. Williams, Ralph E. Hudson)

     So what do we do to maintain this satisfaction? David tells us. We keep a continual attitude of praise (verse 5b); we meditate on Him at all times, and in particular, as we end each day (verse 6); we live in daily dependence on Him and cling to Him as our only help (verses 7-8) - because only in Him are we fulfilled human beings, only in Him do we have everything we truly need, and only in Him can we accomplish the things that really matter for eternity.
     "And Christ is the head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him. ... In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 1:18-19, 2:3, NIV) So let's hunger and thirst for Him like this is true.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Better Than Life Itself

     "Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You. I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands." (Psalm 63:3-4)
     We open our service each week with a time of praise and worship, featuring mostly choruses and worship songs with an occasional hymn. We do sing other hymns later in the service. We are trying to add new songs and draw from newer sources, like Chris Tomlin, Michael W. Smith, Twila Paris, Paul Baloche, and Keith Getty, but we also have some "oldies." One Scripture song from the 70's that we do is "Thy Loving Kindness" (not sure why 70's Scripture songs were all writtren in King James, but...
     "Thy loving kindness is better than life, Thy loving kindness is better than life,
     My lips shall praise Thee, thus shall I bless Thee,
     I will lift up my hands unto Thy name."
     Now do we really think the words through on this? Of course, we can sing any Christian song, new or old, mindlessly. But let's give this one some thought, because it is taken right out of Psalm 63. Remember, David is singing about seeking and thirsting for the Lord. In the next verse we will look at, he will talk about being satisfied in Him. And, as we have seen, that satisfaction will lead to greater hunger and thirst for God. But to be satisfied in God while also increasing in hunger for God, we need to think through what it means to say that God's love for us in Christ is better than life itself.
     To the early Christians, and martyrs throughout the ages, including those who will die for Christ around the world this very day, before I finish this post, the meaning is clear. Even if I am called to give up my life for the sake of the Gospel, I will treasure His love for me nonetheless. The Apostle Paul certainly understood this when he wrote, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21, NIV). The God's Word translation puts it this way: "Christ means everything to me in this life, and when I die, I'll have even more."
     But what about the rest of us, who are not in danger of death by persecution? How do we apply these words of David? We think of the words of our Lord in Mark 8:35: "For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it." Surely, He is not talking only about physical death. He speaks even plainer in other places, calling us to put Him before our most prized possessions and our dearest human relationships.
     To be very practical, let's say it this way:
     Do we want God more than our family?
     Do we want God more than our health?
     Do we want God more than food?
     Do we want God more than friendship?
     Do we want God more than sexual relations?
     Do we want God more than satisfaction with our job?
     Do we want God more than personal ahievement?
     Do we want God more than good books?
     Do we want God more than computers?
     Do we want God more than our homes?
     Do we want God more than beautiful sunsets?
     Do we want God more than autumn colors?
     Do we want God more than heaven?
     John Piper says that when David proclaims that the love of God is better than life, he is saying that the love of God is better than all the joys that life can bring. So let's not settle for the gifts without yearning for the Giver. Feeling convicted? Yeah, me, too.
     "And Christ is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him. ... In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 1:18-19, 2:3, NIV) So let's lose ourselves for Him like this is true.
    

Friday, September 2, 2011

Where to Feed the Hunger

"You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek You; I thirst for You, my whole being longs for You, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and glory." (Psalm 63:1-2)
     This entire Psalm is based on relationship. "You, God, are my God." We seek for what we already have, because the having increases the hunger and thirst for more. But one of our Brethren "saints," Anna Mow, used to say, "being filled with the Holy Spirit doesn't mean that you get more of the Holy Spirit. It means that the Holy Spirit gets more of you." Coming to know God through Jesus Christ sparks the hunger within us. And the closer we get to Him, the more the hunger increases.
     So how do we get closer? Well, there are the usual responses, such as Bible study, prayer, meditation, fasting, solitude, and all of those spiritual disciplines written about by authors such as Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, Donald Witney, and John Ortberg, etal. But let's not forget one of the most important - worship. And here I mean public, corporate worship. Where did the hunger and thirst for God intensify? Verse 2 says, "I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and Your glory."
     We live now in a day when researchers like George Barna seem to celebrate the fact that Christians are eschewing worship gatherings for church via the internet and live streaming. Christians are trying to find ways to "schedule" worship into their busy lifestyles. Some are even opting for the old pagan standby, "Sunday is the only day I can rest and spend time with my family." So the church has attempted to cater to these ones by adding Saturday night services or Sunday evenings only. Now I can see this for those who have inflexible work schedules but still want to be involved in worship - more power to them. But what about all of the ones who make choices for convenience? And now the internet? Seriously? So we can stay in our pajamas and get an hour of church on the computer, which will save us getting ready and driving time, which will give us more time for the New York Times?   
     I AM thankful to serve a church that often has members absent because they are serving somewhere - at church camps, in Haiti or Guatemala, on Disaster work trips, on short term mission trips aand work camps. Sure, they all take vacation time, too, as do I. but they don't take the summer off going boating or the winter going skiing (not that you could do that in South Florida...
     Again, I must compare Christians in the comfortable, affluent West to brothers and sisters who will meet anywhere at anytime in order to praise God and hear His Word preached - whether it is underground in hiding, as in China, or in a non-air-conditioned tent with backless benches in Africa (Oh, and did I mention, 2-3 hour services?). I hear and read continual testimonies from American preachers and teachers who go to bless these folks and end up being the blessed ones because of the spiritual hunger they see. These dear Christians can't get enough. Ergo - they get more of the Lord because the Lord gets more of them, and the church in those places is growing like weeds, with life-changing power.
      Oh, for that spirit to once again invade our churches here. But hey! The Steelers are on at 1:00, so let's get this thing moving along. (Sorry, but I do favor the black and gold!)
     Isaiah's defining moment came when he "saw" the Lord high and lifted up in the temple (Isaiah 6:1). Job's moment of repentance came when he no longer just heard of the Lord, but saw Him. (Job 42:5)
     When we resolve to regularly attend worship and to fully engage in it - to love the Lord, our God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength - to sing with gusto, to pray with intensity, to be active listeners to the Word preached, to be joyful givers - then we will behold His power and His glory. The result? Greater hunger, that will bring us to offer more of ourselves to Him, which in turn, will give us greater hunger still.
     "We should not stop gathering together with other believers, as some of you are doing. Instead, we must continue to encourage each other even more as we see the day of the Lord coming." (Hebrews 10:25, God's Word Translation)
     "And Christ is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him. ... In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 1:18-19, 2:3, NIV) So let's gather together for worship like this is true.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

How Thirsty Are You?

Psalm 63:1-2: "You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek You: I thirst for You, my whole being longs for You in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and Your glory."
      You will not be thirsty for God until you KNOW God. Only God can put that thirst in you, and only after He has done a miracle of regeneration in Your heart. David had a wonderful relationship with the Lord, one that he violated a few times, to be sure. Yet at the end of the day, God's verdict on the life of David was that he was (literally) "a man in pursuit of God's own heart." The hunger and thirst after God only will come after we "taste and see that the Lord is good." (Psalm 34:8). The irony of relationship with God through Christ is that the more we find satisfaction in Him, the more our hunger and thirst for Him grows. Bernard of Clairveaux put it this way in one of his hymns:
     "We taste Thee, O Thou Living Bread, and long to feast upon Thee still,
      We drink of Thee, the Fountainhead, and thirst our souls from Thee to fill."
      (Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts)
      This is why regular worship, meditation, prayer, Bible study and other disciplines are so vital.
      Do you know that you can be thankful to God for your health, your family, your home, your job, and not be worshiping God at all? Until You are truly thankful to God just for who He is, your worship is superficial.
      That may be a primary problem with the church here in North America these days. We have lost the art of simply treasuring God for being God. We have it so well here that we've come to expect His blessings. The danger is that, after a while, we can begin to demand His blessings. Many American Christians simply do not believe anymore that God can judge or punish America (even though He judged and punished His chosen people, Israel). We choose to follow the words of Irving Berlin over the Word of God.
     Why is the church in the third world exploding while we continue to close churches every day in the U.S.? I believe it is because Asian Christians and African Christians and South American Christians who are under severe persecution have discovered that all they have is God - and all they need is God. If persecution is what it takes to wake us out of our spiritual sleep here, then I suppose we ought to be praying to God to send a persecution. A revival would be better, but at this point, I will take whatever God gives to renew His church here.
     But one thing is for sure: We had better start getting hungry and thirsty. When Jesus taught us in Matthew 5:6, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled," the Greek words used for "hunger and thirst" are not terms that describe a hunger to be satisfied with a Snickers Bar, but rather, a hunger that we will die from if we do not eat and drink soon. The good news is, this kind of hunger and thirst WILL be satisfied. And remember this: to hunger and thirst for righteousness is to hunger and thirst for Christ, because He IS our righteousness. (1 Corinthians 1:30)
     "And Christ is the Head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him. ... In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 1:18-19, 2:3, NIV). So let's hunger and thirst like this is true.