30 Days of Truth

Day 29 – Satisfaction or stagnation?

The disciples had walked with Jesus for several years and still didn’t understand that Jesus and the Father were “one”.

Jesus explains to them that if they’ve seen Him, they’ve seen the Father.

“Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?”

What a statement this is!

The disciples had been with Jesus closely and still didn’t really know Him.

Despite all the miracles they had witnessed, they could not seem to get past Jesus’ human exterior and see the glory which was the Father living in Him.

People today are not much different.

There is a point at which each of us must examine ourselves and decide if we are “satisfied” with Jesus.

Jesus has imparted His Spirit into all who believe, and His Spirit is the same as the Father.

Have we seen the mighty hand of God moving in our lives and in the lives of others, while failing to know Him?

Have we attributed His power working through us to our own efforts and denied that He is the source?

Have we become unsatisfied with the God that we know to the point that we must constantly search for the next vision, word of knowledge, dream, confirmation, miracle or sign?

Remember, the signs and wonders that Jesus performed and those which the disciples performed didn’t satisfy them. Why should we believe that these manifestations of God’s power will satisfy us?

What does satisfy?

How do we keep ourselves satisfied with God?

Psalm 17:15 KJV

[15] As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

David longed for a time when he would awake from the deadness of sin and be re-shaped spiritually into the image of God’s righteousness and holiness.

With the New Covenant, this is not a wishful dream of things to come, but a reality.

We have been born again!

We have been raised up from the deadness of sin to new life in Christ Jesus!

The disciples could not satisfy the hunger for life in their souls because they had not yet been born again.

Like David, they only had the hope of a future time when they would cast off their sin and be spiritually restored.

We have the realization of their hope in us right now.

When we focus on manifestations and external stimuli to bring a sense of satisfaction with God in our lives, we are not really satisfying ourselves.

The disciples walked with Jesus and may have seen miracles that we have never seen or heard of.

How arrogant can we be to believe that more manifestations must equal more satisfaction?

Satisfaction with God comes from the revelation that we have been restored to oneness and relationship with the Father.

Satisfaction with God comes from understanding that God is always pleased with us, loving us, speaking to us and wanting us to love Him and others.

John 14:18 KJV

[18] I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

Jesus has come to us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Do not mistake satisfaction for stagnation.

Stagnation is when we settle into routines and practices which seem to satisfy, but do not.

Jesus was trying to show the disciples that the signs and miracles are evidence of the Father working in Him.

The signs that are supposed to follow believers are also meant to show the Father working in us.

How do we know if we are satisfied with God?

When we know Him, we will stop searching for Him and stop searching for the next big “move” of God, or the next “word” or “vision”.

These signs and wonders are important, but they should flow effortlessly as a byproduct of relationship with God, and not merely be consistent proof that we need to satisfy a longing in our soul for relationship.

He is in us.

We are in Him.

His will can be our will, and our will can be His will.

He is internal, not external.

He is closer to us than anyone in this world can be, and He has promised never to leave us.

When we search for Him, it isn’t because He has left us.

It is because we have cluttered our soul with garbage and need to refocus our attention on who we are in Him and get quiet before Him.