#GOFAMINTDailyDevotion Sun. 25/6/2017
25/6/2017 LESSON 4
BLESSINGS FOR THOSE WHO HUNGER FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS
Quarter’s Theme: CHRISTIAN ATTITUDE
Unit 1: Our Spiritual Condition (Lessons 1-4)
Suggested Hymns: G.H.B. 154, 243
Devotional Reading: ISA. 55:1-7
Topic For Adults
MAKE RIGHTEOUSNESS YOUR TOPMOST PRIORITY
Topic For Youths
SECURE YOUR DESTINY WITH RIGHTEOUSNESS
Topic For Intermediates
LIVE TO PLEASE GOD
Scripture Lesson
ROM. 3:20-26; 1 TIM. 6:7-12; MATT. 5:6
MEMORY VERSE
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Matt. 6: 33 (NKJV)
DAILY DEVOTIONAL READING
Sun. 25/6/2017
Seek First The Kingdom’s Righteousness
Matt. 6: 33
Many people are consumed by worry on what to wear and what to drink. Worry makes many to carry out ungodly acts – stealing, cheating, lying, embezzling funds, etc. Those who are not comfortable seek to become comfortable; those who are comfortable seek to guarantee the comfort in lifetime and of their children. Fear of what to eat and what to wear drives people to forsake righteousness. The Christian should have faith in God to supply all his needs just as He does for birds of the air and lilies in the bush. Faith in God should drive the Christian to look beyond his immediate needs and to focus on issues of eternity. The Christian should escape the trap of making God’s demands on his life of lower priority than of his needs. When one makes God’s command one’s business, God makes one’s needs His business.
POINT OF EMPHASIS: Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all other things shall be added unto you.
PRAYER POINT: Holy Spirit, help me to get my priority right by seeking the righteousness of God first.
BACKGROUND
The foundational requirement for all godly living is to hunger and thirst after righteousness. To thirst and hunger after righteousness is one of the most important issues in the sermon delivered by Jesus on the ‘Beatitudes’. The spiritual condition of Christians will depend on how they thirst and hunger after righteousness. It is important for you to commit this week’s lesson to heart in order not to be destroyed by worldly anxiety and deceit.
NOTES ON THE TEXT
PART 1: RIGHTEOUSNESS THROUGH FAITH (ROM. 3:20-26)
No one can achieve right standing with God by trying to obey His commandments. The carnal nature is too weak to obey all the commandments of God. Everyone has sinned and come short of the glory which God bestows. The sword of God’s judgment hangs on every person who sins. To help man escape the impending judgment, God has made a way available for man to fulfil His demands – through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The righteousness that can save is that imputed on the Christian through the atoning death of Jesus. Some people trust in their own righteousness because they are morally better than other people around them. Others trust in their religious activities. But our righteousness is like filthy rag before God (Isa. 64:6).
PART 2: PURSUE RIGHTEOUSNESS (1 TIM. 6:7-12)
One of the problems plaguing the society is the love of money, which is making many people do ungodly things. Many believers have forsaken the faith in Jesus to pursue wealth, fame, power and pleasure. At the same time they assume they are still in right standing with God. Righteousness regulates one’s ways of life; it is not a topic for debate, but a lifestyle. Righteousness does not happen by accident; people do not become righteous because there is an irresistible force coming upon them. The one who will be righteous must strongly desire to become righteous. He needs to hunger and thirst after righteousness. He needs to get fed up with living the life of sin, and pant after righteousness as a deer pants for water after a long chase. While others pursue worldly and temporal blessings, the Christian should pursue righteousness.
PART 3: BLESSINGS OF SEEKING RIGHTEOUS-NESS (MATT. 5:6)
Worldly acquisition and achievements give temporary satisfaction. The thirst for satisfaction is assuaged only for a short time. This is the reason why men run from pillar to post desiring more and more things to quench this thirst. Those who make money their ultimate goal never acquire enough; those who desire posi-tion and power never get enough; those who pursue pleasure never get complete satisfaction. In the end, the experience can be summarised as “it is all vanity and grasping for the wind” (Eccl. 2:26; Jn. 4:13).
God ensures that the person who thirsts after righteousness is satisfied. God fills him with the living water such that he will no longer thirst. The person is filled with the Holy Spirit in such a measure that He becomes a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life (Jn. 4: 14). The satisfaction a man is look-ing for cannot be obtained by accumu-lating more wealth, objects; etc. The void inside each individual person cannot be satisfactorily filled with material things or achievement, but by God Himself.
Another blessing for the righteous is that of being at peace with God. Anyone who has forsaken righteousness lacks this peace and is like a weed tossed to and fro by the waves of the sea. The one who has peace with God does not need to fear any opposition or attack from the wicked.
CONCLUSION
A Christian should have his priority right; he needs to take righteousness as number one on his priority list. In the world where all around him have chosen unrighteousness in order to enjoy the goodies of the world, the Christian should be committed to living a righteous life. God will reward the righteous with satisfaction and all other things the unrighteous are running after.
QUESTIONS
- Why does the carnal nature lack the power to obey God?
- What is the only way available for man to be righteous?
- Explain why righteousness doesn’t happen by accident.
- Why are people who pursue worldly acquisition not satisfied but those who thirst after righteousness are?
- Mention the blessings for those who hunger and thirst after righteousness?
