Who satisfies you

I got out of bed today, groggy as usual.

As per habit, I took my phone to check on my notifications. I went down the stairs to prepare my morning coffee.

I couldn’t even see straight. My eyesight was still blurred and I tried to focus on the message Cha sent me. It was about satisfaction.

Funny.

I was just thinking the same thing.

Yesterday, while I read the first pages of John Maxwell’s Today Matters, here was my interpretation of the first few pages in Chapter 1:

IF ONLY… We’ll always have present day if only that once satisfied, will make us turn to the next one.

Thus we’ll never get satisfied.

 

Here’s the deal. I grew up thinking that one day, I’ll be happier when.

• I’ll be happier when finally, I’ll graduate with honor rolls;

I DID

Then I replaced that thought with

• I’ll be happier once I finally have a boyfriend;

I DID

Then I replaced that thought with

• I’ll be happier when I graduate Cum Laude

I DID

Then I replaced that thought with

• I’ll be happier once I get my CPA license

I DID

Then I replaced that thought with

• I’ll be happier when I get into one of PH’s Big4 Accounting Firms

I DID

Then (you get the picture)

 

 

Twenty-seven and now wiser, I have finally come to the realization that whatever I am seeking for, will never satisfy me in the long run.

 

 

Ket ana ngaruden, Tita Fats?

*Then what can really satisfy me? Contextual interpretation

 

It was a few years back when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. But it is only now that I have fully been able to center my joy in Christ.

It’s not that easy. The journey is long and dry with uphills and downhills. (present tense kasi God is still dealing this with me)

But what sustains me is the Holy Spirit.

What does this have to do with satisfaction?

but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

John 4:14

It is imperative that we understand who Jesus is because HE IS OUR LIVING WATER!!!

 

He satiates our needs. See John 4:4-26

 

 

But why water?

Water is a very important element in our lives. It’s basic uses can be factored up in these three things:

1. Basic need of our body
– At least 60% of the adult body is made of it and every living cell in the body needs it to keep functioning. A human can go without food for about three weeks but would typically only last three to four days without water.
SOURCE: https://www.businessinsider.com/how-many-days-can-you-survive-without-water-2014-5

2. Cleansing
– Of the body and the physical world

3. Irrigation
– Which leads to the sustenance of a whole city

The use of the living water in the Bible is so vast that it was again mentioned in John 7:37-39

“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'” Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

As a context to John 4 and 7, the Samaritan Woman had to get water from the well whether she liked it or not because of her and her household’s needs. Also, Jesus’ use of water when he publicly declared the coming of the Holy Spirit as the living water is an allusion to the various water related traditions during the Festival of Tabernacles. Meaning, it is a central part of the feast of thanksgiving! Here, the Jews are able to relate well to what Jesus has to offer. That He is more than just a prophet!

* read more about the Festival of Tabernacles here https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/John/Conflict-Intensifies-Feast

Now, as Jesus had revealed to the Samaritan Woman, I pray that you will be able to see that:

1. He is the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him. (refer to John 14:6)
He is the only answer for us to be reunited to our Heavenly Father.
He is our basic need!

* see number one above

Our walk with God won’t have started without us responding to the call of love of Christ. It just takes a small “yes” from us for us to be freed from our worldly perspectives and be transformed by the renewing of our minds. More on this later.

2. “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed. (refer to 1 Peter 2:24)

* see number two above

3. He is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (refer to 2 Corinthians 9:8)
Because by the grace of God you are who you are, where you are and what you have done. This is because of Jesus’ almighty grace! His people are able to bear fruits not because of who their own capabilities and abilities but because the grace of God that is in them. (refer to 1 Corinthians 15:10)

* see number three above

Being able to establish this, Jesus now said in John 7 the coming of the Holy Spirit as the living water.
Let me just quote Got Questions:

What then is the role of the Holy Spirit in all of this?

1. The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in Jesus’ name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. (see John 14:25-26)

So, as number one’s go in this post, the Holy Spirit satisfies our basic need.

With Jesus’ death, we can now only rely on the immeasurable divine power of the Holy Spirit that now lives in us to this day.

My journey as a Christian did not end when I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. It started on that very day.

The Holy Spirit was given to us to remind us of the work that Jesus did on the cross for us.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16

Will I need more? When I now know that I have eternal life with my Creator who loves me so immensely that He’ll let His sinless Son die for a sinful me?

I think that even just this point is enough for me to know that I shall not need more than being in a relationship with God.

But wait! There’s more!!!

2. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit (see Titus 3:5)

And just as cleansing goes in this blog post, I am shocked as well to see that Jesus’ allusion would still apply from Him, to the Holy Spirit.

THE HOLY SPIRIT CLEANSES US!

For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God” (Romans 8:13-14).

Everytime the Holy Spirit helps us overcome sin and our shortcomings, we are brought back to our original position in God – in communion with Him.

Because of the original sin, we were separated from our Heavenly Father but by the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to die for our sins, we are brought back to be the Sons and Daughters that we were intended to be.

Unfortunately, we are still in our earthly bodies living in a sinful world. It is inevitable that we will fall short of the glory of God!

But take heart because the Holy Spirit is transforming us day by day, moment by moment, season by season.

As I look back at my if only’s, I am saddened on how much time it took for me to find out that “Yes Lord, no job, no person, no anything can ever replace the love You have given me. It’s all I need. It’s only you that I need.”

But because He’s mercies are new every morning, I know that everytime I fall short, I get a fresh start.

Everyday, I encourage you to let go of your if only’s and acknowledge who God is in your life – Your living water.

To end this, I’d like to point out one last thing:

3. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)

Our story doesn’t end in the cleansing of sin.

Just as a city with good irrigation system that supplies its people with water to live and thrive, it comes naturally that when we have received Jesus as our Lord and Savior – living by the grace of God, that we become fruitful!

We live a new and transformed life.

 

 

Today, as I sip on my coffee with almond milk drink, I ponder.

What satisfies me? Who satisfies me?

It’s going to be an everyday decision to become aware that it is Jesus, my living water and the work of the Holy Spirit in my life that satiates my needs – physically, mentally, emotionally, financially and spiritually.

Need I need more?

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Thank you Olivia & Co. for your very accomodating service as I blogged for hours at your resto

Chicken Pasta for P220.00

Check out the rest of my miniblog on this day at

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