The fourth Beatitude, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled," serves as the focal point of our discussion today. We delve into the significance of yearning for true righteousness, which transcends mere adherence to religious performance and instead emphasizes a deep desire for God Himself. The essence of this hunger lies in recognizing our need for divine connection, as true righteousness is a gift bestowed upon us through Christ, not a result of our actions. We are challenged to reflect on what we genuinely crave in our spiritual lives and to consider whether our longing for righteousness is as profound as our pursuit of worldly success or comfort. This episode invites listeners to engage in meaningful self-reflection and to embrace the transformative power of seeking God above all else.

Takeaways:

1. The content presented on Living the Selah Life is designed for spiritual encouragement and personal reflection.
2. It is crucial to consult a licensed healthcare provider for any medical or psychological concerns.
3. The views expressed in the podcast are based on personal experience and Biblical insights rather than clinical training.
4. True hunger for righteousness is a deep craving for God's presence and relationship, not merely a desire for moral behavior.
5. The podcast emphasizes that righteousness comes not from our own efforts but as a free gift from Christ.
6. Listeners are encouraged to reflect on their true spiritual hunger and to seek God for fulfillment.

The content shared on Living the Selah Life is for spiritual encouragement, personal reflection, and informational purposes only.

It is not intended to diagnose, treat or replace a medical, psychological or professional advice of any kind.

Please consult a licensed healthcare provider or qualified professional for any physical, mental or emotional health concerns.

The views expressed are those of the host, Kimberly Lockanor, and based on personal experience and Biblical insight, not clinical training.

Welcome back to Living the Selah Life, a podcast that invites you to slow down, breathe deep, and reconnect with the presence of God.

I am your host, Kim, and this space is for anyone longing to become more familiar with his presence.

Whether you're just discovering what it means to pause with God or you've been walking this path for a while, I'm so glad you're here.

Each episode is an intentional pause, a moment to reflect, realign and remember that God meets us when we create space for Him.

So take a breath.

You're right on time.

Let's live the Selah life together.

In our last episode we explored what it means to be meek, how true strength is found in surrender, and how meek choose to let go and trust God rather than to fight for control.

We saw that meekness isn't weakness, but that it's actually strength under control.

Today we come to the fourth Beatitude.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled when was the last time you were truly desperately hungry?

Not just I could eat air quotes hungry, but the deep, gnawing, all consuming hunger where food is all you can think about.

Most of us in the modern world rarely experience real hunger or thirst.

We may get uncomfortable if we go a few hours without eating.

We carry water bottles everywhere, but we don't really know the desperation of true hunger or the craving of real thirst.

But Jesus audience knew just that.

They lived in a desert climate.

They knew what it meant to be parched when your tongue sticks to the root of your mouth.

They knew hunger not just missing a meal, but the kind where your body starts consuming itself.

And Jesus says, that's how desperately I want you to want righteousness.

But here's what I want you to hear.

The righteousness that he's talking about is not about trying harder to be good.

This is religious performance.

The only righteousness that actually makes us righteous is the righteousness that Christ gives as a free gift.

The Lord says himself that our righteousness in and of itself is filthy rags.

So even after you've become Mr. And Mrs. Goody Two Shoes, without the righteousness of Christ, that He gives as a free gift.

It is still filthy rags.

So hear me when I say that we're not talking about a religious performance based righteousness that looks great on the outside but is unsustainable 10 years into salvation when your relationship with God feels empty and non existent.

Because that's what religious performance leads to.

The righteousness that I'm talking about is about craving God Himself with every fiber of your being.

And you know what?

We need God to do that.

So if that's something that you desire, ask Him.

It is only him that gives us that desire.

I'm going to call our main teaching today what we're truly hungry for.

The word righteousness here has a double meaning.

It means both right standing with God and right living before God.

It's both being made right and living right.

So being made right with God and living right before God and we need both of them first.

We hunger and thirst to be made right with God.

We know something's broken between us and we ask Him.

We can feel the separation and nothing we do seems to fix it.

This hunger drives us to Jesus.

Well we, I say drives us.

But he loved us first, so he's actually been the one doing the drawing.

But you know what?

Semantics.

That kind of hunger drives us to Jesus or drives us to receive his offer because he is our righteousness.

He lived the perfect life that we could not live and he died the death that we deserve to die when we trust in Him.

God credits his righteousness to our account.

We're made right with God, not through our good deeds.

I want to make that so clear because I've run into so many saints that have been walking with Christ for so long and they have never fully experienced what it's like to rest in the Lord.

And it is because these teachings from back in the days of perform that that stimulate performance based works.

And they are great for a while.

Hear me when I tell you they are great for a while.

You can do all of the outward things that look amazing to everyone else.

But what God goes for is an inward heart change that results in outward behavior.

That is the kind of change that changes your life and the ones around you and your community and your nation.

Religious performance based faith does not have the power to change a nation at all.

So we're not talking about that kind of righteousness.

We're made right with God again, not through performance, but through his perfect life and his sacrifice.

But it doesn't stop there.

Once we're made right with God, we begin to hunger and Thirst to live right before Him.

And it's not to earn his love, because we already have that.

It's because we've tasted his goodness and we want more.

We want to please Him.

We want to reflect Him.

We want to be like him.

And if you don't, that's a real conversation with God.

Tell him that he can handle it.

This is where it gets beautiful and painful at the same time.

Beautiful because this hunger is a sign of life.

Dead people don't get hungry.

If you're hungering and thirsting for righteousness, it means the spirit is alive in you, creating appetites that you didn't have before.

And it's painful because the more you hunger for righteousness, the more you see how far you fall short.

The closer you get to the light, the more the dirt shows up.

The banner for this podcast is, in his light, we see light, for with you is the fountain of life.

That's so true.

The closer that we get to God, the more we see the dirt.

The more you want to be like Jesus, the more you realize how unlike him you are.

And if you've ever felt this, this ache can be very painful.

This longing to be free from patterns you can't seem to break.

It can be hurtful.

That hunger isn't condemnation.

It's the Spirit creating a holy desperation in you.

But here's what we often do.

We feel this hunger and we try to satisfy it ourselves.

We make resolutions to try harder, and we create a bunch of rules.

We push ourselves to do better.

And I am here to tell you, none of those things work.

They may work for a decade.

Hear me when I say they may work in the interim, but you will find yourself feeling empty because they are not life giving.

Because you can't satisfy spiritual hunger with human effort.

Jesus says those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled.

But he's the one who fills us.

We bring the hunger.

He brings the satisfaction.

Think about David in Psalms chapter 42.

As the deer pants for the water, brooks so pants my soul for you, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

That's the hunger Jesus is talking about.

Not just wanting to be a better person or wanting to break bad habits, but wanting God himself with desperate intensity.

And this is what's amazing.

Jesus promises that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled, not might be filled, will be filled.

This hunger and thirst for righteousness is homesickness from heaven, I call it.

It is longing for the day when we'll be completely free from this world and will perfectly reflect Jesus.

When righteousness will cover the earth like water covers the sea.

Unlike the world we live in now.

Satisfied but still hungry, filled but still thirsty.

Having tasted but still want it.

That's not our goal, guys, and that's not our inheritance.

Praise God.

We will move on to this week's Scripture Spotlight.

David wrote this when he was in the wilderness of Judah, probably running from Absalom, his son.

And it says, oh God, you are my God.

Early will I seek you.

My soul thirsts for you.

My flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.

So I have looked for you in the sanctuary to see your power and your glory, because your loving kindness is better than life.

My lips shall praise you.

Thus I will bless you while I live.

I will lift up my hands in your name.

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise you with joyful lips.

David writes this Psalms while he is in the wilderness of Judah.

Not a quiet retreat, y'.

All.

He is fleeing for his life.

He has lost his throne, his comfort, and everything that is normal to him.

Yet listen to the opening words.

Oh God, you are my God.

Early will I seek you.

David begins with relationship before need.

He does not start off by listing what is wrong or asking God to fix his circumstances.

He anchors himself in who God is to him.

My soul thirsts for you.

My flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.

David uses physical language to describe a spiritual reality.

He knows what thirst feels like in the desert.

His body understands lack.

He borrows imagery to speak about his inner life, his longing for God.

It is his whole body longing, and this is important.

David does not deny his hardship that the land is really dry, or that the danger that he's in is not real.

Yet his deepest need is not to escape.

His deepest need is God himself.

So I have looked for you in the sanctuary to see your power and your glory.

Even though David is far from the tabernacle, his heart remains turned towards God's presence.

He remembers what he has seen before, and he knows what it means to encounter God's glory.

His hunger is shaped by memories of encounters, not wishful thinking.

Then comes a striking statement, because your loving kindness is better than life.

My lips shall praise you.

David weighs everything he is losing against the steadfast love of God and comes to a clear conclusion.

Even life itself does not outweigh God's loving kindness.

That tells us something about righteousness as Jesus speaks of it.

This is not about rule keeping at all.

It's more about valuing God's survival, success or restoration.

Now look at verse five.

My soul shall be satisfied as with morrow and fatness In David's culture, morrow and fatness represents richness and fullness like abundance.

He is saying that God satisfies him at the deepest level.

He even while he remains in the wilderness.

David's circumstances do not change in the psalm.

The danger does not disappear because he does not speak of that at all and his hunger does not vanish.

What changes is where his hunger is directed.

This directly connects to Jesus promise.

When Jesus says that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled, he is speaking of a righteousness rooted in relationship to hunger.

For righteousness is to hunger for God's way, God's presence, God's nearness, and God's life shaping work within us.

David is already living this beatitude generations before Jesus speaks it.

He is hungry for God himself and he testifies that God satisfies that hunger.

This passage reminds us that fulfillment is not dependent on surroundings.

David blew that out the water.

Satisfaction comes from being filled with God's presence.

That is a promise Jesus gives and it is a promise God has been keeping all along.

Let's move on to this week's Pause prompts.

And remember, pause prompts are never intended to condemn.

They are simply meant to see where you are.

Because once we know where we are, we can know where we are going.

Pause prompt number one what are you hungry for?

When you strip away what you think you should say, what do you really crave?

Is your hunger for righteousness as strong as your hunger for success?

For comfort?

For approval?

For security?

Do you find yourself longing to be free from patterns of sin that seem to have a grip on you?

Are you satisfied with surface level Christianity or do you ache for something deeper?

If you're not experiencing this hunger and thirst, ask yourself why?

Have you filled yourself with other things?

Have you numbed your spiritual appetite with entertainment, busyness or comfort?

Sometimes we don't feel hungry for righteousness because we've been snacking on the world all day and we filled ourselves with things that don't satisfy.

And this can cause us to lose appetite for what really matters.

And again, there is no judgment or condemnation coming from this way at all.

I bring these things forth because I was once that person and I want to keep anyone else from going into fruitless paths that do not work based on a lot of teachings that are out there.

God is the secret sauce.

I tell him that all the time.

God is the secret sauce.

Getting closer to him when will eradicate 90% of your other problems.

He will deal with the sin because he already did with Jesus, but he will deal with the habit.

He will deal with the.

He will deal with all of those things by creating you to be the person that he saw before the foundations of the earth, to utilize the power that is within you.

I just want everyone to know know God for who he really is.

If you lack a desire for righteousness or lack of desire for even God, I urge you, tell him that he is the secret sauce.

Not the church, not the house, not the car, not the man, not the land.

God is the secret sauce.

And I digress.

We will move on to our Selah moment and prayer, my favorite part of the podcast, hungering and thirsting for righteousness.

So take a moment to settle your heart.

Allow your body to be still where you are.

Take a deep breath in and then slowly release.

Take another breath and in this moment, let your attention turn towards God.

Holy Spirit, awaken desire within us.

We confess that there have been times when we settled for what was easy, familiar or convenient, even when you were inviting us into something richer and fuller.

Ask the Lord gently, what have I been filling myself with instead of you?

What has been taking the place of true spiritual hunger?

Do not push this away.

Let the spirit bring clarity.

Simply allow what comes to the surface to be seen.

There is no condemnation here.

Let the Spirit bring clarity without condemnation.

Now turn your attention inward.

Beneath all the substitutes we reach for, there is a deeper level longing, a hunger that goes beyond appetite.

There's a thirst that no earthly source can satisfy.

That longing is your spirit reaching for God.

That ache is the hunger Jesus is speaking about.

It is not something to dismiss.

It is something to bring to him.

As you remain here, pray quietly.

Lord, awaken my hunger for you.

Shape my desires towards what is right in your sight.

Let my soul long for your righteousness above all else.

Rest in the promise that Jesus gives that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are filled.

Filled.

I said filled.

Allow yourself to receive his faithfulness in this moment.

Let us pray.

Lord Jesus, forgive us for trying to satisfy spiritual harm hunger with things that do not nourish us.

Sometimes we've looked to achievements, comfort, relationships, distractions and approval, hoping they would quiet what only you can feel.

Our hearts were made for you.

Our souls were created to be sustained by your Presence and shaped by your righteousness, nothing else can take your place.

Create within us a deep and genuine hunger for what is right in your eyes.

Not just the desire to be forgiven, but the desire to walk rightly with you.

Form in us love for your ways and an appetite for your truth.

Give us a love longing for your word.

Draw us into your presence and align our desires with your heart.

When we reach for lesser things, gently remind us that they cannot satisfy what only you were designed to fulfill.

Thank you for your promise that we are not left hungry.

Thank you that you meet longing with provision.

You fill the empty places and you satisfy the thirsty soul.

Continue shaping our hunger so that we seek you daily.

Let our desires for righteousness keep us close to you and attentive to your leading.

You are our sustenance.

You are our fulfillment.

You are the one, One our hearts were searching for all along.

And we thank you.

In Jesus name we pray.

Amen.

Let's lean into our Selah moment.

Friends, I want to remind you to never feel condemned.

Conviction maybe, but condemnation, no.

If there is a place that you desire to be in God, a longing that you need to have, a shortcoming that you have things that you know you do and you like doing them and you shouldn't, but you can't seem to stop.

Ask the Lord to help you.

I promise you, I'm not telling you some super spiritual religious stuff that I don't know.

You can tell him, lord, I like this thing, but I know that I shouldn't.

And I need you to help me.

Have him help you.

David was a man after God's own heart.

Not because he was perfect by any stretch of the imagination.

It was because he was transparent and God was able to speak to him.

God was able to speak to his heart and David obeyed.

Not because of his perfection.

So I just urge you.

I know it can sometimes be a little overwhelming around the people of God.

They seem to be so perfect and they seem to be so holy.

And first of all, I'm here to tell you that's not the case.

But second of all, know that.

Just ask God.

Ask him.

The relationship, your relationship that you build with the Lord will be built upon things within you.

He will start with you, and it is that relationship that will take you everywhere else.

But he will show you who he is by what you allow him to fix and to feel and to strengthen in you first.

So just ask him.

You hear all these holy words and they sound so far off.

Lord, this lady said that I should be hungering for righteousness of Jesus.

I don't even know what that is.

What is that?

And you've just set in motion something that you would never know for years to come.

So I just urge you to do that.

So thank you for listening to Living the Selah Life.

If this moment stirs something in your spirit, share with someone who needs to be reminded to pause and listen.

You can connect with us on Instagram.

I have a Facebook group.

You will see devotionals and things like that in there.

There is a Facebook page, but I don't man it y'.

All.

I don't have time.

However, I do have a Facebook group that I would love for you to be a part of on Facebook or YouTube at Living the Selah Life.

Or email me your story to Living the Selah Liferoton me that's Living the Selah Life.

All one word at pro t o n me.

Remember that God is speaking.

He wants to guide you and direct you and give you his wisdom for your life.

Create space to listen.

Be patient with yourself as you learn and trust that the same God who spoke the universe into existence wants to speak into your ordinary life.

May you go from this place, resting not just in body but in spirit, carrying the awareness that his presence is always near.

May you be rooted in the unshakable word of God, the Logos that ground you, and the rhema that guides you.

For man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

And may you keep rising into the life he designed for you, into purpose, into peace, into the fullness of his calling.

May your life become a living Selah, an intentional pause that reveals his presence.

And it is in Jesus name that we pray, and it is so.

Selah.