Satisfaction part 1
You know the song, "I can't get no satisfaction." That's the cry of most of humanity's heart. We always seem to want what we can't have, or what we don't have. We spend all of our time, talent, and treasure trying to fill the hole inside of us. But let me just say it right off the bat: It's a God-shaped hole. A love-shaped hole. And it can only be filled by God. By love. And... in all reality it has already been filled. See, we spend so much time looking for love in all the wrong places that we miss out on the meaning of life. We are trying to GET love, when the truth is we ARE loved. That's why the Holy Spirit is so important. Jesus gave us His Spirit--the Comforter, the Spirit of truth--so that we might know what He knew. Let me show you what Jesus knew, and the role the Holy Spirit played in it: "And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased" (Luke 3:22). See, God is always speaking. And He only has one Word to say (Jesus, love). But without the Holy Spirit (our love receptor) we can't hear what the Spirit is speaking. The Spirit and the bride say come, but all we seem to hear God say is, "I'm angry, and you better run before I get you!" That's not God. And 2,000 years ago on the cross, God got us. Not in a bad way, but in the best way. He reconciled us to Himself. In the garden of Eden Adam and Eve sinned and then hid from the presence of God. They separated themselves from Him because they thought He was mad at them. They ran FROM God instead of running TO God. They didn't (couldn't) believe that they were already like God, so they swallowed the lie that said you have to DO in order to BE. And mankind has been trying to DO ever since. Trying to earn our bread by the sweat of our brow. Because we didn't know that we were God's Son(s) and that He loved us unconditionally and was already well pleased with us. We didn't know where to find the satisfaction we were craving. We tried to earn a gift, and you can't earn a gift. Look at what Jesus said in John 4:13-14, "Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." The water that we can earn for ourselves, or draw for ourselves from the natural well, never satisfies. At most it's a stall. We drink... then get thirsty again and have to try to get some more water. But the water that Jesus GIVES quenches our thirst. The table that Jesus prepared for us in the midst of our enemies, the six-course meal of the Six Steps to the Throne (Crucified, Died, Buried, Quickened, Raised, Seated), satisfies our appetite. Because love is our appetite. Love is what everybody wants, at the end of the day. We want to be loved. And nothing else will satisfy. That's why a God-shaped hole must be (and was) filled by the God who IS love!