HUNGER

Each year, we as a staff team pick a summer theme to research, pray about, dig into, digest, and then put into Bible study for the near 1000 people that visit our campuses. This year we felt led to the theme of HUNGER. Below is the lesson God laid on my heart to contribute to the Bible study. Enjoy it!

The Lord doesn’t do anything by accident. I love that J It would have been more than easy for Him to create us as self-sufficient human beings, able to sustain ourselves. Not needing anything; not needing water, shelter, etc. even able to produce our own food much like plants do… but the truth is that He created us with needs. He created with needs, longings, and desires for things outside of ourselves. We are not self-sustaining. Again, God does not do anything by accident. I believe one reason He created us with physical needs and feelings is so He could use them to teach us about our spiritual needs. Our topic is HUNGER. How many of us have been hungry? We know what it feels like, right? We know that gnawing feeling in the pit of our stomach when we are an hour late to our lunch. It is all consuming. It is all we think about. Even the slightest smell of food will get our mouths watering and our stomachs grumbling. More than ever before we notice the commercials on TV and the billboards of hamburgers, French fries, flank steaks, Snickers bars, hotdogs … Something that would never have tempted us before now seems irresistible. Why? Simple. We’re hungry and we were created to be satisfied.

Like I said before, God doesn’t allow us to be hungry by accident. He desires to teach us through our grumbling stomachs and our desire to be satisfied. In Psalm 63:1 it says,

“O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”

When was the last time you felt that irresistible, gnawing hunger for more of the Lord in your life?

The Psalmist talks about his body longing for the Lord; thirsting for more of Him. Have you felt like that about God? Do you feel like that about Him now?

In Ephesians 3:17 Paul is praying for the Church in Ephesus. He says, “ I pray that you being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

God is uncomprehendable! His love is unfathomable! It surpasses knowledge. Never during this life on earth will we be able to comprehend God. There will always be more of Him to hunger for, to strive after, to discover…. If we are satisfied already, there is a problem.

When we are truly hungry our stomach is all we think about, our primary thought. In the same way when we are truly hungry for the Lord, He is our all consuming thought. Not our friends, not our image, not our success, not ourselves… Him. I think it is healthy to take a good look at our hunger scale. The purpose is not to condemn ourselves or exalt ourselves but to honestly and accurately evaluate where our hearts are. God already knows where your heart is, but sometimes it is good for us to be honest with where we are as well.

Which phrase best describes your hunger for the Lord right now?

- - No desire for Him

Somewhat hungry, but also interested in other things

- - Glad I’m saved, but that’s enough for me thank you

- - Getting hungrier

- - Satisfied with where my relationship with Him is right now

- - Can’t get enough of Him in my life

Other:_______________________

TO EASILY SATISFIED?

Some more of my thoughts on HUNGER from this summer...

We like to be comfortable, don’t we? We don’t like to feel hunger pains in our stomachs. As soon as we start feeling that twinge we rush to the kitchen cabinet and grab the Wheat Thins, Twinkies, Slim Jims, or whatever we can to satisfy us and stop that annoying ache. The Snickers wrapper pretty much says it all: “Hungry? Why Wait?”

If you have a mom like mine then you have probably heard that snacking ruins your appetite for dinner. How true! How many times I have run to the kitchen to squelch my hunger with cheese puffs, Doritos, or a granola bar then to have no appetite for the steak and potatoes mom prepared. On the few rare occasions that I have let my stomach continue to rumble and waited for the dinner bell, the meal has tasted better than ever before!

Do we hunger after the Lord and desire His nourishment in our lives? Or do we sell out and become easily satisfied with the first thing we can get our hands on?

One of my favorite quotes from C.S. Lewis illustrates it perfectly:

"It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."
— C.S. Lewis (Weight of Glory and Other Addresses)

Are you “far too easily pleased”? Are you satisfied with mud pies when you could be vacationing at the seashore? Are you filling up on Cheetos when a steak dinner awaits you?

Take a look at Isaiah 55:2-3 from the Message translation and let the words sink in.

“Why do you spend your money on junk food, your hard-earned cash on cotton candy? Listen to me, listen well: Eat only the best, fill yourself with only the finest. Pay attention, come close now, listen carefully to my life-giving, life-nourishing words. I'm making a lasting covenant commitment with you, the same that I made with David: sure, solid, enduring love.”

In Proverbs 27:7 it says, “He who is full loathes honey, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.”

When we fill our spiritual stomachs with things besides Christ we often don’t have an appetite for Him. He is the best we can have, but when we are already “full” with things of this world we “loath” Christ, the BEST and most nourishing meal. However, when we are truly hungry, even what normally tastes bitter seems sweet to us. The truth is, friend, that Christ is not bitter!!!! What He has to offer us so rich! Isaiah 25:6 describes the Lord preparing a feast of rich food for all people, “a banquet of aged wine- the best of meats and the finest of wines.” That is what he is offering us! If the bitter tastes sweet when we are hungry, how will the finest of meats taste to our grumbling stomachs?

Are there things in your life that you are using to “satisfy” your cravings instead of letting Christ satisfy you? What? A relationship? A promotion? A car? Sex? Alcohol? Music? Television?

Maybe you have tasted the Lord. Maybe you have let Him satisfy a part of your heart, but have you let Him satisfy your whole heart? Have you tasted Him and been satisfied with just one bite? Friend, He has a whole meal for you to enjoy, not just a few bites. Are you hungry to go deeper in relationship with Him or are you satisfied with where you are at?

There is so much more of the Lord to pursue! Salvation is simply the beginning of a lifelong incredible pursuit to know Christ in His fullness (1 Cor. 13:12)

Cristina

Cristina (adult in green shirt) caught me at an intense moment. I was frustrated and worn out by the needs of the people. Everyone needs something! Sometimes it feels like the whole world is looking to you to solve their problems. It was one of those days at the Rio where I felt like I had nothing more to give and yet people were still coming with their problems, financial crises, and needs. I was at the point where I felt like some people didn't really even need the things they were asking for, but were just chiming in to see what they could get out of me. Needless to say I was frustrated and worn out. At this moment Cristina caught my arm and pulled me aside.

Cristina is a women who lives in an impoverished community just outside the Rio area I serve in. She has several kids and you can tell by just looking at her that she does not have many resources available to her. (You can also tell by just looking at her that she has a living relationship with Christ!) Cristina volunteers her time and talent helping to cook at the soup kitchen nearly every week.

"Hope," Cristina said. "I just wanted to tell you that I have been looking through my things and my kids things and have put together several bags of clothing that we really don't need. I was wondering if you could come by my house in your car and pick up the bags and take them to the people in Rio 3 (a very impoverished community that was nearly wiped out during Hurricane Alex). "

I was astonished! I looked at her and asked, "Are you sure? You don't need these things?"

"No, Hope," Cristina said, "I know there are people that need these things more than I do."

I gave her a hug and tried to keep back my tears. In my year of consistently serving in the Rio this is the first time I have seen anyone offer or desire to give away some of their own things to someone else. Poverty can be an ugly thing that gets to the core of people and makes them selfishly believe that they always need more, can never have enough, and couldn't possibly give anything away. I was shocked by Cristina's heart to give freely of her own possessions to those who "needed it more than she did." After a frustrating afternoon, this was like a cool drink to my soul! I'm praying blessings on Cristina as she blesses others. Thanks Jesus for this encouragement!

Javier: Hungering for God's Word

This is Javier. Javier is 10 years old and lives in the neighborhood that borders the Rio. One day not to long ago, Javier was out playing in the street next to his house when someone came by and mentioned something to him about God's Word. He went running inside and told his mom that he wanted to learn about God's Word. From that day on, Javier has had an unquenchable hunger to know what God's Word is.

Not long after, myself and a group of staff were walking through the Rio community inviting the people to come to the weekly soup kitchen meeting. I was talking to a woman named Tere who lives in nearly the last house in the community. Tere, in her odd way, ask if we could walk a little further and invite a friend of hers to come to the soup kitchen. "By all means," we thought! Tere's directions to her friend's house were pretty much just "go up the hill into the community and find the house that is also a store and tell the people that Tere sent you." You have to love the Rio! We followed her directions and by the grace of God found ourselves on the doorstep of Javier's home. We knocked on what appeared to be a store window and told the women who answered that we wanted to invite her and her family to join us at the soup kitchen for food and teaching. The woman looked a little surprised and with a smile asked if we would talk to her son. She called Javier from the back room and we explained to him that we have a children's Sunday school class each week at the comedor where we teach about God's word. With a grin a mile wide, Javier excitedly agreed to come that very day. About a half hour later Javier showed up at the soup kitchen with his mom. He had combed his hair, put on clean pants, tucked in his shirt, and was ready for his first day of Sunday School. This family has been coming to the soup kitchen nearly every week since and Javier's hunger for God's Word continues to grow!

Hurricane Alex 2010

First off I want to say thank you to everyone who has been praying for us here in Monterrey!! It has been an intense week, but God has been faithful through it all. As many know, about a week ago tropical storm Alex swept through Monterrey flooding many parts of the city including our B2B property. Many staff and interns were up throughout the night the storm hit bailing out houses, punching holes in the property wall to let water through so they wouldn't collapse, mopping out houses, controlling rivers of water running through the dorms, avoiding sink holes, and praying for help! We got about 40 inches of rain in 36 hours! We were out of power for about 24 hours (much less than we expected) and still to this day have a small "B2B river" running through the property. God is faithful, however! Everyone is fine and we lost no walls to the storm! Many parts of the city were hit as hard or harder than we were. One of the major highways in Monterrey was almost completely washed away and one of the poor communities that we work with was utterly swept away. Please continue to pray for Monterrey and the people who live here. We (B2B) are pretty much back up on our feet and ready to hit our sixth week of summer groups running, others in the city, however, still have no homes. Below are some pictures from the Hurricane event. Thanks for your prayers.

Packages of food to be passed out at Rio 1 as part of hurricane relief efforts.

This is what is left of the Rio 3 community that we work with. Rio 3 is a very impoverished community that housed about 300 families. These families lived in shacks next to the river which was a source of water for them. With the high flood waters, Rio 3 was nearly completely washed away. This picture shows what is left of the 300 homes. Thankfully I don't think that anyone was killed, however many are now homeless. Please pray for them.

The many people from Rio 3 in line for food at a church B2B has helped to build. Thankfully the church was dry through the storm and is now being used to house nearly 100 people each night.

An exit ramp from one of Monterrey's highways, Constitucion, that runs next to the river Santa Catarina.
What is left of highway Constitucion... four lanes completely washed away!

Flood waters flooded a community not to far from us destroying houses and cars.

Another major highway in town, Revolucion.

My wonderful boyfriend helping to evacuate the group that was here during the storm.

Our B2B property.
A team of people working the day before the storm in the rain, trying to keep the Guckenbergers house from flooding.
Water gushing in past LDM from the property behind us.

The bridge we used to use on a daily basis to get in and out of our property.