How important is desire and appetite?
According to The Executive Speechwriter Newsletter (vol. 12, no. 3), "Desire kept young W. Clement Stone on Chicago's street corners selling newspapers. Desire later made him one of the wealthiest people in America as principal owner of Combined Insurance Corporation of America.
"Desire made Jim Marshall one of the most indestructible players in professional football. Marshall started 282 consecutive games and played defensive end until he was forty-two. Teammate Fran Tarkenton once described Marshall as 'the most amazing athlete to play in any sport.'
"Desire energized John Havlicek, to earn the nickname 'Mr. Perpetual Motion.' As a player for the Boston Celtics, Havlicek gave 200 percent every game for 16 straight seasons. Hustle, leadership, and guts made Havlicek a player by which others were measured. People with desire work harder, are passionate about their goals, and are driven by an intense thirst to be better." [1]
Appetite increases on empty. If I am partially hungry it means I am partially empty. When a person becomes depleted, the desire for food becomes a craving that consumes the mind and produces a devotion to that which can satisfy it. Interestingly, a partial desire is willing to divide the energy and portion it out to maintain other things in the life alongside that of food. However, when a person is starving, it willingly sacrifices everything else to have food refusing to expend energy for anything else nonessential in the life.
John the Baptist knew that the increase of Christ depended upon his personal decreasing.
John 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
James records that the secret of more grace and empowerment was directly related to our increase of humility and self-debasement. In other words, if I want more power with God, be more humble. Increased humility equals increased power in Christ.
James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God
resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Jesus understood it well when it came to prayer. Increased effectiveness in prayer is the result of increased self-denial.
Matthew 17:21 Howbeit this kind goeth
not out but by prayer and fasting.
When the thrill of the spiritual in services are lost through prayerlessness, all sorts of substitutes and surrogates will be tried, such as social functions, entertainment, and alternative methods of outreach. When we incorporate unscriptural approaches, we are actually camouflaging and are making the attempt to conceal the fact that the real thing has been lost. When we become full of self it has to make up the difference in the deficiency of the Spirit.
Today, we use donuts and coffee to get people in the Kingdom and are satisfied when they sit in the seat and sign a card. The early church used signs and wonders and the Spirit added them into the Kingdom. Church today has to use gimmicks to keep people interested while the early church just introduced them to the overwhelming power of Christ who stripped them of themselves through repentance, and hunger naturally erupted and no one had to beg people to be in church.
The early church schedule through the week would have looked something like this.
Monday night – prayer meetingTuesday – live it and witness through the dayWednesday – prayer meetingThursday – in depth teaching and prayer meetingFriday – prayer meetingSaturday & Sunday – preaching with signs and wonders – in depth teaching – prayer meetings – evangelizing everywhere.
Today’s
church
Monday night – youth fun and game nightTuesday night – Adult discussions over refreshmentsWednesday night – Family night – adults have class and children have games and a five minute talk.Thursday night – off night of rest and relaxationFriday night – Family movie nightSaturday – car washSunday – one service and a nice pep talk
We need
to get hungry again for the supernatural! That begins when we start seeing how
empty we are of God’s presence in our lives. When this realization truly hits
us, we will weep and repent and begin decreasing ourselves and increasing
Christ through us.
Matthew 5:6 Blessed (happy, spiritually prosperous, experiencing
spiritual success) are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be
filled.
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