Satisfaction in the One who truly satisfies

Tonight, after the evening service, I ran into a brother in the Lord and he and I both shared with each other what God was doing in our lives. It was an encouraging conversation for sure. Something came up in our little chat that compelled me to write tonight. It's a deep topic and I could only scratch the surface on it unfortunately, but here you go...
Romans 15:13 - Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

I want to talk about the word "hope". What is hope in this context? It isn't the kind of hope that says "I hope this happens but I don't know if it will." This is the kind of hope that says "I know this will happen, therefore I have hope." 
Specifically in this passage, the hope that is referenced is a special kind of hope. It's the hope of *God*. It's the only hope that truly is alive, and doesn't die. It's the hope that all of us that are Christians have because of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection! 
My point tonight is, that God gives hope that (according to the verse) fills us with all joy and peace in believing. This gives me so much joy. It goes on to state the reason why we need the God of hope to full us with all joy and peace in believing, and that is, so that we may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. 
In summary of the verse, God is a God of hope, and he wants us to be filled with joy, because of the hope we have in him. 
One thing I discussed with my brother in Christ was how God drives us to rely completely on him. He does it in many ways, and one very common way is to put us through trials and temptations that he knows we can make through with his help. This not only matures us as Christians, but it also gives us reason to place all our hope in *HIM*, and Him alone. 

Psalms 16:11 - Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence [is] fulness of joy; at thy right hand [there are] pleasures for evermore.

Psalms 17:15 - As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

These are such beautiful verses! There is a reason why Psalms is my favorite book in the Bible! 
These verses are all about finding peace, joy, and satisfaction in God alone. That is a difficult thing to do since our flesh fights the Holy Spirit constantly. Here's how the process works,
1- You have to realize, and believe that nothing in this world: no music, no celebrity, no movie, no book, or any sort of entertainment will satisfy you. This applies to all things in this world really. Marriage alone wont satisfy you. Church alone wont satisfy you. Money certainly wont. It's just not possible. The Bible says that "All is vanity". (Ecclesiastes 1:2) and it's not joking. 
2- You have to run to God's word and fall on your knees in prayer daily to be fed. And memorizing scripture wont hurt either. Communicating with the Father (who fills you with all joy and peace in believing) is the only way to be satisfied spiritually and emotionally. 
3- You have to realize that in reality, God is the only thing that will satisfy you. Nothing else will. Christ gives you eternal life... That doesn't you're just existing forever. That means that you're LIVING forever! It means that you'll have peace and JOY forever. But it's up to YOU to get it. God is handing it to you, and all you have to do is take it. The way you take it is by asking him; BEGGING him to fill you with that joy and hope and peace that he gives! That is the only way to get the fulness of joy and the pleasures for evermore (Psalm 16:11) 
I hope this was an encouragement to you all! 

Please feel free to comment! Comments make my day! For real! I want to hear your thoughts and testimonies on this subject! If you don't necessarily want to comment on the post you could always message me via email at bryanthemusicman@gmail.com 
looking forward to your feedback! 

your brother in Christ: 

Thayne 

A little something cool.

I found these in an old journal from a few years back. Makes me want to really get passionate about my drawing. Feel free to leave comments and thoughts on the bottom :) 

The Prayer of Confession.

Psalm 51 (KJV)

1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.

19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

This passage, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful passages in the Bible. I read it once a week or so because sometimes I get drained. Sometimes I feel like sin has settled so deeply into my life that I feel like God can't forgive me, and even if he could, I don't know how to confess it all. This Psalm shows me how, and even why I should pray this way.

First of all, the Great Psalmist, who is also my favorite Bible character, confesses his sin. The great thing about these first few verses is that David doesn't get specific. He uses general terminology and I believe that was God's intention. The fact that it is so vague about the sins that David is confessing makes it so much more relatable for readers like you and me! Verses one through six are his confession. Verses seven through twelve are his begging for God's forgiveness and mercy on his life. This is my favorite part in the passage. The words "Create in me a clean heart, oh God", give me so much hope! I love that I can ask God to renew a right spirit within me. 

The last part of the passage is David stating his reasons for confessing. He is humble and totally broken before God in his sinful state. He states that if God blots out his sin and forgives him that (in summary) God will be glorified. It's such a beautiful concept! 

The fact of it is, none of us can live up to God's standards even after we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior. When he blotted out our sins, he included the future sins as well, because he knew that we would still be dwelling in our flesh. This psalm is beautiful and full of hope for someone like me because I am always backsliding. I am unable to live a perfect Christian life. I praise God that I can always come back to this prayer and start over. 

I hope this post was an encouragement to anyone reading it, and more than anything I hope this is your prayer as well! Pray it daily! Ask God to renew a *right* spirit within you before you start your day! 

Your Brother in Christ
Thayne

I'm back.

Hello beautiful people!
The past several months have been very trying and spiritually exhausting. I found it unwise to post during that time and that is why I have been absent.
I've decided to get back to blogging with a new outline, and a new blueprint. I will be posting what God has been working on in my own life and how scripture can be applied. The verse for today is:

Romans 8:26

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

This has been my life's verse since I was fifteen years old. For some reason it gives a great comfort to my soul and spirit to know that when I don't know how I should pray, Christ is my representative, and my mediator. He alone knows the true condition of my heart better than I do, and he knows my deepest needs, thoughts, emotions, and pains. I could not hope for a better intercessor. 

The point that this verse touches me the most is when I am at the end of my rope and prayer seems empty. Sometimes as humans, we do not know how to speak to our Savior. But the Holy Spirit who, dwells in us, is the wielder of the weapon that discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart  and knows what needs to be said on our behalf. (Hebrews 4:12)

To put it simply, we are finite creatures with finite wisdom if any, and finite knowledge of our true nature. Our Creator knew this, and knew what needed to be done on our account. 

If you're reading this, and you are feeling as if you don't know how to pray, let me encourage you with these words: "Find hope in Christ and know that he is speaking on your behalf." I'm not talking about finding hope hope that God will bring happiness into your life, or that the hurt that you're feeling will simply be taken away. I'm referring to you simply looking up and seeing the light at the end of the tunnel! There IS a light and God WILL guide you to it! Find your hope and satisfaction in Him, and even when prayer doesn't seem to be the solution, get on your knees and just talk to him. His Son, Jesus, is your mediator, and your Savior. 

Sincerely your Brother in Christ

Thayne