How's Your Spiritual Appetite? - John MacArthur Daily Devotional (April-11-2023)

John MacArthur (April-11-2023) Daily Devotional: How's Your Spiritual Appetite?

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied" (Matt. 5:6).

Your appetite for righteousness should equal your appetite for food and water.

David was a man after God's own heart. In Psalm 63:1 he writes, "O God, Thou art my God; I shall seek Thee earnestly; my soul thirsts for Thee, my flesh yearns for Thee, in a dry and weary land where there is no water." He communed with God and knew the blessings of His sufficiency: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. . . . He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness. . . . Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me" (Ps. 23:1-4). He endured unjust persecution for the Lord's sake: "Zeal for Thy house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach Thee have fallen on me" (Ps. 69:9).

David's zeal for God illustrates what Jesus meant when He said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness" (Matt. 5:6). The words translated "hunger" and "thirst" speak of intense desire. They are present participles, which imply continuous action. The idea is paradoxical: the believer's continuous and intense desire for righteousness is continually satisfied by Christ.

J.N. Darby, an early leader of the Plymouth Brethren movement, said, "To be hungry is not enough; I must be really starving to know what is in [God's] heart towards me. When the prodigal son was hungry he went to feed upon husks, but when he was starving, he turned to his father" (quoted in Martyn Lloyd-Jones's Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, vol. 1, p. 81). When you have that kind of desperation, only God can satisfy it!

Does your desire for righteousness drive you to Christ for satisfaction? I pray that the words of the psalmist will be yours as well: "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness" (Ps. 17:15, KJV).

Suggestions for Prayer - Ask God to use the events of today to increase your hunger and thirst for righteousness. Look to Him in all things, knowing that He alone can satisfy.

For Further Study

Read Philippians 3:1-14.

  • What does it mean to place confidence in the flesh?
  • How did Paul define true righteousness?

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How's Your Spiritual Appetite? - John MacArthur Daily Devotional (April-11-2023)
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John MacArthur

John MacArthur is the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, as well as an author, conference speaker, chancellor of The Master’s University and Seminary, and featured teacher with the Grace to You media ministry.

After graduating from Talbot Theological Seminary, John came to Grace Community Church in 1969. The emphasis of his pulpit ministry is the careful study and verse-by-verse exposition of the Bible, ...

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