| The Grapevine Number 93 January16, 2005 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth. II Timothy 2:15 Want or Desire? by Jack Northart It is important to watch your words, your thoughts, your actions and state of mind. Ideas, thoughts and words will change your life. Everything around us, at one time, existed as a thought. All things that are around us in the physical realm started off at one time as just a thought in someone’s mind. They took that thought, then applied action, and it became a reality. God’s Word originated in the mind of God, then He spoke it to holy men of God who wrote it down and it became manifested in the senses realm. All of the promises of God are true and real. III John 2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. It may be hard for us to fathom, but God’s prosperity and health in our lives has more to do with our thoughts than our labor or our skill or our ability. When it comes to prosperity, the most important word to watch out for is the word ‘want’ and all it’s equivalents. ‘Wanting’ communicates to us and all around us that we do not have something – that’s our first mistake. It also says that we are in a state of not having it but wishing we did have it – and that’s our second mistake. We can never really get what we want. What occurs is that, very gradually, we shift from a state of wanting to other states and then get what we initially wanted; but as long as we stay in a state of ‘wanting,’ we can never get what we want. The solution to this is to ‘never want’. We need to remove this word ‘want’ from our vocabulary. Wanting something very badly just makes it worse. Unlike ‘wanting’, the word ‘desire’ does not have that same necessity attached to it. It doesn’t have the same lack or emptiness attached to it. There is a subtle difference between the two. The word ‘desire’ has aggressiveness to it. Desire has energy to it. It has an achieving element to it to bring things into your life. Desire is not a perpetual state of not having. It is seeking to achieve something. Psalm 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. When everything is taken care of by the LORD, there is no want, no lack, no need. If you have every single ‘want’ fulfilled, every need taken care of, with no lack at all, how would you feel? You would feel a great deal of peace, comfort and joy, wouldn’t you? There would be no emptiness to fill. You would feel pleasant contentment. You would feel like a very blessed person, yet, this is exactly what God has been communicating to us for centuries. Many still hang on to their ‘wants’ in life, ‘hoping’ that someday, they will be a good enough person to truly enjoy life the way God intended us to. As silly as it may sound, it is very important to watch the little words like ‘want’ that may come out of our mouths. If God truly has supplied every need in our lives, then where are we looking and finding this lack in our lives? It only exists in our carnal thinking. This doesn’t mean that we are denying the ‘reality’ of lack, but rather seeing the reality of abundance that God has already given to us. Philippians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Does this verse say that God will supply you enough to get by? No, it doesn’t. At times we are going to have a need come up in our lives. When it does, God says he will supply that need. How will He supply it? According to His RICHES in glory! This sounds familiar with another verse that talks about God’s standard for taking care of us. Malachi 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. If God is going to pour enough out that there is not room enough to receive it, then His riches must be very RICH INDEED! God is not looking around heaven trying to find something that will just get us by. He supplies from His riches. He likes to really pour out the blessings. Furthermore, He likes to keep them coming. It is then up to us to recognize His will for our lives in this regard, and accept it and confess these blessings. People feel want and lack in their lives when they first focus on getting their answers from the world, rather than God. If we focus on what He has blessed us with, and what He promises to supply us with, then the want and lack disappear and abundance begins to manifest itself. Ephesians 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. What God is able to do, He is also willing to do it. If I have a desire to bless someone with $1000, and I don’t have $1000, then what is the first thing I do to get it? Do I go around saying: “Gee, if I had a thousand bucks, I could really bless my friend.” No! I see this verse in Ephesians and I ask God for it. He knows my heart on it, and He knows that I am looking to Him to supply it. So what does He do? He does what He says He will do; “…exceeding abundantly above all” that I can ask for. I asked for $1000, and he may give me $1001, but that wouldn’t be “exceeding abundantly above” would it. So when I ask, I can expect so much more because of His promise. However, if I ask Him for it, then I go around saying, “Well, I asked God for it, but who knows what will happen…” then I am not expecting God to honor His Word, am I? I am still suffering from ‘want syndrome.’ We live in an age of God’s grace. Our lives have been forever changed when we accepted Christ. It is now up to us to change the way we talk, the way we view life, and the way we live life to what God has made us to be. With this in mind, we will have no want. Return to main page |