Satisfied With Jesus

 

The night before His crucifixion, Jesus told the disciples He would be leaving them soon to prepare a place in His Father’s house for them. He told them that He would return one day to get them and that they knew the way.

 

Thomas declared they didn’t know where He was going and asked how they could know the way. 

 

“I am the way, the truth, and the life,” Jesus said. “No one can come to the Father except through me. If you’d really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

 

“Lord, show us the Father,” Philip said, “and we will be satisfied.”

 

Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father’s, who lives in me and does his work through me. Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.”

—John 14:5-11 

Are we like Philip and not satisfied with the truth that is right before us? Maybe we are like Thomas and have trouble believing. The Word is Jesus. He is right before us. His promises are “yes and amen.” Yet, are we like Philip, asking Him to prove Himself to us just one more time? Was His sacrifice for our sins and sicknesses not enough to prove His love? Jesus has revealed the Father’s love to us. We no longer have to prove what only Jesus could prove. We have a righteous, healed relationship with the Father. If Jesus has shown us the Father, why aren’t we satisfied with what He has done for us? Why do we have trouble believing every Word of truth He has given us?

There is a difference between mental agreement and believing something in your heart. You can know about Jesus and not know Him. You can know what the Word says with your mind and not believe the Word in your heart. The heart is where you believe. And for the heart to believe God’s truth, you cannot connect to Him mentally with your natural understanding. Your spirit must connect with His Spirit (2 Corinthians 2:14).

 

“For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power” (Colossians 2:9).

 

Jesus is in the Father, and the Father is in Him. Jesus is the fullness of the Godhead in you. You are complete in Him. Whoever is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him (1 Corinthians 6:17). That should be more than enough to satisfy us.

 

You received the righteousness of God in your born-again spirit when you were made new in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17, 21). It’s the heart that believes this (Romans 10:10). You must believe what His Word says about your new life in Christ, and believe it’s yours. You must know in your heart, and not just in your mind, that it is well with Him. To do this, your mind is renewed by the Word until it takes root in your heart. And you intentionally draw by faith from the truth of your identity in Him. 

 

“The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. Therefore, with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation “Isaiah 58:11, 12:3).

 

Do you hunger to believe all Christ has done for you? To lay down all of your doubts and believe His truth? To taste and see that He is good? He satisfies your hunger with good things so that you are renewed! He guides you and satisfies your soul in hard times and good times with His Word that is sown deeply in your heart. He reveals to you the truths of your salvation. His living water springs up in you—to be an ever-flowing stream whose water never fails. You draw from the wells of your salvation! You draw from the Lord who is one with you in spirit!

 

“Have you been with me all this time and not known me?” Jesus asks each one of us.

 

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,” Jesus taught in Matthew 5:6, “for they shall be filled. They shall be satisfied." 

May the Lord stir a deep hunger to really “know” Him. May you hunger to know His righteousness “is” your identity. It’s the very heart of your relationship with Him. Get into the Word. If you have no idea where to begin, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you. Ephesians 1 is a good place to start. Take your time. Don’t hurry. Mediate on each word. Allow the Spirit to reveal the Father to you.

Be renewed continually in your mind with the truths of your fellowship with God. Believe by faith in your heart that these truths are true. God is faithful. You shall know He is enough. You shall be satisfied and filled with Jesus. He is your way, your truth, and your life!

 

“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9).