One thing I have learned in the years I have known the Lord that If I want the good things from the Lord than I will have to hunger after Him and He will fill me. But not until I hunger and thirst for Him and His kingdom will I experience the fullness of Him.
When I am hungry for Him, it means I need to be empty of myself. He only fills empty vessels for out of my emptiness He comes to fill me with the Holy Spirit and divine power for the appointed work He has for me to complete.
I realize His work for me is primary while by y secular job is secondary and only the means to financially support me while I do the appointed work of the kingdom.
Saints who are full of self only do religious work and not appointed spiritual work by the Lord. They may please themselves and others in their soulish work, but unfortunately, they do not touch the heart of God.
When Jesus visited Martha and Mary in their home in the town of Bethany, it was Mary who emptied herself and sat at the feet of Jesus in a position of worship and true service to Him.
Martha chose to criticized Mary for not helping her to do the soulish work of serving Jesus. Martha was full of what she thought would please the Master.
But Mary emptied herself and bowed at His feet to worship Him. As she emptied herself, the Savior’s eyes met her eyes, and He filled her with His love and peace.
Mary’s hungry and thirst for Him touched His heart and He said Martha…..
…..but only one thing is necessary,
for Mary has chosen
the good part,
which shall not be taken
away from her.
(Luke 10:42)
All the serving Martha was doing was nice gestures on her soulish part, but it did not the touch the Master’s heart. The only comment Jesus made to Martha was the following:
Martha, Martha,
you are worried
and
bothered
about so many things.
(Luke 10:41)
Notice the double expression, “Martha, Martha.” In other words, and I paraphrase,
“Oh my dear Martha, if you could
only realize,
if you could only realize,
the path you are taking
does not move me for
you are full of self
and
only want to feel good about
what you think I need.”
Martha was so uptight about the Savior being in her home and her wanting to please Him that she upbraided Mary for being at the feet of Jesus instead of helping her.
Those who do soulish work will often attack those who are serving the Christ out of humility, love, and walking in the Spirit.
As mentioned above, Martha failed to touch or connect with the Savior’s heart and there were no encouraging remarks from Him to her. Martha’s soul was preoccupied with worry, apprehension, anxiety, and distracting things that caused her to serve Him out of the flesh rather than the spirit.
The “one thing” for Martha was directly opposed to the “one thing” of Mary and Jesus affirmed the “one thing” of Mary while mildly attempting to correct the “one thing” of Martha.
Mary chose the “good part” while Martha chose the soulish part – to serve out of her own thoughts and ways rather than to serve from being touched by the Savior.
Martha chose to serve from fullness and not emptiness. She was not hungry and thirsty for Him like her sister Mary. When Mary was at His feet, her vessel was unfilled, vacant, and poured out ready to receive Him and His fullness.
Her heart connected with the heart of her Master – she chose the “good part,” the “one thing necessary,” to sit at His feet, listen to Him, worship Him, and be filled by Him.
She realized that when she would arise from this position of being at His feet, she would be prepared and ready to serve her Jesus out of her total love and devotion for Him for she had heard the heartbeat of the Savior, and she became transformed.
It is the empty soul, the famished soul, and the starving soul for presence and power of God that fosters the coming of the Holy Spirit to fill, multiply supernaturally, and anoint His servants to manifest the kingdom of God with effectiveness and impact on the lost and the lukewarm. The growth of any believer and any individual church is dependent on the degree of hunger and thirst for the Master.
Jesus looks for vessels which have been broken, crushed, and who sit as His feet so He can reconstruct and restructure to contain the fullness of Himself He wishes to impart. Those who hunger and thirst for Him He will accommodate and satisfy their longings to serve Him. The Psalmist says,
For He has
satisfied
the hungry soul and the hungry soul
He has
filled what is good.
(Psalm 107:9)
It is the hungry and diligent soul who gets satisfied and filled with what is good as Mary was filled with the goodness of the Savior. It pleases the Father and the Son when one hungers for Them and in return They will favor and reward the diligent. Scripture says, “…..those who diligently seek me will find me” (Proverbs 8:17). One can equate being diligent with one being continually hungry for God.
When Christ fills you, you become satisfied for without the emptying there will be no filling and without the filling there will be no satisfaction and without the emptying, filling, and satisfaction there will be no spiritual work for the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God goes forward or advances on the hungering and thirsting of those waiting to be filled by the hand of the Master with His power and authority.
How about you dear brother or sister? Do you continually have hunger pains for Him? Is your mouth dry because you thirst for Him? Have you filled yourself with worry, tension, anxiety, fear, discouragement, and the things of the world to the point that you are more like Martha than Mary?
I have got good news for you – if are in the position just described, then you need to come to His feet and begin emptying yourself and crying out to Him to touch and break your heart so that He can impart His revelations and love to you.
Trust me, He will do it if you mean business with Him and are willing to forego your self-life and take up the Christ-life. If you in any way felt the Holy Spirit speaking to you as you read this oracle, then you can be assured that He wants you to come to Him, sit at His feet, quiet your soul, and listen to Him for He has much to say to you.
The emptying He desires of you is a continuous process as is His filling you with the good things of His kingdom. He wants you to know that His continual filling is dependent on your continual emptying of yourself.
So, sit at His feet, worship Him, receive Him, and then arise and walk with Him as you distribute the aroma or fragrance of Christ in you – the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). God bless you!
Rich Arnold
Servant of the Lord
311 Adelaide Ave SW
Hartville, Ohio 44632
330-704-9306
I am thinking of the Apostle John. He also leaned quietly close to our Lord’ during the last seder meal. Most liKely he did not want to miss even one word, not an instant of His master’s touch. As the other worried about finding out who could betray the Son of Man, John was also only seeking the good part. Though the Son of God loved them all, only John chose as his identity not a name nor a title, but what he valued most about all things, “being the disciple whom Jesus loved.” To be a Mary or John takes great strength. Thank you for reminding me of the power of the Sh’ma yet again.