Paul McKenzie

Memory Verse, Saturday, January 31, Matthew 5:6

"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." (KJV)

Anyone who studied the Gospel of John will immediately think of chapters 4-7. Here we have the Woman at the Well, the feeding of the 5000, and then the great discourses where Jesus explains that He is the "Bread from above" and "the Living Water".

If you are not familiar with them, today is the day to "dig in". Here are some key excerpts to spiritually "whet your appetite":

"If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you 'Give me to drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." (John 4:10)

"Sir, I have no one to put me into the pools when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me." Jesus said to him, "Get up, take up your bed, and walk." And at once the man was healed." (5:7-9a) The Living Water at work.

"Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted." (6:10-11). The Bread of Life at work.

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall not thirst." (6:35)

"On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" (7:37-38)

And all who hunger and thirst after Christ, our Righteousness, will be filled. "Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." (7:39)

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again'" (John 3:5-7)

I remember once, a long time ago, suddenly I sensed the Spirit of God. And suddenly I had a hunger and thirst for God. I felt parched in the spirit, and could not be satisfied by the world. And providentially, He led me to a place where I was given the Word of God. I devoured the New Testament from cover to cover.

And in the midst of a conversation with the one "imploring me to be reconciled to God", I was touched by the Spirit and forever saved. I was filled, and yet I am continually being filled as I grow more and more away from the "light afflictions" of this temporal world, and am being prepared by the Living Water, the Bread of Life for an "eternal weight of glory". And it is indeed "beyond all comparison." (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).

I'm waking up with these verses on my lips every morning lately. If while reading this, you are developing this insatiable hunger for God, you may be hearing a "wind" blowing near you. "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." (3:8). Repent, and let the Spirit fill you.

Today if you hear His voice, harden not your heart.

Memory Helps

"Blessed are they which do
hunger and thirst after righteousness,
for they shall be filled." (KJV)

So now I picture a man with a spoon in one hand and a cup in the other to represent "hunger and thirst". This may sound silly for those not familiar with word pictures, but I put a "nest writing" on top of the cup: "write-nest" for righteousness. (Not my fault, I got it from the memory books!) And instead of filled, I might first say "fixed", because it rhymes with six, though I know it is filled. With my 5-fingered "hand of God" blessing me my patting me on the back, and me standing on a wrestling mat for "Mat"-thew, I have Matthew 5:6 all linked up with the verse. If you think that's a little much, do it your own way. Works for me.

And of course, I have my "memory character" "Joe" replace the man holding the spoon and the cup, since J=6 in the phonetic alphabet, vowels fillers, so it can only mean then number 6.