Friday, January 7, 2011

Appetites pt 1

Well I am changing things up a bit for a few weeks... your going to see the seminary student in me break through!! I listened to 3.5 of the Passion sermons. I didn't finish Piper's sermon or Louie's last one. I plan on purchasing the sermons so hopefully I'll get to finish them soon.

I am not starting in any particular order... each speaker spoke on a different topic although all relate to each other perfectly. I am starting with Andy Stanley's message. It was fantastic and has left my head spinning. So much truth to what he says. I think that my previous post from the Chronicles of Narnia was perfectly placed before this as a preface to these next few posts.

Stanley chose to talk on appetites. The one quote that stood out to me was, "Control your appetites, or they will control you."

He introduced this topic as something that is talked about very little, if at all. But, that our appetite has the ability to control our direct and the quality of our life... every part of our life.

This caught my attention and I immediately tuned in. I had never heard a message on appetite and wonder where this would lead. I was not at all prepared for the journey he would take me on.

The main thing to realize about your appetites... and we all have many, is that you can never get rid of them. They will, until the glorious day we meet our Maker, forever play a part in our life, in our decisions.

Their are lots of appetites... the obvious two, he stated, are food and sex. But there is the appetite for power, for wealth, for recognition, for stuff..... and so on.

Stanley stated 3 things that we need to know about our appetites.

The first is that appetites were created by God and are essentially good. It is sin that broke them, that distorted them.

The second is that an appetite will never be fully and finally satisfied. Never!! So many times I think... if only I could just have/get/be ______ then I would be happy. And how often do I buy/receive/go only to find out either that wasn't what I wanted or something else comes along that looks better.

And the third thing, the one I thought most thought-provoking, was that your appetite always whispers NOW, never LATER.
It is your response to your appetite that determines whether or not you fulfill God's potential for you.
My next post will be about the great story Stanley used to illustrate the above point.

So what are your appetites? Do you rule them, or do they rule you?

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