Are you Needy?
Who is like the LORD our God,
the One who sits enthroned on high,
who stoops down to look
who stoops down to look
on the heavens and the earth?
7 He raises the poor from the dust
7 He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes,
he seats them with princes,
with the princes of their people. (Psalm 113)
All of mankind is poor and needy; not all of us recognize our need because we are meeting those needs ourselves, usually at the expense of others or the expense of our health and well-being. Examples of this would be the man who works hard and becomes successful, but he does not have enough time for his family. He may also neglect his health and diet. Another example, but less obvious is the wife who endlessly sacrifices for her husband and kids, always putting her needs last. Or the spouse of an addict who is always forgiving and “puts up” with all the addicts shenanigans to the point other folks say, “Oh, what a saint after putting up with him all these years.” More recently, we watched a great, larger than life pop-star die. He seemed to have it all, yet, in the end, we see how poor and needy he really was. What do all these examples have in common? We have a great need to feel secure and significant in the world. Love, acceptance and forgiveness give us a sense of security; meaning, purpose and a sense of adequacy give us a sense of significance. So what needs are the above examples meeting? The man who works to the top and makes lots of money is meeting the need for significance, but he also will feel loved and accepted when everyone tells him what great job he is doing, and ultimately, because he has lots of money, he will get the babe.(and won’t that make him feel loved) What about the mom who does everything for everyone else? Obviously, she is not self-centered. Well, it all depends on motivation. This particular mom was abandoned at a young age and learned to depend only on herself. She gets a great sense of significance for always doing for others, and always doing and not having others serve her keeps people at arms distance so no one gets close enough to hurt her. Inwardly, she resents the fact that her husband does not help out, but she can never express that at the risk of losing him. Unfortunately, her health and well-being goes to the wayside, and there is a breaking point for everyone. What about the forgiving spouse of the addict? Again, a great sense of significance comes from covering the addict’s tracks, rescuing them and in many ways “being in control.” There is a payoff for such codependent behavior; in fact, even if things are painful, but we continue to do them, there is a payoff in it. Also, this spouse is desperately hoping that one day, their spouse will really love them like they need and want to be loved. Finally, our pop star admitted that he did what he did because he wanted desperately to be loved. We are needy—God created us with a set of personal needs — a need to be unconditionally loved, totally accepted and completely forgiven. And a need for meaning and purpose, and a sense of adequacy to fulfill that purpose. Now, if God created us with those needs but failed for refused to meet those needs for us, he would be a prankster, a cruel God and a false Savior. All of these examples are examples of how we try to meet those needs apart from God and the gospel of Christ. The good news is, however, that God has sufficiently met these needs for us in the death, burial and resurrection of His Son Jesus. Now, I left one example out until now for a reason because whenever we talk about God, we break religious and naturally think we have to change our actions without addressing the thinking that is the root of the action. What about person who believes in God, goes to church, goes on missions, gives his money and doesn’t smoke, drink or chew or go with girls who do? Well, if the motivation for going to church, giving money, and ‘serving God’ is to get God to love them and not curse them, then, they are seeking to kiss God’s butt and are still in a poor and needy state. They are not receiving God’s unconditional love and acceptance—they are trying to get God to give them something He already has given them in Christ. So, we are all needy; the key is, are we going to admit our need and allow God to meet those needs by believing what He says is true? He lifts us out of the ashes and dust and seats us with princes. To sit with someone here means equality. So, I am Prince William Charles Lloyd III and I am here to tell you that God loves you unconditionally, likes you just the way you are, and has completely forgiven you, past , present and future. You have been made “heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, and you cannot be more important than that. When we believe this and apply it, we will thrive rather than survive. We afre talking about a spiritual reality that has taken place and has been secured in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
All of mankind is poor and needy; not all of us recognize our need because we are meeting those needs ourselves, usually at the expense of others or the expense of our health and well-being. Examples of this would be the man who works hard and becomes successful, but he does not have enough time for his family. He may also neglect his health and diet. Another example, but less obvious is the wife who endlessly sacrifices for her husband and kids, always putting her needs last. Or the spouse of an addict who is always forgiving and “puts up” with all the addicts shenanigans to the point other folks say, “Oh, what a saint after putting up with him all these years.” More recently, we watched a great, larger than life pop-star die. He seemed to have it all, yet, in the end, we see how poor and needy he really was. What do all these examples have in common? We have a great need to feel secure and significant in the world. Love, acceptance and forgiveness give us a sense of security; meaning, purpose and a sense of adequacy give us a sense of significance. So what needs are the above examples meeting? The man who works to the top and makes lots of money is meeting the need for significance, but he also will feel loved and accepted when everyone tells him what great job he is doing, and ultimately, because he has lots of money, he will get the babe.(and won’t that make him feel loved) What about the mom who does everything for everyone else? Obviously, she is not self-centered. Well, it all depends on motivation. This particular mom was abandoned at a young age and learned to depend only on herself. She gets a great sense of significance for always doing for others, and always doing and not having others serve her keeps people at arms distance so no one gets close enough to hurt her. Inwardly, she resents the fact that her husband does not help out, but she can never express that at the risk of losing him. Unfortunately, her health and well-being goes to the wayside, and there is a breaking point for everyone. What about the forgiving spouse of the addict? Again, a great sense of significance comes from covering the addict’s tracks, rescuing them and in many ways “being in control.” There is a payoff for such codependent behavior; in fact, even if things are painful, but we continue to do them, there is a payoff in it. Also, this spouse is desperately hoping that one day, their spouse will really love them like they need and want to be loved. Finally, our pop star admitted that he did what he did because he wanted desperately to be loved. We are needy—God created us with a set of personal needs — a need to be unconditionally loved, totally accepted and completely forgiven. And a need for meaning and purpose, and a sense of adequacy to fulfill that purpose. Now, if God created us with those needs but failed for refused to meet those needs for us, he would be a prankster, a cruel God and a false Savior. All of these examples are examples of how we try to meet those needs apart from God and the gospel of Christ. The good news is, however, that God has sufficiently met these needs for us in the death, burial and resurrection of His Son Jesus. Now, I left one example out until now for a reason because whenever we talk about God, we break religious and naturally think we have to change our actions without addressing the thinking that is the root of the action. What about person who believes in God, goes to church, goes on missions, gives his money and doesn’t smoke, drink or chew or go with girls who do? Well, if the motivation for going to church, giving money, and ‘serving God’ is to get God to love them and not curse them, then, they are seeking to kiss God’s butt and are still in a poor and needy state. They are not receiving God’s unconditional love and acceptance—they are trying to get God to give them something He already has given them in Christ. So, we are all needy; the key is, are we going to admit our need and allow God to meet those needs by believing what He says is true? He lifts us out of the ashes and dust and seats us with princes. To sit with someone here means equality. So, I am Prince William Charles Lloyd III and I am here to tell you that God loves you unconditionally, likes you just the way you are, and has completely forgiven you, past , present and future. You have been made “heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, and you cannot be more important than that. When we believe this and apply it, we will thrive rather than survive. We afre talking about a spiritual reality that has taken place and has been secured in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Comments
Good reminder for all of us each day, to evaluate what we are doing and why we are doing it.
God does provide for our every need
Regards,
Jonesy