Designed to Long for Encounter
The greatest need of your soul is to experience the love and beauty of Jesus in tangible ways. God designed you as the only creature in the universe that has the makeup and longing for deep friendship with Him—this is what it means to be an image-bearer of God. Because of this, you have access to the depths of God’s thoughts and emotions, and something deep inside of you longs (is driven) to access Him. This is why encountering Him is the greatest need of the soul. God put the longing in you to instinctively draw you to Himself for ultimate satisfaction.
Related Post: “My Life-Changing Encounter with Jesus“
Satisfied and Overflowing
I have good news for you! Jesus wants to satisfy your greatest need! Jesus put it in you so that you would come to Him and be filled. He’s not a distant, angry God who puts needs and wants in your soul and then makes you feel bad or selfish for trying to satisfy them or purposefully leaves you dissatisfied with Him. What He wants is for you to satisfy your longings in Him, not in other things.
Jesus was clear in John 15 that He wants you to overflow. But to overflow you have to “abide and remain” in Him. More specifically, you have to remain in the experience of His love for you. Through prayer, you have to sustain the intimate connection with God’s heart as an experience—when you do, the life that is within God’s heart will flow into and through you.
This is amazing, Jesus commands us to live in the experience His love for us! Seriously, this is a great command! He wants you to experience His love again, and again, and again and to have your longing for Him satisfied. The heart that stays connected to Him will then overflow and bear fruit in emotions, marriages, parenting, marketplace callings, ministry callings, outreach to the lost, and so on.
Later, in John 15:11, Jesus reaffirmed His desire for you to have an overflowing heart. He calls you to abide in His love “SO THAT” His joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full. Jesus wants His life and His joy to stay in you as an experience, and He wants you to experience the fullness of joy, not just partial joy.
How Should You Respond?
Without experiencing Jesus, your deepest longings cannot be satisfied. I’m guessing the majority of Christians are not living satisfied in God and, as a result, are inwardly frustrated and discontent and subconsciously coping with their life “as is.” If this is your experience, trust that it can change.
God will meet you as you come into His presence in the sacred place of prayer. If you haven’t already, make the choice to give Him more time each day in the Word and prayer. Prioritize time with Him, and fight against the current of busyness that seeks to take your God times away. As you do this, you will begin to experience more of Him and grow in prayer.
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Love this! For me, I’ve just been feeling that fresh awareness of my need of Him and really resting in the truth that He wants to satisfy my need and there is greater glory/strength coming out of my leaning/awareness of my need. Verses that I think of with this topic are in Matthew 5… blessed are the hungry for they will be satisfied, blessed are the poor in spirit (aware of their need), for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. Just that theme in many places, that the Lord is drawn to the humble and needy, and beautifies them/us and delights in bringing them/us into greater intimacy/beauty/joy.
Thanks for sharing this, Jeff!
Wow, so powerful, “He is drawn to the humble and needy!” That statement makes the reality that God is alive and attentive as a Person so much more real. God actually responds to our choices and the movements of our hearts. And His response isn’t just transactional or practical—it’s a response of love from the ultimate Lover, Jesus Christ.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!