Introduction
The purpose of this article is to share an insight into how all men can be found prepared to meet Jesus when he soon returns. The intent is to kindle interest towards a diligent search to find and obtain the great promises held out to this last generation.
The ideas contained herein are not speculation, but rather hard-learned lesson by one who has found that they work. It is especially offered to the many who claim to serve the Lord and yet are lost from the truth because of teachings that have “a form of godliness but deny the power thereof.”
The Lord has commanded His servants to prepare a highway for the coming of the Lord.
Up, ye servants of the Lord, and do the Lord's bidding. Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make straight in the land a highway for God. Message 44:10
This is the effort of one such servant who is seeking to do as commanded and is sent forth in love and appreciation for you my brother or sister as the case may be.
Hungering for Righteousness
Our Father has purpose in all He does. His purpose in creating you and I is glorious beyond our mortal comprehension. And such is true about every one of His children who has, is or ever will walk the face of the earth.
Soon the earth and all that remain on it will experience the glorious life He has in His purpose for creating us. Man has not experienced such glory yet, though Abraham saw it and longed for it, but was not able to come into it. Now our Father offers it to us, the promised generation
The Lord knoweth the hearts of mankind and wherein they desire to learn and do His will, it shall be like precious ointment poured out upon the faithful to dwell in this light of life and salvation. For unto them shall be great joy, that which the mind of man has not yet attained to. Message 73:6.
Yes the time is now, it is upon us, and the heavens await our response: —simply to hunger for it.
Yet, we live in a world fraught with temptation and constant reminders of our weakness as we yield to the tempter time and time again. On the other hand the commandments and instructions from the Lord seem to go unheeded so universally we are inclined to believe that such is the way it has to be. So we become discouraged from even trying —after all, we reason, no one else around us has successfully overcome temptation and is keeping all God's commandments and instructions.
What a sad state of affairs, and it has gone on for generations. This does not need to be so, if we would only realize that among the words given us of the Lord there are key things that anyone can do which will give us the strength to overcome temptation and become obedient and faithful in all things.
Who would turn away from such knowledge, a knowledge that could heal the weakest of us all, and make us mighty examples of faithfulness to the Lord and the examples of purity He so longingly awaits us to become? The Lord has said:
Blessed are all they that hear and cometh to me for I shall make them white and pure. They are my sheep and they follow not another.
Message 49:5
"Hungering and thirsting after righteousness" is one of the key things we can choose to do for coming to the Lord. If properly understood and applied in our lives, it can bring us the power to overcome all evil and give us the strength to resist our tempter and to send him on his way as Jesus did in the wilderness
Hunger and thirst are wonderful gifts given to all and they are absolutely essential to both the body and the spirit of man.
For example, how long would we survive in this body if we had no hunger, or if the hunger we had was for poison? The truth of the matter is that without physical hunger we would perish shortly after birth. All the efforts of those around us to get us to eat could not induce us to consume the food needed to survive and grow.
On the other hand, if our hunger becomes perverted so that we hunger for unwholesome food, our quality of life would deteriorate and our life possibly be terminated, because of the food we consumed. A good example of hungering for food that is detrimental to one's health is evidenced in advanced cases of drug and alcohol addiction and excessive consumption of junk food .
Spiritual hunger operates the same as physical hunger. For the spirit to live and be strong it must have a healthy appetite and that appetite must be for wholesome food, namely the word of the Lord.
Satan is aware of this and has used this part of our life experience by keeping us away from feasting on the word of the Lord by getting us to feast upon the poison of man made doctrines, thus killing our spiritual life.
Hunger and The Tree of Life
Consider how hunger played a pivotal role in the fall of mankind: In the Garden of Eden man was given the fruit of all the trees of the garden, except one, as wholesome food by which his spiritual life could be nurtured and perpetuated. The one exception was a tree called "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." That tree was forbidden, for God knew it was poison and would cause death.
In this manner Satan used the gift of hunger to pervert the plan of God by directing man's spiritual hunger away from God, and towards the forbidden fruit, thus leading man to become separated from His Creator and into a condition called death:
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired (Hungered after) to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. Genesis 3:6
You know the rest of the story: Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden and away from all the wholesome trees so that all they had to eat was the poison of mortality. And that is where we find ourselves today; still hungering after and feeding on the poison of mortality which keeps us separated from God, weak, confused, frustrated and miserable, though we pretend that we are not.
Every way we turn there are temptations, addictions, weakness and false answers to entice our improper hunger when we should be hungering for the truth found only in God. In addition we find ourselves in bondage because hungering after and participating in spiritually debilitating things has led us to develop powerful addictions to ungodly activities that keep us separated from God.
The Lord did not forsake us in the beginning, and does not forsake us today. For He has provided the "Tree of Life" in the center of the Garden of Eden to which we may return and satisfy our hunger with wholesome spiritual food, which will lead us back to eternal life. The Lord has said,
"teach men to come partake of the tree of life." (Message 41:13).
God's Antidote to Satan's Poison
The call to repentance that has been given throughout all generations has been for men to come and cultivate a hunger for the word of the Lord, which is the tree of life; that in doing so our hunger will return to its original innocence and wholesomeness; enabling us to be strong and faithful, and to be delivered and restored to an abundant and everlasting life.
An impelling call from Isaiah is stated:
Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Isaiah 55:1-2
Jesus states the same call in this manner:
blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost. 3 Nephi 12:6
The key here is that those who do hunger after righteousness will be filled with all the truth, power and strength that the Lord has to offer through the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of Truth, and the Lord has said "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." This should give greater meaning to the role the Holy Spirit plays is getting mankind back to the presence of God and the abundant life.
This is not to be confused with the man–made doctrine that you can be filled with the Holy Ghost and still live like those who don’t know of the Holy Ghost, full of weakness, confusion and failure.
True hungering and thirsting after righteousness empowers us to feast on the words that God has given us through His prophets. This does something to our lifestyle and we find that the natural man within us dies with all its weaknesses and confusion, and the spiritual man comes alive and lives a totally victorious life with no weakness, no yielding to temptation and has no confusion.
Do you want to live such a victorious life? Then read on, it is yours to have as you learn how to hunger and thirst as the Lord intended.
How Spiritual Hunger is Lost
Just as Satan managed to corrupt the hunger of our first parents, he has been very successful at keeping their children (whom we are) from finding their way back to the tree of life essentially by two means:
The first means: He misdirects our hunger by preoccupying it with things not of God such as carnal pleasures, worldly ambitions and a multitude of endeavors that have no spiritual or eternal value, thus keeping us fully occupied with distractions from pursuing godly objectives.
The second means: He, Satan, sates our hunger by leading us to accept false satisfactions such as self righteousness, being satisfied with success in worldly activities and believing we have already attained sufficient righteousness when in truth we have not.
Let us consider some of the ways Satan uses these two means of deception.
Preoccupying Hunger
The nature of hunger is that it can only be fully attentive to one enticer at a time. If it is occupied in seeking God (Tree of Life) it cannot be enticed by Satan (Tree of Mortality). This is why Jesus said, "Pray always, lest you enter into temptation." When you are engaged in hungering after righteousness through prayer and studying God's word, you cannot be enticed by Satan.
Eve, for example, would not have been enticed into partaking of the forbidden fruit if she had been earnestly engaged in seeking to do the will of God, which she did know, but set aside for the time that it took to partake of the forbidden fruit.
In the 58th chapter of Isaiah the prophet uses the word “fasting” when discussing spiritual matters. To understand that chapter it is necessary to realize that when “feasting” on one of two opposing enticements one is “fasting” from the opposite. When feasting on the word of God, one is fasting from the enticements of Satan. Taking advantage of this device, Satan uses it against us. He entices us to keep feasting upon anything but the word of the Lord in order that we will in effect be fasting from the things of God.
This has been a very effective device for Satan. He has been able to get many to occupy their entire lives with seeking fame, fortune and carnal comforts and pleasures as well as many other meaningless distractions. For example, how many have you known who have put professional aspiration before seeking the Lord? From the world point of view this seems innocent, but from a spiritual perspective it is deadly as it keeps us separated from God.
The Lord has said:
Seek not for riches but for wisdom; and, behold, the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto you, and then shall you be made rich, Behold, he that has eternal life is rich. Book of Commandments 11:7
Let's bring it closer to home. The Lord says: "Much is folly before me and man is nothing of good when he heeds not my voice.." (Message 31:8). Yes, much is folly, how about most of what is called entertainment and sports, meaningless vacations, travel for pleasure, frequently socializing with those who don't know and don't want to know about God? On and on our life goes; occupied by something other than seeking to know God.
Our precious gift of hunger is then preoccupied by the follies of the world while our quest for righteousness and a place with God is ignored. Satan loves such an arrangement of our affairs, and the tree of life stands there waiting for us to partake of its fruit, which we cannot do while preoccupied with folly.
Sated Hunger
Another fundamental characteristic of hunger is that it can be satisfied, and when it is satisfied it is as though it never existed: Such as after a large meal at which one has had every nuance of hunger appeased, even the same food that seemed to be so appealing just a few moments before has no appeal whatsoever after one is sated. In fact there may be a slight revulsion for the same food just eaten with gusto. That is what Satan can do to our spiritual hunger for God by feeding us self-satisfying doctrines and promises that fall far short of what God intended for us.
Man-made doctrines, inspired of Satan, are full of ideas that in effect kill our hunger for the greater things of God. All too often people are taught to think: "I belong to the true church," "I've been born again," "I am filled with the Holy Spirit," "I am Holy," "I have been saved," "I know how to pray," "I know Jesus," "I love everybody" and "I am a fully qualified servant of God."
Many will argue that there is nothing wrong with these statements and that they help people to feel secure in their faith. But consider this: Each of these statements is an expression of self-satisfaction; they leave no room for hunger.
Who are they that say, "I am filled with the Holy Spirit" yet have the slightest desire in them to continue to seek a greater righteousness that they may truly be filled with the Holy Spirit? And this they do even though their life is seriously lacking the gifts of the Spirit?
The promises that we can have a pure heart, be truly filled with the Holy Spirit, have the pure love of Christ bestowed upon us, be numbered among the bride of Christ, be able to preach the gospel in great power, do mighty miracles and on and on, are lost to those who suppose they have already received a fullness, they no longer have a hunger that can carry them to the end.
All the promises of God are attainable, but to say that we have attained them in full before we do denies the power of God to give them to us in response to our hunger. Our hunger is prematurely preempted and the power of God denied entry into our lives.
It is a truth that if you believe you possess something, you no longer have the hunger to seek after it. In fact you will probably have revulsion for it, especially if it is manifest in someone else. This is Satan's subtle deceptions at their best, at work causing men to languish for lack of hungering for righteousness.
These insights about how satisfied hunger dulls our appetite for the things of God, sheds light into how men deny the power of God in their lives and gives added meaning to these words from Moroni:
Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.. Moroni 10:32
Our coming unto Christ is done through our hungering after all that He is and all that He has promised us that we can become. Note that the requirement for us to receive His grace is that we love (seek) Him with all our might mind and strength which by default denies all manner of ungodliness.
Whose grace do we choose to receive: The grace of the world and the flesh life, or the grace of Christ? It is all a matter of what we do with our hunger. Will it be for the fruit of the tree of life, or for the fruit of the "tree of mortality?"
Hungering and The Restoration
A vision of the greatness of God's promises and the faith to believe the promises can be realized by our earnest effort at searching the Scriptures with that purpose in mind. The great latter-day work that is going on throughout the earth is to fulfill the promises made to our fathers (the prophets and patriarchs of old) that one day God would plant the promises made to them into the hearts of their children (which is the present day generation).
And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers. (As told to Joseph Smith by an Angel )
Never has there been a better time for men to cultivate "hungering and thirsting after righteousness" as the heavens are bursting with light and promises ready to be poured out upon those who will engage the Lord in this manner.
The very restoration of God's holy cities is waiting for one last feature, and that is that men will turn to God in deep yearning for His work to come forth. This is the meaning of Isaiah's great promises to the virgin daughters of Zion who mourn (deep hunger) for the coming forth of Zion.
"Virgin" means undivided focus, "daughter" means a seeker, (including men who are seekers (those who hunger)), and "Zion" means to rest in the Lord. From this, one can see that the virgin daughter of Zion is a male or female who has a hunger that is undivided in focus towards union with God (at rest with God).
With these insights to Isaiah in mind consider these words from Isaiah for understanding the importance of hungering for righteousness in the redemption of Zion:
A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the LORD that rendereth recompence to his enemies.
Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.
Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? [or] shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed,(deep hunger for righteousness) she brought forth her children.
Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut [the womb]? saith thy God.
Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn (deep hunger for righteousness) for her: Isaiah 66:7-10
And again:
To appoint unto them that mourn (have profound hunger) in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. Isaiah 61:3
“Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? [or] shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.”
Consider what the Lord is saying here! The great work of the redemption of Zion is hinged on one principle: Those seeking righteousness will be the people by which it can be accomplished “in one day.”
The work of preparation for the redemption of Zion will be done by those who hunger for righteousness and those who encourage others to do the same.
The entire 54th chapter of Isaiah is devoted to the promise given to those who will retrieve their hunger from Satan’s influence and cultivate a hunger for righteousness in these last days.
The Insatiable Hunger for Righteousness
If, from the foregoing, you can see how that you have been robbed of your most precious gift, the ability to hunger and thirst after righteousness, then you are probably concerned about how you can get it back, and if so, you already have some of it back —maybe even enough to learn how to get it all back.
Here are some suggestions on how to obtaining an insatiable hunger and thirst for righteousness:
1. Earnestly engage yourself in the pursuit of righteousness through intensive and extensive prayer and study of God's word. Be willing to adjust priorities so that you get more prayer and study time.
2. Wait and listen in your prayer time for His answers, for His promise is that you will receive to the extent that you wait on Him.
3. Recognize that the word of the Lord is the only wholesome food fit for your Spirit and your eternal life, and that you cannot understand God's word without divine assistance from the Holy Spirit. It is by the power of the Holy Ghost that you will receive the truth of all things, therefore always ask for His guidance when reading or studying God’s word.
4. Search God's revealed word for the great promises, the ones that appeal to you personally —focus and dwell on them so that your appetite for them will grow.
5. Don't accept the man-made doctrines that tell you that you have already achieved a fullness of what God is calling you to become.
6. Make a commitment to do these things, asking the Lord for strength to do so.
If you will spend much time reading God's word for the promises and give up man-made traditions that say you have already received a fullness, and if you will fast from the things of the world and feast on the words of Christ, then you will begin to feel a healthy appetite for the word of the Lord and His righteousness, which in turn will lead to your truly being "filled with the Holy Ghost."
There is something energizing about seeking after the Lord through earnest prayer and studying His word. The more you seek and find, the more hungry you become for the greater things of God until you find yourself with an unquenchable thirst to know and be like Christ.
In this day of restoration there is perhaps no mightier prayer spoken by man, than to call on the Lord for Him to fulfill His promises in one's life. On the other hand if you stay away from the word of God and don't engage the Lord in prayer often, then your hunger for things of God will diminish, and you will likely find yourself weak, confused and easily tempted.
Nephi of old knew this truth and his words plead with us to earnestly seek our God:
Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.
Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark. 2 Nephi 32:3-4
Conclusion
The Lord has provided us with an abundance of His word, planned and prepared just for this time when His children are going to rise up and refuse to be a part of the Satanic sham which has robbed us of our hunger for God and befuddled mankind from the beginning.
Nephi cries out over the centuries:
And now I, Nephi, cannot say more; the Spirit stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be.
And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.
But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.
2 Nephi 32:7-9
This impassioned plea from Nephi is the message of this discourse on hungering and thirsting for righteousness. What remains to be said is that now is the time for all of us to receive the fullness of what our Father intends for us. In speaking to His disciples in America, Jesus said:
...Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am.
3 Nephi 27:27
And how are we to become like Jesus? —This is answered by these inspired words from Moroni:
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen. Moroni 7:48
And to be “like Him” we shall, for it is promised in the Word of The Lord:
The Lord is the resurrection and the life. He that believeth on him and obeys his will shall have right to the tree of life and to eternity, and in them shall be seen the glory of God, for Christ comes to redeem and to provide the way.
Message 59:10.
It is the prayer of this writer that all who read this pamphlet will be encouraged and strengthened in their personal journey back to our Creator; a journey that consists of our being fashioned into His likeness and glory as we hunger for it.
Throughout this study there are references made to scriptures the reader may not have encountered before. They are referring to revelations that have been given in these last days.