: Welcome to Real Truth for Today with Pastor Jeff Schrieve, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Texarkana, Texas. Now, here's Pastor Jeff.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, good morning and welcome to Real Truth for Today. It is Thursday, October 1st, and I am sitting across the table from my wife Debbie. And Debbie loves what she calls the brrr months. September, October, November, December, Jan. Ber. We don't have Jamber. No, she likes the fall. And so, Debbie, I think October is going to feel a whole lot more like fall than September felt like in, Texarkana. Anyway. It was so hot.
Debbie Schreve: It was so hot. Yes, it was crazy, ridiculous hot.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: So what are you expecting for October?
Debbie Schreve: I don't know. In my mind I just have on a sweater with a fire in the fireplace. But that could be wishful thinking.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: All right, I want to read to you from, the very familiar passage of scripture. It's called the Sermon on the Mount. So it says that when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. He opened his mouth and began teach them, saying, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the gentle or the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. I want to talk today about hungering for God. How do you, develop a hunger for God? You know, we could also call it developing a heart for God, because a heart for God and a hunger for God are really the same thing. It says in Psalm 42, as the deer pants for the water brook. So My soul pants for God, for the living God. And you see, some Christians, they seem to be so in love with the Lord and have such a passion for God and others who are truly saved, but they just don't seem to have that. And, maybe you're listening and you say, you know, I want to have a hunger for God. I want to have a passion for God that would far exceed my passion for anything else. But how do you develop that? How do I develop that? And Debbie, I know you talked about that last, month in your Bible study with the ladies here at First Baptist Texarkana. So how does a person go about developing a heart and a hunger for God?
Debbie Schreve: Well, I think we started off our conversation by just kind of laying down the foundation that normally no hunger indicates illness. You know, so if you are, if you have a stomach virus, nothing sounds good. If you have food poisoning, nothing sounds good. You're ill and therefore you're not hungry, you're in pain, nothing sounds good in terms of food.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: And you know, when feed a cold, starve a fever.
Debbie Schreve: Yes. Yeah, it's hard to, it's hard to feed a cold though, because it's hard to eat when you're stuffed up, you know.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: You know, I was thinking about that with you because you, you can get food, poisoning very easily.
Debbie Schreve: Oh, yeah, I've had it like five times.
Caroline: Horrible.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Got it on our honeymoon.
Caroline: Yes.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: my attitude very sadly, very rarely am I not wanting to eat. just a couple of times.
Debbie Schreve: Yeah, no, I get that quite often, actually, where I don't really.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: You don't even, like, if I even mention food, it makes you sick.
Debbie Schreve: Well, when I'm sick, yes. Right, yeah. Because I mean, I can think back to like, I mean, especially with food poisoning. If you think about the food that caused you to get the food poisoning, it's just horrific. To the point where years later you may still not eat that food. I mean, it leaves such an impact on you.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: How about, our son in law, Jay with Taco Bell?
Debbie Schreve: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. If you mention Taco Bell to Jay, he kind of cringes to this day. And this was years, I mean, how many years ago? 20 that he got, he got food. Ah, poisoning at Taco Bell. but you know, when kids aren't eating, when our children aren't eating, they'll have a diagnosis that says something like this. A failure to thrive. And that's what happens with us in our spiritual life. When we don't have a hunger for the Lord, we have a failure to thrive in our relationship with him. Because having a hunger for him is important. And the good news is that having a hunger for him is something that he desires for us. So the Bible assures us that if we ask anything that's in his will for us and we're walking in alignment with him, he's faithful to answer that and to give us that. So, yes, we can all get to the place where we don't have the hunger and thirst for the Lord that we might have had at another time. But the good news is we can get that back. M. You know, because he can give that back to us. And, you know, we just kind of roundtabled, about just different things that you can sometimes feel. It's like, you know, it's not that you're walking in just this grotesque disobedience to the Lord, but it's just that, you know, scripture maybe just kind of seems lifeless, and your prayer seems like more of a chore that you have to do. like it's not reaching any. You're not obtaining any purpose in it. that serving in the church may become a struggle. Even fellowshipping and wanting to be among other believers can. Can just lose its joy. And you can just kind of feel dry inside, where you're just kind of feel spiritually disconnected and maybe just kind of emotionally empty, disengaged. and we've probably. We're being honest, we've probably all had bouts of that in our Christian life. but the good news is, like I said before, because that is in his will for our lives to have a hunger for Him. He can give that back to us. And, you know, we have a song that we sing at our church that the lyrics of it. Restore to me the joy of my salvation. Take me back to where it all began where all I ever wanted was your presence oh, how I long to be there once again. Renew in me a pure and willing spirit. Take me back to where it all began before it all became so complicated. How I long to be there once again. And, what song is that? Restore to me the joy of my salvation is the name of the song.
: Oh, that's right.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: That's right.
Debbie Schreve: and then it goes on to say, lord, I'm sorry. Please forgive me for where I've gone cold I need you How I need you to awake my soul. And, I think we've all. If we're being honest, we've all been there.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah. And, you know, I still remember a guy when I was young in My Christian life. A guy was talking to me about, his pastor, and he wasn't bashing him or anything, but he said, you know, he's gotten. He's going through a dry time. And he said, you know, we all can go through dry times in the Christian life. I, think the theologians or somebody has called it before, kind of the dark night of the soul where the Lord seems far away. And, you know, nobody likes that. But sometimes it's, you know, it's like with Job, though he slay me, yet will I trust in him? Job felt far away from the Lord when his life crashed and he was calling out to God and God wasn't, responding to him very, very quickly. He eventually responded to him, but not right away. And, that can be very, very difficult. So, you know, I think about, when, you know, how do you develop this heart for God? Well, when you're born again, the Bible says, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow with respect to salvation. So there's a natural. Just like a little baby comes into world, that little baby cries out for m. Milk. And, they're hungry. I mean, a, baby's going to cry when they are hungry, when they need to be changed, when they're cranky about something or whatever. But the hunger factor is there. You know, you talk about, well, if you're. If you're not hungry for God or hungry for the Word, you got to check two things. Are you sick? Is there a sin? There Is something wrong there, or are you dead? You know, dead people don't have an appetite either. And so sometimes I think we can lie to ourselves saying, well, I'm a Christian because I go to church, or I'm a Christian because I prayed this prayer. But if there's not any desire for God or for his Word, you need to really consider, well, maybe I never really trusted the Lord. So we're not talking about that as much as we're talking about a Christian. You know, you've been saved, but how do you grow in your desire for the Lord? And so, one of the first things, Debbie, I think, is you just pray. Ask God. Give me an appetite for you. I want to know you. I want to grow in my relationship with you. Psalm 119 is the longest chapter, of the Bible. It's all about the word of God. And the psalmist says in verse 32, I will run the way of your commandments, for you will enlarge my heart. And that's a great verse, to pray back to the Lord and say, lord, you promised if I will go in the direction of your commandments. You said you'd enlarge my heart, and I need my heart to be enlarged. I want to have more of a heart for God and a growing heart for God that he would increase and I would decrease.
Debbie Schreve: Well, you know, a great example of that in the Old Testament is King David. And he was constantly seeking after the Lord. Now we know from his life, did he seek after the Lord 100% of the time and do everything correctly? No, he did not. But that was his heart's desire was to seek after the Lord. And so in Psalm, we talked about Psalm 27, where he says in verse 4 of that Psalm, one thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. And so he was. What we talked about in our study was he was a one thing kind of guy. That was the primary goal of his life and of his heart, was to be a true worshiper of the Lord and to seek after him. And, you know, the Bible tells us that God himself labeled him David as, a man after my own heart. And so even in the midst of horrible family dysfunction and sin that he had in his life, he didn't stay stuck in those things. He continued to come before the Lord, get his heart right and continue to seek after him and to worship him. And, you know, there is a quote that we use by Eugene Peterson that says this worship is the strategy by which we interrupt our preoccupation with ourselves and attend to the presence of God. And I thought that was just so good because all too often we just let the busyness of life and our own selfishness, I guess, for lack of a better way to word it, to, pull us off course to where we're seeking after the things we want, you know, to satisfy, as opposed to seeking after God and letting him satisfy us. And then from that, an offshoot of him satisfying us is these other things that we enjoy because God gave us things to enjoy. It's not that we should not enjoy things. but, I thought that was just a great quote.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, and it is. You know, the world is constantly coming at us. And Debbie, you and I have had this conversation a lot. I think. I don't know if this is just a guy thing, but, I can get Easily distracted by electronics.
Debbie Schreve: Yes. Preach, preach.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: I can get distracted by, searches on X.
Debbie Schreve: Just go down a rabbit hole.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah, rabbit hole. reels on Facebook. Well, it'll be, scene from Rocky, one of the Rocky movies. It'll be this fight, that fight, you know, whatever it might be.
Debbie Schreve: Can I interject with this real quick? This is just the oddest thing, and this has nothing to do with what we're talking about. But on my Facebook reels, every time I open it up, there are reels about people who have had, who have. Is it called an ostomy where you have had your colon removed? is that what it's called? I can't remember what it's called.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Ileostomy.
Debbie Schreve: I don't know. I'm not a doctor. But anyway, it's like, how did.
Caroline: Why?
Debbie Schreve: I don't have that. I hate it for people who have to have it, but praise God, there's a way for them to continue to live. Yes, but it's like every time I have one of those reels come up. But I don't get on a tangent where I'm going and looking at all these things, because I personally, in my temperament, that's not a struggle.
Caroline: I have.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, you have, I've said this a lot of times. You have a unique ability to discipline yourself, and I love that about you. I'm not naturally disciplined. You are naturally disciplined. You set your mind to do something, by the Lord's grace, you're gonna do it. And, I have to really force myself. So if you say you're getting up at 4 o' clock in the morning and you're gonna work out for an hour, well, you can mark it down. You're gonna do that. And I'm banging the snooze button. I have trouble with that. Well, we're talking about how to develop a heart and a hunger for God. What do you do if you want to be a, Christian on fire for Jesus, but you're really struggling with the things of this world pulling you away and you want to have this heart? Well, that's what we're talking about today as Debbie and I, hit that question head on and we're up against a break. We'll be right back on American Family Radio.
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Pastor Jeff Schreve: Welcome back to the program. Pastor Jeff. Here talking with my wife Debbie. And we're talking about how to have a hunger for God, a heart for God that would be growing and growing. You want to spend time with him. Not that you have to spend time with him, but that you want to spend time with him. I remember Debbie Demonshuk, our former pastor who's with the Lord now, he told me once when he was kind of training me up as his assistant, he said, you know, Jeff, you can have the attitude that you got to preach or you get to preach. And he said, the reality is sometimes it's time and you got to preach. And sometimes you see it as, praise the Lord, I get to preach. And he said, there's a back and forth with that. So in our seeking the Lord, sometimes it's just discipline that says, okay, my flesh doesn't want to do this at all, but I need to spend time with God versus I can't wait to spend time with God. Now, you shared an interesting insight, the difference between the woman at the well and Mary Magdalene as it related to Jesus and the living water and that kind of thing.
Debbie Schreve: Yeah, we talked about that in terms of just like seeking after the Lord. And, you know, there were so many examples of people who sought after the Lord. Moses did that he would go up to the mountain to seek the face of the Lord. David did that. Isaiah did that. And we seek after the Lord because he first sought after us. That's where we don't seek after him first. We seek after him because he has sought after us. And there was just a great, not parallel, but just a contrasting story between the Samaritan woman at the well and Mary Magdalene at the tomb of Jesus after, he had been resurrected. And we talked about the fact that the Samaritan woman. Most of us listening probably are familiar with the story of the Samaritan woman. But she's at the well in the middle of the day, which is a very abnormal time for someone to be at the well drawing water. But Jesus knows why she's there, and so he's seeking after her. He engages her in conversation, and she's seeking after the wrong things. She's wanting physical things. She's wanting physical water. And he's like, hey, I'm right here. I'm the living water. You have my water. You're never going to thirst again. But she keeps diverting the conversation in all these different ways, to get off course because he just is so direct in knowing everything about her. It just unnerved, ah, her, you know, but that. The story of her shows that she was seeking the wrong thing, but God was still seeking after her, you know, but with Mary Magdalene, she is at the tomb after Jesus has risen from the dead, and she arrives there to find it empty. She's just distraught, that it's empty. And so she goes and finds the disciples. She tells them what she's seen. She comes back, and the disciples go back into time, but she stays there, and she's just waiting, and she keeps seeking, and she's just weeping. And she is just desiring to see that one thing in her life that was the most important, which was Jesus himself. And she notices someone behind her, and she. They say, hey, who are you seeking? And she says, you know, I'm seeking m. Jesus. Tell me where you have laid him. And, she doesn't recognize that that's who it is.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Thought it was the gardener, right?
Debbie Schreve: Thought it was a gardener until he speaks her name. And as soon as he says her name, she immediately recognizes her. And, those two stories show us that, you know, God is seeking us and we can and must seek after him in response. And just their responses were so different, you know, in terms of what they were seeking after. And all too often, instead of seeking after Jesus, just like the Samaritan woman at the well, we're seeking after a lot of physical things.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Seeking a blessing.
Debbie Schreve: Seeking a blessing, seeking, you know, the gifts from the Lord, not the Lord himself. And, and it's like, you know, that the psalm in Psalm 23, I should. You know, the first verse says, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. And it's because he's our shepherd that he supplies all those Things. And so to seek after him first, because we're never going to be satisfied if he's not the number one thing that we're seeking after.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Right? Well, so blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. the things of this world can't satisfy. And, you know, as much, Debbie, as we, we get hung up on money because money, everybody needs money to live. And it's, very easy to get hung up on that and to start to worry about money. I don't have enough, or I need to have more. If I just had a little more. And we can get covetous. We can get greedy. And Jesus said, beware and be on guard against every form of greed. for not even when one has an abundance, as his life consists of his possessions. So all these things that we think would make us so happy, if I just had this, this promotion, if I had this new job, if I had this new car, those things are all temporary. I remember, Jon MacArthur said, It's like a ride at an amusement park. You know, you get on it and you're on there for however long it lasts, four minutes, five minutes, and it's thrills and it's ups and downs. It's a roller coaster. Wow, that was so fun. And then it's over. It doesn't bring you lasting, excitement, you know, but the Lord does. He brings lasting satisfaction to life. Well, I think about, music when, we talked about this last week. I talked about it when, we were having, the discussion on, why are you in despair? Oh, my soul, and why have you become disturbed within me? A caller called in and said, you know, there's the power of music to help lift you up. many people are very, very musical, and God speaks to their hearts through music. You were reading the lines of song. there are songs like that that can really get our hearts going. That, Lord, I desire to know you and to grow deeper in you. And it's music that kind of sets the stage for that.
Debbie Schreve: Well, and for me personally, I have a really hard time memorizing scripture unless it's a song. So any kind of worship song that comes straight from God's word, I love those. And I have a real easy time remembering the script that way. But to just discipline myself to say, okay, I'm going to memorize this passage, I have honestly never been able to be successful with that. It's like, it's there, and two weeks later, it's gone. But lyrics to a song and music, they're locked in. And it's just how I'm wired. And, I think that's true. And so there are different ways for each of us to develop a hunger and a thirst. And I think the first one we already kind of touched on is that there are times when it's not going to be our feelings that need to guide us. It's just discipline and obedience to the Lord, because our feelings eventually, over time, will match up with that. But just like you said on the roller coaster thing, that there's that tension there between longing to spend time with the Lord. And then there are those days when it's like I'm rushed. I just don't feel like doing this. I feel like this is getting me nowhere. But out of obedience and discipline and intentionality, you continue to do it. And God blesses that.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah. And what I found, I'm an auditory more than music, I'm an auditory learner. I like to listen to sermons. I like to listen to teachings. And so sometimes if I'm feeling kind of dry listening to someone that I respect, that I learn a lot from. Adrian Rogers has always been my hero in the faith, but now I've expanded to lots of Jon MacArthur, Skip Heitzik, who's been a guest on the program, different ones that I like to listen to. They can say something as just as you're listening that all of a sudden just really speaks to your heart. It's like, wow, it's a new insight, and it's exciting. You know, the Bible says Romans 10:17. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And so you'll never develop a heart for God unless you spend time in his Word. we will devote ourselves, they said in Acts, chapter six, to prayer and the ministry of the Word. Those two things are critical. And, you're never going to grow as a Christian unless you develop a prayer life.
: Ah.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: And a hunger and thirst for the word of God and spend time in the word of God. And I encourage people this way. Debbie. You know, sometimes we talk about sweet hour of prayer, and that can demoralize people because it's like, I have trouble playing, you know, sweet three minutes of prayer, to think about praying for an hour. I just. I'm already defeated. I can't do it. Think about spending time with God reading the Bible for an hour. Lots of people say, I just. I just can't do that. I always say, well, start somewhere. Why don't you start with five or 10 minutes? You know, five or 10 minutes. And as you read, pray and do it, make it more like a conversation. So as you read a verse and it speaks to your heart, then speak that back to God. Lord, can you do this in my life? Lord, I want to have a, this hunger for you. And so as the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for you. Oh God, God give me a thirst like that. And it just makes it interactive. And the Lord, he wants to spend time with us. And what a privilege to be able to spend time with him.
Debbie Schreve: Right. You know, we talked about how, one of the, one of the themes in the Bible which we don't necessarily incorporate, a lot of us don't incorporate this into our lives a lot is the theme of fasting. And you know, the theme of fasting is mentioned like 55 times in the Old Testament. It's mission mentioned 30 times in the NewSong Testament. And that's what the disciples did to continue to be hungry for the Lord is that they, they fasted. They spent time just dedicated to putting aside food and focusing in on the word of the Lord. And you know, we just don't, I don't know, we don't, as a culture, we don't really do that as much anymore, you know, but they're all different kinds of ways to fast. And we didn't get into all those gory details when we were talking about this with the ladies. But just the importance of, instead of focusing in on my physical needs at the moment, I'm going to put my physical needs aside and I'm going to focus in like Mary Magdalene. I'm going to focus in on the one thing and just the discipline of doing that, that, that helps develop a hunger and thirst for the Lord. And it just kind of purifies your heart. It allows the Lord time to do a work in you and to get you back on track and to spark the love you had at the first and to spark that in you. And it's just, a habit that I personally do not have. I do not have that habit. I have on occasions, fasted. If I'm being honest, I can't say that that's just a habit that I have that periodically I do that. but the Bible talks about that, talks about it a lot.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah, Jesus said in Matthew 5, when you fast, not if you fast, but he just assumed that you would be fasting. And you know, one of the ways to do that is to, and I think this is doable for a lot of people take a meal that you're just going to fast. Lunch is a good one to say, okay, I'm not going to eat lunch today and I'm going to take the time that I would normally do to eat lunch, go out to eat or whatever, and I'm going to spend that time with the Lord. And you know, whether that is 15 minutes or 30 minutes or 45 minutes or an hour, you take that time and God, I'm going to devote this to you. And I think too here's probably one of the biggest sticking points for people with spending time with God is the Bible talks about in Ephesians 3 and Paul's prayer, being rooted and grounded in love. And so he says, for this reason I bow my knees before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power through his spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. I don't think we ever get away from that we love because he first loved us. What will drive you away from the Lord is if you believe the lie of the devil, that God doesn't love you anymore, that you've sinned too greatly, that he's, you know, you might be his child, but you're in the doghouse and you're never getting out of the doghouse and you're a second class, child of God. None of that is true. And when we sin, we need to confess that, get that right with the Lord. But we desperately need to be rooted and grounded in love because every time we come before the Lord, we're coming before our Father, who loves us and who wants to do good things for us as we seek his face.
Debbie Schreve: Well, we, we also talked about, in the book of Acts, how before you saw any huge movement of God, almost always it came after a time when the discip. In the, in the early church, the believers had been fasting and praying, you know, and that's not some set formula like, okay, I'm going to do A, so God will do B. Okay, that, that, that doesn't normally work out so well. But it doesn't negate the fact that that's where the power fell and things changed after they were fasting and praying. And so, that, that can be, quite a motivator, you know, when, when things are not going well or you really want to see something happen in the life of one of your loved ones that maybe they've strayed away, wandered away from the Lord or they're going through a difficult time or whatever. There, there's, there's power in that fasting and in that prayer.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, I think about Nineveh, you know, yet 40 days in Nineveh will be overthrown. That was Jonah's message to Nineveh. It wasn't a field go good seeker sensitive sermon. It was, you're going to get wiped out. Well, they heeded the words of Jonah, they responded, they fasted, they prayed, they called upon God, and God relented concerning the evil. When God saw how they responded, he said, well, I'm not going to destroy them because God wants, that's, that's the main thing that God wants. He wants us to turn to Him. And when we turn to him with a genuine heart, then he. He doesn't need to bring about those disasters. and listen, the reality is true. We don't do well with prosperity in general. We tend to seek the Lord much m more, diligently and with a whole heart when life is hard.
Debbie Schreve: 911 is case in point on that.
: Good point.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: But when the bad news is there, no. Then we call upon God. So when he killed them, it says in Psalm 78, then he sought them, or then they sought him and returned diligently to God. Well, you're listening to Real Truth for today. Pastor Jeff Schrieve here with my wife Debbie. We're talking about how to develop a hunger for God. When we come back from the break, we'll be taking your calls. 888-589-8840. That's 885-89840. If you have a question or comment, give us a call on American Family Radio.
: If you'd like to contact Pastor Jeff, email pastor jeffromhisheart.org now back to Real Truth for today with Pastor Jeff Schrieve.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Welcome back to the program. I do want to just mention we are going to Israel in April, April 2nd through the 11th, 2027. Love to have you come with me. Dr. Krish Schroeder is also going to be, leading the trip with me and we're going to have a great, great time and we're trusting the Lord for, the end of the War and the conflict with Iran. I know that groups are in Israel right now. Gary, Frazier, who is, the company we're using Discovery Missions, for this trip, he said, I have groups there right now. So April is going to be a great, great time. I talked to our tour guide just, this morning via Facebook, Pilar Blanco. And, she said, I have, tours coming in in December, for her personally. But anyway, you can check out all the information, go to from hisheart.org from hisheart.org and just click on the, button that says Holy Land 2027 and check it out. Well, we've been talking about Debbie and I have, how to develop a hunger for God, a heart for God, as the deer pants for the water brook. So my soul thirsts for God. the psalmist had this desire to be with the Lord, spend time with the Lord. Well, we'd love to hear from you. 888-589-8840. That's 888-589-8840. If you have a question, comment, brief testimony, and, give us a call and we can talk. And we have our friend Raul on the line from Texas. Raul, welcome to Real Truth for today.
Caroline: Thank you, Jeff. And I just wanted to say that, you know, when I sometimes bring up, the Bible or Jesus, what he's doing in my life, there's always, not always, but there's a times when people say, well, you know, there's a time and place for that. or don't talk about politics and religion. And you know, I just thinking, who made that rule up? I mean, is that a rule? And I just thinking, who are you to tell me when I cannot talk about my Lord and Savior? Yes.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Did you. Is he still there?
Caroline: Yeah. Can you hear me?
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah. Go ahead, Go ahead, Raul.
Caroline: I'm just saying that it's, you know, it's always a time and place to talk about Jesus Christ. And people are just saying that, you know, don't talk about it right now.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Right.
Caroline: Jesus faced that same problem.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, I love that, you know, we do need, we need to speak up about our Savior. And I had a friend of mine and he said if, if somebody was taking God's name in vain, he would interrupt him. And he said, hey, you know, that's. You're talking about my friend. And he said the guy would catch him off guard. What do you mean, my friend? He said, the Lord is my friend and I would appreciate if you wouldn't use his name like that and, you know, you know, we need to be bolder in our faith. if Christians would get bold, all the Christians, we'd quit blending in. We'd start standing out and be the salt and light the Lord wants us to be. We would see major differences taking place in America. And especially as we talk about the upcoming midterm elections, if Christians don't get involved, if we don't go vote, if we're not vocal and we're not speaking the truth in love, just as Walker Wildmon, has been saying, well, things will change, and they're not going to change for the better. They're going to change for the worse. And then what are we going to leave behind as far as a nation for our children and our grandchildren and our great grandchildren? If you really love people, you are going to do what the Bible says and seek for the welfare, the shalom of the city. And that means Christians getting involved, running for office, and definitely voting and voting for candidates that have values that more closely match up to the word of God. So I appreciate that, Raul, and God bless you, brother. We have Daniel on the line from Arkansas. Daniel, welcome to Real Truth for today.
Caroline: Good morning. Good morning.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Good morning.
Caroline: Just wanted to go back on the topic of, fasting. You know, you guys have mentioned you can fast, but, recently I, just basket social media for a month. I don't know, if there's anybody else out there grab a hold of you, draw you away from Lord, take the time that you can have to be devoting to Christ.
Caroline: Right?
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah, that's a good point, Daniel. You know, Debbie, when we were newly married with our kids, I mean, the Internet wasn't a thing, social media wasn't a thing. Cell phones weren't a thing. You remember when the cell phones came out where you could text, but you had to do.
Debbie Schreve: You had to bang it a letter at a time.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah. And how fast Sarah, our youngest, are, she could just do that stuff. And it would be. If I were going to text I love you to somebody, it would take me five minutes to try and figure out how to do that. but now things, you know, voice to text, and people are just on it all the time. They can be good in some senses. You can save a lot of time. Just like, you know, you think about, well, modern conveniences. I teased you the other day. I said, debbie, I brought, I bought you a washing machine and a dryer. many women have had to take their clothes to the rocks and the river and beat them with A rock. And. And so you should be thankful.
Debbie Schreve: Yes, definitely.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: You aren't very thankful. But. But those things can be good timesavers. But as Daniel said, they can suck up a lot of time, too, and get you down those rabbit holes. And so fasting, you know, we normally think about fasting from eating, but fasting can be from a lot of things. Fasting from your pleasures, things that you enjoy, fasting from tv, fasting from the computer. And we're just going to spend some time seeking the Lord, talking to the Lord and reading His Word and listening and worshiping. All those things are good. So I appreciate that, Daniel. That's a good point. We have our friend Linda on the line from Texas. Linda, welcome to the program.
Caroline: Oh, thank you so much. I'm just sitting here smiling because every call ministers to you. But I called because Psalm 42. As a deer pants for the water, so my soul is after thee. And, Debbie, I'm right on with you with singing. Worship and singing a song go together. And, do you know that song? As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after you Alone are my heart's desire. Yes. Okay. Well, my testimony here is my son. I don't know. He was probably in his early teens, maybe younger than that. And that was his scripture. As a deer pants for the water. He drew a picture of that. He's an artist, too. And so when I heard that, I thought, you know what? And I just had to. And, you know, then I heard the song or, the scripture repeated. So I just had to call and give that testimony and say, debbie, our hearts are linked together. I mean, that's a lot of scriptures. I learned the, scripture by singing it. And so I just had a call and say thank you both. And I'm telling you, I get turned on by this program. This is my get start shot this morning. And so thank you so much.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Thank you, Linda. I appreciate it. That is, such an encouragement. Well, Debbie, a couple of the things we had talked about, it was really, important for Christians to stay connected to the church and connected to other believers. If you're starting to cool in your heart for the Lord, that's not the time to pull away. That's the time to press in. I still remember my friend Everett Sheffey. he would pray for about 100 people every day. He was a prayer warrior. And I said to him, I said, well, Everett, what do you do when you don't feel like praying? He prayed for about an hour a day. So what do you do when you don't feel like praying? He said, I pray more. And he was like you, very disciplined. So those things, he would just set his mind to it. But, yeah, let me just encourage you, you, if you don't have a church home, every Christian needs a church home. So we're on media, media ministry. I love to be on the radio and on television and online and opportunities to reach people and shut ins and people in hospitals and people in prisons, people that can't get out. But media ministry is, a good supplement. It's not a good, good substitute. You need to be, if at all possible, you need to be with the family of God, with the people of God, rubbing shoulders with other Christians, singing the songs, being in the room, hearing the sermon. The spirit of God moves differently when you're there live versus when you're watching it.
Debbie Schreve: Well, I'm going to circle back to a little thing that we mentioned, I think this last segment, but in terms of just prayer time and being in the word and praying God's word back to him, and you know, we've talked about before that prayer is all about relationship. So it doesn't have to be this formal thing. It can be like you've started a text thread in the morning with the Lord and you just keep it going all throughout the day. So you may not have an hour solid where you're, you're sitting and you're in prayer. But if you're interacting with him all throughout the day and you keep that line of communication open where you, you can hear from him and you can talk back, that's prayer as well. This year I, have done, in my quiet time, I do a Bible writing time where I have different verses that I'll write out and then I kind of pray those back. As I was doing it this morning, my verses were in Deuteronomy 10, 20 and 21, where it says, fear the Lord your God and serve Him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. He is the one you praise. He is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. And I wrote down in my journal as I was doing it, it was like, how cool would that have been to have seen those miracles and wonders with my own eyes? That would have been so amazing. Yet they saw those and they still grumbled, they still griped, they still had disbelief, they still didn't trust. And so it's like, okay, you know, I don't Want to. So my prayer was, I don't want to be that way. I don't want to be distrusting. I don't want to be a grumbler. I don't want to be like that. And so they're just those. Those, ways that we can spend time in His Word and let His Word speak to us and feed us. And when. When he's feeding us and we're in a healthy relationship with, with him, we are going to have a hunger, because a hunger represents health.
Caroline: Right.
Debbie Schreve: And, anyway, that was just a little aside.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah. Well, let me encourage you this way also. So I talked to a friend just, last night. He came up to me after the service, and he said, you know, I really think I got saved just a couple days ago. He said, I thought I was a Christian for so long, but he said, I've had kind of a depression and a darkness that has plagued my life. And he said, I really surrendered myself to the Lord. And he said, that's gone now. And, I said, well, praise the Lord. And so I prayed for him and, just asking God to do great things in his life and just to, open him up to the truth that God really does love me. Jesus really did die for me. For God so loved me that he gave his only begotten Son. And the Bible says, let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. And let those who love your salvation say continually the Lord be magnified. So I encourage this guy. Said, every day when you get up, first thing to do is hit your knees and thank God for the cross, for the empty tomb, for the fact that he loves you, that he'd sent His Son, that He's given you His Holy Spirit to live inside of you, that he is for you and he's not against you. That, you know, he's never going to leave you, never going to forsake you, that today is going to be a good day as you walk with him and as you trust him. And so it just turns everything. It sets the day up to be a positive and not a negative. Hey, guess what? you have trouble in your life. I have trouble in my life. Debbie has trouble in her marriage, being married to me. you know, we all have troubles and problems. That's part of life in the world. You have tribulation, but be of good courage. Jesus said, I have overcome the world. And as we walk with him and walk in the light with him, we don't need to be afraid. We don't need to be, you know, worried about the future. We just know. I don't know what the future holds, but I know who holds my future, and I'm going to trust him, and I know he's going to provide for me.
Debbie Schreve: Well, we closed out our session when we talked about this, going back to Psalm 27. And we looked at the. At verses 13 and 14 where David said, I remain confident of this. I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord. Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. And, you know, waiting can be difficult. And it's sometimes in our waiting, when we're not seeing God move at the speed in which we think he needs to move, or moving in the direction that we want him to move, that we can become disheartened and discouraged and kind of drift away in our obedience, in our trust, in our faithfulness and our discipline. But that's not the time to do that. That's the time to lean in even further and to, recognize that, you know, there was a quote by Jon Piper that we read that said there is an appetite for God and it can be awakened. And so that's kind of where we left the ladies, where we. Man, have you been eating too much of the world's food and not been eating enough of God's food that he provides for you? Because the world's food is not going to satisfy. And, His Word is what awakens our appetite for him. And, to spend time, to spend time there and to look only to the living water, because the, the contaminated water of the world isn't going to satisfy our thirst.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: No. Psalm 71:14. Great, great verse. The psalmist says, but as for me, I will hope continually, and I will praise you yet more and more. Hey, maybe you're in a dry season right now. Take time to praise God. Say, lord, I thank you for this season that I'm in, because I know that the rain is coming. I know that you're going to do something wonderful. In my life, I would have despaired unless I believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the Lord. God is a good God and God will respond to us. So pray, Lord, give me a heart. Give me a hunger for you. Enlarge my heart as I run the way of your commandments. Well, go out today. Shine for Christ and share what great things the Lord has done for you. And guess what? God will use you as his witness. God bless you.
: Welcome to Real Truth for Today with Pastor Jeff Schrieve, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Texarkana, Texas. Now, here's Pastor Jeff.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, good morning and welcome to Real Truth for Today. It is Thursday, October 1st, and I am sitting across the table from my wife Debbie. And Debbie loves what she calls the brrr months. September, October, November, December, Jan. Ber. We don't have Jamber. No, she likes the fall. And so, Debbie, I think October is going to feel a whole lot more like fall than September felt like in, Texarkana. Anyway. It was so hot.
Debbie Schreve: It was so hot. Yes, it was crazy, ridiculous hot.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: So what are you expecting for October?
Debbie Schreve: I don't know. In my mind I just have on a sweater with a fire in the fireplace. But that could be wishful thinking.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: All right, I want to read to you from, the very familiar passage of scripture. It's called the Sermon on the Mount. So it says that when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. He opened his mouth and began teach them, saying, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the gentle or the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. I want to talk today about hungering for God. How do you, develop a hunger for God? You know, we could also call it developing a heart for God, because a heart for God and a hunger for God are really the same thing. It says in Psalm 42, as the deer pants for the water brook. So My soul pants for God, for the living God. And you see, some Christians, they seem to be so in love with the Lord and have such a passion for God and others who are truly saved, but they just don't seem to have that. And, maybe you're listening and you say, you know, I want to have a hunger for God. I want to have a passion for God that would far exceed my passion for anything else. But how do you develop that? How do I develop that? And Debbie, I know you talked about that last, month in your Bible study with the ladies here at First Baptist Texarkana. So how does a person go about developing a heart and a hunger for God?
Debbie Schreve: Well, I think we started off our conversation by just kind of laying down the foundation that normally no hunger indicates illness. You know, so if you are, if you have a stomach virus, nothing sounds good. If you have food poisoning, nothing sounds good. You're ill and therefore you're not hungry, you're in pain, nothing sounds good in terms of food.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: And you know, when feed a cold, starve a fever.
Debbie Schreve: Yes. Yeah, it's hard to, it's hard to feed a cold though, because it's hard to eat when you're stuffed up, you know.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: You know, I was thinking about that with you because you, you can get food, poisoning very easily.
Debbie Schreve: Oh, yeah, I've had it like five times.
Caroline: Horrible.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Got it on our honeymoon.
Caroline: Yes.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: my attitude very sadly, very rarely am I not wanting to eat. just a couple of times.
Debbie Schreve: Yeah, no, I get that quite often, actually, where I don't really.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: You don't even, like, if I even mention food, it makes you sick.
Debbie Schreve: Well, when I'm sick, yes. Right, yeah. Because I mean, I can think back to like, I mean, especially with food poisoning. If you think about the food that caused you to get the food poisoning, it's just horrific. To the point where years later you may still not eat that food. I mean, it leaves such an impact on you.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: How about, our son in law, Jay with Taco Bell?
Debbie Schreve: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. If you mention Taco Bell to Jay, he kind of cringes to this day. And this was years, I mean, how many years ago? 20 that he got, he got food. Ah, poisoning at Taco Bell. but you know, when kids aren't eating, when our children aren't eating, they'll have a diagnosis that says something like this. A failure to thrive. And that's what happens with us in our spiritual life. When we don't have a hunger for the Lord, we have a failure to thrive in our relationship with him. Because having a hunger for him is important. And the good news is that having a hunger for him is something that he desires for us. So the Bible assures us that if we ask anything that's in his will for us and we're walking in alignment with him, he's faithful to answer that and to give us that. So, yes, we can all get to the place where we don't have the hunger and thirst for the Lord that we might have had at another time. But the good news is we can get that back. M. You know, because he can give that back to us. And, you know, we just kind of roundtabled, about just different things that you can sometimes feel. It's like, you know, it's not that you're walking in just this grotesque disobedience to the Lord, but it's just that, you know, scripture maybe just kind of seems lifeless, and your prayer seems like more of a chore that you have to do. like it's not reaching any. You're not obtaining any purpose in it. that serving in the church may become a struggle. Even fellowshipping and wanting to be among other believers can. Can just lose its joy. And you can just kind of feel dry inside, where you're just kind of feel spiritually disconnected and maybe just kind of emotionally empty, disengaged. and we've probably. We're being honest, we've probably all had bouts of that in our Christian life. but the good news is, like I said before, because that is in his will for our lives to have a hunger for Him. He can give that back to us. And, you know, we have a song that we sing at our church that the lyrics of it. Restore to me the joy of my salvation. Take me back to where it all began where all I ever wanted was your presence oh, how I long to be there once again. Renew in me a pure and willing spirit. Take me back to where it all began before it all became so complicated. How I long to be there once again. And, what song is that? Restore to me the joy of my salvation is the name of the song.
: Oh, that's right.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: That's right.
Debbie Schreve: and then it goes on to say, lord, I'm sorry. Please forgive me for where I've gone cold I need you How I need you to awake my soul. And, I think we've all. If we're being honest, we've all been there.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah. And, you know, I still remember a guy when I was young in My Christian life. A guy was talking to me about, his pastor, and he wasn't bashing him or anything, but he said, you know, he's gotten. He's going through a dry time. And he said, you know, we all can go through dry times in the Christian life. I, think the theologians or somebody has called it before, kind of the dark night of the soul where the Lord seems far away. And, you know, nobody likes that. But sometimes it's, you know, it's like with Job, though he slay me, yet will I trust in him? Job felt far away from the Lord when his life crashed and he was calling out to God and God wasn't, responding to him very, very quickly. He eventually responded to him, but not right away. And, that can be very, very difficult. So, you know, I think about, when, you know, how do you develop this heart for God? Well, when you're born again, the Bible says, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow with respect to salvation. So there's a natural. Just like a little baby comes into world, that little baby cries out for m. Milk. And, they're hungry. I mean, a, baby's going to cry when they are hungry, when they need to be changed, when they're cranky about something or whatever. But the hunger factor is there. You know, you talk about, well, if you're. If you're not hungry for God or hungry for the Word, you got to check two things. Are you sick? Is there a sin? There Is something wrong there, or are you dead? You know, dead people don't have an appetite either. And so sometimes I think we can lie to ourselves saying, well, I'm a Christian because I go to church, or I'm a Christian because I prayed this prayer. But if there's not any desire for God or for his Word, you need to really consider, well, maybe I never really trusted the Lord. So we're not talking about that as much as we're talking about a Christian. You know, you've been saved, but how do you grow in your desire for the Lord? And so, one of the first things, Debbie, I think, is you just pray. Ask God. Give me an appetite for you. I want to know you. I want to grow in my relationship with you. Psalm 119 is the longest chapter, of the Bible. It's all about the word of God. And the psalmist says in verse 32, I will run the way of your commandments, for you will enlarge my heart. And that's a great verse, to pray back to the Lord and say, lord, you promised if I will go in the direction of your commandments. You said you'd enlarge my heart, and I need my heart to be enlarged. I want to have more of a heart for God and a growing heart for God that he would increase and I would decrease.
Debbie Schreve: Well, you know, a great example of that in the Old Testament is King David. And he was constantly seeking after the Lord. Now we know from his life, did he seek after the Lord 100% of the time and do everything correctly? No, he did not. But that was his heart's desire was to seek after the Lord. And so in Psalm, we talked about Psalm 27, where he says in verse 4 of that Psalm, one thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. And so he was. What we talked about in our study was he was a one thing kind of guy. That was the primary goal of his life and of his heart, was to be a true worshiper of the Lord and to seek after him. And, you know, the Bible tells us that God himself labeled him David as, a man after my own heart. And so even in the midst of horrible family dysfunction and sin that he had in his life, he didn't stay stuck in those things. He continued to come before the Lord, get his heart right and continue to seek after him and to worship him. And, you know, there is a quote that we use by Eugene Peterson that says this worship is the strategy by which we interrupt our preoccupation with ourselves and attend to the presence of God. And I thought that was just so good because all too often we just let the busyness of life and our own selfishness, I guess, for lack of a better way to word it, to, pull us off course to where we're seeking after the things we want, you know, to satisfy, as opposed to seeking after God and letting him satisfy us. And then from that, an offshoot of him satisfying us is these other things that we enjoy because God gave us things to enjoy. It's not that we should not enjoy things. but, I thought that was just a great quote.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, and it is. You know, the world is constantly coming at us. And Debbie, you and I have had this conversation a lot. I think. I don't know if this is just a guy thing, but, I can get Easily distracted by electronics.
Debbie Schreve: Yes. Preach, preach.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: I can get distracted by, searches on X.
Debbie Schreve: Just go down a rabbit hole.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah, rabbit hole. reels on Facebook. Well, it'll be, scene from Rocky, one of the Rocky movies. It'll be this fight, that fight, you know, whatever it might be.
Debbie Schreve: Can I interject with this real quick? This is just the oddest thing, and this has nothing to do with what we're talking about. But on my Facebook reels, every time I open it up, there are reels about people who have had, who have. Is it called an ostomy where you have had your colon removed? is that what it's called? I can't remember what it's called.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Ileostomy.
Debbie Schreve: I don't know. I'm not a doctor. But anyway, it's like, how did.
Caroline: Why?
Debbie Schreve: I don't have that. I hate it for people who have to have it, but praise God, there's a way for them to continue to live. Yes, but it's like every time I have one of those reels come up. But I don't get on a tangent where I'm going and looking at all these things, because I personally, in my temperament, that's not a struggle.
Caroline: I have.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, you have, I've said this a lot of times. You have a unique ability to discipline yourself, and I love that about you. I'm not naturally disciplined. You are naturally disciplined. You set your mind to do something, by the Lord's grace, you're gonna do it. And, I have to really force myself. So if you say you're getting up at 4 o' clock in the morning and you're gonna work out for an hour, well, you can mark it down. You're gonna do that. And I'm banging the snooze button. I have trouble with that. Well, we're talking about how to develop a heart and a hunger for God. What do you do if you want to be a, Christian on fire for Jesus, but you're really struggling with the things of this world pulling you away and you want to have this heart? Well, that's what we're talking about today as Debbie and I, hit that question head on and we're up against a break. We'll be right back on American Family Radio.
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Pastor Jeff Schreve: Welcome back to the program. Pastor Jeff. Here talking with my wife Debbie. And we're talking about how to have a hunger for God, a heart for God that would be growing and growing. You want to spend time with him. Not that you have to spend time with him, but that you want to spend time with him. I remember Debbie Demonshuk, our former pastor who's with the Lord now, he told me once when he was kind of training me up as his assistant, he said, you know, Jeff, you can have the attitude that you got to preach or you get to preach. And he said, the reality is sometimes it's time and you got to preach. And sometimes you see it as, praise the Lord, I get to preach. And he said, there's a back and forth with that. So in our seeking the Lord, sometimes it's just discipline that says, okay, my flesh doesn't want to do this at all, but I need to spend time with God versus I can't wait to spend time with God. Now, you shared an interesting insight, the difference between the woman at the well and Mary Magdalene as it related to Jesus and the living water and that kind of thing.
Debbie Schreve: Yeah, we talked about that in terms of just like seeking after the Lord. And, you know, there were so many examples of people who sought after the Lord. Moses did that he would go up to the mountain to seek the face of the Lord. David did that. Isaiah did that. And we seek after the Lord because he first sought after us. That's where we don't seek after him first. We seek after him because he has sought after us. And there was just a great, not parallel, but just a contrasting story between the Samaritan woman at the well and Mary Magdalene at the tomb of Jesus after, he had been resurrected. And we talked about the fact that the Samaritan woman. Most of us listening probably are familiar with the story of the Samaritan woman. But she's at the well in the middle of the day, which is a very abnormal time for someone to be at the well drawing water. But Jesus knows why she's there, and so he's seeking after her. He engages her in conversation, and she's seeking after the wrong things. She's wanting physical things. She's wanting physical water. And he's like, hey, I'm right here. I'm the living water. You have my water. You're never going to thirst again. But she keeps diverting the conversation in all these different ways, to get off course because he just is so direct in knowing everything about her. It just unnerved, ah, her, you know, but that. The story of her shows that she was seeking the wrong thing, but God was still seeking after her, you know, but with Mary Magdalene, she is at the tomb after Jesus has risen from the dead, and she arrives there to find it empty. She's just distraught, that it's empty. And so she goes and finds the disciples. She tells them what she's seen. She comes back, and the disciples go back into time, but she stays there, and she's just waiting, and she keeps seeking, and she's just weeping. And she is just desiring to see that one thing in her life that was the most important, which was Jesus himself. And she notices someone behind her, and she. They say, hey, who are you seeking? And she says, you know, I'm seeking m. Jesus. Tell me where you have laid him. And, she doesn't recognize that that's who it is.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Thought it was the gardener, right?
Debbie Schreve: Thought it was a gardener until he speaks her name. And as soon as he says her name, she immediately recognizes her. And, those two stories show us that, you know, God is seeking us and we can and must seek after him in response. And just their responses were so different, you know, in terms of what they were seeking after. And all too often, instead of seeking after Jesus, just like the Samaritan woman at the well, we're seeking after a lot of physical things.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Seeking a blessing.
Debbie Schreve: Seeking a blessing, seeking, you know, the gifts from the Lord, not the Lord himself. And, and it's like, you know, that the psalm in Psalm 23, I should. You know, the first verse says, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. And it's because he's our shepherd that he supplies all those Things. And so to seek after him first, because we're never going to be satisfied if he's not the number one thing that we're seeking after.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Right? Well, so blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. the things of this world can't satisfy. And, you know, as much, Debbie, as we, we get hung up on money because money, everybody needs money to live. And it's, very easy to get hung up on that and to start to worry about money. I don't have enough, or I need to have more. If I just had a little more. And we can get covetous. We can get greedy. And Jesus said, beware and be on guard against every form of greed. for not even when one has an abundance, as his life consists of his possessions. So all these things that we think would make us so happy, if I just had this, this promotion, if I had this new job, if I had this new car, those things are all temporary. I remember, Jon MacArthur said, It's like a ride at an amusement park. You know, you get on it and you're on there for however long it lasts, four minutes, five minutes, and it's thrills and it's ups and downs. It's a roller coaster. Wow, that was so fun. And then it's over. It doesn't bring you lasting, excitement, you know, but the Lord does. He brings lasting satisfaction to life. Well, I think about, music when, we talked about this last week. I talked about it when, we were having, the discussion on, why are you in despair? Oh, my soul, and why have you become disturbed within me? A caller called in and said, you know, there's the power of music to help lift you up. many people are very, very musical, and God speaks to their hearts through music. You were reading the lines of song. there are songs like that that can really get our hearts going. That, Lord, I desire to know you and to grow deeper in you. And it's music that kind of sets the stage for that.
Debbie Schreve: Well, and for me personally, I have a really hard time memorizing scripture unless it's a song. So any kind of worship song that comes straight from God's word, I love those. And I have a real easy time remembering the script that way. But to just discipline myself to say, okay, I'm going to memorize this passage, I have honestly never been able to be successful with that. It's like, it's there, and two weeks later, it's gone. But lyrics to a song and music, they're locked in. And it's just how I'm wired. And, I think that's true. And so there are different ways for each of us to develop a hunger and a thirst. And I think the first one we already kind of touched on is that there are times when it's not going to be our feelings that need to guide us. It's just discipline and obedience to the Lord, because our feelings eventually, over time, will match up with that. But just like you said on the roller coaster thing, that there's that tension there between longing to spend time with the Lord. And then there are those days when it's like I'm rushed. I just don't feel like doing this. I feel like this is getting me nowhere. But out of obedience and discipline and intentionality, you continue to do it. And God blesses that.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah. And what I found, I'm an auditory more than music, I'm an auditory learner. I like to listen to sermons. I like to listen to teachings. And so sometimes if I'm feeling kind of dry listening to someone that I respect, that I learn a lot from. Adrian Rogers has always been my hero in the faith, but now I've expanded to lots of Jon MacArthur, Skip Heitzik, who's been a guest on the program, different ones that I like to listen to. They can say something as just as you're listening that all of a sudden just really speaks to your heart. It's like, wow, it's a new insight, and it's exciting. You know, the Bible says Romans 10:17. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And so you'll never develop a heart for God unless you spend time in his Word. we will devote ourselves, they said in Acts, chapter six, to prayer and the ministry of the Word. Those two things are critical. And, you're never going to grow as a Christian unless you develop a prayer life.
: Ah.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: And a hunger and thirst for the word of God and spend time in the word of God. And I encourage people this way. Debbie. You know, sometimes we talk about sweet hour of prayer, and that can demoralize people because it's like, I have trouble playing, you know, sweet three minutes of prayer, to think about praying for an hour. I just. I'm already defeated. I can't do it. Think about spending time with God reading the Bible for an hour. Lots of people say, I just. I just can't do that. I always say, well, start somewhere. Why don't you start with five or 10 minutes? You know, five or 10 minutes. And as you read, pray and do it, make it more like a conversation. So as you read a verse and it speaks to your heart, then speak that back to God. Lord, can you do this in my life? Lord, I want to have a, this hunger for you. And so as the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for you. Oh God, God give me a thirst like that. And it just makes it interactive. And the Lord, he wants to spend time with us. And what a privilege to be able to spend time with him.
Debbie Schreve: Right. You know, we talked about how, one of the, one of the themes in the Bible which we don't necessarily incorporate, a lot of us don't incorporate this into our lives a lot is the theme of fasting. And you know, the theme of fasting is mentioned like 55 times in the Old Testament. It's mission mentioned 30 times in the NewSong Testament. And that's what the disciples did to continue to be hungry for the Lord is that they, they fasted. They spent time just dedicated to putting aside food and focusing in on the word of the Lord. And you know, we just don't, I don't know, we don't, as a culture, we don't really do that as much anymore, you know, but they're all different kinds of ways to fast. And we didn't get into all those gory details when we were talking about this with the ladies. But just the importance of, instead of focusing in on my physical needs at the moment, I'm going to put my physical needs aside and I'm going to focus in like Mary Magdalene. I'm going to focus in on the one thing and just the discipline of doing that, that, that helps develop a hunger and thirst for the Lord. And it just kind of purifies your heart. It allows the Lord time to do a work in you and to get you back on track and to spark the love you had at the first and to spark that in you. And it's just, a habit that I personally do not have. I do not have that habit. I have on occasions, fasted. If I'm being honest, I can't say that that's just a habit that I have that periodically I do that. but the Bible talks about that, talks about it a lot.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah, Jesus said in Matthew 5, when you fast, not if you fast, but he just assumed that you would be fasting. And you know, one of the ways to do that is to, and I think this is doable for a lot of people take a meal that you're just going to fast. Lunch is a good one to say, okay, I'm not going to eat lunch today and I'm going to take the time that I would normally do to eat lunch, go out to eat or whatever, and I'm going to spend that time with the Lord. And you know, whether that is 15 minutes or 30 minutes or 45 minutes or an hour, you take that time and God, I'm going to devote this to you. And I think too here's probably one of the biggest sticking points for people with spending time with God is the Bible talks about in Ephesians 3 and Paul's prayer, being rooted and grounded in love. And so he says, for this reason I bow my knees before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power through his spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. I don't think we ever get away from that we love because he first loved us. What will drive you away from the Lord is if you believe the lie of the devil, that God doesn't love you anymore, that you've sinned too greatly, that he's, you know, you might be his child, but you're in the doghouse and you're never getting out of the doghouse and you're a second class, child of God. None of that is true. And when we sin, we need to confess that, get that right with the Lord. But we desperately need to be rooted and grounded in love because every time we come before the Lord, we're coming before our Father, who loves us and who wants to do good things for us as we seek his face.
Debbie Schreve: Well, we, we also talked about, in the book of Acts, how before you saw any huge movement of God, almost always it came after a time when the discip. In the, in the early church, the believers had been fasting and praying, you know, and that's not some set formula like, okay, I'm going to do A, so God will do B. Okay, that, that, that doesn't normally work out so well. But it doesn't negate the fact that that's where the power fell and things changed after they were fasting and praying. And so, that, that can be, quite a motivator, you know, when, when things are not going well or you really want to see something happen in the life of one of your loved ones that maybe they've strayed away, wandered away from the Lord or they're going through a difficult time or whatever. There, there's, there's power in that fasting and in that prayer.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, I think about Nineveh, you know, yet 40 days in Nineveh will be overthrown. That was Jonah's message to Nineveh. It wasn't a field go good seeker sensitive sermon. It was, you're going to get wiped out. Well, they heeded the words of Jonah, they responded, they fasted, they prayed, they called upon God, and God relented concerning the evil. When God saw how they responded, he said, well, I'm not going to destroy them because God wants, that's, that's the main thing that God wants. He wants us to turn to Him. And when we turn to him with a genuine heart, then he. He doesn't need to bring about those disasters. and listen, the reality is true. We don't do well with prosperity in general. We tend to seek the Lord much m more, diligently and with a whole heart when life is hard.
Debbie Schreve: 911 is case in point on that.
: Good point.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: But when the bad news is there, no. Then we call upon God. So when he killed them, it says in Psalm 78, then he sought them, or then they sought him and returned diligently to God. Well, you're listening to Real Truth for today. Pastor Jeff Schrieve here with my wife Debbie. We're talking about how to develop a hunger for God. When we come back from the break, we'll be taking your calls. 888-589-8840. That's 885-89840. If you have a question or comment, give us a call on American Family Radio.
: If you'd like to contact Pastor Jeff, email pastor jeffromhisheart.org now back to Real Truth for today with Pastor Jeff Schrieve.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Welcome back to the program. I do want to just mention we are going to Israel in April, April 2nd through the 11th, 2027. Love to have you come with me. Dr. Krish Schroeder is also going to be, leading the trip with me and we're going to have a great, great time and we're trusting the Lord for, the end of the War and the conflict with Iran. I know that groups are in Israel right now. Gary, Frazier, who is, the company we're using Discovery Missions, for this trip, he said, I have groups there right now. So April is going to be a great, great time. I talked to our tour guide just, this morning via Facebook, Pilar Blanco. And, she said, I have, tours coming in in December, for her personally. But anyway, you can check out all the information, go to from hisheart.org from hisheart.org and just click on the, button that says Holy Land 2027 and check it out. Well, we've been talking about Debbie and I have, how to develop a hunger for God, a heart for God, as the deer pants for the water brook. So my soul thirsts for God. the psalmist had this desire to be with the Lord, spend time with the Lord. Well, we'd love to hear from you. 888-589-8840. That's 888-589-8840. If you have a question, comment, brief testimony, and, give us a call and we can talk. And we have our friend Raul on the line from Texas. Raul, welcome to Real Truth for today.
Caroline: Thank you, Jeff. And I just wanted to say that, you know, when I sometimes bring up, the Bible or Jesus, what he's doing in my life, there's always, not always, but there's a times when people say, well, you know, there's a time and place for that. or don't talk about politics and religion. And you know, I just thinking, who made that rule up? I mean, is that a rule? And I just thinking, who are you to tell me when I cannot talk about my Lord and Savior? Yes.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Did you. Is he still there?
Caroline: Yeah. Can you hear me?
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah. Go ahead, Go ahead, Raul.
Caroline: I'm just saying that it's, you know, it's always a time and place to talk about Jesus Christ. And people are just saying that, you know, don't talk about it right now.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Right.
Caroline: Jesus faced that same problem.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, I love that, you know, we do need, we need to speak up about our Savior. And I had a friend of mine and he said if, if somebody was taking God's name in vain, he would interrupt him. And he said, hey, you know, that's. You're talking about my friend. And he said the guy would catch him off guard. What do you mean, my friend? He said, the Lord is my friend and I would appreciate if you wouldn't use his name like that and, you know, you know, we need to be bolder in our faith. if Christians would get bold, all the Christians, we'd quit blending in. We'd start standing out and be the salt and light the Lord wants us to be. We would see major differences taking place in America. And especially as we talk about the upcoming midterm elections, if Christians don't get involved, if we don't go vote, if we're not vocal and we're not speaking the truth in love, just as Walker Wildmon, has been saying, well, things will change, and they're not going to change for the better. They're going to change for the worse. And then what are we going to leave behind as far as a nation for our children and our grandchildren and our great grandchildren? If you really love people, you are going to do what the Bible says and seek for the welfare, the shalom of the city. And that means Christians getting involved, running for office, and definitely voting and voting for candidates that have values that more closely match up to the word of God. So I appreciate that, Raul, and God bless you, brother. We have Daniel on the line from Arkansas. Daniel, welcome to Real Truth for today.
Caroline: Good morning. Good morning.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Good morning.
Caroline: Just wanted to go back on the topic of, fasting. You know, you guys have mentioned you can fast, but, recently I, just basket social media for a month. I don't know, if there's anybody else out there grab a hold of you, draw you away from Lord, take the time that you can have to be devoting to Christ.
Caroline: Right?
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah, that's a good point, Daniel. You know, Debbie, when we were newly married with our kids, I mean, the Internet wasn't a thing, social media wasn't a thing. Cell phones weren't a thing. You remember when the cell phones came out where you could text, but you had to do.
Debbie Schreve: You had to bang it a letter at a time.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah. And how fast Sarah, our youngest, are, she could just do that stuff. And it would be. If I were going to text I love you to somebody, it would take me five minutes to try and figure out how to do that. but now things, you know, voice to text, and people are just on it all the time. They can be good in some senses. You can save a lot of time. Just like, you know, you think about, well, modern conveniences. I teased you the other day. I said, debbie, I brought, I bought you a washing machine and a dryer. many women have had to take their clothes to the rocks and the river and beat them with A rock. And. And so you should be thankful.
Debbie Schreve: Yes, definitely.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: You aren't very thankful. But. But those things can be good timesavers. But as Daniel said, they can suck up a lot of time, too, and get you down those rabbit holes. And so fasting, you know, we normally think about fasting from eating, but fasting can be from a lot of things. Fasting from your pleasures, things that you enjoy, fasting from tv, fasting from the computer. And we're just going to spend some time seeking the Lord, talking to the Lord and reading His Word and listening and worshiping. All those things are good. So I appreciate that, Daniel. That's a good point. We have our friend Linda on the line from Texas. Linda, welcome to the program.
Caroline: Oh, thank you so much. I'm just sitting here smiling because every call ministers to you. But I called because Psalm 42. As a deer pants for the water, so my soul is after thee. And, Debbie, I'm right on with you with singing. Worship and singing a song go together. And, do you know that song? As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after you Alone are my heart's desire. Yes. Okay. Well, my testimony here is my son. I don't know. He was probably in his early teens, maybe younger than that. And that was his scripture. As a deer pants for the water. He drew a picture of that. He's an artist, too. And so when I heard that, I thought, you know what? And I just had to. And, you know, then I heard the song or, the scripture repeated. So I just had to call and give that testimony and say, debbie, our hearts are linked together. I mean, that's a lot of scriptures. I learned the, scripture by singing it. And so I just had a call and say thank you both. And I'm telling you, I get turned on by this program. This is my get start shot this morning. And so thank you so much.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Thank you, Linda. I appreciate it. That is, such an encouragement. Well, Debbie, a couple of the things we had talked about, it was really, important for Christians to stay connected to the church and connected to other believers. If you're starting to cool in your heart for the Lord, that's not the time to pull away. That's the time to press in. I still remember my friend Everett Sheffey. he would pray for about 100 people every day. He was a prayer warrior. And I said to him, I said, well, Everett, what do you do when you don't feel like praying? He prayed for about an hour a day. So what do you do when you don't feel like praying? He said, I pray more. And he was like you, very disciplined. So those things, he would just set his mind to it. But, yeah, let me just encourage you, you, if you don't have a church home, every Christian needs a church home. So we're on media, media ministry. I love to be on the radio and on television and online and opportunities to reach people and shut ins and people in hospitals and people in prisons, people that can't get out. But media ministry is, a good supplement. It's not a good, good substitute. You need to be, if at all possible, you need to be with the family of God, with the people of God, rubbing shoulders with other Christians, singing the songs, being in the room, hearing the sermon. The spirit of God moves differently when you're there live versus when you're watching it.
Debbie Schreve: Well, I'm going to circle back to a little thing that we mentioned, I think this last segment, but in terms of just prayer time and being in the word and praying God's word back to him, and you know, we've talked about before that prayer is all about relationship. So it doesn't have to be this formal thing. It can be like you've started a text thread in the morning with the Lord and you just keep it going all throughout the day. So you may not have an hour solid where you're, you're sitting and you're in prayer. But if you're interacting with him all throughout the day and you keep that line of communication open where you, you can hear from him and you can talk back, that's prayer as well. This year I, have done, in my quiet time, I do a Bible writing time where I have different verses that I'll write out and then I kind of pray those back. As I was doing it this morning, my verses were in Deuteronomy 10, 20 and 21, where it says, fear the Lord your God and serve Him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. He is the one you praise. He is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. And I wrote down in my journal as I was doing it, it was like, how cool would that have been to have seen those miracles and wonders with my own eyes? That would have been so amazing. Yet they saw those and they still grumbled, they still griped, they still had disbelief, they still didn't trust. And so it's like, okay, you know, I don't Want to. So my prayer was, I don't want to be that way. I don't want to be distrusting. I don't want to be a grumbler. I don't want to be like that. And so they're just those. Those, ways that we can spend time in His Word and let His Word speak to us and feed us. And when. When he's feeding us and we're in a healthy relationship with, with him, we are going to have a hunger, because a hunger represents health.
Caroline: Right.
Debbie Schreve: And, anyway, that was just a little aside.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah. Well, let me encourage you this way also. So I talked to a friend just, last night. He came up to me after the service, and he said, you know, I really think I got saved just a couple days ago. He said, I thought I was a Christian for so long, but he said, I've had kind of a depression and a darkness that has plagued my life. And he said, I really surrendered myself to the Lord. And he said, that's gone now. And, I said, well, praise the Lord. And so I prayed for him and, just asking God to do great things in his life and just to, open him up to the truth that God really does love me. Jesus really did die for me. For God so loved me that he gave his only begotten Son. And the Bible says, let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. And let those who love your salvation say continually the Lord be magnified. So I encourage this guy. Said, every day when you get up, first thing to do is hit your knees and thank God for the cross, for the empty tomb, for the fact that he loves you, that he'd sent His Son, that He's given you His Holy Spirit to live inside of you, that he is for you and he's not against you. That, you know, he's never going to leave you, never going to forsake you, that today is going to be a good day as you walk with him and as you trust him. And so it just turns everything. It sets the day up to be a positive and not a negative. Hey, guess what? you have trouble in your life. I have trouble in my life. Debbie has trouble in her marriage, being married to me. you know, we all have troubles and problems. That's part of life in the world. You have tribulation, but be of good courage. Jesus said, I have overcome the world. And as we walk with him and walk in the light with him, we don't need to be afraid. We don't need to be, you know, worried about the future. We just know. I don't know what the future holds, but I know who holds my future, and I'm going to trust him, and I know he's going to provide for me.
Debbie Schreve: Well, we closed out our session when we talked about this, going back to Psalm 27. And we looked at the. At verses 13 and 14 where David said, I remain confident of this. I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord. Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. And, you know, waiting can be difficult. And it's sometimes in our waiting, when we're not seeing God move at the speed in which we think he needs to move, or moving in the direction that we want him to move, that we can become disheartened and discouraged and kind of drift away in our obedience, in our trust, in our faithfulness and our discipline. But that's not the time to do that. That's the time to lean in even further and to, recognize that, you know, there was a quote by Jon Piper that we read that said there is an appetite for God and it can be awakened. And so that's kind of where we left the ladies, where we. Man, have you been eating too much of the world's food and not been eating enough of God's food that he provides for you? Because the world's food is not going to satisfy. And, His Word is what awakens our appetite for him. And, to spend time, to spend time there and to look only to the living water, because the, the contaminated water of the world isn't going to satisfy our thirst.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: No. Psalm 71:14. Great, great verse. The psalmist says, but as for me, I will hope continually, and I will praise you yet more and more. Hey, maybe you're in a dry season right now. Take time to praise God. Say, lord, I thank you for this season that I'm in, because I know that the rain is coming. I know that you're going to do something wonderful. In my life, I would have despaired unless I believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the Lord. God is a good God and God will respond to us. So pray, Lord, give me a heart. Give me a hunger for you. Enlarge my heart as I run the way of your commandments. Well, go out today. Shine for Christ and share what great things the Lord has done for you. And guess what? God will use you as his witness. God bless you.
Pastor Jeff Schreve and his wife, Debbie, discuss what it means to develop a deeper hunger and heart for God. Drawing from Scripture and examples such as David, the Samaritan woman, and Mary Magdalene, they explore how prayer, Bible study, worship, fasting, discipline, and fellowship with other believers can strengthen our relationship with the Lord. They also discuss how distractions, worldly pursuits, and difficult seasons can weaken our spiritual hunger and encourage listeners to seek God, trust His goodness, and wait faithfully for Him.
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