I crave:
*Chocolate and peanut butter. Together and separately:)
*Cold drinks in the summer and hot drinks in the winter.
*Sleep:)
*Seafood
*Fruits and veggies
*Love
*Affection
*Time with family
*Time with friends
*Alone time;)
*A challenging run
*Pedicures;)
*Massages, but so far I have only dreamed of those...this craving is yet to be met lol...I am talking about the professional kind
*Road trips/traveling
*Fresh air
These are only my top cravings...I am sure there are a few more...and please don't misunderstand what you are about to read if you dare to continue...I don't think any of these cravings are bad....especially #1;) (do your research).
The book "Made to Crave" is a wonderful book that I am sure many (if not all) women and probably men as well could relate to, but it is written to the ladies. :)
I am an awesome book starter, but a terrible book finisher. So I have only ever made it to chapter 7ish. As summer approaches, I picked up the book again to remind me of the healthy way of satisfying any craving. The healthy way = the Godly way. Most of the time we think of cravings as food related, but there are many things we crave.
The title of the book says that we were made to crave. In a perfect world, before sin, we were created to crave God and only God. The things of God. The will of God. The righteousness of God.
"How lovely is your dwelling place,
Lord Almighty!
My souls yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God."
Psalm 84:1-2
I want this to be the picture of my heart! That my soul YEARNS to be in the presence of my God.
When I have cravings...and let's just say all girls know what it means to crave things...let's just use chocolate and pb as an example since it is a chart topper:) When I crave things, it consumes my thoughts. I may not be able to really enjoy or focus on anything else until that craving is satisfied. I may think "OK if I get some fruit that will fill me up, satisfy my need for a little something sweet and then I will be able to move on". NOPE not happening!. I will dream of reese's and peanut butter cookies with chocolate kisses on top and peanut butter m&ms! Now most cravings do pass (food ones at least), but man is it impossible to truly satisfy a craving with anything other than that one special yummy thing! It's like you could eat a boat load of everything else and be full as a tick but not truly satisfied. When the whole time, if you would have just had one little taste of that one special yummy thing, you would have been done with it already...Ok sorry I totally chased a rabbit trail there:)
When we are genuinely craving God, nothing on this earth could possibly satisfy that craving! No relationship. No amount of success. No amount of money. No amount of food. Which, if you think about it is why the world is filled with so many unhappy people. They are searching for that satisfaction to the craving that has been in mankind from the beginning of time. Everyone craves all that God can offer...all that God is...all that God has ever been! Holy, righteous, loving, beautiful!
I realize that the more healthy things I take in, the more I crave healthy things, and I begin to really not enjoy those not so healthy things I used to crave. I see this a lot in my relationship with the Lord as well. The more time I spend in the Word, the more time I spend in worship, in prayer, in serving...the more I hunger and thirst and crave it!
In order to crave the good though, you have to eliminate the bad. Really that about sums it up. If I want my heart to be a reflection of Psalm 84:1-2 I have to kick somethings to the curb and allow God to consume my heart and life.
I am clearly not doing this concept justice so I am going to let the Word speak for itself...God doesn't need my help;) and encourage the ladies to check out this great book! Lysa is a professional and does a much better job!
"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:26
"Blesses are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." Matthew 5:6
"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?" Psalm 42:1-2
"I spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for You like a parched land." Psalm 143:6
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