"Unsatisfied"

"And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust." (Psalms 78:18) Just because we might have craving for more, does not mean that it's okay to have more; just the opposite is the case, in the material world. In the spiritual world, things are a little different, and depending what we ask for, it's okay to crave more of God's power, love, and spiritual gifts; unless we are asking for those things to make ourselves appear more spiritual just to puff ourselves up before others. Materially, it's all about not wanting for the sake of having; something I need to check myself on, time and time again. I am more like that character in the Marvel movies, the Collector, who is always wanting something that he does not have, just because I don't have it yet; not that I will ever even use it, but it's nice to display it as mine. I have been working on not being as bad as I once was, but it's not all that easy. As much as I would like to do what I think is right, it's really not me that needs to do anything, it's God working in me that makes the difference. The word "tempted" is not just to temp God in asking for something, as in to see if He will do it; in the context of the statement, it's more about tempting God's ability, as in, can He do it. Can and will are two totally different areas of thought, especially when they come from the heart. Jesus spent a great amount of time on this issue, because it really is about the desires of our hearts; are we satisfied in God's goodness by His grace, or are looking for Him to provide something else, something a little more tangible, something we can actually show off or be lifted up by. Maybe I am having a hard time making my point; then again, maybe I don't really want to see the point on this subject. Sometimes we are just like soiled kids, thinking that God is just there to give us whatever it is that we ask Him for; yet it's that kind of thinking which is being pushed into our churches, and it's not the Holy Spirit that is bringing it in. We need to be asking God for the ability to love others with a heart that wants to love to love, not to be shown to love for the sake of looking better. Although it's meant for us to show the world God's love in our lives, sometimes love involves sacrifice, and if we are loving for the wrong reasons, then it's not going to stand the test when something comes against us or makes us feel like we are getting the short end of the stick. I think it pretty much comes down to our desire to be enriched or our desire to lift up the Lord...
"What causes the quarrels and fights among you? Don't they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don't have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can't get it, so you fight and wage war to take it from them. Yet you don't have what you want because you don't ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don't get it because your motives are all wrong -you want only what will give you pleasure." (James 4:1-3) NLT