By Francis Frangipane
In Matthew 13:44, the treasure was hidden under dirt. To get to the treasure, you must get the dirt off. Our lives inside are full of dirt and things that need to be cleansed, but underneath that dirt is the hidden treasure. That treasure is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
When we can see the treasure, our hunger and thirst for the righteousness of Christ compel us to sell everything and cast out anything that could hide that treasure. You might not be able to see the treasure yet. It’s not open, not visible, but remember, the promise of God to you is: “The one who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat with My Father on His throne” (Rev. 3:21).
We have all felt disqualified by our imperfections because we identified more with our sins than God’s promise. Everyone He’s ever used has had to overcome their need and stay repentant. God has no one who started out perfect; He has only people whom He has changed. They were honest, and they became meek. They began to hunger and thirst for righteousness’ sake. They overcame and became people God used.
As you are filled with a deep hunger and thirst for more of God, allow the power of the Holy Spirit to stir you into action, into walking with God. No one is disqualified from being filled with God’s righteousness once they take these steps into Christlikeness, overcoming anything that would hold them back. Male, female, young or old, it means nothing. The character of the heart is everything as far as the dealings of God go. Nothing less than Christlikeness will do, but Christ, “by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Phil. 3:21, NIV).
That’s where we are going. It is why we hunger and thirst and embrace the changes God has set before us. The deep longing within us will propel us through the changes required of our souls. Like Jesus, who “for the joy set before him…endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2, NIV), we will continue in the process until we experience the joy of the presence of God within our hearts. Like the example in Proverbs, “the appetite of laborers works for them; their hunger drives them on” (Prov. 16:26, NIV).
I have a hunger to reach my destiny in God. I have a passion for becoming what God wants me to be. I don’t want the blessing of God to allow me to stay the way I am; I want my life to be changed and transformed. He must go in and remove self out of the way. God will not pour new wine into old wineskins.
The more your heart has been freed of selfishness, the deeper the excavation of your soul through repenting of pride, the more your spirit will become honest and truthful before the Lord, and the more you will hear the promise of God over your life. You have been called and are being prepared for a visitation from God and to become a habitation of God, “in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit” (Eph. 2:22).
Adapted from Francis Frangipane’s newest book, The Heart That Sees God available at www.arrowbookstore.com.
