Fulfillment In Life
Foundation Statement-John 4:34-Fulfillment in
life comes from doing what God sent you to do
I.
John 4:32-Is it true that
you can be fulfilled or empty inside? It is a real condition to be fulfilled or
to be unfulfilled inside
A. I have meat to eat that
you know not of – This is real meat, even though it’s unseen, it is very
real
1.
31-Apparently
Jesus hadn’t eaten in a while and when you haven’t eaten in while your food
level is low, your stomach is empty and when you eat you get fulfilled, you get
full; When you don’t eat you’re empty and after you get done eating you are
full
a. They say to Jesus, “Master eat something, you got to be
empty,” and Jesus said, “I get full of something that you know not of.”
2.
Jesus
isn’t talking about physical food, he’s talking about food that you can’t see
or touch
a. Meat-That which is eaten, food, aliment; The souls aliment
(that which nourishes, that which feeds, that which adds substance to the
soul); Of the soul’s food; That which delights and truly satisfies the mind;
That which refreshes and nourishes and supports the soul; Refreshment or soul
satisfaction you have not learned; Spiritual comfort; That which delights the
soul
B. Is there something that
feeds you on the inside, in your spirit, in your soul? Something that satisfies
you inside and fills you up inside? That adds substance to you inside? That
nourishes you inside? That truly satisfies you and fills you up inside?
1.
There’s
something that strengthens you spiritually, that invigorates you inside, that
energizes you and exhilarates you and enlivens you inside and delights your
soul
II.
John 4:34-What would feed
you on the inside? What would satisfy you and leave you full in your spirit, in
your soul? What would add substance to you inside so that you’re not empty?
A. Jesus said, “My food, my
meat, my nourishment and fulfillment is to do what God sent me to do and to
finish His work.”
1.
The
only way to be full, to be fulfilled in life and to receive fulfillment is to
do what God sent you to do and to finish His work; The only source that a human
being has to be filled is to discover what God sent him to do and to do it; No
other thing will give you fulfillment because there is no such thing as
fulfillment outside of the plan of God
2.
This
meat is a real thing, being full inside is real and as Jesus did what the
Father sent him to do, it was literally filling him up on the inside
B. Every believer has to
confront this truth: I will not be fulfilled apart from discovering what God
sent me to do and doing it. This is the only way to be fulfilled and no other
thing will bring me fulfillment
1.
THERE
IS NO OTHER SOURCE OF FULFILLMENT; The lie the enemy wants you to believe is
that there is
2.
Psalm
65:4-We shall be satisfied by the goodness of your house even of your holy
temple
3.
Psalm
17:14-15-I shall be satisfied when I awake with your likeness
a. Some people look for
satisfaction in this life from the world
1)
MSG-By
your sword free from their clutches; Barehanded, God, break these mortals,
these flat-earth people who can’t think beyond today.
2)
TLB-Save
me from these men of the world whose only concern is earthly gain; But as for me, my contentment is not in wealth but in seeing
and knowing all is well between us.
3)
VOICE-Save
me from men whose hopes are rooted in this world
b. Satisfaction, fullness
and fulfillment in life is found only in God
1)
AMP-I
shall be fully satisfied when I awake to find myself beholding Your form and
having sweet communion with you
2)
VOICE-When
I awake, the longing of my soul will be satisfied in the glow of Your presence
4.
People
run into big problems when they start looking for this fulfillment in the wrong
places; There are things you can do that will never produce satisfaction and
the enemy will lie to you and tell if you just got this much more you’d be
satisfied and then when you get that much more you’re still not satisfied
a. Proverbs 27:20-The lie is
if you get more you’ll be satisfied so you search for satisfaction in a place
that you won’t find it
1)
TLB-Ambition
and death are alike in this: neither is ever satisfied
2)
ERV-Just
as the place of death and destruction is never full, people always want more
and more
b. This is a picture of
people looking for satisfaction from things that will never produce it and the
lie the enemy has sold them is just a little bit more will satisfy you and yet
they get more and are never satisfied
1)
Ecclesiastes
4:8-No matter how hard he works and how much he gets he won’t satisfy him
inside
2)
Ecclesiastes
5:10-He that loves silver will not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loves
abundance with increase
3)
Ezekiel
16:28-You were insatiable; yea you played the harlot with them and yet couldn’t
be satisfied
4)
Habakkuk 2:5 (TLB)-What’s more, these
arrogant Chaldeans are betrayed by all their wine,
for it is treacherous. In their greed they have collected many nations, but
like death and hell, they are never satisfied.
5.
Proverbs 14:10
a. 10-Only
you know in your heart whether you’re full or not
b. 12-There
is a way that seems right but isn’t right and the end of it death and
nothingness
1)
Proverbs
27:7-When you’re not full bitter things taste sweet; Some people are so empty
on the inside that they get on a vacation and look out at the ocean and say
something dumb like, this is the life isn’t it
c. 13-People
may be laughing and looking they are having a good time, but if you’re not fulfilling
your kingdom purpose underneath that laughter is a soul unfulfilled
d. 14-The
truth is if you are going to be fulfilled it’s because you choose to follow
hard after God and if you’re unfulfilled it’s because you choose not to
C. People in a sense begin
die on the inside and dry up spiritually when this is not a priority in their
life (This meat nourishes)
III.
John 4:32-34-The
insinuation is if you don’t discover what God sent you to do and do it, you
won’t be fulfilled and there will be an emptiness
A. Are there people who have
lived many years that are unfulfilled inside? Are there Christians unfulfilled
inside? Why are they? You can be saved and not eat of this meat and be
unfulfilled inside
1.
It’s
very possible to be saved and not be where God told you to be and not be doing
what he told you to do and be unfulfilled
B. One misconception of this
fulfillment is that if you get saved God will fill that void and you won’t be
unfulfilled, but the reality is getting saved is only the beginning of
fulfillment, the first step in fulfillment, not the totality of fulfillment
1.
Salvation
alone will not produce fulfillment, relationship with God alone will not
produce fulfillment; Salvation and relationship with God are parts of
fulfillment, but not the totality of fulfillment; Inside of salvation, inside
of relationship with God if a person does not discover what God sent them to do
and do it, they can be saved and have a relationship with God, but they will
not be full, they will not be fulfilled
IV.
Psalm 63:5-3 keys to
getting full on the inside
A. The first thing that you
have to do to live a fulfilled life and be full inside is you have to hunger
for it-Matthew 5:6
1.
1-Early
will I seek you-Matthew 6:33 (Seek-Early
or earnestly, diligently)
a. YLT-O God you are my God,
earnestly do I seek Thee, thirst for Thee has my soul
b. 2-He is hungry to see the
power and the glory of God
2.
If
you are okay with where you are you’ll stay here you are
a. If you want to be full on
the inside and live a fulfilled life you got to get hungry for it
B. The second thing you have
to do to live a fulfilled life and be full on the inside is you have to become
Heavenly minded which in turn should radically change your value your system
(what’s important to you)
1.
You
can tell a lot about a person based on what they hunger after, what they seek
because it shows you what they value
a. VOICE-I seek you with
every fiber of my being
b. MSG-I can’t get enough of
you
2.
3-Your
loving kindness is better than life
a. This is revealing
something about his heart about what he values the most
b. MSG-In you generous love
I am really living at last.
3.
5,6-A
major key to soul satisfaction is to be Heavenly minded and set your mind on
things above
a. Remember-Recall, call to mind; Meditate-Utter,
mutter, speak, muse, imagine
C. The third thing you have
to do live a fulfilled life and be full on the inside is you have to follow
hard after God
1.
8-My
soul follows hard after you
a. Soul-Soul, self, life, person, mind
b. Follows hard-Stick, stay close, keep close, stick to, cling,
cleave to
2.
4-Thus
I will bless you while a live; You got to bless God with your life
a. ERV-By my life I will
bless you
3.
7-Because
you have been my help-assistance
a. Helping doing what God
wants you to do
D. My soul shall be
satisfied (Satisfied-Fulfilled,
full; Soul-Soul, self, life, person,
mind)
1.
VOICE-My
soul overflows with satisfaction, as when I feast on foods rich in marrow and
fat
2.
YLT-As
with milk and fatness is my soul satisfied
3.
Marrow
and fatness is the best