Are you thirsting for love, pleasures, riches, power, and fame more than righteousness?"

Are you thirsting for love, for pleasures, for riches, for power, for fame, or for righteousness?

Hello and welcome. Our text is taken from John 6.

Ah, there are so many things in this world that we desire to feed our flesh on. Like visiting exotic countries with pristine beaches and lush tropical gardens, like beautiful women, exotic cuisines, fine wines and lures, like huge mansions, fancy autos, beautiful clothing and shoes, and the list goes on and on. Oh to be able to have it all, to be like King Solomon, the richest and the wisest person on earth. Seems fascinating, does it not? But wait, was it not King Solomon who discovered that life in the world is all a farce, nothing but a smoke screen? Did he not say it is all vanity and vexation of spirit? And so, if the joy is not in having it all, then why is 90% of the world's population clamoring after it? And where do we go to find real joy? Is life totally useless then? Is there anything that can give us truly souls satisfying joy? Stay with me and listen to the tragic story of Janelle Potter.

Jan is a woman who tried to find satisfaction in a way that did not end so well for her. The story is from a documentary called Billy and Billy Jean. It is about a woman who thirsted for love. She had a dream of being romanced, loved, and cherished by her handsome neighbor named Billy, Billy Payne that is. With whom she was madly in love. And I mean madly. Unfortunately for her, Billy fell in love with a lovely lady named Billy Jean. This story aired recently on the premier episode of Holland Cobin's final twist. Billy Payne's refusal to return Jan's love drove her into a downward spiral and a murderous jealous rage that became larger and larger, sucking others into it. And when Billy Jean Hayward became pregnant for Billy and brought forth a beautiful baby, it was more than Jan could take.

Father, we give You thanks and praise for this day and for Your many blessings. We pray that You will show the listeners to this message the value of thirsting, the value of hungering for righteousness instead of for the things of this world. For the world and all that is in it. Father, we know it's passing away.

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Janelle Potter's story is a complex story about out of control desires for love and acceptance. A story about drinking at the fountain of hateful jealousy, rage, anger, and bitterness. And when Jan could not get Billy, her love turned into hate. The story uncovers a dark cyber bullying and digital deception case that for years baffled investigators in a small Tennessee town where everyone knows everybody else's business.

Driven by a bitter jealous spirit, Jan created a fake Facebook persona named Chris and a fake narrative that claimed Billy and Billy Jean were bullying her online and that her life was in real danger from them. Chris was supposed to be a CIA agent, protecting her from them. She created Chris, the CIA officer, by stealing the identity of a real person, an acquaintance known as Chris Jaden, who was actually a police officer in Delaware. Jan created a ton of fake emails, painting a picture of hate messages and cyber bullying sent to her, most especially by Billy Jean, but also by Billy. She created fake communications between she and Chris, laying out his angry responses to the emails. And there were also emails with Chris suggesting that Billy and Billy Jean needed to be dealt with in the worst way possible. She shared these fake communications unfortunately with her parents, her father, Buddy, a US Army vet, and Barbara Potter, her mother, and with her friend Jamie Kurd, in order to catfish them. Day after day, she stirred up their anger and rage with these hateful emails created by her right at home. and making them feel she really was in danger. In the end, her angry mother persuaded Buddy and Jaime to carry out the brutal murders. They cut their throats and shot both of them to death. And Billy was Jean was found with the baby still in her arms.

Unfortunately, because of Jan's insatiable hunger and search for something that did not belong to her, here's what we are left with. A traumatized child without parents. Two brutally murdered parents and four persons serving two consecutive lifetimes in state prison and a town in shock. The sentence of Barbara, Jan's mother, was later reduced to 25 years.

The story of Jan Potter, her parents, and Jamie Curd would have turned out a whole lot different if they had discovered Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith, the everlasting fountain of life. Jeremiah says that the real cause of Jan's problems and the problems of many in today's world goes this way.

My people have committed two evils. They've forsaken me the fountain of living waters and dug themselves wells, broken wells that can hold no water. This means we made two serious mistakes. We've turned away from the Father's commands and we've turned to the things of the world to find joy and satisfaction. And people all over the earth have developed their own ways of occupying their time with the pursuit of wealth, riches, and the pleasures of the world. The Word of God calls these wells that cannot hold water. Meaning they cannot deliver what we really need.

Well, there was another story about a woman who had it all. She had five husbands and was working on number six. And when she met a man like no other man she'd ever seen, the man boasted of having an unlimited supply of all that she had been looking for and yet could not find. He assured her that He could satisfy her thirst and her hunger in such a way that she would neither hunger nor thirst again. He bragged about having a cup of a pure liquid drink that would never run dry. He told her that whoever drinks of and eats of the things this world has to offer will most assuredly need to come to the fountain and drink again and again, never being fully satisfied. However, He promised her that He had the purest of all water to give to her living waters that would quench her thirsting soul forever.

John 4:13 says, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst, but the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up unto everlasting life."

It sounded so good to her that she said, "Sir, sir, give me that water. Then I will never have to come to this well again." Of course, this is the story of the Samaritan woman. And Jesus Christ met her at the well, and the water He offered her was not physical, but spiritual and eternal. He told her the history of her life and about her many failed marriages. And then He told her He was the Messiah and she believed and was transformed.

She ran to her village and evangelized the whole town. She told everyone that she could find to come see a man. Come see a man, a man who described my whole sinful life. She said, "Could this be the Messiah?" The scripture make no further mention of her. But on that day, her hunger and thirsts were no doubt satisfied. For it is not possible to meet Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, and believe His Word without being transformed and forever changed. Christ is the ultimate gift that keeps on giving and giving and giving forever and ever.

Friend, the book of Isaiah also tells us about this fountain of living water. It is an invitation to all to seek out the abundant source of real joy and satisfaction. And the text is found in chapter 55: 1-2.

Yes, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what is good and let your soul delight itself in abundance.

If only Jan Potter and the Samaritan woman had discovered this fountain earlier in their lives. Isaiah prophesied about this hundreds of years before Christ came to the earth and still many are unaware of it today. He called out to them and to anyone who was thirsty, inviting them to come to this fountain and buy food for their souls. He's calling out today, food that is free of charge, food that is present in great abundance, and food that would delight your very soul.

Let me ask you a question. What do you do when there's something that you want very badly and you cannot seem to be able to get your hands on it? Where do you turn? How do you satisfy your hunger for that which you cannot receive?

Matthew wrote the Words of Jesus Christ telling us to redirect our appetites away from things that cannot satisfy us. Christ encourages us to hunger for something that truly satisfies. And the truth is that even if you get everything in this world that your soul has been thirsting after for a long long time, you will still not be happy. You will still not be satisfied until it is the living waters from the well that shall never run dry, unless it is the waters from Christ's well. Your thirst will keep driving you for more and more until the things you hunger for consume you.

Today, the people of the world want more and more, never getting enough. And there are people who've been on 50 or more cruises, maybe a hundred. There's a man who lives on a cruise ship 52 weeks of the year. I've been on two cruises and that is already one cruise too many. The billionaires want more and more wealth. Now we have a trillionaire and he's as crazy as a bat. He has developed this evil chatbot named Grok that has 30 million viewers every month and rising. The name alone tells you this bot will be up to no good. We have nymphomaniacs who cannot get enough sex and kleptomaniacs who cannot stop stealing. More and more is the cry.

And Proverbs 30:15 talks about four things that are greedy. Telling us these four things never say I have had enough. Here's the text.

The leech has two daughters. Their names are give and give. There are three things that are never satisfied. Four that never say enough. The grave, the barren womb, the earth that is not satisfied with water, and the fire never says enough. Friend, none of these four are ever satisfied.

But Christ standing on the side of that great mount gave us the complete answer when He said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled." Righteousness is the only thing that will satisfy your longing. The only thing that will satisfy your thirsty soul. We need to desire more of His grace and more of His mercy, more of His love and more of His sweet presence. When this is what we hunger for, we will be filled to satisfaction and the things we do not have will fade into insignificance. This is the way God has designed it and no one can change it.

According to John 7:37, the Word of God makes a call to all saying, "On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, if anyone thirst, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." In another place, He said, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger." and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

I thank God for His grace and mercy and for His Word that truly satisfies and fulfills like nothing the world will ever have to offer. I pray that today if you do not know Him as your savior that you will make a decision to claim Jesus Christ as your everlasting prize. Please say this prayer after me:

• I am a sinner, Father, and I am sorry for all my sins.

• I crave Your forgiveness.

• Thank You, Lord, for Your forgiveness.

• I have decided to make Jesus Christ, Your Son, the head of my life.

• Dear Lord Jesus, welcome to my heart.

• I thank You for considering me.

• Please make my heart Your home forever.

• I give You the key to my heart.

• I now belong to You forever.

• Please give me the Holy Spirit to lead me into all truth.

• Thank You Lord for saving my soul. Amen.

Welcome friend to the body of believers in Christ. There are so many being gathered every day waiting for the big gathering when Christ returns. But in the meantime, we want to encourage you to become water baptized as quickly as possible. Let your pastor know that you've given your heart to the Lord and you want to be baptized the way Jesus Christ was baptized.

Begin reading the Word, the Word of God that is. You need it every day. Begin in the book of John, then go to Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It is the daily food for the believer in Christ. Without this, you will become weak and Satan will lure you back into the world. Pray daily. attend at your local church and one glad morning the Savior will come and receive us all unto Himself and we shall indeed forever be with the Lord. God bless and keep you in Jesus mighty name. Amen.