Mar Mari Emmanuel passionately teaches that encountering the love of Jesus transforms believers to hunger and thirst for righteousness, compelling them to live radically for God.
In this devotional sermon, Mar Mari Emmanuel shares his powerful testimony of how encountering the love of Jesus radically transformed his life. He emphasizes the hunger and thirst for righteousness that comes from experiencing God's love and calls believers to live boldly and joyfully for Christ. Using biblical examples like King David and the apostles, he illustrates how true love for God compels believers to act with passionate zeal. This sermon encourages listeners to embrace Jesus now and live a life marked by divine love and transformation.
Full Transcript
When I tasted the love of the Lord, and yet I was a sinner, he loved me more than himself by giving himself up on the cross for a piece of bread like me. When I came to this realization, when I tasted this love, what happened to me? What happened inside of me? I became hungry and thirsty for righteousness. What is righteousness? Every godly deed is righteous.
So righteousness means the work of God. I became hungry and thirsty to do everything God wants me to do. You see, before I was hungry and thirsty to do everything Satan wanted me to do.
I was dying to go to the club. I was dying to play the pokies. I was dying to drink scotch on the rock.
I was dying to sniff the white powder. I was dying to steal. I was dying to kill.
When Jesus changed me, now I'm dying to go to church. I'm dying to drink the heavenly wine, the blood of the Lamb of God that washes away the sins of the world. I am dying to sing hallelujah to the Lord, praising.
I am dying to give life to new to people by bringing them closer and closer to Christ. Changed completely. I became hungry and thirsty to every deed that would please God.
No more Satan. Now it's all about Jesus. God revealed in the flesh.
I'm hungry, Lord. I'm thirsty. Wow, man, so true.
Of course, it's the word of the true divine God. When the Lord touched my heart and changed me, I'm hungry now and thirsty to bring the whole world to the Lord Jesus. I want to go out in the streets and shout and say, Jesus is the only one.
People of the world, I'm shouting on top of my voice and I'm saying, it would be an absolute shame to let this day go by, the 24-hour day, go by you without having some sort of an encounter with Jesus Christ of Nazareth. It would be an absolute loss and shame Beloved people, you may see me as crazy. You may see me as discriminative.
You may see me as judgmental, but you will never understand why I'm acting, behaving, doing this until until you receive what Jesus has given me. Then you'll understand why I was acting like crazy. Because the moment Jesus touches your heart, you will act like crazy.
You will act like crazy, believe me. King David, the king of Israel, the most venerated king in the history of the Israelite nation until this very day. And by the way, that star on the flag of Israel is the star of David.
It's not our topic. That is the star of David. And to put that star on the flag, what is the flag? The identity of your country, your dignity, your honor.
So whose flag is it? David's. The Israelites are saying, we are of David because he is the most righteous king we've ever seen. King David, when the Ark of the Covenant was being brought, the king of the nation came out before the Ark, dancing like a little kid.
His wife saw him. She was so embarrassed, so embarrassed. She came to him and said, you're acting like a fool.
You are a king for God's sake. How dare you behave like a foolish little kid. Stop jumping like that.
You look like a monkey. Enough. You've embarrassed us all.
You're an embarrassment to your throne and to your kingship. He said, women, you speak as a fool. You don't understand.
I am jumping, leaping with joy before the Ark of the Covenant. Do you understand what this Ark of the Covenant is? This Ark of the Covenant is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. It is the holy cross.
It is the altar of the Lord, the holy altar of the Lord. It is the presence of the Lord in the midst of us. The Lord is here, women.
You don't want me to act like crazy. The love of my life is coming to us. The love of my life is coming to us.
When you love from the heart, you will act like crazy. I don't care who you are, how big, how smart, how strong. Love makes you act crazy.
To the men, my children, my sons, when you fall in love, prior to falling in love, mom and dad begged you to do one little thing. No. Mom and dad knelt down and said, please, my son, just do this for me.
No way, mother. You want me to wash the dishes for you? I'm a man. You want me to vacuum for you? I'm a man.
He fell in love with this gazelle. And the gazelle came. She never raised him.
She never washed him. She never fed him. She never took him to the doctor when he was sick with a 39 temperature.
She came, everything ready, a grown up man, an adult. She says to him, wash the dishes. Habib albi, of course.
I'll wash the dishes. I'll wash your feet. I'll drink their water.
I'll do anything. You sit, my princess. Oh, why didn't you do that to mom and dad? No, this is the love of my life.
Hello, Romeo. But Romeo is all tattooed, big muscles pumping the iron baby. He can smash this concrete wall and knock it down.
But he is a little baby in front of Juliet. Outside in the street, nobody dares to go anywhere, Romeo. Scary man in front of his love, love, baby.
Can I please go out? What happened? You will act crazy when you truly love. Crazy. The Lord Jesus found Andrew.
Andrew became crazy. He ran to his brother, Peter, Simon. He said, Simon, Simon, we found the Messiah.
What's wrong with you, Andrew? Are you okay? No, yes, yes, no. We found the Messiah. Come, let's go.
Hurry up. The Lord touched the heart of Philip. Philip became crazy.
He went to Nathaniel. Nathaniel, we found the Messiah. Where is he from? Nazareth.
Get a life, Philip. Nothing good comes out of Nazareth. He said, be quiet.
Calm before you talk. Crazy. When the Lord touches your heart, you become hungry and thirsty to embrace the whole world for him.
Yet the world will see you acting like crazy. God, God acted like crazy. Look at this.
See, when you read the Holy Bible, you need sometimes to read between the lines. Everything God created with his word. Let there be light, there was light.
Let there be this, and there was. Let there be that, and there was. When he came to creating the human being, he said, let us go down and make this man in our image according to our likeness.
Let's go and make this man. So to make something, you need to stretch your hands and make that being with your hands. Where did God put his hands to make the man? In the mud.
Adam, the word Adam in Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, comes from the word Edamtha. Edamtha, dam means blood. Edamtha means red mud.
So God put his hands in the mud to make Adam, his son. God, what are you doing? He said, I'm making Adam. Why are you putting your hands in the mud? He said, because I am love.
I love my son more than me. My question to all of us, who plays in the mud? Little children. But these little children, they do not know any better.
They are not mature enough. When they play in the mud, they do it out of ignorance. Hang on, this is God, the source of wisdom.
Doesn't God know what he's doing? Of course he knows. Why then God are you playing in the mud? He said, when I loved, I acted like crazy.
Sermon Outline
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I. The Transforming Power of God's Love
- Jesus’ sacrificial love changes sinners into seekers of righteousness
- From worldly desires to spiritual hunger and thirst
- The believer’s new passion to please God
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II. Acting ‘Crazy’ for the Love of God
- King David’s joyful dance before the Ark as an example
- Love compels radical, joyful, and bold behavior
- The believer’s zeal may seem foolish to the world
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III. Biblical Examples of Transformation
- Andrew and Philip’s immediate evangelistic zeal
- God’s creative act as an expression of love
- The significance of God ‘playing in the mud’ to create man
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IV. The Call to Embrace Jesus Now
- Urgency of encountering Jesus daily
- The shame of missing a personal encounter with Christ
- Encouragement to live out love with boldness and joy
Key Quotes
“When I tasted the love of the Lord, and yet I was a sinner, he loved me more than himself by giving himself up on the cross for a piece of bread like me.” — Mar Mari Emmanuel
“When you love from the heart, you will act like crazy. I don't care who you are, how big, how smart, how strong. Love makes you act crazy.” — Mar Mari Emmanuel
“The love of my life is coming to us. The love of my life is coming to us.” — Mar Mari Emmanuel
Application Points
- Seek a personal encounter with Jesus daily to cultivate a hunger for righteousness.
- Allow God’s love to transform your desires and actions, leading to joyful and bold living.
- Embrace the call to share the message of Jesus passionately with others.
