Tag: Mercy

Hunger Pains

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You know that feeling when you are hungry, I mean really hungry. It is as though you could chew through the walls just to eat something. Most people do not fast, let alone miss a meal, but there are people who are so busy they forget to eat. Hunger is a force that drives us to get what we need which in many cases is food. There is an internal mechanism that says, I am hungry inside of us and we answer its call by going into a drive through, throwing something into the microwave or preheating the oven for. Our natural hunger for food is satisfied with putting something in our mouth. Most of us do not need anyone else to satisfy our hunger for food, so we just eat when we are hungry.

There is another hunger in us that needs other people and God to satisfy. People are manifesting their hunger, but most people do not see or can not hear the cry of a hungry person. It is not because we are deaf to their cry, it is because they are not speaking it out, they are acting it out. I was with some friends yesterday shopping and while walking around the mall I could see the hunger for attention coming from people. They were not hungry for physical food, they were hungry for attention. Hungry for people to enjoy what they enjoy, hear what they were saying, take an interest in what interested them. The hunger for attention was obvious to me and all they wanted was some focused attention.

When people are hungry for love, attention, time, touch, whatever it may be they act differently that they are designed to because they are hungry. Think about when you are physically hungry how your attitude changes, your energy wanes, your thoughts wander. The same is true for people who are hungry for time, touch, talk, attention, they act not according to design, but from a place of being hungry. When they are fed they smile big smiles, laugh, play, enjoy life, respect people and obey instructions. It is amazing to me how many times we have used behavior modification techniques when people were just trying to tell us they are hungry and we had the food they needed.

Church may we be the people who are connected to abundance so when we are doing life with hungry people we are not distracted by behavior but feed the hungry soul. They may need attention, time, physical touch or someone that enjoys them. It is amazing how something so simple can take a hungry person and fill them up in a way nothing else can. As we tap into the unlimited resources of God’s love we become distributors of that love to others who are hungry in ways they can not communicate but desperately want us to see.

Favor or 40

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Today was a historic event for many in the United States of America, especially since we have not had a coast to coast solar eclipse since 1918. Sun watchers of all ages stepped outside for a minute or many minutes to watch this historic event today and the creator of heaven and earth did not disappoint, it was a sight to behold for sure. From the ground it was amazing, I can only imagine what it looked like from the air. What I saw was extremely impressive, watching light turn to darkness and then go back to light in a matter of moments, was like nothing I have ever experienced before. The sense of God’s presence for me was powerful as well, for I chose to be alone in my backyard, quietly, so I could not only see what God was displaying in the heavens, but I wanted to hear what He was saying. When sight and sound meet, there is an explosion that goes off on the inside that is indescribable.

I don’t need to describe what I saw, for many saw it, but what I heard is what I want to share with you, for it was a validation of what I have been hearing, but it was so clear, so simple, so God that I am in awe. First, I need to let you know, despite the love of the church to make everyone on the same playing field, as though we are all treated equally, God is very clear in His word, that wheat get separated from chaff (Matthew 3:12); 5 virgins get to go in, 5 virgins don’t (Matthew 25); there are the wise and the foolish (Luke 6:46-49), the weak and the strong (Romans 14), the obedient and the disobedient (Deuteronomy 28), the righteous and the wicked (Proverbs 11:23). We are all the human race, but we are not all making the same choices as it pertains to obeying God. I know it rains on the just and the unjust alike (Matthew 5:45), but that does not mean He has the same message to everyone.

As I watched the solar eclipse and listened to the voice of God, this is what I heard, “I hid my face from you for a moment in order for you to see my face in fullness forever.” I knew this was a word for me, the past number of years have been very hard, hard as in walking through the valley of the shadow of death, not because of some sin I committed, but because of the training I was undergoing. So, when He said, He hid his face from me for a moment, I knew this was a word for me and the bride of Christ. Psalm 30:5 says, “For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning.” And Isaiah 54:7-8 says, “For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In an outburst of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you, says the Lord your Redeemer.” If you have sensed you’ve been hidden, I decree to you, your moment is over and your favor is upon you. He is shining His face upon His bride, upon the obedient, upon the wise, upon those who have been seeking His face.

But for those who have been disobedient, who have chosen to live in sin, despite the nudging to return to the Lord. There is a different outcome for you, for God is just and His love, His justice demands sin be disciplined. Hebrews 12:5-6 says, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines and He scourges every son whom He receives.” For the disobedient, discipline is coming, a season of His face being hidden from you is coming upon you. All the consequences I do not know, but what I do know is that discipline is coming to the disobedient. However, I believe you have 40 days to mend your ways. Remember Jonah gave Ninevah 40 days to repent and they too saw a solar eclipse (Jonah 3). Between now and Yom Kippur is 40 days and I sense this is the final 40 for those who have been living in disobedience to the commands of God. I know you have been told its okay, but it’s not, you must repent, not to escape discipline, but to return to the Lord. God is coming with justice to discipline the disobedient.

Today’s eclipse was a sign in the heavens of the day turning to night and then the night turning to day. For some it is going to be a day of favor, for others a day of discipline, but I believe there are 40 days until the discipline is doled out. For some it is a day of their mourning turning to dancing, for others their dancing is turning to mourning (biblical sign of repentance). The eclipse was a sign of favor or 40, but either way, we are all being treated like sons and daughters by a good good Father, because He is about to turn you around in 40 days, while, remember, for others it took 40 years. His mercy truly does endure forever (Psalm 136).