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Hunger
This time period in the earth is hallmarked by a
lukewarmness that exists within the church-
14
"And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The
Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of
the creation of God, says this:
15 'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor
hot; I would that you were cold or hot.
16 'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor
cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.
17 'Because you say, "I am rich, and have become
wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know
that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind
and naked Rev. 3:14-17
- -
And an indifference within the world as a whole.
The scriptures refer to this when Christ speaks how the
love of many will wax cold.
10
"And at that time many will fall away and will deliver
up one another and hate one another.
11 "And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead
many.
12 "And because lawlessness is increased, most
people's love will grow cold.
Matthew 24:10-12
In
the same line of thought, there is also a complacency
that exists in the rank and file of the church, for the
scriptures speak about those who are rich, and
supposedly have need of nothing. What all of this leads
up to is perhaps the single most important piece of
insurance that any believer could have as a safeguard
during this time, and that safeguard is hunger.
What happens to people to cause them to miss out on God?
Sometimes it can be as simple as just becoming too
satisfied with what they have possessed, so much so that
they fail to continue to drive on after the Lord. To
walk on with God demands a never-ending hunger, fueled
by the vision He continues to sear into your
consciousness. You go so far, but you are always aware
that there is so much more.
When you stop to think about it, the feeling and
sensation of hunger is not a comfortable
one. In fact to one who is at a point of starvation, it
can be a very painful state. In many ways it is no
different for any of us who truly desire to walk on the
highest plane; for us to live is to live a life of
always hungering, always yearning for more of Him. And
the more you see of Him, the more you become, and the
more your hunger is fueled to pursue after Him. We can
never let the indifference of this age and society we
live in, so permeate our hearts as to bring an
indifference within us.
The
church of Laodicea is a type and shadow of what exists
in this day. And since you have a church that is neither
hot or cold, but rather lukewarm, you find that God will
spew those lukewarm believers out of His mouth.
Paul admonishes us in Corinthians that we should
earnestly desire the gifts.... Earnestly desire. To me,
that translates into hunger. We spoke of atmosphere some
weeks back, and I may have failed to mention that the
most important "atmosphere" creator is our hunger. One
of the beatitudes says it best...
"Blessed are those that hunger and thirst after
righteousness, for they shall be filled." Matthew 5:6.
Some of the people I enjoy ministering to the most are
those who have not been around "religion" too long, and
they still have their innocence about them. They do not
think, "Well, I don’t know that it is possible, it never
worked for me before". They do not know any better -
they just believe and hunger to be filled – and, God
meets them!
There are great things hovering over each one of you at
this point in time, just waiting to be ignited by your
hunger. If you are not seeing auras yet, then hunger for
it. If you want a greater word of knowledge, hunger for
it. If you want to really walk in the Spirit, hunger for
it. You say, "I am being selfish by hungering for these
things" No, you are not. For until you move into the
gifts and callings of the Spirit, you will not be able
to impart to others, and bring them in. Christ
admonished us to desire earnestly the gifts. Covet them
earnestly.
God
will not deny your hunger. If you desire earnestly to
walk in His presence, to move with all of the gifts of
the Spirit, He will not deny you. He may test you to see
what metal you are made of, for God does not give away
His gifts lightly to the casual seeker - but if you
earnestly desire, He will give you the desires of your
heart.
It
is time to walk in the fullness of your calling, in the
fullness of ALL that God has provided to mankind.
Without limitation, without concepts. Allow the
Lord to do over and above what you could possibly ask or
think. Allow Him to do that. Hunger.
If
you find that you are not driven after the Lord with an
unsatiable hunger for Him, then it is time to have
another touch by Him. Perhaps you have seen men "as
trees walking" (Matthew 8:24), but now it is time
to see clearly. |