Scripture: Matthew 5 v 6 - 8: "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God."
John 6 v 33 - 35: "For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst."
By far the strongest force that drives mankind is hunger. Enjoyment of food gives great contentment but for millions of people famine is a tragic reality.
In the UK a new report shows that for each inhabitant of their nation over 1kg of food is wasted every single day!
If you have read The Hunger Games series or seen the movies, a future American dictatorship controlled the millions who rebelled through withholding food. To further display their power they picked two teenagers, boy and girl, from the 13 districts that comprised America, and forced them into a sadistic game of slaughter of each other in a jungle arena, the sole survivor was given a home, great food and privileges.
The pivotal moment comes when the heroine, Catniss Everdine, bonds with a fellow tribute in the jungle war games, Rue, who dies from a crossbow arrow. Big brother type cameras capture every moment as Catniss grieves for Rue and covers her with white flowers. She then faces the cameras and gives a salute to Rue's district. That silent salute becomes a symbolic theme throughout the series. It represents respect for life, compassion for the weak and anger against oppression.
The Lord talks to me when I read or see such movies and explains to me that our lives are like that in the world. The world is under this oppression by Satan and his forces working through evil men like Bashir Assad, president of Syria, or evil forces like Hamas in Gaza. And many others...Pol Pot, Gaddafi, Hitler, Stalin, now deceased.
These men have no compassion, no mercy, no love and no respect for life. They play God over the lives and well-being of their own people. They use chemical weapons to horrifically damage and destroy innocent families, and torture thousands in unspeakable ways. Our God sees it all but He has put authority for this planet in the hands of believers.
Matthew 28 v 18 - 20: "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
This is Jesus giving us His power of attorney to go and do what He wants done on this Earth. The world is not this planet, it is the system Satan put in place when he took over from Adam. It is ruled by sin and carnal desires which have overflowed into those churches who have abdicated their authority with God to submit to Satan. They don't even know it!
Unless we truly hunger for righteousness, and thirst for the living water, we will become complacent and ineffective. We are living in the age of the apostate church, Interfaith, Chrislam, false doctrines and if we do not actively work for the Kingdom of God we will be in the quicksand of unholy living.
If Jesus is the Lord of your life, He is in your heart to magnify Himself to those around you. Does anyone outside your immediate family know you follow the Lamb or is your belief a private and personal quiet blessing? Jesus wants to be known because how will these others hear about Him if you keep quiet?
Do you fear the ridicule, shame, mockery? Jesus took all that on the Cross. Rather stick your neck out even if you get ridiculed or persecuted. Rather be shunned by your friends or family than shun the One who saved you from eternal Hell.
About a century ago a Jewish man found Jesus Christ as his Saviour. His wife and children left him. His whole family had a funeral for him and wrote him off. He became a preacher and this lonely man travelled America bringing many to salvation, including the Intercessor, Rees Howells, a right-living preacher who said he would only become born again if he found one man truly bearing the Cross.
Rees found it in this persecuted Jewish convert, and was ministered to by him. Five years later this Jew found his wife and children in a church where he was preaching and they all became born again and restored to him. God is so faithful to His true servants.
So if you desire the full blessing of God, give Him your full attention. Walk the walk and talk the talk and make others hunger and thirst for truth and righteousness only found in Jesus Christ. Have compassion on the dying world and give them to drink of your living water.
Prayer: Heavenly Father it was hard to watch The Hunger Games and see it as a microcosm of this world of greed, decay and death, with little compassion or love. Help us to break through our own indifference and fear to reach across the chasm of sin to reconcile as many as possible to the Kingdom of God. In Jesus' name. Amen.
