Jesus Feeds the Hungry
Matt. 5:6
As Jesus traveled throughout Galilee, many folks began to flock around him looking for a miracle of some sort. He was healing their sick, delivering their possessed, and freeing people of all types that were bound by some sort of torment. Suddenly folks from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, and beyond the region of Jordan came to him. When he saw the multitude, he sat down upon a high mountain. The disciples gathered around, and Jesus began to express some of the most powerful words he would ever share with them: READ OVER V.3,4,5,7-10.
But in the midst of these verses, he says, “Blessed are those that hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled”. When he said this, he wasn’t talking about some sort of snack-hunger, just needing a little something to pacify you. But he was talking about a kind of starvation. Basically, he says that when you become empty within yourself, and are desperate, that is when you will get filled!
He’s talking about an intense desire to know God, to know his holiness, and to apply his holiness to their lives. It’s the kind of hunger that can’t be filled by the mundane, ordinary things of life. It’s the kind that says worldly pleasures won’t satisfy. The kind that says stiff, dried up, boring church services won’t take care of it. He says when you get to where you want God’s power, his righteousness, his sovereignty, and his holiness more than life itself, then you will be filled up!
I can honestly tell you that I have reached a point where I don’t want second best, left over blessings any longer. I don’t want to just come to church and sing a couple songs, preach a little sermon, and say a little prayer. I want to get touched by the presence of the Lord. I want to be engulfed in his glory. When I am at home, I don’t want to be on edge about everything, but I want to do what Paul said and live in the fullness of the blessings of Christ. When I’m in my prayer/devotional time I don’t want to just pray so I can say I prayed, but rather I want to feel his anointing and know that I’ve touched Heaven. I want to build up my faith, praying in the HG. *I’m starving for God, and I know he is going to fill me! Hallelujah!
Ask yourself: did you come here hungry today? Did you come empty, ready to receive and be filled up. I gotta tell you that God is here to do just that. For all those who will submit to his spirit and allow him to feed you, you will leave here full of God and all he has to offer!
LET ME READ YOU SOME SCRIPTURE:
Psalms 42:1 “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God”
Psalms 63:1 “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”
Psalms 84:2 “My soul yearns, even faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God”
Psalms 107:9 “For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things”
The Psalmist said that he wanted God more than life itself. When you get like that, God is going to move. He’s going to fill you up with overflow. He’s just that kind of God, he doesn’t want us to walk around empty, but full of him. But the only way that will happen is if you let him get all the stuff out of you that’s not him, and then turn around and fill you up with all that is him. *John Baptist said “he shall baptize you with the HG and with fire”. He will take the fire and empty your soul, and then he will fill it with the HG. That’s what I’m looking for, that’s what many of you are looking for, and that’s what he’s going to do!
Now, let me tell you a secret: your appetite is going to determine the direction and course of your life. In other words, when you begin to hunger desperately for God, he will give you direction, purpose, and meaning to life. Here’s how I know this: Matt. 6:33 “Seek ye first… and ALL these things…” When you seek him with your whole heart (become desperate for him), he will not only give you his righteousness, but also everything you will need in life. *When you get to the point that you are starving for the Lord, he will give you provision, healing, blessings, strength, anointing, etc. Just seek him, and he will fill you!
Isaiah 55:1 “Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come to the waters, and you who have no money, come, buy, and eat. Yes, come buy wine and milk without money and without price”.
Rev. 22:17b “Whosoever will, let him take the waters of life freely”.
Now, let me tell you that as a church, we are called to be a vessel to carry and spill out the presence of the Lord. Our goal is that every time someone leaves our church, they are going to leave with something from God. The reason being, people are looking everywhere for something to change/satisfy their lives. What a tragedy it would be if someone walked into this place and left without receiving abundant life, power and strength, but instead walked out cold, untouched, and unmoved. My prayer is that God would touch every visitor and every member that walks through those doors to the point that they will leave here knowing this place is anointed of the Holy Ghost, and knowing God is real in this house! O that God would give us signs, wonders, and miracles, O that conviction would fill the room, O that anointing would pour down in our worship so that every service will be a fresh, relevant, power-packed moment in the presence of God. *People need to be fed the power of God!
Luke 11:11-13 “"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
WE NEED TO OFFER WHAT WILL SATISFY THEIR DESPERATION!
I can tell you this, that if hungry people come and get fed, they will continue to come. And not only that, but they will tell others to come to.
What are you hungry for? Do you need forgiveness, grace, and mercy? Christian, are you hungry for revival? Do you want to see miracles, signs, and wonders? God’s doing it, and he’ll continue to do it here if we get desperate for him. Desperate people will do anything to get fed? What will you do to get fed today?
