"Hungry"

The Proposal: an Open Invitation

Have you ever wanted someone to call your own

Someone whose arms fit perfectly about in you-shaped hug . . .

Someone who breathes in tandem with you . . .

Who hears what you have not said …

Who counts every whistle as you sleep in dreams?

I do not know anyone like this on earth

I know that Y’shua watches my every step

Every breath I take, He gathers

Have you longed for someone to ask for your hand?

He woos you and bends His knee to ask for this dance.

He places His ring on your finger.

He caresses your cheek.

He loves you.

He asks if you will marry Him

… if you will be His bride.

… if you will say “yes.”

His love is deeper than any abyss of pain.

He knows your deepest longings.

He alone fills them.

He knows what each day holds.

Like an expert tailor, He fits

The world to surround you

With joy and peace.

He is your Suitor.

He pursues you recklessly

On His own white steed.

He crosses the heavens

To rescue you.

He knows your dreams, cares, and worries.

He longs to rescue you from every dragon.

To free you from every high castle and low dungeon.

He is Your Ultimate Prince Charming.

Father May I- Yes, You May

God asks us to believe and do big things for Him. The believing comes first, however. Like the game of Mother May I, we can either take a baby step or be bold and ask to jump over a large space. God is on the other side, telling us to jump – take a huge step of faith despite what fear tells us. Fear tells us to try little and lose little.  God wants to enlarge our territory: "Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request" (1 Chronicles 4:10).

 By my God, I can leap over a wall, scale a mountain, take down a giant. I  can do all things.  God is asking us to mount the chair, then the table, and then the icebox and jump into His arms.


Even your mother forsakes you, I will not God Says. A mother may forget the child at her bosom because of deprivation, mental illness, and physical limitations, but I will never forget you. I have got to be rooted and grounded in God’s love for me. I must know the height, depth, breadth, and width of His love. I most understand it; otherwise, every time something unfortunate, unplanned, or undesired occurs, I am stuck wondering who God is and if He really cares about me intimately.


Psalm 139 says that he formed in my mother’s womb; thus, He knows everything about me. If I can not trust my  Maker, who then can I really trust?

We do not do God any favors by making excuses that it wasn’t His will. Most of the times, we are fed-up with waiting, afraid of rejection and failure, and it is just easier not to try. We might use another’s sin, our pride, or anger to bash the dream God gave us. We say things like that can’t be God: I am too old; I stutter; I am not gifted. We would rather derail ourselves than to press past our fears and hold onto God’s promise.


I know and I am right there with you. But when we do not take God at His word, it is fundamentally a trust issue- a confidence either in who  He says He is or His ability to make things happen. Somehow, I think my situation is too difficult for God. What a sack of bologna! Or just don’t feel like waiting anymore, so I let God ‘off the hook’ by releasing His promise. That most hurt His feelings because He realizes I don’t really trust Him in that area.

Well, you ask, how do I stay focused as I wait?

You don’t want to relax your stance. You have pent-up anxiety as you ready. Stay focused.  Don’t get relaxed; the race is about to begin. Get up out of the blocks, but don’t go too far. You never know when the call back to return will come. This break is not a release at-all. We  just have not started; stay focused.  God will call you back when He is ready for you. Stay limber: Jump up down and stretch out those legs.

All that jumping before was to prepare you for these hurdles that face you now. Do you hear the crowd of witnesses cheering you on?  (Hebrews 12:1). Don’t give up; no matter how bleak the outlook seems. Believe despite your feelings and past experiences. Jump high and over every obstacle that keeps you from entering into God’s best- into His rest.

May we jump all the way into God’s arms,
M.J.

Are You Hungry or Are You Filled?

In Rev 3:20, Jesus declares, “'Behold , I stand at the door and [knock]; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me’." What a great invitation. When our hearts are truly hungry, we desire God’s presence and His mind (Proverbs 2:1-6). We want his wisdom.  We want to come and sup with Him. I have a friend, who like Daniel, tries to meet with Y'Shua for breakfast, lunch, and dinner to eat spiritual food three times a day. David said, morning, evening, and night, He shall hear my voice (Psalm 55:17).

God encourages us some 700 years before Christ with these words: "Ho! Ever one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk. Without money and without cost. "Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance” (Isa 55:1-11).

We are actually blessed when we faint with hunger for God, his righteousness, and his kingdom: Matthew 5:6 and Luke 6:21 proclaim, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” In truth, “The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; but they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil” (Psalm 34:10).

When we try to fill ourselves with things, people, and ourselves, we feel even more empty. Psalm 22:26 gives us great hope because in our great pain, we will experience release, “The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek Him will praise the LORD. Let your heart live forever!”

God may make a decision  to humble “ [us] and let [us] be hungry, and fed [us] with manna which  [we] did not know, nor did [our] fathers know, that He might make [we]understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD. (Deut.8:3).  His words are true sustenance. In fact, Y’Shua removes our hunger alone for He is "For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:33-35).

I saw spiritually hungry people in Nicaragua. People would stop us on the road for a Bible and for their family members.  Multiple families lived in one house often, and each family household wanted their own Bible.  God gave me Amos 8:11-13 to describe this phenomena: "Behold, days are coming," declares the Lord GOD, "When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the LORD. ” Their hunger reminds of the psalmist’s cry, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for Thee, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?”(Psalm 42:1-2).

Do you remember that song, "Hungry?" Does that describe us? Can we not wait to enter His presence?

Hungry,
M.J.