HUNGER GAMES!

Praise the Lord everybody! Let everything that has breath praise His holy name!! God has been so good to me, His grace and His mercy towards me is never-ending. I ask myself have I been as attentive to Him as He has been to me? Truthfully I must say I find myself lacking. I have slacked off in my pursuit of Him.
God has been dealing with me concerning this issue. I remember How it was when I first got saved, how I carried my Bible everywhere and every chance I got I would open it and read God's word. Gods word was like finding water while wandering in the desert, and like food to a starving man. After reading it from cover to cover I would just start all over again and each time I read it was just as enlightening as the first time, and just as thought-provoking. His word was and is alive and we had a love affair with each other. Now we are like an old married couple, comforted by each others presence but the passion is fading.

David wrote in Psalms 42:1(NIV) As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:6 6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

I asked myself where is my "panting, my hunger and thirst?" I had to admit that I had over time began to fill my hunger and quench that thirst with other things, things of the world. It started when I finally decided to buy a T.V. after over four years of just me my Bible and Christian radio. Slowly my hunger for the things of God has had to compete with my hunger for a good movie and a plethora of television shows.

I often long for those simpler days of just me and God and His Word, but I fear what with social media and all the exciting media distractions these days, can I ever really go back to those days. I do find that as I get older, it is easier to let go of those things that I used to think were so important to me.  And like that old married couple, I mentioned earlier when we do take a moment to really look at each other we realize the Passion is still there and there are still things we don't know about each other, all we have to do is take a moment and look. 

The fire of God and His word never goes out and the hunger for Him and His righteousness never dies. Psalms 63:1 states   O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

David had a heart after God, and that's what I have always desired, I love the Lord and I'm growing tired of distractions coming between us. In these last and evil days, we can not afford to be caught watching television when He comes for His Church.

Hebrews 12:1 states,  Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 

I am asking God to help me throw off those hindrances that I so unwittingly put upon myself. First off I think I'll buy a radio.

 God Bless You All, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

NO TIME FOR THE OLD SOFT SELL!!

Praise the Lord everybody, let everything that has breath praise His holy name!! God alone is worthy of all glory and praise. Jesus is preparing to return to His Church and at the same time the Holy Spirit is doing His best to prepare us, The Church to be received by Christ. I say doing His best because the Children of God have always been a "stiff-necked" people. Yes, we may be grafted into the vine as adopted children but we have somehow received the same stiff-necked DNA.
 As "that" day gets closer, God is saying to the Church "It is time to press a little harder. the time for the old soft sell is over." In Luke 14: 23 Jesus says in a parable   23 And the Lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. (read full parable)                

He asked his servants to "compel" them to come in, and that's what He is asking us to do now in these last and evil days. Time is short and we have to add urgency to our efforts to win souls for Christ. The dictionary tells us that "compel" means 1.  To exert a strong, irresistible force on; sway: 
2.  To necessitate or require, as by force of circumstance; demand

Compel is an action word, we need to take action. God is letting us know that the days are past where we can just walk around looking good and smiling at people and"acting" like Godly people, hoping that was enough to draw them in. I remember how I used to admire the Jehovah Witness, watching them walking around in family groups smiling and appearing blessed of God. But when you strip away the facade you find out they are lacking something. We as Christians can not fall into the same trap.
I was going to say that we don't have to go around door to door like them but then again, why not? We need to take our soul-saving game to another level, at least let's get back to the streets, handing out tracts and preaching Gods word, praying with people and telling our testimonies.

Before we can do these things we have to be ready for this type of ministry, no matter how good your rap game or your gift of gab, if you don't have power, Holy ghost power, your efforts will bear very little fruit. It is the anointing that destroys the yoke of bondage.
The time has come when people can no longer slide by, avoiding the spiritual. The time has come where every man and woman is going to have to make a choice. and it's our job to let them know what those choices are. We don't have to be obnoxious but we must become more determined. We must go forward with compelling testimonies, compelling preaching, and teaching, even our lifestyles should be compelling. It is Gods wish that His "house" His Kingdom be full and it's our job to let Him work through us to make it happen. God by His spirit is compelling us to go out a compel the lost to come in and be saved.

        God Bless You All, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall.