Meat for the Hungry

       Spiritual darkness hung in the Praetorium like a dense fog. Black wisps of demonic hordes flitted about and entered the minds of the Romans. Heavy oppression compressed the lungs while heaving chests squeezed out air, and eyes clouded over with great deception.      Pilate rose from his seat of judgment and strolled toward Jesus, shaking his head at the insanity of the bogus trial, and this condemned One’s refusal to defend Himself. “He only mentioned truth ,” he mumbled, “and bearing witness to truth .” His brows furrowed. Nearing the place where Jesus stood, Pilate looked Him in the eye and said in a condescending tone, “ What is truth ? ”   Such an amazing question! And, one we need to know how to answer because TRUTH has been deemed relative for quite some time now. In other words, your truth may not be my truth. But this thought is just a regurgitation of Israel’s sad state of affairs, “In those days there was no king in Israel; e...

     www.dreamstime.com free stock photo    Do you ever think life is hard? Goodness, I do. There are days, even weeks, where everything goes well. I feel God’s presence, hear His voice, learn from His Word, and life flows along like a deep, smooth river. And then there are times I slip on a rug and crash to the floor blindsided by a situation so confusing I just throw up my hands and shout, “What in the world is going on?”   In those moments, I tend to focus on the situation. What did I do to cause this, and how can I fix it? But after a while, I get irritated. If I hurt someone’s feelings by giving my opinion, why am I not entitled to my opinion? And why am I always the one punished? Why can’t that person just shrug it off and forgive?   The Lord allowed me to wallow for a few minutes, and then He said, “Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.” [1]     “Yes, Lord, I’m listening.” ...

  DAY SIXTEEN   “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me. The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; do not forsake the works of Your hands.” [1]   Oh Lord our God, we humble ourselves in Your presence and ask for You to lift us up. Father, we have sinned against You, and You have allowed this trial to come upon us so we would wake up and have our eyes opened to the wickedness in our midst. You have afflicted us; therefore, we repent with our faces to the ground. We have returned to make supplication and confess Your Holy name. And though we do not deserve Your forgiveness and cleansing, Your Word says you will hear and forgive Your servants, that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk.   Lord send the refreshing and cleansing rain on our land and Your children just as You did for Is...