Yesterday, I was at a feast, or fest as it is called. Our community holds a celebration of bands, vendors, food, fun, prizes, community and ending with everyone with a kayak heading to the river and floating down the Coal.
Across town, was another gathering. A “tent of meeting” I called it. Feeding the homeless, preaching the gospel and reaching the lost.
I was at the first one – for my job – A vitamin and WHOLE FOOD Store (think: whole foods as you move on) because my employer is a vendor. A huge storm blew through – thunder, lightning, heavy rains, mighty winds. Almost as if the Lord was speaking.
Throughout the day, I was thinking I was offering them whole food, supplements, opportunities to learn, but of course, most were focused on beer, hotdogs, slushy drinks, and carnival food. I had to work hard to put into the crowds hands to notice our store and then come to the table to hear what we offer.
While thinking along these lines, my thoughts were “One is worldly, in contrast to the other.”
Thoughts of songs heard yesterday…. “I set fire to the rain” by Adele. “Love is the drug” by Roxy Music. And in my own thoughts while driving “He’s not a baby in a manger anymore, He’s not a broken man on the Cross, he didn’t stay…. in the grave…. and he’s not staying in heaven forever….”
Thoughts – “Lord tie all these thoughts together as I read Your Word”
Scripture this morning was Psalm 18.
Vs 9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down
With darkness under His feet.
Vs 10 And He rode upon a cherub, and flew;
He flew upon the wings of the wind.
Vs 11 He made darkness His secret place;
His canopy around Him was dark waters
And thick clouds of the skies.
“Stop there.”
He made darkness His Secret place.
“What does that mean?”
The Famine
Amos 8:11 “ Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord GOD,
“ That I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine of bread,
Nor a thirst for water,
But of hearing the words of the LORD.
vs 12 They shall wander from sea to sea,
And from north to east;
They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD,
But shall not find it.
Early in my understanding of scripture, I “assumed” it to mean that 400 year period before Christ was born, because there was nothing written in scripture regarding that time, so there was a famine.
But then the Lord said to me “Look again” I looked again. I realized this was talking about a Day.. capital letters … as in The Day of the Lord.
As it flowed into Amos 9, He says He will restore the Tabernacle of David which had fallen. This is taking place right now. “The Day” in Amos 8 is not speaking of the silent years before Christ’s birth, but is speaking of the time before His second coming. This is a Present Word for Today.
But, is there really a shortage of God’s word in the Earth? In nearly every community in the United States, and in some places every block, there is a church building. There are websites proclaiming God’s word. There are radio and television programs. There are magazines and myriads of books being published and sold. There are organizations and missions going oversees. There are gifts with scripture on them. I even found candy called “Testa Mints”
So, where are people running to and fro looking but not finding Your word Lord?
He said to me “Look again” So I looked again. It did not say “a famine God’s Word” but rather of the “HEARING OF GOD’S WORD”.
The HEARING. Psalm 12:6 says the “words of the Lord are pure, like silver tried in a furnace of clay, purified seven times. His word is PURE. The Word of the Lord spoken and preached today is often mixed with our own filters. I will admit, I have mixed the word of God with my own filters. My thoughts, opinions and beliefs that don’t line up with His PURE word will leave people HUNGRY.
Only the PURE WORD OF GOD SATISFIES. His word is TRIED. None of us are exempt from having mixture. We go through refining fires in order to bring forth a purity of heart, which will overflow out of our mouths and in the words we speak. (Matt 12:34) (Mal 3:2,3) All the words we speak will try us. Once it comes out of our mouths, we are tested in the thing we spoke. Our words frame our outcome. If we speak what we hear the enemy speaking, he will certainly validate those words with signs. If we speak what the world is speaking, there will be plenty of others to validate what we speak. If we speak what God speaks, then that word will be tried in a furnace of clay, which is our own earthen vessel.
It will be tried first in our own being. This is why when we speak healing over our body, when it has been ill, that word tries us. “Do you really believe?” The word tries our hearts with that question. The enemy turns it around. “Do you really believe?” becomes “Did God really say?”
Your response will be your outcome.
But if you stand, in belief of God’s word, then it is purified once.
Now, speak healing over your sick body again.
Call the elders, get some oil, and get the righteous to pray fervent prayers. You will be tried. Once again the word tries our faith and “Do you really believe?” becomes again “Did God really say?”
Your response will be your outcome.
But if you stand again, in belief of God’s word, then it is purified twice.
And so on, for several times until this word in you has become a pure word. When it is a pure word, you can speak with boldness and authority. And it leaves others satisfied, blessed, and fed with nourishment that brings healing to the body.
If you love me, feed My sheep
Not “If you love me, perform powerful works, signs and wonders” Though this will happen as the Kingdom of God becomes more manifest in our lives, we don’t show God we love Him by trying to perform. There are a few things He requires, as a response to His love. One is to feed His sheep. He would not feed fast food or anything of mixture that leaves His sheep hungry and thirsty. Nor does He want us to. What do we have? Pure word? Or Processed Food? If we love Him, we need to feed His sheep with the pure word, tried as silver in a furnace of clay, purified seven times. It won’t happen right away, but we who teach, write, preach, bring the word of God in any way, must make that our goal.
Scripture is clear. There will still be a famine of the hearing of God’s word. But I don’t want to be responsible for feeding junk food. On the Day I stand before my Lord, I want to hear Him say “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many. Come, share in your Master’s Joy.”
Now, on the other side of the coin, it is the LORD Himself who sends the famine. Itching ears will be dissatisfied. They will run to and fro looking for yet another word, but it will leave them hungry in an hour. It will be because of the darkness of their own hearts that the Lord will allow a spiritual deafness to come over them. Therefore, we are all without excuse. We who teach, and we who hear, are accountable to the Lord.
The Feast
John 7:6-8 So Jesus said to them, “My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune. The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil. Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come.”
Vs 9 Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee. But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as if, in secret. So the Jews were seeking Him at the feast and were saying, “Where is He?” There was much grumbling among the crowds concerning Him; some were saying, “He is a good man”; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He leads the people astray.”
John 7:37 (AMP) Now on the final and most important day of the Feast, Jesus stood, and He cried in a loud voice, If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink!
He who believes in Me [who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water.
John 7:39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
This feast was the Feast of Tabernacles. It was a celebration. What I’m seeing but not quite fully, is in the coming days ahead, there will be a large, perhaps global revival. Much like the feast here. But Jesus says to the Church, “Go! go! but I won’t be there; just not yet” however He will not reveal Himself openly just yet for He truly is walking among them in secret.
And then when He speaks about the Holy Spirit… on the LAST DAY of the feast… he cries with a LOUD voice… there is a CRY going forth here… that WHOEVER BELIEVES AND TRUSTS AND CLINGS TO ME will have rivers of living water flowing from the inside….
Okay, do you see a body of believers who will attend these “revivals” and see miracles and celebrations, but not see Christ? Could it be really possible that there are revivals in Jesus’ name but He is not there or rather, not glorified?
Well consider the Feast of Tabernacles.
What is the Feast of Tabernacles but a celebration of the abundance of God’s goodness. Just as the booths (tabernacles) represented temporary dwelling places, the Messiah was made manifest in a temporary dwelling (The Body) as He came to tabernacle among us (Jn 1:14). The Jews saw a foreshadowing of Christ, but could not see Christ HIMSELF when He was right under their nose.
And so here, Jesus goes to the Feast on the very last day of the festival. There is a celebration OF HIM, OF GOD, but there is more focus on the merriment and the celebration.
Christ DID not Reveal Himself until the last day.
Revival simply means “visitation”. It’s GOOD to celebrate the things of God but I also believe that we can get caught up in the blessings and the celebration and even see healings and deliverances in Jesus name, and yet not see HIM.
We can even get caught up in discussions regarding Him.
Vs 11-12 Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, “Where is He?” And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him. Some said, “He is good”; others said, “No, on the contrary, He deceives the people.”
Jesus did not forbid His disciples from attending feasts. He gave them authority to preach the word, bind, loose, instruct, heal, deliver, etc. They had the authority to do it in His name. It was THEIR DAY. Just not yet Jesus’ Day.
One thing bothered me. He was there in secret, known only to the ones looking for Him, not to the others. Towards the end of these revivals many who were raised up as prophets will cry out “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN THE SON OF GOD.”
The peoples have not yet touched HIM. Healings have taken place, but was JESUS AS “OUR HEALING” met?
Jesus is “OUR HEALING” not just “OUR HEALER”
Jesus is “OUR PROVISION” not just “OUR PROVIDER”
He calls HIMSELF “THE BREAD OF LIFE”
HE IS.
Not just HE GIVES.
HE IS.
HE IS.
It says in verse 39 “the spirit wasnt given because Jesus wasnt glorified yet”
Do you believe here that, contained in these verses, is a message regarding the coming days ahead and the LIE and DECEPTION that will be allowed? Those who were looking for celebration, miracle, feasting, all in the name of the Lord, will get that but has Jesus been glorified?
Jesus came as a baby the first time to the Jews, wrapped in clothing and laid in a barn stall. A stinky barn stall, among cattle and pigs and goats, The Jews did not recognize Him.
They were looking for a royal King who would rule as a man and deliver them from the oppression of their earthly enemies. They missed the day of their visitation.
The Church in the States is looking for a political leader to save them; yes they say he will be used by God, but still, can God use another too? And we, the Body of Christ, think we surely would recognize Him if He were to come now. Because we have “our relationship” with Him.
I think the question we should ask ourselves is not JUST “Will we recognize Him?” He is coming back as a God who LOVES me and “I’m saved – it’s a done deal, right?”
Okay, then. What are we speaking about those who serve Him? Our brothers and sisters? You know, I am a nameless, faceless one, prophesied about to do miracles, and works the works of God. I am prophesied about.
So are you.
Will we recognize that He is there in secret? Have we ever asked ourselves THAT?
We need to examine ourselves to make sure that we are seeing HIM in the BODY of Christ. And also know when He is hidden amongst us.
Whatsoever you have done to the least of these, this you have done to Me.
Do you get it, Beloved? Do you see?
Christ in YOU is the hope of glory…
But do you see Christ as a baby in your brother or sister? Can you see beyond the stinky flesh and find Christ? However faint? Do you recognize Him?
John 20:13 And they said to her, Woman, why are you sobbing? She told them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.
14 On saying this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing [there], but she did not know (recognize) that it was Jesus.
The Lord is attending the worldly and the spirit feasts – He is giving us authority to do the stuff and preach the pure word – to present to the world the goodness as well as the severity of God. He will show up in some and become obvious, but in others He comes in secret, amongst the crowds listening for what they speak of Him. He reveals but also makes darkness His Secret Place.
No matter where you are, He is there. Listening for hearts and observing His own people.
Do you see Him? Are you thirsty for Him? Are you presenting the pure word of whole food to the people?
We are the tabernacles. He is in us. What do we present?
Do you love me?
Feed my sheep.
Darlene Rose 
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