What Do You Have a Taste For?

By Roline Thomas

Matthew 5:6 - Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled

You know how it is when you got to have a certain food. You want it so bad that you do whatever it takes to get it. In the movie “Life” with Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence, the character Claude Banks is serving a life sentence in a Mississippi prison. When Claude first arrives, the head officer tells the inmates they will be shot if they ever cross over the “gun line”, which is the boundary of the prison. In a scene, Claude is standing at the gun line, craving a fresh baked pie that is cooling on the window ledge of the warden’s house located several yards beyond the prison boundary. Claude has a strong desire for the pie and risks his life and looking ridiculous to get what he craves.

When you come to a place of desperation nothing or no one will stop you from getting what you need. The Christian must be desperate for righteousness and willing to take risks to get what is needed; risk being ridiculed, risk being ostracized, risk being persecuted. Jesus understands these risks because He went through all of the same for you.

The word “hunger” in this passage is not speaking of a desire for just anything. When you settle for anything, you take in the toxins and filth of this world. “Hunger” speaks of a focused hunger. Anything just won’t do. A spiritual hunger is focused on what God has to dish out. A spiritual hunger craves to sit at the table of Jehovah Tsidkenu, the Lord our Righteousness.

What are you consuming? Are you the picture of a healthy Christian or a malnourished Christian? Glorifying God, having healthy relationships, living right, talking right and walking right can only come from a healthy spiritual diet. Reading and studying God’s Word, praying to God, listening to God, and living according to God’s Word are all a part of a healthy spiritual diet plan. Make sure you feed yourself daily. Just as force feeding and rush eating can be detrimental to one’s physical life, the same can be detrimental to one’s spiritual life. It’s not always the diet that cause you to starve, it’s how you digest.

O, taste and see that the Lord is good! Pull up to the table of the Most High God.

Nobody can satisfy you like God can. Matthew 5: 6 in the Message Bible reads “You are blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.” What do you have a taste for?

School of Ministry - Open to the Public

St. Mark's RODDY E. COLLINS SCHOOL OF MINISTRY begins tonight. We have great anointed teachers and awesome classes. Call me for more info 501-663-3955 or go to http://www.smark.org/content/index.php/ministries/discipleship/rec-som for a more detailed description.

St. Mark's Bible Institute

Mr. President, Are We Bias?

Originally posted on former blog 11/6/2008

2 Chronicles 7:14

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

I stopped and prayed for the newly elected president Barak Obama last night. The fact that he’s the 1st Black president brings a reality—the brother & his family will be marked for assassination, whether physically or morally.

I started thinking about all the people who like me will begin praying for this great man on the regular. And then I thought about our current president. Did we ever stop and pray for him—you know, on the regular? Why are we making a big deal out of praying for Barak Obama when praying for the president should have been routine?

1 Timothy 2:1-3 says “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour.”

After mulling over 2 Chronicles 7:14 and I Timothy 2:1-3, I wondered, what shape would this country be in today if Christians would have prayed for Bush and his predecessors regularly. Instead of just talking about what a bad job Bush was doing, and solely blaming him for the state of the economy maybe we should have humbled ourselves and sought the Lord. I wonder….if Christians had done their part would the land be healed? Would this country be in better shape?

The current president, George Bush, has 3 months left in office. He is still the President of the U.S.A. Don’t wait for “our man” to take office, start praying now for those in authority.

Women's Retreat/Conference

Roline will be the keynote speaker this weekend, Aug. 7, 2010