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The Greatest Famine

by Jerry Ousley
5/31/2024 / Christian Living

The Greatest Famine

By Jerry D. Ousley

I love food. What can I say? It has caused me to be overweight and I struggle because I love to eat so much. Well, let me clarify – Food is not my enemy. Food is not making me fat. I am making me fat. You see, it is my own lack of willpower that causes me to eat one meal a day – ALL DAY LONG! I go to bed at night making myself promises that I will constrain myself tomorrow and not eat those in-between-meal snacks. I tell myself that I will eat breakfast and skip lunch or skip breakfast and eat lunch. But then when breakfast time and lunch time comes, I’m saying, “just this once.” So, it isn’t food’s fault, or the fault of anyone else. It’s my fault for not exercising willpower.

The opposite of too much to eat is nothing to eat. This world has suffered great famines in its history. In many third world countries famines are taking place even now.

But in Amos 8:11-12 we read of a completely different kind of famine. It says, “’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. 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.’” Of course, this prophecy was given specifically to the nation of Israel, but it still has ripple effects for us today.

There are a few instances of a famine of a word from God. Between Genesis 50 and Exodus 1, there was a period of 400 years during which the people of Israel were forced into slavery. During this period of time, there is no record of God speaking. It was as if He went silent and so, there was a “famine of the word.” There was another period of time in the days of Eli. We read in 1 Samuel 3:1, “… And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation.” Again, another period of 400 years between Malachi in the Old Testament and Matthew in the New Testament. No official word from God is recorded.

In the days of the time period we call “The Dark Ages,” from 350 AD to around 1517 AD, a period of nearly 1200 years, only what the priests and religious leaders wanted the people to know was revealed. The Bible was in Latin and unprinted. Until the printing press was invented the common people only knew what the Church leaders would allow them to know. Thus, there was another long period of the famine of the word of God.

While all these periods in history during which there was little or no word from the LORD, were terrible times, I am convinced that we are currently in a worse famine of God’s word than any that have occurred in the past. Let me clarify. In today’s world the Bible is more accessible than it has ever been. We can download it from the Internet. It can be economically purchased in discount stores. We have audio versions, Braille versions, large print versions, a seemingly endless number of English translations, and translations in the most widely spoken languages in the world. It is preached via radio, TV and the Internet. More books have been written on the Bible that any other subject in history. Yet, with all the available resources we have to read God’s word, it is less read today than at any other time since the Reformation.

There is a widespread disbelief of what the Bible says, and many want to spiritualize it to make it mean something completely different from what it actually says. Rather than simply believing it in a literal sense, man wants to put his own interpretations in place of the literal meaning based on his own knowledge and theories, ignoring the prophetical fulfilments and infallible proofs of its accuracy.

Today’s Church is experiencing a lack of power with God and I believe it is mainly because of a lack of taking time to understand what the Bible is really saying. We don’t obey it. We aren’t seeking the Holy Spirit. Many congregations today don’t believe in the literal inspiration of it. As this is taught, the average church member is not well versed in the scripture and chooses instead to believe what they are told. We have, unfortunately, by and large, returned voluntarily to the days of the papacy when limited knowledge was the norm. Because of this, the famine of today is worse than that of days gone by.

How can we stop this terrible famine? Only by digging into God’s written word, praying and listening to God, and being obedient to what the Bible teaches and what God reveals to us (which will always align and agree with the written word by the way) then sharing it with others. We must encourage others to do the same. As we do, we can, one person at a time, begin to end this greatest of famines.

Unless things change, we are rapidly approaching a time when censorship, ridicule, and suppression are coming to those who literally believe and teach God’s word. Even now, many congregations promote love over the teachings of the Bible. Yes, God is love. Of course, we are to love our brothers and sisters in Christ as proof of discipleship. And we are still to do as Jesus said, and love our neighbor as ourselves. But love over what the Bible teaches is not real love. Some are teaching that in order to really love, that we must accept people for who they are and accept their sin. This is not love. This is an atrocity. True love will indeed take them in, but will also tell them what the Bible says regarding their life style. True love wants to transcend the surface and bring true conversion to their souls.

The so-called love that accepts everything coming down the pike, accepts and allows people to do their own thing, and live their truth will ultimately deceive people into hell. True love lets people know that our truth is false and we must seek The Truth – Jesus who is the Truth.

Let’s get back to the real word. Let’s feed people with what will make them grow and not just temporarily feel good. Let’s do our part to end the greatest of famines.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

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