The true famine!

Job 5:20 In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword. 21 Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.

Job knew how to put his whole trust in God. He never wavered from his faith. There is a famine coming upon the land and God’s children are going to have to know how to maintain their faith. King David once said; Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. David knew the importance of knowing God’s word. We have people that call themselves “preppers” and they store back food, water, and whatever else they think they may need for when destruction comes upon the world, and that is good because Jesus taught us that famine would come during tribulations. Mathew 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 

But they have failed to store back the one and only thing that they truly need and that is the WORD OF GOD! The tribulations that are coming upon this world will indeed bring famine and many will die but there are many kinds of famine. God told the prophet Hosea; 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee. God let them know that knowledge was important. Knowledge of his word is what will make the difference when we are faced with tribulations. If we don’t read his word and know what the “mark of the beast” is, then we won’t know to avoid taking it at all costs! I am here this morning to tell you that there is a FAMINE COMING but it is not a famine of food or water. God’s children are going to face a famine where they hunger and thirst for the WORD OF GOD! Amos 8:11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: The people will search from east to west, from north to south seeking someone to preach God’s word but they will not find it. My friend, let me tell you that today is the day to read your bible, today is the day to hide God’s word in your heart because the day is coming that you will wish you had! Amos 8:12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.

Our world is flip flopping upside down. Evil is called good and good is called evil. The day will come that you won’t have God’s word so readily available to you. If you want to prepare for tribulations and famine, then hide God’s word. Read it and hide it in your heart and then physically hide your bibles because there will come a day that you will wish you had. My heart is heavy with the need to proclaim to you that famine is coming. Make yourselves ready. There is nothing we can do to avoid what is coming, but we can be like King David and hide his word in our hearts! I don’t know about you, but I don’t like going hungry. I hunger for God’s word. If I miss church, I get hungry to be with God’s people. Don’t go hungry, come out to church and begin preparing for the famine that is coming!

The promises of God

The promises of God are for his children. He tells us in his word that we can ask anything and he will give it to us. We have a power within ourselves that is mighty and able to do so much more that we realize. The HOLY GHOST is God's gift to the church (Christians). We can pray for the sick and see them healed. We can cast out demons, and believe me, demons are real and they do inhabit humans. We shall speak with a heavenly tongue and so much more, but there is something that is required of us! WE MUST BELIEVE AND WE MUST CLEANSE OURSELVES!

2 Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

We often pray for someone and don't see results, but the bible teaches us that we ask and receive not because we ask in unbelief. We must BELIEVE that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him and keep his commandments.

John 14:12-15 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. 13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. 15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 

Today is the day!

God appeared unto Abraham and sent him forth to a land that he would give to him and his children forever. This same God appeared again unto Jacob and reminded him of that promise. The one thing God made clear throughout scripture when he appeared unto any of them was that he is God Almighty, that he is God and besides him, there is no God. He warned his people time and time again about serving the God’s of the heathen people around them. We are living in a world today where anything and everything is acceptable according to man, but God never changes and his word is life. The temple in Jerusalem will be built again. The prophesies of Ezekiel, Daniel and John in Revelations will come to pass. We are living in a day that negotiations are being made to begin building the temple. We are living in the day that we may not buy or sell unless we allow the government to put their seal upon us! We are living in a day that as Christians, we must cry out to our brethren and tell them what is going on. We must sound the trumpet! We must go to the highways and the byways and compel them to come to the house of God. Today is not the day to get slack in our service to God. Today is the day to lay aside anything that draws us away from our prayer closet, that draws us away from reading his word, that draws us away from gathering ourselves together in worship services. Today is the day to press toward the mark of our high calling. Today is the day to go out and tell someone about Jesus!

Genesis 17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.

Genesis 28:13 And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;

Exodus 6:8 And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the Lord.

Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Isaiah 45:5 I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: 6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else. 7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.

Revelations 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

The Watchman

Ezekiel 33:7 So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.

8 When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

9 Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

God was speaking to Ezekiel concerning the house of Israel, but his word is for all of us. Paul told us in 1 Corinthians 10 that these things were given to us for examples. We are to take them and learn from them. As Christians, God has made each of us his watchman and we are to warn the wicked about what they are doing. If we fail to warn someone when we know they are doing wrong, then their blood will be on us. Christians are called haters, racists, and worse because we tell people when they are sinning, because we speak up about the wickedness going on in the world, but we are none of those things. We are simply God's watchmen, doing what he told us to do.

Deception!

DECEPTION: the action of deceiving someone.

• a thing that deceives."a range of elaborate deceptions"synonyms:deceit, deceitfulness, duplicity, double-dealing, fraud, cheating, trickery, chicanery, deviousness, slyness, wiliness, guile, bluff, lying, pretense, treachery;

Not a very pretty word and for sure not a very pretty action, yet many practice it daily. Satan is a master at deception and yet the bible tells us that he was transformed into an angel of light. In other words, he appeared to be something he wasn’t! For some reason mankind has come to believe that he can hide himself behind a mask of deception. I want to assure you that this can’t be done. Some will be fooled, some will not believe the truth once it is discovered, but there will be some that are never fooled. There is a gift called discernment that God gives to his children so that they will not be deceived. Many in the church today are living behind a mask of deception and while they are fooling many of the brothers and sisters in Christ, they never have and never will fool God. The bible teaches us that he knows the very intents of our hearts. It is better for these type of people to remain out in sin than to live a life of deception because God will not accept a lukewarm Christian!

2 Corinthians 11:14 And no marvel: for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 1 Corinthians 12:10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy/ to another the discerning of spirits; Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Revelations 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

Our churches today no longer see the gifts of God being used due to deception. The sick are being prayed for but few are being healed. We don’t see men and women of God standing and giving a word of knowledge to the church. We don’t hear prophecies and we don’t see the miracles that we should be seeing all because of deception! This is not a new thing, Joshua faced it with the children of Israel long ago. Have you by chance read about the battle he fought with Ai? When he sent men to spy on their camp and they came back telling him they were few in number and that they could be beaten with just a few thousand. Joshua sent a few thousand men to battle and some lost their lives, the rest were driven back by the Amorites. Joshua rent his clothes and cried out to God and God let him know real quickly to arise, that Israel had sinned and as long as there was sin in the camp they would not be victorious! Joshua had to bring the tribes before him and then take them by family and then man by man until he came to Achan and the sin was discovered. Achan and all his family were destroyed that day for his sins. I do not believe this was an easy thing for Joshua to do, in fact it was probably one of the hardest things he ever did, but God had given him a commandment to get the sin out of Israel or he would not be there with them. They would not be able to stand against their enemies as long as the sin remained among them! Read Joshua, Chapter 7 to get full details of this event in Joshua’s life.

The church today accepts sin and some even encourage it, but sin is never acceptable with God. It’s never easy to call someone out that you know is committing sin and if or when you do, it should always be done in love and for the Glory of God to benefit the good of that person and to reconcile that person back to God. If you can’t love that person and want them to do good and be reconciled to God, then you are better to stay away from them, because if you don’t do this in love, then you are part of the problem! The bible teaches us that if we go to someone and they hear us, that we have gained a brother or sister in Christ. If he will not hear you, then take witnesses with you so that what is being said can be confirmed. As a last resort the person should be brought before the church and the sin be made public and if he or she still refuse to repent, then we are to put them out of the church and have no more dealings with them. The church today is too acceptable of sin and welcomes anyone to be part of their congregation, when the truth is, we are to welcome all sinners into our church, we are to witness to them, pray for them and if they repent, we are to accept them into our congregation, but we are not to tolerate sin. We must get sin out of our churches if we are ever to be pleasing to God.

Mathew 18:15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. 16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.

Keeping the commandments of God

Leviticus 26:2-4 KJV

2 Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.

3 If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;

4 Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

We serve a never changing God. He expects something from his people. He longs to have relationship with his children. He wants to bless you!!

Deuteronomy 5:29

O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!

Jesus told us to show our love for him by keeping his commandments. We often wonder why our prayers go unanswered. Well maybe, just maybe it's because we do all the asking but not the keeping. We have the power within ourselves to speak life and death but we MUST keep God's commandments, we must live by them and honor them.

John 14:14-16

14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

We can't say we Love God and serve him and not keep his commandments.

John 14:21

He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

We can't be half way Christians. God expects all or nothing from us.

Revelation 3:16

So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

Love isn't always easy!

Mathew 5:44-46 KJV

44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do god to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

It’s easy to love those that love you. Our goal in life should be to love the ones that hate us that persecute us that speak lies about us. Not only that, but we should seek to love those that love us with an even deeper, unselfish kind of love. The bible teaches us that true love will even cover a multitude of sins. In other words, if God sees us truly loving people, he will forgive us for all our other sins.

1 Peter 4:8

And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

Jesus Christ showed us by example how we should love. When it came time for him to know he was facing death on the cross and he went into the garden of Gethsamane to pray. He prayed so hard that his sweat became as great drops of blood and he ask the Father to take that cup from him. He knew the pain that awaited him on that cross. He knew he was going to be beaten, ridiculed and spit upon. He knew that the pain he would feel would be excruciating, but he pushed past all that and loved us anyway. He knew all this and still prayed, not my will but thy will be done.

Luke 22:41-44

And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,

Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.

And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Jesus showed us by example that the greatest love we can give is not loving someone that is close to us. That great love, that beyond understanding love is when we can love when we don’t want to, love when it hurts us, love where there is no love. When we can master the flesh and put it under subjection to our will and love those that hate us and persecute us. That is the kind of love Christ expects from us. If you want to please God, begin to love your enemies, pray for those that hate you and persecute you. I have heard many say, pray for your enemies and heap coals of fire upon their heads and yes, the bible does say this but what Paul is trying to teach us is that it is our job to love and it’s God’s job to avenge. If we love the way Christ expects us to love we will win souls and many of those we thought were enemies will be saved.

Roman 12:18-21

If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.

Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Set a goal for yourself today. Begin to love someone that you feel you can never love. Begin to pray for that person with a pure heart. You may never see a change in that person, but I guarantee you that you will see a change in yourself. A change for the better.