"There's A Famine"

"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." Amos 8:11

I believe that we are seeing the fulfillment of this prophecy in our day- at least in this nation. There is a famine of the word of the Lord. You may ask how can that be when we are inundated with preaching. We have churches on every corner in our cities. We have twenty-four hour Christian television. We have more ministers and ministries than ever before in the history of our nation. This is true, but in the vast majority of them we are lacking the "word of God".

In many churches socials, fellowships, gimmicks and programs have replaced the preaching of the word. Some have stopped preaching the word of God altogether because it isn't "popular" so they are preaching what that think the people want to hear in order to grow a big church. There are some others that are still preaching the "word" but they have watered it down, compromised its meaning, not rightly divided it, or brought in a "another" gospel- one that is a mixture of scripture, tradition and philosophy (thus making it something other than the "truth"). The preaching of the word of God has been taken lightly as if it is the least important part of the ministries. I would like to clarify this morning that it is the MOST important part.

I remember when I first got saved sitting in church and there would be times when the Lord's presence showed up in such a powerful way during praise and worship. After the worship was over, we would dismiss and go home. I can remember hearing others, and thinking the same myself, say that it was a great service because the preacher didn't even get to preach. As I am growing in the Lord, I can see that even though it was a great time in worship and the presence of the Lord was there, this was wrong thinking. The Lord wanted to do both- receive our worship and bless us in the process, but He also wanted to speak to us and edify us through His word. This mentality seems to be the norm now. We want the "experiences" more than the word. We want to "feel" something more than we want to "hear" something. We want God to "do" something more than we want Him to "say" something.

As I said earlier, the word is the MOST important part- in the church, in our ministries and in our individual lives. Jesus touched the lives of people through miracles, healings and deliverance while He was on earth. But He never neglected to give them God's word. He gave the people His Father's words everywhere He went- in every city, in the temple, in His encounters with individuals, when He was invited into homes. As Christians, the word of God is our life, and it gives us life. The word has to begin to have priority in our churches, ministries, homes and lives again. Without it, we will not only suffer a "spiritual famine" but we will also be destroyed. "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children." - Hosea 4:6

Have a great day. Are you experiencing a famine?

For further reading:
2 Timothy 4:2
Luke 8:1; 5:1
Acts 6:7
Romans 10:17
Ephesians 6:17
Hebrews 4:12
John 5:39; 6:63
Proverbs 4:20-23

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell
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