"A FAMINE OF GOD'S WORD"

Good Evening to All!

And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the Lord unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. (Amos 8:2 KJV)

And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day. (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: (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. (13) In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. (Amos 8:10-13 KJV)

I like the way the Message Bible states it. It is not as pretty of language, but it is quite a bit more plain. He (God) is talking to Amos in a vision and said, "What do you see, Amos?" I said a bowl of fresh, ripe fruit." God said, "Right. So, I'm calling it quits with my people Israel. I'm no longer acting as if everything is fine." (Amos 8:2)

I'll turn your parties into funerals and make every song you sing a dirge. Everyone will walk around in rags, with sunken eyes and bald heads. Think of the worst that could happen--0your only son, say, murdered. That's a hint of judgment Day--that and much more. (Amos 8:10) (11) "Oh yes, Judgment Day is coming!" These are the words of my Master God. "I'll send a famine through the whole country. It won't be food or water that's lacking, but my Word. People will drift from one end of the country to the other, roam to the north, wander to the east. (12) they'll go anywhere, listen to anyone, hoping to hear God's Word--but they won't hear it. (13) "On Judgment Day, lovely young girls will faint of Word-thirst, robust young men will faint of God-thirst.

The people of Israel turned from His ways many times. Every time they did, He would send a messenger to call them back toward Him and His ways. God gave the above vision to Amos to try and warn the the people that He was getting tired of them "pushing the limit" of His patience with them. His patience wouldn't last forever.

Natural disasters are never pretty, nor are they easy to get through. Whether it's hurricanes, tornadoes, floods or droughts, they all bring despair, hardships hunger and poverty. Anyone who has ever gone through this type of catastrophe understands the shock, struggle to find the basic necessities and the hopelessness for a long time afterward.

Reading my devotional material though, I sincerely feel like not being able to hear from God, or feel His wonderful presence would be so much worse. We take this beautiful thing for granted so often. What's bad is we don't even realize it.

The Bible is the Best Selling Book in the World. It is the most published book throughout history. In the majority of the world it is easily accessible.

The thing is people find the Bible easy to ignore. They do this because they want to pick and choose the "rules and laws" of God which to go by. They don't mind praying, but they don't want to tithe. They don't "worship calves, or Buddha, but they spend more time playing games on the computer or watching TV than reading their Bible. Anything we do that takes the place of, or is a distraction from God is an idol. I'm not saying we shouldn't play computer games, or read other books or other ways of entertainment. It becomes an idol when we would rather do that than go to church, or spend time in prayer, or read our Bible. As long as we make as much time for God as we do everything else, we are ok.

Now back on subject. Without reading the Bible, people will drift. For example, if the Bible were taken away from us, and we didn't have God's Word in our hearts, we would wander around hoping to hear truth and God's message of love--but finding it nowhere. Can you imagine how that would feel? Void of God's love, of His mercy, His Word, His Guidance? Sounds like the "opposite of Heaven " a little bit, doesn't it?

This devotion was in a section for "inner beauty". The last paragraph of it stated: This passage (the above Bible verses) is a billboard for what is most vital for inner beauty--knowing God through the Bible, his Word. Wall Street or the fashion industry can't set a devastated world right, but reading and memorizing the Bible will assure that you'll be able to survive any disaster.

Good Night to All, and May God Bless!