Self Imposed Famine

Was reading an article in the recent Time Magazine, titled 'Does God Want Me Rich?' when the words of Amos 8 came to me. I know it refers to Israel, but the Holy Spirit brought it to my mind for a reason, so I pondered on it.

Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit. 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. And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord GOD: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence. Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat? The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works. Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: 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. 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: 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. In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.

The bolded verses were what actually what came to me.....

Thought about those verses where God shows Amos the basket of summer fruit, asking him 'what do you see'..

All types of fruit grow in the summer only...early, mid, etc. but there is a season in late summer when the fruit, if not picked rots on the vine. Late summer. I think this was the season God was showing Amos--that this 'late summer fruit' was 'spoiled'...

Are we experiencing a famine of hearing the Word of God today, like is spoken of above?

I think we are.

God is giving no new words because He's already spoken but people have refused to hear.

I had a preacher tell me long ago when I was seeking advice on what to do in a matter, telling him I couldn't seem to get any direction from God in prayer, that I needed to go back to the last time God DID speak to me and reflect on if I had obeyed. For when God does speak, if we don't obey, we'll hear 'no new word' until we do.

Makes sense, doesn't it.

Today we get 'words'...in fact anyone with a computer can sign up on any number of 'prophetic' web sites and receive one in their mail box every day. But are they truly a 'Word from God'? I seriously doubt it. For one thing, what Prophet [real, truly called of God] can produce a 'word' on command, daily at that! None that I've ever read about in the bible.

So what are we hearing? Fluff. Chaff.

Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney. Hosea 13

Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble:.. Is.33

......clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Jude 12

Can't survive on chaff...

Chaff- The seed casings and other parts inedible to humans of plant matter harvested with cereal grains such as wheat. The chaff must be separated from the grain before use, by such techniques as threshing and wind winnowing. The word "Chaff" is also used to refer to something worthless, such as in the ex-pression "separating the wheat from the chaff" meaning to find things of value and separate them from things of no value.

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked perish. Psalm 1

Is the famine we're in today self imposed? I kinda think it is.

Today we have the Word of God available like no other time in history...almost any Christian has access to a bible. Just a few years ago, this wasn't true in all Nations. Granted there are still areas/pockets of the world in which a group of believers may gather with only 1-2 per group...but for the most part all believers today do have access to reading/hearing the Word.

But like the scripture in Amos says, the famine is in the 'hearing', not in the giving forth.

Anyway was just thinking outloud. God has been speaking, but I just wonder if any of us really have heard. And that because we haven't taken to heart what we HAVE heard about 'repent, prepare, I'm coming soon, Be watching,' that we may not get anything more until we heed and obey what we have been given. Not the 'chaff messages' but the words of the true Prophets.

The words of that article title really hit me today; 'does God want me rich'...

Does God want us rich, sure He does. Rich is all mercy, grace, and love, through Christ.
We are truly living in the Laodicean age when we've forgotten that truth, and the world, thru a secular magazine has to remind us.

And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Revelation 3

Thanks for bearing with my ponderings...