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Famine in the Land ... continued ~
people living in faithful service to their Lord.
That epistle known and read of all men is
often more effective in touching people’s lives
than is an eloquent exhortation.
During the days of Elisha, an army from Syria
besieged the city of Samaria and caused a
famine in that city so severe that to survive,
some of the people stooped to cannibalism. A
group of lepers left their spot at the city gate
deciding to surrender to the enemy and take
what would happen to them. Through a
miracle of the Lord, the Syrian army had fled
and the lepers came upon a camp empty of
people but full of food. These lepers started
to feast on the food they found- until they
came to themselves. “We do not well” they
told each other, “this is a day of good tidings
and we hold our peace. Now therefore, come,
that we may go and tell the king’s household”
(2 Kings 7).
Brothers and sisters, we also do not well to
hold our peace. Finally, my little children, let
us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed
and in truth, since by this we know that we
are of the truth and shall assure our heart
before him (1 John 3:16-19). So we also share
the Word and maintain purity of doctrine and
conduct. Let us remember that a guide not
only tells the way: he shows the way and what
a child sees impresses him much more than
what he is told. We guide more by our lives
than by our words. Amen.
Abundance and Renewal (Amos 9:13-15)
| Bro Gideon Hankamone (Mazabuka, Zambia)
“B
ehold the days are coming, says the
Lord, when the ploughman shall over-
take the reaper, and the trader of grapes him
who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip
sweet honey and all the hills shall flow with
it. I will restore the fortunes of my people
Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities
and inhabit them, they shall plant vineyards
and drink their wine, and they shall make
gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant them
upon their land and they shall never again be
plucked up out of the land which I have given
them, says the Lord your God.”
I consider that the sufferings of this present
time are not worth comparing with the glory
that is to be revealed to us. For the creation
waits with eager longing for the revealing of
the sons of God. For the sons of God the
creation was subject to futility, not of its own
will but by the will of Him who subjected it in
hope, because the creation itself will be set
free from its bondage of decay and obtain the
glorious liberty of the children of God.
The Bible has many scriptures that talk about
the coming of the kingdom and what it will be
like. It appears that it will be a wondrous and
beautiful place, a world of abundance, peace
and security. However, today the earth, as we
all know it, is under a curse and because of
that we must work all the days of our lives to
feed our families. Until the curse is lifted, the
earth will not give forth its full yield or
capabilities. Man pumps millions of tons of
chemicals into the land to try and coax better
yields from it, but no matter how much man
endeavours to try and remove the current
curse, he is unable to change what God has
ordained. Famine, pestilence, drought and
disease are still impacting the yields, and
hunger and starvation are still with us, even
with all our seemingly vast technology and
knowledge. Once again God is teaching man
that we cannot do it on our own.
The creation too is waiting eagerly for the
curse to be lifted and is looking forward to
been set free from its bondage and decay, the
earth like us is waiting for a renewal, a time
when we will be able to walk with God in His
garden again and not be fearful.
May we all look to the future and glorious day
that is coming which will bring abundance and
renewal for the children of God and his whole
creation. Let us pray for that day to come
soon. Even so, come Lord Jesus.