WHAT REPORT WILL YOU BELIEVE

In Numbers 13 Moses sent out 12 spies to go through the promise land and report back their findings: 1. see what the land was like 2. see if the people were weak or strong, few or many 3.was the land good or bad 4. were the cities like camps or strongholds 4.was the land rich or poor was there forests there and bring back some fruit from the land. The one thing they were not to do was view the land and people from their perspective. Yet when they returned 10 had done just that and in verse 33 they made this report " we were like grasshoppers in our own sight and so we were in their sight." And the people listened to and believed the bad report.

In 1 Samuel 11 an account is given about Jabesh Gilead, they were surrounded by the enemy, all looked hopeless, their circumstances appeared grave, but they sent out messengers for help, then came back the report verse 9b "Tomorrow by the time the sun is hot, you shall have help". When they heard the report they believed and were glad.

We have all heard or seen a bad report, you know the ones: doctor report, loss of income, children rebelling, spouse leaving, car broke down, mortgage payment late, creditors calling, bank account in the negative and it goes on and on. In the past I would get a bad report and immediately I would see myself as a grasshopper compared to the report, and I would hear the enemy shout "you will not get through this time" and I would be shaken. Yet, I began to keep praying, keep believing, and keep praising and I saw that each time I thought that I couldn't, God did. Over and over God was faithful and He brought me through it and I began to sit up markers that I could look back on and say "God did it for me then He will do it for me now. I will not be shaken."

Psalm 112:6 Surely he will never be shaken, the righteous will be in everlasting remembrance.

When I read this part about never be shaken I remembered:

Hebrews 12:28a Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace.....

Since we are part of God's kingdom which cannot be shaken, then how can we allow a bad report to shake us.

Psalm 112:7 He will not be afraid of evil tidings (NLT says fear bad news); his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.

Psalm 112:8a His heart is established; he will not be afraid,.....

It is the perspective that we view the bad report that will determine will we be shaken and fearful or will we be steadfast and courageous? There is only one report we need to believe, even when all appears hopeless, and we think help may not come. That report we hold onto only has three words "GOD IS ABLE".

So hold on Help is on the way.

 

 

FAMINE

There are different types of famines one can experience; the first is a physical famine where there is no rain for long periods of time, which causes the crops and ground to dry up and no food to eat. Like the famines in the Old Testament that many experienced, for example when Abram went into Egypt, when Naomi and her husband went into Moab,  and the 3 year famine that came when God answered Elijah's prayer and many more. Today we see the affects of these famines in countries like Somalia. We need to pray for the lands who experience physical famine, that God would open up heaven and send rain to replenish the land.

Next there is a famine of God's word that God sends.

Amos 8:11 Behold the days are coming says the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.

Amos 8:12 They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD, but shall not find it.

We know that in the history before Amos the word was withheld during years the children of Israel were slaves in Egypt, during this time no prophet spoke the word of God to the people, heaven was silent until God spoke to Moses. Amos was also prophesying of both a near coming event and perhaps even a further event we have yet to experience. The near coming event is the 400 years that came after the prophet Malachi until the angel Gabriel was sent to priest by the name of Zacharias and a young virgin by the name of Mary. Since then God continues to give His word both His written word and His Rhema word.

Lets sit here just a moment, God appears to be silent, yet God is always watching, always active, is always for our good. In the time of Joseph God placed His people in Egypt for them to grow and become the nation of Israel and He heard their cries of oppression and He sent them a deliverer to free them from bondage and set them free. This was, you might say, a prototype of the coming Deliverer who is Jesus and He came to set us free from the bondage of sin, sin and the world are represented in Egypt. Then came years and years of a rebellious Israel. Prophets were sent by God to warn of coming judgment if they did not repent of their evil ways and return to God. Oh they would for awhile then once more they would rebel, and God allowed them to be scattered and taken captive by foreign countries that would not allow the TRUTH OF GOD to be spoken. In the time of Nehemiah God sent him to unite the people who had returned to Jerusalem and rebuild the wall. In doing this they found in the temple hidden and forgotten  the law of God. Gathering the people all together they began to read and teach to them the scrolls that were found. The people began to both weep and worship as they heard God's word. Even now there are countries that hate the Jews hate Christians and do not allow bibles in their country. There are underground churches hidden away sharing the truth of God's word. But yet the word of God is still going forth, because we are living in what is referred to as the "church age" and God's word will continue to go forth until every "nation" has heard the voice of God. Me personally I believe there will come a point in our future that God will send a famine if His word after the church age has ended. But this really is not what I wanted to talk about.

What I really want to talk about is our personal times of famine, times we bring into our spirit and soul by neglecting God's word, a time when we leave the fellowship of other believers, and even times we are there in body but our spirit is not. I found myself on the run from God because I could not handle the troubled times that had entered my life, I gave into temptation then blamed God for not protecting me from the temptation. Because of this anger, and behavior I became depressed and bitter grew in me, my soul entered a time of famine. But God was faithful, He kept pursuing me, He placed someone in my path that reminded me of all the things I had thrown away and I became hungry and thirsty for my Savior. That was a famine of my own making. And even now there are times God places me in a time that appears to be a dry and barren place, not to punish me, but to stir up a hunger and thirst in me that will take me deeper with Him.

Habakkuk 3: 17 Though the fig tree may not blossom. Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls------

This verse is speaking of troubled times, famine in fact is a PROBLEM that has come into our lives.

Habakkuk 3:18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation 

Here we find how we should respond to these troubled times, our famine, our PROBLEM. We respond in PRAISE. 

Remember James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when 

you fall into various trials. 

This I had not learned, I didn't know how to respond to my Problem in Praise all I knew how to do was give up. I was 38 when I ran from my Problem, I was 50 when I ran back to God, I was about 52 when God spoke these words "you didn't praise me". I was about 62 when God began to teach me His meaning of praising Him.

Habakkuk 3:19 The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills.

This is a PROMISE our strength is not found in the Problem it is found in our joy of the Lord. He is our strength, in our weakness He is made strong. The female deer is able to place her "hind feet" exactly where her front feet were, enabling her to run with abandonment and in times of danger she is able to run securely and not get off track.

With every PROBLEM, we enter a time of PRAISE and God has already given us this PROMISE. Rejoice and keep a steady pace and we will find our Problem cannot compare with our God.

The famine is ending the rain is coming, drench yourself in His word, in His presence and with His people.