Laughter In The Time Of Famine (Part 2)

GOG - 19 - 257 - 2019: Laughter In The Time Of Famine (Part 2)

www.thecarpenterschurch.org

Laughter

Famine

in the time of

(Part 2)

Pastor Nkechi Ene (Mrs.) In the previous article, we looked at several stimuli that a famine situation presents to you.

We explained the stimulus of sel;ishness, the stimuli of fear and insecurity, the stimulus of

times? When a Pastor who is called to preach the Word of God says, “If only you will come to my church, because you work in Shell, I will put you in the front row, and anything you tell me

nothing left, but they remembered one thing that had worked for them even in the time of plenty and they said to Joseph, “We might be in a ;ix, we might be owing a lot of money, we may

threatened seed and the failed money system stimulus. In this article, I will show you one more stimulus, as well as one principle that will cause you to laugh in the time of famine because that principle will never fail.

to preach, I will preach; just sustain my ministry. Take me, take my anointing, take my call, take my church and just give me a million naira tithe, I will be all right serving you.” Or a sister who is called of God meets a brother, who

not have anything around us anymore, but there is one thing we know and we want to hold unto that thing. Joseph, take all we have, but give us seed. If we have seed, we will live and not die.” Money will fail you, but seed will never

comes brooding around the church like a wolf fail you. Money fails because, whenever there is

The Stimulus Of Progressive Slavery seeking for whom to devour; and he doesn’t an in;lation, the way it takes you by surprise is 16 Then Joseph said, “Give your livestock, and I will give you bread for your livestock, if the money is gone.” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, the ;locks, the cattle of the herds, and for the donkeys. Thus he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock that year.

18 When that year had ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is gone; my lord also has our herds of livestock. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands.

19 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants of Pharaoh;

have to seek for long because, you don’t even the same way it takes your money by surprise. wait for him to seek you; you seek and ;ind him The only thing that is not taken by surprise by yourself, offering your body because all you can anything that happens or by any changes that see is whatever money you think he has. You are in progressive slavery when you sell out your Christianity, your soul, your body, your virginity and everything that you have preserved because times are getting hard.

take place, is the only one thing that has tomorrow pre-installed, pre-written, and preprogrammed in it and that is your seed. When a man has a sperm and it collides with his wife’s egg, that egg is fertilized. In that egg is

Those are the stimuli that get to you in the time everything that child will ever be; at least of famine. physically until the child reaches a hundred years old and dies. That is the power of the A time of famine is a time of devastation, death, seed. destruction and utter slavery. When these stimuli are sent, they are often subtle and Remember that in the previous article, I said

Genesis 47:16-19 gentle. You ;ind yourself picking them up and that you should not put your eyes on money.

When the money had failed, the people went to Joseph and told him that, he had their money and their livestock, all that they had left were their lands and bodies. They asked Joseph to buy them and their lands as well as slaves. Can

responding to them. The good news is that The only way money becomes useful to you is there is a way out. You can laugh in the time of when it is incorporated into the seed and famine. Look at some principles that even harvest system. Until money is converted to

people who had gotten deep into slavery knew, either a seed or the harvest of a seed that was and it got them out of it. sown, money will fail you. When you incorporate it, what you are then holding is you see the progression of slavery that happens 19 Why should we die before your eyes, both we either a seed, or a harvest. That is the way you in a famine situation? First, sel;ishness, then and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, lift money above the famine. fear grips you and you reduce and ration your and we and our land will be servants of seed; turn your seed into bread, then the money Pharaoh; give us seed, that we may live and not If Joseph was faithful enough to respond to die, that the land may not be desolate.” fails and slowly, you exchange your livestock, their cry for seed, how much more God? No Genesis 47: 19 your lands and ;inally become a slave. That is

progressive slavery. When Joseph took all the lands and gave them to Pharaoh, it became a The Power Of The Seed In The Time thing of the rich getting richer, while the poor Of Famine got poorer. Does that not sound a bit like what These people were in a bad situation and they is happening in the Nigerian economy in recent were getting to the point where they will have

wonder the Bible says, “Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness (2 Corinthians 9:10). When you pray in the time of famine, your prayer should be to be able to

The Carpenter’s Ministry: All rights reserved. No portion of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or any other, without the prior permission of the above.

GOG - 19 - 257 - 2019: Laughter In The Time Of Famine (Part 2)

identify your seed because in your seed is your guarantee for tomorrow. Make a decision never to ration or reduce your seed. Commit to not eating your seed because you recognize

for the rainy day. Remember that in the time of famine, money fails. Store it in the ground!

Sow it in fertile ground and I can tell you one thing, when you are addicted to seed sowing

that when you do so, you eat your tomorrow as well. The credit system encourages you to eat your tomorrow because the more indebted you are, the more enslaved you become, and whatever money you make tomorrow already

and you continue to sow, your seed begins to grow, and when every single space is taken care of, it will spill over. How far into your future has your seed affected? Seed sowing is the only way you are guaranteed that you will

belongs to the one to whom you are indebted.

So, ask God to give you seed because He is the supplier of seed and He supplies seed continually to the sower (2 Corinthians 9:10).

If you identify yourself as a sower, God will

laugh in the time of famine.

make sure there is seed in your hands.

generation of even greater revelation than what Abraham did. What he did was great. He showed you the way, but God is saying, I am

These people in Egypt were hungry and they were slaves. So when Joseph gave them seed, they could have eaten it but they

The Bible says that Isaac sowed in the time of famine, and in the same year he reaped a hundred fold. This is a new generation. It is a

remembered a principle that had worked for them in the seven years of plenty and even though they were hungry, they took the seed and sowed it.

23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Indeed I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land.

24 And it shall come to pass in the harvest that you shall give one-;ifth to Pharaoh. Four-;ifths shall be your own, as seed for the ;ield and for your food, for those of your households and as food for your little ones.”

Genesis 47: 23-24.

One-;ifth is twenty percent, but ten percent is your tithe. No one will ever create a doctrine that will say more than ten percent is your tithe, but when you recognize an abnormal situation like a famine, you will be wise to go even over and above what is expected to secure your tomorrow. Joseph said, “Listen, I’m going to give you seed, and when you sow that seed, remove twenty percent for Pharaoh who gave you the seed and the eighty percent left is for seed and for food.” That verse is saying exactly what is said in 2 Corinthians 9: 10, God gives you both seed and bread. When you cry out for seed, and God gives you seed, give God His own, then what is left, make sure you keep the cycle of seed sowing going because with the measure with which you sow, that is the measure with which your tomorrow is impacted and secured.

Your money should not be all about accumulation and what you have stored away

www.thecarpenterschurch.org 26 You shall come to the grave at a full age, as a sheaf of grain ripens in its season.

Job 5: 20-26.

That word laugh means to rejoice; to play; to be amused about something; to mock; to tease; to play as people do when they are dancing and music is playing, and there is a celebration.

That is what will happen in the time of famine.

Don’t get into arguments about whether things are going to get better or not, forget about that. Whether things get better or worse, you know how to affect your tomorrow.

The New International Version (NIV) puts verse 24 of Job 5 this way, “You will know that your tent is secure. You will take stock of your property, and Gind nothing missing.” Also note what verse 21 says, “You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue.” What is the scorch of the tongue? It is the voice of the crisis.

Every crises, every in;lation, every problem has a voice but God says, “I’m going to hide you from the voice of these crises, by speaking to you in a voice that is greater and stronger than the voice of the crisis. I will hide you by speaking to you in My voice, and you will hear My voice, because My sheep hears My voice and respond.” The

taking you to a new realm. Abraham ran down to Egypt in the time of famine but Isaac was told to stay and sow in the time of famine and affect his tomorrow and Isaac obeyed God, and he sowed seed in the time of famine. In the same year, when others were crying, he was laughing. When you can operate the seed principle and not the money principle, then you will be able to laugh in the time of famine.

20 In famine He shall redeem you from death, And in war from the power of the sword.

21 You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and you shall not be afraid of destruction when it comes.

22 You shall laugh at destruction and famine, and you shall not be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

23 For you shall have a covenant with the stones of the ;ield, and the beasts of the ;ield shall be at peace with you.

24 You shall know that your tent is in peace; you shall visit your dwelling and ;ind nothing amiss.

25 You shall also know that your descendants shall be many, and your offspring like the grass of the earth.

Bible also says that, you shall have a covenant with the stones of the Gield, and the beasts of the Gield shall be at peace with you (Job 5:23). The stones and the beasts are the greatest enemies of farmers because when they sow seed and their plants begin to sprout, the stones and the beasts eat the plants. However, God is saying that, people will be drawn to you because when a man’s ways are pleasing unto the Lord, even his enemies will be at peace with him (Proverbs 16:7), and those who want to retrench you will promote you instead.

God’s Word to you is that He will multiply your seed sown. The greatest disservice you can do to yourself is to reduce your seed in the time of famine. There is a realm higher than money, and that is the realm of seed. I am operating in that realm and I’m determined not to be afraid of the famine. Take courageous steps of faith, give sacri;icially and experience abundant harvest which will cause you to laugh in the time of famine.

The Carpenter’s Ministry: All rights reserved. No portion of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or any other, without the prior permission of the above.