Category Archives: Bible

Abiding, Advice, Bible, Blessing, Calling, Encouragement, Holy Spirit, Obedience, Rescue, Suffering, Surrender

NO ESCAPE

AMOS 5:19

“As when a man flees from a lion and a bear confronts him, or he goes home, leans with his hand against the wall, and a snake bites him.”

Have you ever had a dream in which you were trying to get away from something and you couldn’t? You wake up in a sweat and terrified. It seemed so real. Aren’t you glad it was only a dream? But what if it wasn’t? What if it was real?

Amos puts out a hopeless situation with no escape here in 5:19. A man who is lucky enough to escape a lion and a bear only to be bitten by a snake on a wall. Talking about bad luck! But Amos is telling the Israelites that there is no escape from the wrath of Jehovah. Their sins will be paid for.

APPLICATION

Do you think you can hide from God? You can’t. There is no escape. You may think you can live as if He doesn’t exist, but He does. He is so real! Once you realize that and surrender to Him, your life actually begins. Any life before Christ is artificial, not real, irrelevant.

Coming to Christ sets you on the path that leads to life. His Spirit indwelling you gives you power that you cannot imagine. It’s not magical, but it is powerful. Life in Christ needs no escape. Nothing can hurt you as long as you dwell in Him.

You may be thinking that you know plenty of Christians who have suffered. You must understand something about suffering. As believers, suffering is a gift. We are privileged to suffer. Suffering makes us more like Him. So, we perceive suffering very differently than the world. We don’t try to escape from it. We embrace it. Stop trying to escape and come to Him.

Jesus, You are the reason for my existence. I will embrace whatever You send my way.

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Accountability, Bible, Christ's Return, Encouragement, Following, God's Will, Light

THE DAY OF THE LORD

AMOS 5:18

“Woe to you who are longing for the day of the LORD, for what purpose will the day of the LORD be to you? It will be darkness and not light;”

I am 61 years old and have heard about the “day of the LORD” since I was a little boy. When is it coming? Will it ever come? That’s the question many ask. It’s not a new question, as we shall see today in Amos. But we need to be thinking about this day because it is coming one day.

The people of Israel were longing for the day, which Amos rebukes. How dare they, in their present state, long for that day? For them, the day of the LORD would be “darkness and not light.” They weren’t repentant. They were not confessing sin. So, they were in for a rude awakening.

APPLICATION

When I mention “the day of the LORD” to you, how do you feel? Are you ready for it? We know through His Word that Jesus will come back for his bride, the church, first. He won’t set foot of earth then. Seven years later He will return and set things right. The day of the LORD will have arrived.

Whether I die before He comes for the church or I return with Him in the air, I am not fearful of the day of the LORD. I know I am not perfect, but I am forgiven. I do my best to stay “confessed up” before Him. So, I don’t fear facing my Lord one day.

My great failure is not taking as many people as possible with me. I know that is the Lord’s desire (the desire that all men be saved). If I am guilty of anything it is not being more forceful about the gospel, not sharing it as freely as possible. Lord, forgive me of that. Are you ready for the day of the LORD? That’s the question.

You will return one day, Lord, as judge and master of all. Help me direct others to Your side in preparation for that day.

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Abiding, Bible, Choices, Cleansing, Confidence, Mourning, Offering, Rejoicing, Scripture

IN YOUR MIDST

AMOS 5:17

“‘And in all the vineyards there is mourning, because I will pass through the midst of you,’ says the LORD.”

I’m an extrovert. I love to be around people. It fuels me. I simply love being in the midst of people. Right in the center. Not everyone is that way. Others shun crowds and had rather be alone. I love today’s verse, but I must say it confuses me.

The Lord says His presence would bring mourning. You would think His presence would bring rejoicing. But He is passing through to bring judgment. His presence exposed their sins, thus the mourning. And when God exposes sin, consequences fall. There are always consequences for our sins.

APPLICATION

How much better would it be to welcome God’s presence everyday with nothing to fear? When I worked in children’s homes, we would often go through inspections (health, fire, licensing, accreditation). I wanted to ensure that we were ready for any inspection any day.

I had worked in some locations where inspection days meant extra cleaning and extra work before they arrived. Needless to say, this method did not work when we had surprise inspections. The same applies for us. We need to keep our lives so prepared that when the Lord visits us, we are not embarrassed.

I can honestly say today that I have nothing to hide. I am ready. It is my prayer to do that every day, but I do slip up time to time. I don’t want God’s visit in my midst to bring mourning. I want to rejoice and sing. Can you do that today? Is your life ready for His visit?

I welcome You, Lord. Let Your presence bring for rejoicing and not mourning.

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Advocate, Bible, Comfort, Death, Encouragement, Mourning

MOURNING AND MORE MOURNING

AMOS 5:16

“Therefore this is what the LORD God of armies, the Lord says: ‘There is mourning in all the public squares, and in all the streets they say, ‘Oh no! Oh no!’ They also call the farmer to mourning and professional mourners to mourning rites.’”

In the past few months, we have seen a lot of death in our community. I personally have been to several visitations and funerals. And I have observed a lot of mourning. Mourning comes from loss. Mourning comes from grief. How do we, as believers, handle such loss?

Amos tells us the Lord’s words concerning this. He was, of course, talking to Israel, but the words apply to us. When we suffer loss we are driven to mourning. I can recall the days after 9-11. Not only my country, but the whole world mourned. We saw prayer meetings and church services being held all over the world for the loss of life on that day.

APPLICATION

How I mourn is so important. We are told that we do not mourn as those who have no hope. When we have a loved one die who knows the Lord, there is a loss here on earth but there is a gain in heaven. We will see them again. The mourning should be short lived.

But when we lose someone who does not know Jesus as their Savior, that is a deeper loss. May I encourage you today to reach out to all those you love who are in that group? You don’t want to grieve in that way. You don’t want your mourning to be that deep.

Someone told me the other day that we spend so much time getting people to agree to go to heaven and then we are upset when they go. They have won the ultimate victory – the victory over death. They moved from this world to the next and received glory. Hallelujah! Praise His name.

O God, help me mourn with those who mourn. Let me also point all I can to You, who can lessen the mourning and lead us home.

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Accountability, Bible, Commands, Courage, Disciplemaking, Evil, Following, God's Will, Goodness, Justice, Scripture

CLEAR COMMANDS

AMOS 5:15

“Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the gate! Perhaps the LORD God of armies will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”

One of the things that drove me crazy working with staff in children’s homes is when they would not make their expectations clear to the children. The children would get in trouble for doing something that they had no idea they were expected to do. Clear, concise rules make things so much easier.

Here in today’s verse, we have three very clear and concise commands. Hate evil, love good and establish justice. I didn’t say these were easy, but they are clear. Obviously, the nation of Israel had not been doing that very well. Amos points out if they did, perhaps God would show grace to them.

APPLICATION

These three commands apply to us today. The first two are simple – hate evil and love good. I think we can all agree on those. Those two are common sense (at least to most people). But how about that third one – establish justice in the gate? What did that mean then and how does it apply to us know?

We must deal with sin. For too long the Israelites had overlooked and shrugged off sin. We do the same. Our society is so tolerant today that nothing is considered sin. But we must establish justice. We must call sin sin. Not in a judgmental manner, but only to point out the error of the world.

I am only made aware of sin as it is revealed to me through God’s truth. His truth is always true. His truth is always right. Anything that goes against it is sin – period. That is what keeps me straight. I want to hate evil, love good and establish justice in the gate. How about you?

Lord, keep me focused on what You say is true and right. I want to walk in Your truth.

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Abiding, Accountability, Bible, Commands, Commitment, Direction, Disciplemaking, Following, God's Will, Holy Spirit, Obedience, Protection, Scripture, Seeking

WHAT ARE YOU SEEKING?

AMOS 5:14

“Seek good and not evil, so that you may live; and so may the LORD God of armies be with you, just as you have said!”

Hide and seek is a wonderful childhood game. My almost four-year-old granddaughter loves to play it when she is over at our house. She loves for me to scare her when she finds me. She will scream and then burst out laughing. For her, seeking Poppy is a good thing. I hope she always feels that way.

Oh, but Amos is talking about a whole different kind of seeking. He tells us plainly to seek good and not evil. Carl, I don’t seek evil. It just kind of finds me. And it will, time and time again unless you are busy seeking good. Good is only found in Jesus. We are told to seek first His kingdom. That’s the key.

APPLICATION

So, what are you seeking? What do you spend the majority of your time trying to achieve? I spent decades in my ministry trying to achieve things, some good and some not so good. I wouldn’t call any of them evil, but when you are not seeking the best the Lord has for you, can it be considered good?

The LORD God of armies wants you to seek the best. And He gives us all we need to do that. We have His Word to point the way. He has given us the Holy Spirit to guide us each day in our decisions. He has given us direct access to the throne room of heaven to petition Him when we are confused. What else do we need?

I choose to seek good and not evil. I flee from evil. And the more I seek good, the easier it is for me to recognize evil. That makes it so simple. Seek good and not evil is not a complicated command. Let’s do that today.

LORD God of armies, I praise Your name that You have given me everything I need to seek good and not evil. Keep me safe as I follow You.

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Advice, Bible, Scripture, Wisdom

PRUDENT

AMOS 5:13

“Therefore at such a time the prudent person keeps quiet, because it is an evil time.”

Prudent! Such a strange sounding word, don’t you agree. It especially is strange considering what it means. Do you know what it means? It means to consider, to show intellect, to think decisively. I just don’t think the word sounds like it fits its definition.

But consider (be prudent) this verse. Amos tells us a prudent person would keep quiet is such times, because they are evil. Now, I know he was talking to the Israelites many years ago. But aren’t those words appropriate for today? We are in evil times.

APPLICATION

There are times when we should just keep our mouths shut, right? But so many of us just can’t seem to help ourselves. We open our mouths and start spouting off when we should just remain silent. Evil does not respond to the way we think it should, and no amount of shouting or yelling will change that.

I have shared before that one of my favorite verses is Exodus 14:14. It says “The Lord will fight for you while you remain silent.” I believe Amos was channeling that verse when he wrote today’s verse. We are told when to speak up and also when to keep silent.

I am probably one of those who has erred way too many times by talking when I should have kept silent. I’ve learned my lesson well. I have learned to trust the Lord when He tells me to be quiet. During those times when I have listened to Him, He has spoken enough for both of us through His actions. Why are we so slow to learn? Will you join me in listening more and speaking less?

I will listen to You, O Lord. When You say to be quiet, I will do just that.

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Accountability, Battles, Bible, Choices, Devil, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Forgiveness, God's Will, Godliness, Holy Spirit, Protection, Scripture, Sin

GOD KNOWS

AMOS 5:12

“For I know your offenses are many and your sins are great, You who are hostile to the righteous and accept bribes, and turn away the poor from justice at the gate.”

I remember when I was little trying to get away with something I had done to one of my siblings. Like typical siblings, we played hard and sometimes had little “fights.” One of us would run to Mom or Dad and tell and then… Well, you know the result. It seemed our parents always knew what was going on, no matter how hard I tried to hide it.

Amos reminds us today that God knows our offenses and sins. They are many. And there is nothing we can do to erase those iniquities. The Israelites were guilty, and they knew it. Only Jehovah could forgive those rebellious hearts, but they had to turn to Him.

APPLICATION

God knows every sin we have ever committed and every sin we will commit. Think about that! He knows it before we do it. So, why doesn’t He stop us? Wouldn’t that be great? Man, if every time I am tempted God would step in and say, “Whoa, there Carl.” Well, He does!

As believers, we have the Holy Spirit living in us. He is constantly reminding us of our walk with Christ. As we study and memorize God’s Word, the Spirit brings forth those verses to convict us before we step into that cesspool of sin. We just need to listen to Him.

I know when I am tuned in to the Spirit by meditating on the Word, I am able to avoid the sins which can so easily entangle me. When I don’t do that, I am an open target. Sin seeks me out. The devil wants to distract me and bring me down. But thanks be to God, I have the power to avoid those traps as I rely on the Holy Spirit that dwells within me. Will you tune in to the Spirit today?

Lord God, I am so thankful that You have given me the power to avoid those sins that await me. And I am also thankful for the forgiveness You offer when I fail.

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Accountability, Battles, Bible, Blessing, Consequences, Encouragement, Judgment, Mentoring, Modeling, Oppression, Scripture

OPPRESSORS

AMOS 5:11

“Therefore because you impose heavy rent on the poor and take a tribute of grain from them, though you have built houses of cut stone, yet you will not live in them; you have planted beautiful vineyards, yet you will not drink their wine.”

Some people prey on those less fortunate than them. They take advantage of them. They kick them when they are down. They were the people in high school who shoved the weaker, smaller student in the locker or who made fun of someone just because they wore glasses or braces.

Amos tells the oppressors in today’s verse that their day is coming. They have taken their last bag of grain from the poor. Those house, which cost so much, will remain empty. Those vineyards that promise an abundance of wine will never be harvested by them. Their judgment is near.

APPLICATION

Do you look down your nose at others? I pray you don’t. God has created each of us for a purpose. Some have lost their way. It’s up to us to lead them back to Him. God still uses people to accomplish His mission here on earth. Did you know that? He might just want to use you to help some wayward soul come home.

Perhaps there is someone in your community or even in your church that seems to always struggle in life. What can you do to help them? I’m not talking so much about a financial investment. It may just require some time. Are you willing to allow the Lord to use you in someone else’s life? The blessing will be all yours.

From time to time the Lord gives my wife and I the opportunity to help someone in some small way. When we do, the joy we receive from doing that is worth it all. Seeing the smiles our little bit of help brings warms our hearts and encourages us to do it again. Give it a try, as the Lord leads you. You won’t regret it.

Father, thank You for lifting me up from the pit. You saw my value and gave me the opportunities to help others.

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Abiding, Accountability, Advice, Bible, Blameless, Disciplemaking, Following, Integrity, Modeling, Obedience

INTEGRITY

AMOS 5:10

“They hate him who rebukes in the gate, and they despise him who speaks with integrity.”

When I worked for decades in the child welfare field, the one thing I talked about more than anything else was the need to teach the children we served how to have integrity. If one has integrity, all the other areas of their life will be okay. Integrity is crucial for healthy relationships.

However, as Amos points out in today’s verse, people don’t want to hear that. It was true in Amos’ day, and it is true in ours. Being honest about things causes those who are dishonest to be uncomfortable. They don’t like the light of integrity shining on their sins.

APPLICATION

So, should we stop showing integrity because it makes people feel uncomfortable? No way! We have to stand for what is true and right and just, no matter how the world responds. Jesus warned us that the world would hate us. Why should we be surprised when they do?

The only way we can be sure that we are showing integrity is by staying in God’s Word. It is the only trustworthy source to rely on. By living according to it, we can be sure to show integrity in all we do. If we follow Jesus’ example, we are definitely going to do that.

Integrity is so important for we believers to practice. In a world that doesn’t see it much, we need to shine the light of truth. Integrity means owning up to our own mistakes when we make them also. Being vulnerable is risky, but when we do, that may just point someone in the direction of Christ.

Lord, help me show integrity in everything I do. I will mistakes but give me the strength to correct them and make things right.

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