Category Archives: Following

Abiding, Advocate, Bible, Following, Godliness, Holiness, Holy Spirit, Modeling

I’VE FALLEN AND I CAN’T GET UP

AMOS 5:2

“She has fallen, she will not rise again— the virgin Israel. She lies unnoticed on her land; there is no one to raise her up.”

Unless you’ve been under a rock the past several years, you have probably seen the commercial for a “life-saving” device. It shows an elderly person lying on the floor. They have this device around their neck, and they push a button and say “Help, I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up.” They have sold millions of these devices.

Israel is going to fall. Amos is prophesying that to them. He calls her “virgin Israel.” Why? Well, when God first took her to Himself as His chosen people, she was seen as a virgin – pure and undefiled. But now, that name is used in ridicule. She has given herself to other gods and played the harlot with them. She is truly no longer the virgin Israel, and for that she will fall and not get up.

APPLICATION

We have an obligation as believers to live undefiled lives. We are called to be holy. Ephesians 5:3 says, “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality or any kind of impurity or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.” It’s that simple. Keep yourself holy.

But Carl, I can’t be holy! Yes, you can. If God tells us to do something, then we can do it. He would never ask us to do it if we couldn’t. Now, we can’t on our own. That’s for sure. But through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can. We may still fall, but we can push our button (the Holy Spirit) and get back up.

I hope I never need that device sold on television. I pray I will always be able to get back up once I’ve fallen. But I am thankful that no matter how hard I may fall, I have the Holy Spirit to help me get back up spiritually. Aren’t you glad for that? Give the Lord praise today.

Praise You, Lord, for picking me up when I fall. I want to walk holy before You and avoid all those traps that would bring me down.

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Abiding, Affliction, Bible, Direction, Encouragement, Following, Obedience, Protection, Scripture, Self-control

GARDENS

AMOS 4:9

“‘I struck you with scorching wind and mildew; the caterpillar was devouring your many gardens and vineyards, fig trees and olive trees; yet you have not returned to Me,’ declares the LORD.”

I used to garden a lot. I loved gardening. It was such a tension release back in those days. I particularly loved raised bed gardening. But with any garden you have to battle the pests, those bugs that want to eat your produce before you do. It’s a depressing thing to walk out to pick fresh vegetables and find them riddled with bug holes.

So, I can relate to the caterpillars devouring the Israelites’ gardens and vineyards. Neither winds, mildew, nor caterpillars drove them home.

APPLICATION

What kind of garden are you growing right now? Carl, I’m not gardening at all! Oh, I beg to differ. You are planting seed every day. Some seed sprout and produce beautiful things like joy, love, gentleness or self-control. Other seed spring up in anger, bitterness or unforgiveness.

It’s been said that many people want to sow their wild oats and then pray for a crop failure. That’s not how it goes. We reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7-8). What kind of crop do you want to produce? Do you want a pest free crop? Then you must trust the Lord. Let Him help you in your garden.

I wish I had space again for a garden. There is something special about planting, watering and watching something grow. I miss that. But I can concentrate on my own spiritual garden more. It sure needs tending every day. How about yours?

Lord, I am thankful for the bounty you allow me to have in my spiritual garden.

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Abiding, Accountability, Affection, Affliction, Bible, Confession, Direction, Disciplemaking, Following, God's Will, Holy Spirit, Judgment, Obedience, Punishment, Repentance, Scripture

CLEAN TEETH

AMOS 4:6

“‘But I gave you also cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places; yet you have not returned to Me,’ declares the LORD.”

I honestly do not like getting my teeth cleaned at the dentist. I don’t mind brushing my teeth and even occasionally flossing them (not really, lol). But the twice-a-year cleanings are not something I look forward to. My hygienist is great, and my dentist is too. It’s just the scraping (and flossing) are not fun.

God was not giving the Israelites a teeth cleaning like I get. He had punished them through withholding food in an attempt to get them to return to Him. Your teeth don’t get too dirty when there is nothing to eat. But this didn’t work with them. They were so tied to their sinful ways that even that did not bring them back.

APPLICATION

What has the Lord done in your life in an attempt to bring you back to Him? Think hard about that. God will allow things in our life to draw us back. Some of those things are not pleasant. He may allow sickness. He may allow a loss of a job. Listen, there is nothing that God will not do to bring us back once we have strayed.

But what He won’t do is force us back. We have to return on our own. We have to choose to come back to Him with a repentant spirit. We have to acknowledge our sin and confess it to Him. He needs to see that we want to be up under His guidance once again.

I can speak from experience on this one. Unfortunately, I have not always followed the Lord as I should. I have made some huge, wrong decisions in my life that led me on a wayward path. But thanks be to God, He never quit pursuing me. His Holy Spirit kept prompting me and convicting me until I repented and returned. I got tired of clean spiritual teeth. I needed meat to eat. How about you?

Thank You, Lord, for pursuing me. Thank You for drawing me back into Your embrace.

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Abiding, Accountability, Bible, Cleansing, Confession, Deceit, Disciplemaking, Following, Godliness, Holiness, Modeling, Relationships

LEAVEN

AMOS 4:5

“‘Offer a thanksgiving offering also from that which is leavened, and proclaim voluntary offerings, make them known. For so you love to do, you sons of Israel,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

I have been guilty of coming to the Lord with guilty hands. I went through all the motions and appeared from the outside to be doing all the right things. It’s easy to fool others in the church. As long as you attend regularly, give your offering and serve somewhere, people think you are living holy. That is not necessarily true.

Just look at the Israelites. They were offering their sacrifices and making them known. From the outside they appeared to be doing it right. But look closely. They were offering leavened bread in their sacrifices which was clearly forbidden. In Leviticus 2:11 it says, “‘No grain offering, which you bring to the LORD, shall be made with leaven, for you shall not offer up in smoke any leaven or any honey as an offering by fire to the LORD.’” You see, they knew that but did what was convenient to them.

APPLICATION

I am sure you have never been guilty of that. Of course not, Carl. I am always living right. Yeah, right. We all pretend, don’t we? We don’t want others knowing we are struggling in our faith. We don’t want our friends, especially at church, to know we aren’t living right.

But those are exactly the right people to turn to. If you are not in a small group right now, find one. You need people in your life to whom you can pour out your heart. We all need others in our life to hold us accountable. Doing life with others is what Christ wants for us.

My wife and I are in a small group at church with two other couples. These couples are dear friends to us. We can share just about anything with them. But there is the problem. We should be able to share everything with them. Right? Would you pray for us that we could all share everything, knowing that we have these people in our lives who love us and want what is best for us.

Thank You, Lord, that You hold me to a higher standard. I must live holy before You and offer only the best I have to You.

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Abiding, Accountability, Bible, Deceit, Following, Glory, God's Will, Holy Spirit, Imitation, Scripture

IMITATION

AMOS 3:14

“‘For on the day that I punish Israel’s offenses, I will also punish the altars of Bethel; the horns of the altar will be cut off and will fall to the ground.’”

Have you ever heard the expression “Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades”? Sometimes imitation is the ultimate flattery. Traveling overseas I have seen some pretty good imitations of handbags and other expensive items. They were close to the original but not quite.

Jeroboam had built an altar at Bethel for the Northern Kingdom to offer their sacrifices. He did not want them going back to Jerusalem to the temple because he feared their allegiance to him might falter. Here, Amos prophesies that altars destruction. It might have been built to look like the original, but it could never replace it.

APPLICATION

Do you live your Christian life like that? Do you try to live an artificial Christian life? You practice your faith on certain days, but on others you live another life. Your faith may look real, but it’s a poor imitation. There can only be one real life for Christ. You can’t fake it.

So, how do you not fake it? There is really only one way. You have to live each and every day with one purpose. That is to glorify Jesus in all you do. If you do that, your life won’t be imitation. It will be real. It will be genuine. It won’t need to be torn down like Jeroboam’s altar.

I am thankful that I can walk with Him daily. His Spirit guides me as I surrender to His will. I don’t like it sometimes, but I know it is the right thing. My flesh wants to rebel, but my spirit leads me. I have learned the hard way, believe me. Trust Him to lead you each day. You won’t regret it.

I trust You Lord to lead me. Even when I resist, pull me along.

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Accountability, Battles, Bible, Choices, Commands, Confrontation, Deception, Disciplemaking, Double-minded, Following, God's Will, Modeling, Obedience, Scripture, Testimony

DUDLEY DO-RIGHT

AMOS 3:10

“‘But they do not know how to do what is right,’ declares the LORD, ‘these who store up violence and devastation in their citadels.’”

According to Wikipedia “Dudley Do-Right is a dim-witted, but conscientious and cheerful Canadian Mountie who is always trying to catch his nemesis, Snidely Whiplash, and rescue damsel in distress Nell Fenwick, the daughter of his boss Inspector Fenwick, with whom Dudley is deeply infatuated.” I used to watch this cartoon character in the 1960’s. He did right, but it was almost always an accident.

The Lord declares to Israel that they do not know how to do right. Their lifestyles are filled with violence and devastation. How could you not know how to do right? Because they had deserted their Lord and filled their lives with fleshly pursuits. That’s how!

APPLICATION

Do you know how to do right? The better question is do you know right? In our world today, right can change from location to location. What is right in one culture may not be right in another. But God’s right is right wherever you are.

The best barometer for knowing what is right is to ask yourself if this will bring glory to God. If it will, you are pretty safe that it is right. That’s not to say that everything is wrong. But if you live your lives that way, you are sure to do what is right in God’s eyes.

I am thankful for the Word because I know it will always point me in the right direction. It will always show me the right thing to do. I have friends who seldom, if ever, read the Word. Yet they wonder why they have so many troubles. Friends, dig in. Dig deep and discover the “rights” of God’s Word.

Thank You Lord for showing me the right things to do and for leading me in the right direction.

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Abiding, Accountability, Advice, Attention, Bible, Disciplemaking, Following, God's Will, Listening, Obedience, Scripture

THE LORD HAS SPOKEN

Amos 3:8

A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken! Who can do anything but prophesy?

My dad was a pretty reasonable father. But there was one thing I remember about him. When he decided something, that was it. When he laid down the law, he meant to enforce it. There wasn’t any negotiation happening regarding our upbringing. He made sure we knew what he expected, because what he said he meant. When Jack Willis spoke, you could bet on it.

Amos says the same thing here about the Lord. He simply says, “The Lord has spoken.” That was similar to the parable he says first in this verse. “A lion has roared! Who will not fear?” When the Lord speaks, that settles it. There used to be a bumper sticker around that read “God said it, I believe it, that settles it.” But that is wrong. It should simply read “God said it, that settles it.”

APPLICATION

So the question is have you heard the Lord. You see, He is always speaking. The problem is our ears. They are so full of the world that we can’t hear Him. We get distracted and pulled away from any place where we can hear Him. Why do we let that happen when we say we are His followers? We can’t follow Him if we aren’t listening for Him.

I was recently in Kenya and remarked how amazed I was at all the sheep and goats that were seemingly just wandering around. I asked my Kenyan brother I was with at the time how the owners kept up with them. He told me that the sheep and goats know where home is and return there every evening. They always stay within earshot of their owner.

Don’t you wish we were as smart as these sheep and goats? We wander off and forget to stay within earshot of our Master. We drift away and forget His voice. All time time, He is calling for us. When the Lord speaks He means us to hear Him. God doesn’t waste His words. He isn’t blowing hot air. He means what He says and says what He means. Let’s all open our ears.

Forgive me Father for not listening for You and to You. I need Your guidance in my life.

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Accountability, Bible, Confession, Consequences, Discipline, Following, Forgiveness, Godliness, Holiness, Holy Spirit, Listening, Obedience, Punishment, Repentance, Scripture

PUNISHMENT FOR EVIL

Amos 3:6

If a trumpet is blown in a city, will the people not tremble? If a disaster occurs in a city, has the LORD not brought it about?

I can remember several times when I was disciplined by my dad for disobedience. One in particular stands out. We had a dog who took her puppies in the woods and left them. I went in the woods to find them after being told not to. It was summer, and in South Georgia there was the risk of rattlesnakes and moccasins. When my dad got home from work, he gave me a whooping. I had willfully and decisively disobeyed my parents. That was sin.

The first part of today’s verse is pretty self-explanatory. But the second part may be confusing. This is referring to God’s punishment for sin. The Lord does not cause disasters to harm the innocent. That goes against His whole nature. But He will bring a disaster upon a evil, sinful people. Remember the flood?

APPLICATION

Are you in a position that deserves God’s punishment? Are you willfully sinning against a holy God. Numbers 32:23 is Moses warning the tribes that wanted to stay on the other side of the Jordan. He says,
“But if you do not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure that your sin will find you out.” You’ve probably heard the last part of that verse quoted a lot. That’s where it comes from.

Listen – if we know what to do and don’t do it, that could be a sin of omission. We must choose to follow Jesus. That means making the right choices up front. Sure, we received forgiveness when we sin and confess that to God. But it is so much better to choose to do right first. If I had chosen to obey my parents and not go in the woods that day, I would not have been spanked.

I am thankful for parents who disciplined me. But I am more grateful for a God who will not tolerate my sin. He holds me accountable. He uses His Holy Spirit to convict me and drive me back to Him. I do not always obey. But it is my desire to do so. I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating. Before getting saved, we chase sin. After we get saved, sin chases us. Don’t let it catch you.

Father God, I thank You for keeping me disciplined and corrected. I can be stubborn and rebellious.

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Abiding, Battles, Bible, Devil, Encouragement, Faith, Following, Modeling, Protection, Rescue, Scripture

THE STREAK

Amos 2:16

“’Even the bravest among the warriors will flee naked on that day,’” declares the LORD.”

Back in the 70’s there was a phenomenon called streaking that caught up a generation of young people. These streakers would strip off their clothes and run across a ball field or a basketball court or any other public venue where they could get attention. They had no reason for doing this except to simply run naked and shock people. There was even a song written about it by Ray Stevens called “The Streak.”

There was nothing funny about the streaking mentioned in today’s verse. These brave warriors of Israel would be running naked due to fear. The Lord declared it, so it must be so. He was telling the nation of Israel over these last several verses that their judgment was here. Not even the bravest warriors could stand up to Him or those He may send to carry out the judgment.

APPLICATION

I can hear you now, Well, Carl, I am not going to be streaking anywhere. I hope that’s true, lol. No one wants to see that. But how often do we flee from our battles naked? We go into our daily walk undressed. Ephesians 6:10 tells us pretty clearly that we should put on the full amour of God. That’s head to toe coverage. We are in a battle every day and we cannot go in naked. If we do, the same thing that happened to those warriors in today’s verse will happen to us.

Just how naked are you? If you don’t put on the full armor of God, you are naked. You can’t go in partially dressed. You can’t pick and choose which part of the armor you want to wear today. You have to do put it all on or you are open to attack. You might as well be naked. I hope you understand that. It’s the full armor.

I like to start with the girding part – the truth. Then the breastplate of righteousness. My feet are shod with the gospel of peace. I am wearing my helmet of salvation. I have my shield of faith and my sword – the Word of God. With that protection, I can face the flaming arrows of the evil one. I can defend my faith and walk securely. So are you streaking or preparing for battle? It’s your choice but choose wisely.

O God, I praise You for giving me the garments to wear. I know I am protected by Your armor.

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Bible, Commands, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Fire, Following, God's Will, Holy Spirit, Inspirational, Modeling, Salvation, Scripture, Witnessing

THE FIRE WITHIN

AMOS 1:14

“‘So I will kindle a fire on the wall of Rabbah, and it will consume her citadels amid war cries on the day of battle, and amid a storm on the day of tempest.’”

Many a nation has fallen from within. The Great Roman Empire is said to have fallen, not so much by outside forces, but because of the immorality of the nation. When a nation becomes so corrupt, it turns on itself. History repeats itself over and over again. That’s my personal fear for my country, the United States of America. I fear we will turn on ourselves, and America will fall.

Notice when the Lord speaks here through Amos that He doesn’t repeat the same line he has against the other nations He has referred to already. Instead of saying He will “send” fire on their walls He says He will “kindle a fire.” That implies that the fire will start from within. Perhaps God will raise up someone there who will return to the Lord and carry out God’s judgment. However God chooses to do it, He will see that judgment will fall.

APPLICATION

Has God kindled a fire within you? There was a song in the 70’s that began with the words “It only takes a spark to get a fire going.” That is so true. Perhaps the Lord wants to use you to ignite a fire in your community or church. I don’t mean a literal fire, lol. I mean a spiritual fire that could sweep across man-made barriers.

Fires don’t just destroy. They also purify. All through Scripture we see examples of God’s refining fire. I love the fact that the Apostles had tongues of fire resting on their heads when they received the Holy Spirit. If you are a believer, you have that same “fire-breathing” Holy Spirit in you. You only have to be willing to be used by the Spirit. Let your flame out.

Our goal is not to consume, but to purify. We should want our lives to draw others to Christ. When we purify ourselves and live obedient lives, others do see us as different. We then can pour our lives into them. We can live out the love of Jesus. We can share the good news with them. We just shared our flame.O God, I want to share my flame with others. Keep my flame shining bright.

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