Category Archives: God’s Will

Advocate, Bible, Comfort, Creation, Encouragement, God's Will, Inspirational, Intimacy, Relationships, Scripture

WHAT’S YOUR NAME

AMOS 4:13

“For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind, and declares to a person what are His thoughts, He who makes dawn into darkness and treads on the high places of the earth, the LORD God of armies is His name.”

Throughout my over four decades of ministry, I have sought to learn the names of the children I was serving. There is something about being called by your name. But I have had to develop some tricks to help me. I have used acrostics to memorize the names of multiple children in a family. I have used hair color or a birthmark to help. There was usually something about the child that I could remember that would trigger the name.

God tells us who He is in is verse before He tells us His name. Look at what He does. He forms the mountains and creates the wind. That’s pretty powerful. He knows our thoughts. That’s a little scary, right? He controls the sunlight and walks on mountaintops. Then He says, “the LORD God of armies is His name.” In other words, He is in charge! Period!

APPLICATION

While all these attributes might be terrifying, I find comfort in them. If God can do all that, He can certainly handle my little problems. The LORD God of armies cares enough about little, ole me to hear my prayers and dry my tears. The LORD God of armies loves me enough to send His own Son to rescue me from an eternal damnation.

No matter how little I may feel, He still reaches down with His powerful right hand and scoops me up to safety. In fact, He will send those armies of His to my rescue. I am His child, and He will protect me. Even when He is busy forming mountains and creating wind, I am on His mind. That’s mind boggling.

I am so thankful that my God is not too big for me. I don’t mean that disrespectfully. God, of course, is big. He is too big for my mind. But He isn’t too big that He forgets about me. In fact, He wants to hear from me every day. He wants to hear from you, too. Talk to Him. Tell Him your needs. I promise He can fit you in.

O God of the universe, I praise You for looking on me. I know You are forever mindful of my needs and desires.

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Abiding, Accountability, Bible, Blessing, Commands, Destruction, Direction, Drought, God's Will, Judgment, Obedience, Perseverance, Refreshing, Scripture

WET OR DRY

AMOS 4:7

“‘Furthermore, I withheld the rain from you while there were still three months until harvest. Then I would send rain on one city, but on another city I would not send rain; one part would be rained on, while the part not rained on would dry up.’”

I can remember as a young boy one day when we had a strange rainstorm at my house. Our house set toward the back of a two acre lot. It was summer and so hot outside. A storm blew up, but then it happened. It rained like crazy in our front yard, but not a drop in the back yard. Really weird!

God is reminding Israel of His selective wet and dry choices. Withholding rain three months from harvest was devastating. The crops would not mature and there would be a crop failure. Drought was there in part of the country and not in others. God truly could control their very livelihoods with rain or no rain.

APPLICATION

Are you in a drought right now? Has your prayer life dried up? We can feel that way. Sometimes it feels like our prayers don’t get past the ceiling. Why is that? Usually, it’s because we have stopped spending time in His Word. We have stopped spending time in worship. We have lost our ability to communicate.

But all that’s an easy fix. Get in the Word. Get back in church. The internet will not meet your spiritual needs. You need other believers in your life. And then spend some concentrated, dedicated time with the Lord listening to what He wants to tell you.

My problem is I like to do a lot of talking during my prayer time. I need to listen more. I need to hear His voice. I can’t follow directions I never hear. I am committed to listening more. I want to hear those commands. His voice is always loving and draws me to His safe embrace. So, if you’re feeling dry, try getting wet.

Father, I praise You for sending Your rains in my life. Showers of blessing, showers of blessing I need.

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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, 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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Abiding, Asking, Bible, Encouragement, Faith, God's Will, Holy Spirit, Listening, Scripture

REVEALED

Amos 3:7

“Certainly the Lord GOD does nothing unless He reveals His secret plan to His servants the prophets.”

I’m a planner. I like to know what’s coming. I don’t like to be caught off guard. I just returned from Kenya where I had the privilege to teach Pastors and Church leaders in a conference through the ministry AMG (Advancing the Ministries of the Gospel). One thing I had to decide about the conference there is to not get too uptight about NOT knowing what was coming. Schedules there are “flexible,” to say the least.

Amos, however, is telling the nation of Israel what was coming. God had revealed it to him just like He had revealed things to Moses and Joshua. He revealed the flood to Noah and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah to Abraham. He told Jonah about Nineveh. He told Joseph about the coming famine. God revealed things to His prophets so the people could prepare.

APPLICATION

I believe the Lord still reveals His plans to His children. He wants us to know things. He isn’t trying to trick us or fool us. What has the Lord revealed to you? Nothing? Well…are you listening? God speaks to us through His Word. He speaks to us as we pray. Let’s talk about prayer a bit. What does your prayer life consist of?

You see, if our prayer life is only about our requests to Him, we have no room to hear. We need to be quiet sometime and listen. Carl, are you saying God will speak to me? I sure am. I don’t mean in an audible voice, but He will speak. In order to hear Him, though, you have to be listening. You have to know His voice. His Spirit speaks to us. Just be quiet and listen.

I have learned to check those “hearings.” If what I hear glorifies Him, then I am sure it is of the Spirit. If it just glorifies me, it’s my flesh or it’s from the evil one. Always check it according to God’s Word. God will never tell you something that goes against His Word. So…get quiet and listen. He wants you to hear Him. You may be amazed what He reveals to you.

O God, I love to hear Your voice. I love to know that You want to speak to me.

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Abiding, Accountability, Bible, Calling, Commands, Courage, Disciplemaking, Discipline, God's Will, Holiness, Modeling, Sanctification, Scripture

SEPARATED

AMOS 2:11

“‘Then I raised up some of your sons to be prophets, and some of your young men to be Nazirites. Is this not so, you sons of Israel?’ declares the LORD.”

It seems lately I have been bringing up a lot of my childhood memories in my daily blogs. I am thankful for those memories. Today, I am remembering my daddy’s shop in our backyard. My dad had a great shop with just about every tool needed for any job. It was a collection of tools over decades. But one thing I remember about his tools was he had certain tools for certain jobs. I can still remember picking up some tools in his shop and wondering what in the world it was for. Then he would explain the purpose, maybe only one purpose, and I would understand.

God set apart the Nazirites for a purpose. They were the ones called to live holy, unstained lives in the midst of perversion and disobedience. We can think of the stories in the Old Testament that talked about them. One in particular stands out – Samson – who was not true to his calling. He disobeyed the Nazirite vows in so many ways. God still used him, but I wonder if he had been more faithful, what else could he have done for the Lord.

APPLICATION

We are called to be separated from the world also. As believers in Jesus, we are to be different, peculiar, aliens in this land. Sure, we have to live here and interact with others. But our mode of living needs to look different from the world. We need to raise eyebrows. Especially now in our culture, we need to show that it is possible to life “separated.”

How do you do that? Psalm 119:9 tells us. “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your word.” There is no other way. Only the Word will keep you separated. It teaches us how to walk with Christ daily, still interacting with the world around us like He did, and yet not get stained by the influence of evil.

I am thankful I can walk separate. I am thankful I can live holy. I am thankful for the Word of God that shows me what to do every day. During this week of Thanksgiving, give thanks with a grateful heart for being separated by Christ.

Give thanks with a grateful heart. Give thanks to the Holy One. Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ, His Son.

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Bible, Blessing, Contentment, Faithfulness, Gifts, God's Will, Godliness, Holy Spirit, Obedience

FORGOTTEN POSSESSIONS

AMOS 2:10

“‘And it was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you in the wilderness for forty years so that you might take possession of the land of the Amorite.’”

Isn’t it wonderful to uncover a lost possession? My family has moved a good bit through my over four decades in ministry. Sometimes, in the process of backing, one of my kids would exclaim, “Look what I found.” Something they knew they owned, but had misplaced, was uncovered in the packing or unpacking process. It was always theirs, just wasn’t in their physical possession.

The Lord is reminding Israel of their possessions. He had given them the land of the Amorites. It was a gift from Him to them many years previously. It wasn’t something they had purchased or won on their own. It was Him who had ridded the land of the Amorites and gave it to them just as He had promised. After the long journey through the wilderness, He had given them the land. But they had forgotten.

APPLICATION

Do you have lost possessions? I bet you do. But more importantly, let me ask you this question. What possessions do you have in Christ that you aren’t utilizing? I was talking to some friends just recently about that. Why do so many Christians walk around defeated? Why do we act as if we can’t live holy lives?

God has given us everything we need to live for Him. Just take a look in Galatians 5 at the fruit of the Spirit. With all those blessings, we have no excuse for not living for Him. We have no excuse for not living victoriously. Sure, life can be hard sometimes. But do you think that surprises God? Of course, not. He gave us all we need to handle ever situation.

I am thankful for the Lord’s blessings in my life. I am thankful He has provided me with all I need. I just have to claim it. I just have to walk in it. I just have to… How about you? Don’t forget your possessions.

I am blessed beyond measure because of You, O Lord. Help me “tap” into all the possessions You have given me.

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Accountability, Affection, Bible, Blessing, Comfort, Commands, Compassion, God's Will, Goodness, Idols, Kindness, Ministry, Scripture

OTHERS’ THINGS

AMOS 2:8

“‘And on garments seized as pledges they stretch out beside every altar, and in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been fined.’”

My dad had one rule about borrowed tools. If you borrow it, take it back. If it’s borrowed, get it back. My dad had a shop full of tools, and when he died eight years ago, they were still there. My brother, nephews, son and other family members got all the tools they wanted, and they were still tools left. That’s because of the “borrowed” tool rule. They were always in the right place.

The Lord had a command against keeping the garments of the poor that had been given as pledges of debt. Those garments were to be returned at night since they most likely were the poor’s means of keeping warm. Here the Lord rebukes them for keeping them and stretching them out at altars. They also mockingly drank the wine received as payment in their places of worship, further reveling in their idolatry.

APPLICATION

Well, I can hear us now. We don’t take other people’s clothes and wine. This doesn’t apply to us. Don’t forget that every word of God’s Word is inspired. So, it always relates to us in some manner. These Israelites saw others in need and turned their heads. They knew God’s command and still did it. Don’t we do the same? Don’t we see others who are cold and thirsty and turn our heads?

Now, I know we can’t meet the need of every person. But we can meet the need of one. It’s coming into winter here in Tennessee where I live. I see the homeless just about every day and wonder how they stay warm. I wonder if they have enough to eat or drink. And what do I do about it? Very little. I may hand out a bag of food or something, but that’s about it. Many of these I see choose to live this way. I realize that. But that doesn’t lessen my responsibility.

How about you? What can you do about it? I bet you see the same people in your town. People who just need a little help. Don’t wait on someone else to step up. Get your church involved. Ask around and get others involved. Even a little group can make an impact on one person’s life.

Thank You, Father, for blessing me to be able to bless others. Open my eyes to those around me who need a helping hand.

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