Category Archives: Holy Spirit

Abiding, Accountability, Belief, Bible, Deception, Holy Spirit, Idols, Scripture

WRONG PACKING

AMOS 5:26

“You also carried along Sikkuth your king and Kiyyun, your images, the star of your gods which you made for yourselves.”

Occasionally, I will make a trip somewhere that requires me to carefully pack my luggage. For instance, when I travel overseas, I have a packing list I go by. I can only have so much in a suitcase due to weight restrictions. I don’t want to pack needless items or the wrong things. That list I created sure helps with that.

The Israelites needed a packing list. They had packed away idols and shrines of other gods. One of them was Molech to whom they actually sacrificed their own children. We find in all those wilderness years, they struggled with idolatry. This didn’t stop when they finally arrived in the Promised Land. Wrong gods. They should have never been packed.

APPLICATION

What are you packing? Do you have some idols or wrong gods? Not me, Carl. I would never do that. Are you sure? You see, we often don’t even recognize that we are worshipping something else. But whatever is taking the most attention is what we have deemed as most important.

Some of us worship our jobs. Others bow down to the god of entertainment. Some even worship their families. There is room for only one God. He demands allegiance. He won’t tolerate other gods taking His place. He will call us on that.

I am so thankful that my God is a jealous God. I am thankful He reminds me when I get too enamored with other things. Those other things aren’t necessarily bad things. They just aren’t THE thing that is important. I am still learning to lay things down. I guess I will be learning that until I go to heaven. We can all learn, can’t we?

Father, I am so thankful for Your Spirit in me that points me to You. I bow down to You and acknowledge You as the only true God.

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Bible, Darkness, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Holy Spirit, Light, Scripture

DARK DAYS

AMOS 5:20

“Will the day of the LORD not be darkness instead of light, even gloom with no brightness in it?”

There are a lot of people who suffer from light deprivation in the winter months. As the days get shorter and the daylight is often obscured by winter storms, they sink into a depression cause by this lack of sunlight. I’ve known several people with this, and their moods change drastically. It’s funny how the sun can cause such changes.

Amos reminds Israel that the day of the LORD will be a day of darkness and not light. He even goes on to say it will be gloomy with no brightness. In other words, it will not be a sun shiny day. It won’t be a day to look forward to. They had better prepare themselves and repent.

APPLICATION

I pray for you that you have found the SON that is necessary for light. When we have Jesus as our Savior, it doesn’t matter how physically gloomy the days are. He is the light that shines on us from within. His Holy Spirit gives us the ability to shine His light on others.

Focusing on others other than ourselves can help defeat those gloomy days. We have this powerful, luminous light within us just waiting to be shined on the world. Ask the Lord today how He wants to use the light within you. He does, you know. He is just waiting on you to ask.

I love shining His light on others. It is so exciting to watch how His light transforms their lives. It shows them their sins, first of all, so they can confess those and make things right. Then it shows them the right path to follow, rather than stumbling around in the dark. His light changes things. Won’t you shine it today?

Heavenly sunlight, Heavenly sunlight, flooding my soul with glory divine.

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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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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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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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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, 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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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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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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