The climax of judgment

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TODAY'S SPECIAL: Amos 6-9; Psalm 127

TO CHEW ON: "Shall the land not tremble for this .... I will make the sun go down at noon .... I will turn your feasts into mourning .... I will send a famine on the land ... of hearing the word of the Lord." Amos 8:8,9,10,11

Amos's prophecy starts with a vision—a basket of summer fruit. As if the image of fruit (an understandable metaphor for consequences) isn't enough, apparently the Hebrew word for fruit (qayits) and end (qets) sound almost identical. And so we have a word-play pun underlining this vision's message of judgment.

The judgment was for Israel's secularism and greed. The prophet reports their talk: "'When will the New Moon be past, / That we may sell grain? / And the Sabbath / That we may trade wheat?'" - Amos 8:5.

The judgment was also for their deception and unfairness. He reminds of what they do: "Making the ephah small and the shekel large, / Falsifying the scales by deceit" - Amos 8:5. (The ephah was a measure of grain. Making it small was lowering the amount of it. The shekel was money. Making it large was increasing the price of whatever commodity was being sold.)

The "fruit" of this is interesting to see. I read the consequences as being delivered in increments.
- There are natural disasters - earthquakes and unnatural daytime darkness (coming from volcanic eruptions, perhaps or wildfires) - Amos 8:8,9.
- Life's milestones and even religious celebrations that are usually occasions of joy become times of lament. They are characterized by mourning, premature aging and disease, ("...baldness on every head ...") and tragedy ("... like mourning for an only son") - Amos 8:10.
- But the climax of judgment is God's silence that results in a desperate but futile search for Him - Amos 8:11,12:

“I’ll send a famine through the whole country.
    It won’t be food or water that’s lacking, but my Word.
People will drift from one end of the country to the other,
    roam to the north, wander to the east.
They’ll go anywhere, listen to anyone,    hoping to hear God’s Word—but they won’t hear it - Amos 8:11,12 MSG (emphasis added).

My questions: 

• Do we understand what a grave place we put ourselves into when we stop listening to God, ignore His invitation to eternal life and live in selfishness and disobedience—as a nation, as churches, as individuals?

• Do we understand God's ensuing silence as the climax of judgment and ultimate consequence that it is?

PRAYER: Dear Father, please help me to keep the channel of communication with You open.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 127

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Walking with God

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Amos 1-5; Psalm 126

TO CHEW ON: "Can two walk together unless they are agreed?" Amos 3:3

This eight-word rhetorical question could be the text of a wedding sermon, or the basis of a talk on the principles of a business partnership. Where it appears, in the middle of Amos's prophecy, it refers to another even more basic relationship -- one's relationship to God.

"Now we are at the heart of Amos's prophecy," says a sidebar article about this verse. "God elected Israel to be His people but they were not walking in oneness with Yahweh. In fact they were heading in different directions!" - Lloyd Olgivie, New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 1176

When we walk with someone we go in the same direction. We move at the same speed. A walk conjures pictures of conversation and fellowship along the way. It is exercise non-strenuous enough that we don't tire quickly -- a relationship for the long haul.

• Enoch walked with God (Genesis 5:22).

• So did Noah (Genesis 6:9). 

• The psalmist pleaded with readers to walk with God and expounded on its delights. (Psalm 81:13; Psalm 89:15). 

• Prophets Micah (Micah 4:5).

• Zechariah (Zechariah 10:12), and

• Malachi spoke of the same thing (Malachi 2:6). 

The challenge to walk with God is still ours today, as a group (the church), and as individuals.

I have, in my collection of e-books, the old classic Abide in Christ by Andrew Murray: Devotional Classics: Andrew Murray George Muller Collection. The subject of the whole book is intimacy with God. I've highlighted many spots. Here are some of Murray's thoughts that, I think, shed light on walking with God:

"Abiding in Jesus is nothing but the giving up of oneself to be ruled and taught and led, and so resting in the arms of Everlasting Love" (Location 216).


"Your body is His temple, your daily life the sphere for glorifying Him: it is to Him a matter of deep interest that all your earthly concerns should be guided aright. Only trust His sympathy, believe His love, and wait for His guidance--it will be given" (Location 515).

"Abiding in Jesus is not a work that needs each moment the mind to be engaged, or the affections to be directly and actively occupied with it. It is an entrusting of oneself to the keeping of the Eternal Love, in the faith that it will abide near us, and with its holy presence watch over us and ward off the evil, even when we have to be most intently occupied with other things. And so the heart has rest and peace and joy in the consciousness of being kept when it cannot keep itself" (Location 847).

"We are so easily led to look at life as a great whole, and to neglect the little to-day, to forget that the single days do indeed make up the whole, and that the value of each single day depends on its influence on the whole" (Location 913).


"Each day of faithfulness brings a blessing for the next; makes both the trust and the surrender easier and more blessed. And so the Christian life grows: as we give our whole heart to the work of each day, it becomes all the day, and from that every day" (Location 941).

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to walk with You today -- in the same direction, at the same speed with time for fellowship along the way. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 126

The Bible Project VIDEO: Amos (Read Scripture Series)







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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Living alert

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Amos 6:1-14

TO CHEW ON: "Woe to you who are at ease in Zion,

And trust in Mount Samaria….

Woe to you who put far off the day of doom…" Amos 6:1a, 3a

When things are going well, it's easy to think life will go on this way indefinitely. Good times tend to lull us into complacency.

"Complacent" could be a word we'd use to describe the subjects of Amos's prophecy in Amos 6, and "self-indulgent" and "pleasure seekers," considering some of the things with which they were occupied. Around 760 BC Israel and Judah were:

- In denial: "At ease in Zion...Put far off the day of doom" (vs. 1, 3).


- Devising laws that actually promoted evil: "Who cause the seat of violence to come near" (vs. 3). Compare with Psalm 94:20 - "Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with You--they who frame and hide their unrighteous doings under [the sacred name of] law?" (Amplified)

- Absorbed with:

• leisure and opulence: "Who lie on beds of ivory, stretch out on your couches" (vs. 4).

• food: "Who…eat lambs from the flock and calves…" (vs. 4).

• entertainment: "Who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments and invent for yourselves musical instruments…" (vs.5).

• alcohol: "Who drink wine from bowls…" (vs. 6).

• cosmetics: "…and anoint yourselves with the best ointments" (vs 6).

- Refusing to face reality: "But are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph" (vs. 6). This verse is cross-referenced in my Bible with Genesis 37:25 which describes the sight of the Ishmaelite trader caravan approaching Joseph's brothers. The brothers then sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites and he is carted off to Egypt as a slave. In its Amos context, it seems to imply a refusal on the part of Amos's hearers to acknowledge their own enslavement (to the life described) and the danger of enslavement in exile.

When I look at Amos's condemning list, I can't help but think of another culture it describes -- one with which I am very familiar. I see likenesses at every point.

- Modern denial: But what is the attitude of the times even when we're in the middle of financial and global uncertainty? Pretend like things are just like they always were. For example, if you can't afford something you want, increase your line of credit to get it.

- Modern laws that promote evil: Our culture's socially liberal climate along with laws that allow for the killing of pre-born babies and the legitimizing of sexual unions and practices that are forbidden by the Bible are two examples. (In fact, the church and Christians are increasingly being drawn into and forced to take a stand on these matters, as this recent event illustrates:"Alberta Education Minister demands Baptist school board comply with LGBTQ Legislation"

- The "good life": A few hours' worth of TV commercials will show any watcher that our society is consumed with the pursuit of leisure, opulence, good food and drink, cosmetics, entertainment.

Amos warned his unaware listeners of coming doom: "Behold I will raise up a nation against you O house of Israel" (vs 14). We have Jesus' warning of His coming when we least expect it.

"As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man" (NIV) Matthew 24:37-39.

Let's pay attention to Jesus' words. Let's be alert watchers for His coming, not lulled into distraction by good times.

PRAYER: Dear God, please sharpen my awareness of how You are at work in my time and culture. Help me to stay watchful and alert. Amen.

MORE: End time signs

"What signs indicate that the end times are approaching" is one of many articles that come up when one does an internet search on words like "signs of end times." It offers food for thought. Below the article there are also links to other articles about Bible prophecy which may be helpful.

(Of course, as with all such internet articles, read realizing this is a person's opinion. Also, when looking at such writings, it's helpful to read the website's 'about' and 'statement of faith' sections to understand the worldview and theological stance of the writer/organization.) 

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
 

Do your 8-12-year-olds have daily devotions? Point them to Bible Drive-Thru.

Sifted

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Amos 9:1-15

TO CHEW ON: "For surely I will command,
And I will sift the house of Israel among all nations
As Grain is sifted in a sieve;
Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground." Amos 9:9


My earliest memories of sifting are from when I was a little girl and learning to bake. Mom taught me to make sure I always sifted the flour before putting it into anything. That was because beetles sometimes got into the large kitchen bin where we kept the 100 lb. quantities of flour we bought. I'm sure if I found beetles in my flour now, I'd throw out the whole lot. But not then. We'd simply remove the wriggling black interlopers and carry on, mixing the bread, cookies or whatever.

The act of sifting ("To pass through a sieve in order to separate the fine parts from the coarse") is referred to in the Bible at various times. It is God's way of revealing the covered or hidden things that shouldn't be there (e.g. Proverbs 20:26). The intention is to get rid of them.

However, the purpose of sifting is also to separate out and preserve what is good. Unlike the Ethiopians, Philistines and Syrians, which God says He will destroy, He will sift Israel so that he can preserve the "house of Jacob" (Amos 9:7-9). He'll separate out the bad stuff to preserve all that is good (down to the "smallest grain").

The process of sifting, when it affects our lives, is never fun. Just as the physical act of sifting disturbs every bit of the sifted product, so God's sifting of us is uncomfortable, painful, even life-shaking. Job is one man I think of when I think of the sifting of a life. Nothing he had was left untouched.

In the New Testament, Jesus refers to Satan asking to sift Peter. Though at first Peter failed the sifting test, Jesus told him that the sifting would eventually work toward him strengthening others (Luke 22:31-32).

Are you being sifted? All kinds of things can serve as sifters, from the normal tensions of work and family life to the unusual stresses of accidents, crimes, natural disasters, disease, unemployment, etc. If you feel like you are being sifted, remember the purpose of the process—to reveal what shouldn't be there so you can deal with it now, and to separate out what is worth preserving.

Peter speaks of the end result of such a purifying and separating process in 1 Peter 1:6-7 (using the metaphor of purifying gold in fire). "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to realize that problems in my life may be part of Your sifting and purifying process in me. Help me to endure so my life will glorify You. Amen.

MORE: Paul Baloche sings "Shaken"





Paul Baloche tells the story of writing the song "Shaken" in this 1.5 minute video.

Do your 8-12-year-olds have daily devotions? Point them to Bible Drive-Thru.

Are you available for God's calling?

Amos - James Tissot

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Amos 7:1-17

TO CHEW ON: "Then Amos answered, and said to Amaziah:
'I was no prophet, nor was I the son of a prophet but I was a sheepherder and tender of sycamore fruit. Then the Lord took me as I followed the flock and the Lord said to me, "Go prophesy to My people Israel."'" Amos 7:14-15

Amos was on the defensive. Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, had reported him to King Jeroboam II because of his negative prophecies, no doubt hoping the king would expel Amos from the land. Amaziah himself ordered Amos off his religious turf: 'Go be a prophet—ply your trade—in your own land of Judah' he said (Amos 7:12,13).

(You may recall that worship at Bethel involved a golden calf that the first king Jeroboam set up when he wanted to keep the ten tribes of Israel from returning regularly to Judah to worship at the Jerusalem temple - 1 Kings 12:25-33. )

But Amos had complete confidence in his vocation. He was not a professional prophet, he told Amaziah. Rather he was a farmer. He is identified as "among the sheep breeders of Tekoa" (Amos 1:1). Here he tells Amaziah how the LORD gave him his assignment "…as I followed the flock. And the Lord said to me 'Go prophesy to My people Israel'" - Amos 7:15). Historians believe that his prophetic ministry (between 760 and 750 B.C.) was less than two years.

As I think of Amos, I wonder how aware and responsive we are to God's call. Would we be willing to switch careers if God called us to something different? Does God have our willingness for short assignments, or assignments of undetermined length?

Leslyn Musch advises well in her commentary on these verses:

"Be willing to receive and follow God's call regardless of your 'qualifications.' Training is vital to help you grow in your call and gifts but it is not a prerequisite to being called. Like Amos, respond to the Lord's call in faithfulness" - Leslyn Musch, Truth-In-Action Through Amos, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1185.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to have ears tuned to Your voice and a heart to say 'yes' to whatever and wherever Your calling sends. Amen.

MORE: Ordinary vs. special calling

Os Guinness in his book The Call, speaks about a person's "ordinary calling" and "later special calling":

"…. A special calling refers to those tasks and missions laid on individuals through a direct, specific, supernatural communication from God. Ordinary calling, on the other hand, is the believer's sense of life-purpose and life-task in response to God's primary call, 'follow me,' even when there is no direct, specific, supernatural communication from God about a secondary calling.

In other words, ordinary calling can be seen in our responsibility to exercise a high degree of 'capitalist-style' enterprise about how we live our lives. For example, the servants in Jesus' parable of the talents and pounds were assessed according to how they 'got on with it' when the master was away. In this sense no follower of Christ is without a calling, for we all have an original calling even if we do not all have a later, special calling. And, of course, some people have both" - Os Guinness, The Call, pp. 48, 49 (emphasis added).

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The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. - Used with permission.  

The silent treatment

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Amos 8:1-14

TO CHEW ON: "'Behold the days are coming,' says the Lord God, 'that I will send a famine on the land. Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro seeking the word of the Lord, but shall not find it.'" Amos 8:11-12

Getting the silent treatment can be devastating. When a person who is a family member or friend refuses to talk to you, it doesn't take a lot of insight to know something is wrong. Such silences  over long periods of time almost ensure a broken relationship, or at least one that needs work.

In Amos 8, God warns that unless Israel changes her ways, she will soon get the silent treatment from Him. Though there were times when Bible characters felt God was silent for no reason they understood (like Job  and David) most of the time God's silences came as a result of sin.

God was silent, for example, when King Saul (who had been rejected as king because of his disobedience and rebellion) sought Him, after the death of Samuel. Saul became so desperate to hear from God, he went to a medium to raise Samuel's spirit so he would inquire of God for him (1 Samuel 28).

The Bible gives reasons why God is silent. He is silent when:
- we accommodate sin in our lives -- we are "cosy with evil" - Message (Psalm 66:18).
- we spurn wisdom and the fear of God (Proverbs 1:25-28).
- we ignore the needs of the poor (Proverbs 21:13)
- we serve other gods (idols) (Isaiah 57:13;  Ezekiel 14:3).
- we refuse to believe (James 1:6-7)
- we ask with selfish motives (James 4:3)

In Amos, God gave the people fair warning. He told them the reasons He would stop responding to them. They did business on the Sabbath, their trade was dishonest, and they continued to oppress the poor.

God's silence is not an end in itself, though. It is one way God uses to get us to come back to Him. Notice how desperate the people are when God is silent: they "run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord." I don't think it's a coincidence that it is a famine that eventually drives the prodigal son back home (Luke 15:14-19).

If God seems uncommunicative, let's search our hearts to see if they hold reasons for God's apparent silence. May that silence drive us back to Him.

PRAYER: Dear God, when You are silent, help me to search my heart. Point out things that offend You. Please speak to me again. Amen.

MORE: "Psalm 13 (How Long O Lord)" by Brian Doerksen

This song reminds us that even Jesus got God's silent treatment (when He became sin for us).

Do your 8-12-year-olds have daily devotions? Point them to Bible Drive-Thru.

When God hates our worship

"Let justice run down like water..." Amos 5:24

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Amos 5:16-27

TO CHEW ON:“I hate, I despise your feast days

And I do not savor your sacred assemblies…

Take away from me the noise of your songs

for I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.

But let justice run down like water

And righteousness like a mighty stream.” Amos 5:21,23-24

Have you ever heard waitresses say that they dislike serving church groups, or people in business say Christian companies are the worst to deal with? Does this make sense? Shouldn’t a stingy, difficult-to-work-for, or hard-to-get-fair-service-and-timely-payment-from person who calls himself a Christian be an oxymoron?

In this passage God scolds Israel for putting on an outward religious show but neglecting justice and righteousness. What are justice and righteousness?

- justice: 1) The quality of being just (fair, evenhanded, impartial). 2) The rendering of what is due or merited.

- righteous: 1) Conforming in disposition and conduct to a standard of right and justice; upright, virtuous. 2) Morally right, equitable.

In plain words, justice is how we act toward others. Righteousness is our personal moral code–what we do and are even when no one is looking.

God hates it when our real self–what we are like privately and when we’re away from those we’re hoping to impress, doesn’t line up with our outward show of worship. In fact, He rejects this worship entirely. Despite our raised hands and rapturous Sunday morning faces, God’s blessing will not fill our lives if, at the same time, they are full of deceit, envy, gossip, fighting, bitterness, unforgiveness etc.

How do I measure up in the justice and righteousness departments? How do you? God can show us where and how to make changes.

PRAYER: Dear God, I want streams and justice and righteousness to run through my life. Please show me how this can happen. Amen.

MORE: A noble double-standard

“Never look for right in the other man, but never cease to be right yourself. We are always looking for justice; the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is – Never look for justice, but never cease to live it.”

- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

"Seek Me"

"The Hidden Treasure" by James Tissot

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Amos 5:1-15

TO CHEW ON: “’Seek Me and live’…. Seek the Lord and live…. Seek good and not evil that you may live…” Amos 5:4, 6, 14

Like a many-faceted jewel, God’s instruction to “seek Me” has a myriad of angles.

It includes:

Prayer: "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you." Jeremiah 29:11,12

An intense search: "And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." - Jeremiah 29:13

Repentance: "Repent therefore and be converted so that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord." - Acts 3:19

Obedience:"Jesus answered and said to him, 'If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love Him, and we will come to Him and make our home with Him." - John 14:23 

In Old Testament times, obedience meant adhering to the sacrificial law. Since Jesus has fulfilled that law by His death and resurrection, we no longer need to be concerned about keeping it. But Jesus has not left us in the dark about what obedience means for us today. If you’re not sure, for starters read Matthew 5-7 (Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount).

What does “seek Me” mean for you today? Perhaps it means calling out to Jesus for the first time and turning your self-directed life into His hands. Perhaps it means spending more time in prayer. Or maybe it means soaking in the Bible, and turning new-found insights into action in obedience.

Whatever it means to you – do it! The result – life – is worth it!

PRAYER: Dear Holy Spirit, please show me what God’s command to “seek Me” means to me. Amen.

MORE: A 'Seek Me' painting

The painting,"The Hidden Treasure" by James Tissot illustrates Jesus' stories about seeking God and the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure

⁴⁴ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price

⁴⁵ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, ⁴⁶ who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Matthew 13:44-46

Unpopular prophets

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Amos 7:1-17

TO CHEW ON: "Then Amaziah said to Amos, 'Go you seer! Flee to the land of Judah. There eat bread and there prophesy. But never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary and it is the royal residence.'" Amos 7:12-13

We should probably not find it surprising that Amaziah, King Jeroboam's high priest, reacted to Amos's negative prophecies by telling him to shut up and leave. It is not comfortable to have an outsider come onto your territory and tell you that your country is prey for locusts, in danger of being burned and not plumb with God's standards.

However, the uncomfortable assignment of delivering unpopular pronouncements from God has always been part of a prophet's job description. The Bible is full of examples: Elijah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, Jesus.

Like a true prophet, Amos was not intimidated. I'm not a prophet by profession or birth, he told Amaziah. But my message is from the Lord. Then, not backing down an inch, he told the man in plain words what would happen: "Israel shall surely be led away captive" (7:13).

The assignment for modern prophets* is no easier. People in our society who speak against the way we as a people and culture are violating God's standards may well find themselves in similar hot water, banned from speaking publicly, reading or quoting the Bible, and in Canada hauled in front of Human Rights Commissions.

As our society drifts farther and farther away from biblical standards, what we as Christians stand for becomes less and less mainstream and popular. And so we may find ourselves tempted to alter the message to make it more politically correct. For telling it straight will probably mean having to pay the price of being an unpopular prophet. Am I up for that? Are you?

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me be bold and unafraid to tell and uphold Your standards. Amen

MORE: Human Rights Commissions

In Canada we have a system in place to gag people who dare express ideas that aren't politically correct. Human Rights Commissions are quasi legal bodies active in each province. Most were first formed to help people get fair treatment when they faced things like racial and sexual discrimination at work or in regard to housing. In recent years HRC rulings have frequently come down against Christians who have attempted to uphold biblical morality especially in their positions against homosexuality.

Here, for example, is a case in Alberta from a few years ago, described by Ezra Levant:

"An even more terrifying precedent recently was set in Alberta. The case involved a letter to the editor written by a Christian pastor and published in the Red Deer Advocate newspaper. The letter was a zealous, even rude, expression of the pastor's belief that homosexuality was a sin, and that there was a homosexual political "agenda" that had to be stopped. But instead of joining the debate by writing a letter to the editor, a local teacher complained to the human rights commission.

The commission's one-woman panel—a divorce lawyer with no expertise in constitutional rights—ruled that "the publication's exposure of homosexuals to hatred and contempt trumps the freedom of speech afforded in the Charter." That was it: Freedom of speech, and of the press, and religion, all of which are called "fundamental freedoms" in our Constitution, now come second to the newly discovered right of a thin-skinned bystander not to be offended."

Read entire...

Jesus told us these kinds of things would happen. Instead of worrying about them, He assures us He will be with us when they do; we can face them with  carefree trust:  Matthew 10:16-19

¹⁶"Stay  alert. This is hazardous work I'm assigning you. You're going to be  like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don't call attention to  yourselves. Be as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove.

 ^17-20"Don't  be naive. Some people will impugn your motives, others will smear your  reputation—just because you believe in me. Don't be upset when they haul  you before the civil authorities. Without knowing it, they've done  you—and me—a favor, given you a platform for preaching the kingdom news!  And don't worry about what you'll say or how you'll say it. The right  words will be there; the Spirit of your Father will supply the words.- Message

*prophet = nabiy

In the modern sense I'm thinking of the prophet as person who delivers God's message as revealed in the Bible (versus someone who foretells the future).

(From the archives)

A life of integrity

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Amos 5:16-27


TO CHEW ON: "I hate, I despise your feast days,

And I do not savour your sacred assemblies ....

But let justice run down like water

And righteousness like a mighty stream." Amos 5:21-24

Here and in many other places, God stresses the importance (to Him) of justice and righteousness. How do these qualities look in real life? Here are a few examples from the Bible:

• In Israel it was fairness to women in a society that considered them ineligible to inherit land (Numbers 24:1-8).

• It was also expressed in defending the poor, orphans, afflicted, and needy (Psalm 82:3).

• The Queen of Sheba saw King Solomon and his just, righteous rule as God's loving provision for Israel (2 Chronicles 9:8).

• The psalmist, having lived by standards of righteousness and justice, was bold to ask for God's help (Psalm 119:121)

• The writer of Proverbs considered living a life of righteousness and justice more acceptable to God than sacrifice (Proverbs 21:3).

• In the New Testament, it included paying ruling authorities their due—whether that was taxes, customs, respect, or honour (Romans 13:7).

• Paul interpreted it as paying fair wages to one's workers (Colossians 4:1)

God still wants us to live lives of integrity, that is, lives characterized by justice and righteousness and from which these qualities overflow: "Let justice run down like water / And righteousness like a mighty stream." As a comment in my Bible expresses it:

"Outward religious forms have no value unless faith is lived out daily. Love and honor God in every way so that the life flow of the holy Spirit will pour out to those around you." - Leslyn Musch, "Truth-In-Action Through Amos," New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 185 (emphasis added).

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to live a life of integrity, characterized by the justice and righteousness that are part of Your very essence. Amen.

MORE: Keeping your word

Living with integrity (with justice and righteousness) may not always come cheap. Michael Hyatt discovered that when a client confronted him with an expensive promise made by a former colleague on behalf of the company for which he worked:

"Several months ago, a former executive at our company made a commitment to a third-party via email. It is obvious that he didn’t research the cost of his promise, nor did he get anyone else’s approval. I was not aware of the obligation until the other party brought it to our attention. When I learned that the commitment was north of six figures, I gasped ..."

What would you have done in this situation? Find out what Michael Hyatt did, and why, in "Keeping Your Word."

Thoughts on seeking God

"They take a bribe and they turn aside
the poor in the gate" Amos 5:12 - Artist unknown

 TODAY'S SPECIAL: Amos 5:1-15

TO CHEW ON: "Seek Me and live;

But do not seek Bethel

Nor enter Gilgal

Nor pass over to Beersheba;

For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity,

And Bethel shall come to nothing

Seek the Lord and live ... "(Amos 5:4-6)

Amos, speaking to a backslidden Israel, warns her people to stop their frantic religious activity and start actually looking for God. The three cities of pilgrimage he names—Bethel, Gilgal, and Beersheba— all had significance in Israel's faith story.

Bethel:
Jacob first attached the name Bethel to the place where he dreamed of angels ascending and descending from heaven (Genesis 28:16, 17, 19). But Jeroboam 1 corrupted it when he set up an idol calf there. Bethel's reputation continued to go downhill so that Hosea named it not Bethel (House of God) but Beth-Aven—House of Nothing (Hosea 4:15). Amos reinforces that name when he says here, "Bethel shall come to nothing."

Gilgal:
Gilgal was the place the Israelites camped just after crossing the Jordan River from their wilderness wanderings. There Joshua had them set up twelve stones of remembrance taken from the Jordan's riverbed, signifying God's faithfulness to the twelve tribes of Israel (Joshua 4:19-20). Since then it had become an idol shrine: "Gilgal was a place where high places and altars were erected, and idols worshiped as it had formerly been a place of worship of the true God. The ten tribes made use of it in the times of their apostasy for idolatrous worship" - Hosea 4:15" - Gill's commentary on Amos 4:4.

Beersheba:
The patriarchs—Abraham (Genesis 21:31-33), Isaac (Genesis 26:23-25), and Jacob (Genesis 46:11)—had worshiped God in Beersheba. Now, however, it was associated with the "sin of Samaria" and linked, along with the city of Dan, to idol shrines (Amos 8:14).

There is a lesson for us in Amos's plea to the Israelites to seek the Lord as opposed to going to Bethel, Gilgal and Beersheba. Three aspects of this seeking come to mind:

1. We need to guard against trying to duplicate the past. When we have met God in a place or time, like the Israelites had in these three cities, it's tempting to make a shrine there, hoping that we will relive what happened if we go back.

2. We need to be vigilant against syncretism, i.e. molding our experience into something it wasn't or isn't by adding in elements, like Israel added idols. Meshing our worship of God with the practices of other religions is always dangerous.

3. We need to follow Amos's simple instructions on how to find God. It is not by going to a sacred place or enacting a religious ritual, but by nurturing an awareness of who God is, and by doing what He values. In simple words, He meets us when we are obedient.

"Seek good and not evil

That you may live;

So the Lord God of hosts will be with you..." Amos 5:14.

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to keep my relationship with You fresh and alive with my obedience. Amen.

MORE: One Master

"A man is a slave for obeying unless behind his obedience there is a recognition of a holy God. Many a soul begins to come to God when he flings off being religious because there is only one Master of the human heart, and that is not religion but Jesus Christ" - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, July 18 reading.

Captives no more

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Amos 9:1-15

TO CHEW ON: "And I will bring back the captives of My people Israel..." Amos 9:14

Though Amos's prophecy was a prediction to his readers (in 760-750 B.C.) of the literal return of Israeli captives, we can't help but hear the spiritual overtones.* They reverberate down to us today.

Who comes to mind as a releaser of captives but Jesus? We see Him in the Nazareth synagogue open the book of Isaiah, and hear His voice, full of authority, read these words (from Isaiah 61:1-2):

"The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,

       Because He has anointed Me

      To preach the gospel to the poor;

      He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,

      To proclaim liberty to the captives

      And recovery of sight to the blind,

      To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

       19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD” 

- Luke 4:18-19.

What is He offering healing, sight, and liberty from? John 8 tells us it is SIN.

"Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, 'If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free' .... .Jesus answered them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed'" - John 8:32, 34-36.

The fact that Jesus' coming to earth was part of God's plan to free us from sin's death sentence (Romans 8:1-11) is just one more reason to give thanks and celebrate at Christmas time.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You that Your incarnation, death and resurrection made possible my release from sin's prison. Help me to experience this freedom over sin as I live controlled by Your Spirit. Amen

_________________________
*"When all around is spiritual, there is no reason to take this alone as earthly. An earthly restoration to Canaan had no value except as introductory to the spiritual" - Amos 9:14 commentary in Barnes Notes on the Bible.

MORE: Only four more sleeps

Advent Calendar - December 21

Christmas Fact:



According to early Christian tradition, Jesus was born in one of the caves that local people used to shelter animals. As early as the second century A.D., pilgrims began to visit that cave. The Roman emperor Hadrian (76-138 A.D.) constructed a shrine to the pagan god Adonis over this site. In approximately 325 A.D. after the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity, the empress Helena (c. 248-328 A.D.) had the temple to Adonis destroyed and built the Church of the Nativity over the presumed site of Jesus’ birth. . . .

Today the Church of the Nativity is an Eastern Orthodox shrine. The cave in which Jesus was born lies underneath the church. Known as the “Grotto of the Nativity,” this underground chamber is a site of intense religious devotion for Christians of many different denominations.

– Encyclopedia of Christmas pp. 47,48

Open December 21

Virtual tour of the Church of the Nativity - Bethlehem

God and sham

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Amos 5:16-27

TO CHEW ON: "But let justice run down like water

And righteousness like a mighty stream." Amos 5:24

One outcome of seeking God, a subject we explored yesterday, is a visible change in how we live. Israel needed to change in the social justice department. Amos spoke out over how offended God was because of their mistreatment of the poor and powerless. He named their sins :

"Because you run roughshod over the poor and take the bread right out of their mouths... You bully right-living people, taking bribes right and left and kicking the poor when they're down"
 (yesterday's reading, vs. 10- 12, Message.).

In today's reading Amos warns of God's judgments. It will be a visitation resulting in the "day of the Lord" that is not delightful but full of wailing, mourning, trouble at every turn, darkness: "Alas! Alas!"

And this is not a result they can divert with religious play-acting. For God "hates" it all — their feast days, sacred assemblies, burnt, grain, and peace offerings, their sung songs and instrumentals (vs. 21-23).

There is only one remedy — a change of attitude that results in a change of action: "But let justice run down like water, And righteousness like a mighty stream."

A footnote in my Bible explains these two words:

"Justice and righteousness are two of the most important concepts in the prophets.

Righteousness is the quality of life demonstrated by those who live up to the established norms in a relationship. They "do right by" another person.

Justice is the judicial process of determining who is right in a case of law. The just party was helped by the court. Amos's contention is that the poor are not being defended in the court. Therefore justice is not done" New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1178.

What does this have to do with you and me? I see it as a warning to certainly deal with the unrighteousness and injustice we find within ourselves, but also other things in our lives that are against what God stands for. If we are nurturing things He hates — dishonesty, covetousness, marital infidelity, idolatry, etc. — while we go on as usual, pretending they aren't there, putting on a good front,  bringing our tithes and offerings, singing and raise our hands in worship, we are living a sham and are in as much danger as Israel was in Amos's day.

Let's ask God to show us our own hearts, reveal to us how we need to change, and then work those changes from the inside out.


PRAYER: Dear God, I so readily kid myself, carrying on like everything is great, even as I've got heart issues: resentments, envy, pride etc. Here I see how much you hate sham. I think I need some Holy Spirit counselling. Amen.

MORE: The fear of God

"...the wrath of God is eternal, terrible, deserved, and escapable, because of the death and resurrection of Christ."

How does our fearing God (which I implied above is something we should do) line up with Jesus paying the penalty for our sin, defeating sin's penalty, death, and extending grace to us? John Piper sheds some light on that in his message: "The Present Effects of Trembling at the Wrath of God."

If you say—which you should—“But doesn’t the Bible teach us not to fear? Aren’t there many commands like, ‘Fear not, for I am with you.’ What do they mean?” They mean two things. They mean, Don’t fear man, fear God. And, second, they mean, Don’t fear God as your enemy, fear him as one who once was your enemy and still is infinite in power and holiness. - By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org

Read entire

Eye time, heart time

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Amos 5:1-15

TO CHEW ON: "For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:

'Seek Me and live;

Do not seek Bethel,

Nor enter Gilgal

Nor pass over to Beersheba;

For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity

And Bethel shall come to nothing." Amos 5:4b-5.

If you want to see God's heart laid open, His love exposed and vulnerable, read the prophets. Here he speaks through Amos — who wasn't a professional prophet at all but a shepherd who prophesied to the northern kingdom of Israel between 760 and 750 B.C. during the reigns of Uzziah in Judah and Jeroboam II in Israel.

Amos's invitation — no his plea, to his hearers is from God: "Seek Me and live." Then God, in a sort of imaginary discussion with them and anticipating what they will reply, answers their objection:

"Do not seek Bethel" (about 10 miles north of Jerusalem, the southern boundary of the northern kingdom and where Jeroboam I had set up a golden calf idol); "Nor enter Gilgal" (the ancient shrine connected with Joshua and Saul); "Nor pass over to Beersheba" (a place of pilgrimage where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all worshipped God).

It seems God was saying, I don't want your rote religious forms or rituals based on the encounters that your ancestors had with Me in the past. I want you to seek Me and to have that relationship with Me now.

What's involved in seeking God?

• Moses in Deuteronomy and Jeremiah talk of seeking God whole-heartedly, i.e. making our search for God our heart's focus - Deuteronomy 4:29; Jeremiah 29:13.

• The psalm writers talk of seeking God's face - Psalm 27:8; 105:4. When we seek someone's face, we look into their eyes to establish that one-to-one connection. We study their expression to see whether they are happy or sad, pleased or displeased with us.

• Here Amos connects seeking God with life, bringing to mind the opposite possibility, that not seeking God leads to death.

• Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount gave seeking God priority over even getting our basic needs met - Matthew 6:31-33.

Like the Israelites would answer God's "Seek My face" with "But I go to Bethel, Gilgal, and Beersheba," we could say, I come from a line of believers. I go to church, give money to charity, help the poor. Those things are good. Part of seeking God is doing the stuff - 2 Chronicles 14:4.

But there is more. There's the relationship. That's what God wants with us. Eye time. Heart time.

PRAYER: Dear God, how blessed am I to worship You, a God who pursues a relationship with me. Please help me to clear up any barriers to our relationship. Amen.


MORE: "How I Long For You" by Hillsong

Unpopular prophets

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Amos 7:1-17

TO CHEW ON: "Then Amaziah said to Amos, 'Go you seer! Flee to the land of Judah. There eat bread and there prophesy. But never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary and it is the royal residence.'" Amos 7:12-13

We should probably not find it surprising that Amaziah, King Jeroboam's high priest, reacted to Amos's negative prophecies by telling him to shut up and leave. It is not comfortable to have an outsider come onto your territory and tell you that your country is prey for locusts, in danger of being burned and not plumb with God's standards.

However, the uncomfortable assignment of delivering unpopular pronouncements from God has always been part of a prophet's job description. The Bible is full of examples: Elijah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, Jesus.

Like a true prophet, Amos was not intimidated. I'm not a prophet by profession or birth, he told Amaziah. But my message is from the Lord. Then, not backing down an inch, he told the man in plain words what would happen: "Israel shall surely be led away captive" (7:13).

The assignment for modern prophets* is no easier. People in our society who speak against the way we as a people and culture are violating God's standards may well find themselves in similar hot water, banned from speaking publicly, reading or quoting the Bible, and in Canada hauled in front of Human Rights Commissions.

As our society drifts farther and farther away from biblical standards, what we as Christians stand for becomes less and less mainstream and popular. And so we may find ourselves tempted to alter the message to make it more politically correct. For telling it straight will probably mean having to pay the price of being an unpopular prophet. Am I up for that? Are you?

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me be bold and unafraid to tell and uphold Your standards. Amen

MORE: Human Rights Commissions

In Canada we have a powerful system in place to gag people who dare express ideas that don't conform to Canadian society's current norms. Human Rights Commissions are quasi legal bodies active in each province. Most were first formed to help people get fair treatment when they faced things like racial and sexual discrimination at work or in regard to housing. In recent years HRC rulings have frequently come down against Christians who have attempted to uphold biblical morality especially in their positions against homosexuality.

Here, for example, is a case in Alberta from a few years ago, described by Ezra Levant:

"An even more terrifying precedent recently was set in Alberta. The case involved a letter to the editor written by a Christian pastor and published in the Red Deer Advocate newspaper. The letter was a zealous, even rude, expression of the pastor's belief that homosexuality was a sin, and that there was a homosexual political "agenda" that had to be stopped. But instead of joining the debate by writing a letter to the editor, a local teacher complained to the human rights commission.


The commission's one-woman panel--a divorce lawyer with no expertise in constitutional rights -- ruled that "the publication's exposure of homosexuals to hatred and contempt trumps the freedom of speech afforded in the Charter." That was it: Freedom of speech, and of the press, and religion, all of which are called "fundamental freedoms" in our Constitution, now come second to the newly discovered right of a thin-skinned bystander not to be offended.

Read entire...

Jesus told us these kinds of things would happen. Instead of worrying about them, He assures us He will be with us when they do; we can face them with carefree trust: Matthew 10:16-19

¹⁶"Stay alert. This is hazardous work I'm assigning you. You're going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don't call attention to yourselves. Be as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove.
 ^17-20"Don't be naive. Some people will impugn your motives, others will smear your reputation—just because you believe in me. Don't be upset when they haul you before the civil authorities. Without knowing it, they've done you—and me—a favor, given you a platform for preaching the kingdom news! And don't worry about what you'll say or how you'll say it. The right words will be there; the Spirit of your Father will supply the words.- Message

*prophet = nabiy
In the modern sense I'm thinking of the prophet as person who delivers God's message as revealed in the Bible (versus someone who foretells the future).

Do your 8-12-year-olds have daily devotions? Point them to Bible Drive-Thru.

Does it satisfy?

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Amos 4:1-13

TO CHEW ON: "So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water. But they were not satisfied. Yet you have not returned to Me." Amos 4:8

If there is one thing we can know for sure, it is that for our whole healthy lives we will need to turn to food and water again and again for physical satisfaction. Here, Amos draws a parallel to the perpetual lack of physical  satisfaction and Israel's spiritual state. They too are continually seeking satisfaction, but seeking in the wrong places. And despite the fact that God is raining the consequences of their sins on their own heads, it's not bringing about the desired spiritual changes.

He sent famine, withheld rain, appeared preferential (sending rain on one city but not another), troubled their gardens with pests and disease, allowed their own children to fall to the plague. But it was all to no avail. "Yet you have not returned to Me."

Amos tells them what will bring lasting satisfaction. It is the destination to which all his doom-filled predictions are meant to drive them - to God Himself. "Seek Me and live (5:4); Seek the Lord and live (5:6); Seek good and not evil that you may live (5:14); Let justice rain down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream (5:24).

We are not so different from these Israelites. Our search for satisfaction takes us down paths of overwork, shopping, too much food and drink, sex, sometimes even drunkenness and addiction. But we're looking in the wrong places. Because only God can once-and-for-all satisfy the gnawing hunger that creeps back when we feed in other places.

The way the prophet Jeremiah describes what we do is so right-on:


"My people have committed a compound sin:
   they've walked out on me, the fountain
Of fresh flowing waters, and then dug cisterns—
   cisterns that leak, cisterns that are no better than sieves." - Jeremiah 2:13 (Message)

God's invitation to come to Him for lasting, spiritual thirst-quenching is clear. Jesus promised that those hungering and thirsting for righteousness would be filled. He promised He would be water that would be like an artesian fountain flowing from within, and forever satisfying bread.

Do I come to Him to be satisfied? Do you?

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to look for satisfaction in You. I confess I don't always go to You first when I'm 'thirsty.' Teach me how finding satisfaction in You looks in my day-to-day life. Amen.

MORE: "This is the Air I Breathe" music and lyrics by Marie Barnett
(Sung by Hillsong)

Do your 8-12-year-olds have daily devotions? Point them to Bible Drive-Thru.

Modern slaves

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Amos 2:1-16

TO CHEW ON: "Thus says the Lord:

'For three transgressions of Israel and for four,

I will not turn away its punishment,

Because they sell the righteous for silver,

And the poor for a pair of sandals,

They pant (trample on) the dust of the earth

Which is on the head of the poor

And pervert the way of the humble.'" Amos 2:6-7

Last night my husband and I went to a fundraiser for International Justice Mission. Four 12-14-year-old girls organized this concert and dessert night. Interspersed with songs by Carolyn Arends, yummy chocolate fondue and more music by She Says Electric, they brought us face to face with the plight of modern slaves.

For, as our young emcee reminded us, though the last country to make slavery illegal did so in 1981 (Mauritania), there are more slaves on the planet now than at any other time.

They told us stories of young girls in poverty-ravaged cultures who are promised good paying jobs, then sold to brothel keepers in countries like India, Cambodia, Thailand, Viet Nam, Guatemala.

In 2008 a Nike factory in Malaysia was exposed for human rights violations that were virtual slavery. Young people applying for work at the factory were charged a fee to come to work. When they couldn't pay, they were advanced the fee on credit so started work owing money. On arrival their passports were taken away. They lived on-site in crowded squalid conditions, working long hours six days a week and earning so little, they would never be able to pay back the debt they incurred to get the job. (Nike promised to look into the situation, so conditions may have changed by now.)

Companies selling fair trade products like chocolate and coffee have sprung up all over the place. They assure us that the coffee and chocolate they sell doesn't have any human rights-compromising behaviour in its picking or production history.

The Bible speaks of slavery in negative terms. Though slavery was an accepted part of Old Testament culture, six years was the length of time a Hebrew slave could be kept; to be freed in the seventh year. Kidnapping a free man with the intent to sell him was punishable by death. Slaves had rights to physical well-being. Injuring a slave, to the extent of merely knocking out a tooth was grounds for the person to go free. In our reading in Amos, Israel's slave-making behavior was grounds for God's punishment.

Uncomfortable revelations like we heard and saw last night about modern slavery make me feel squirmy. They demand more than just a tsk, tsk. How can I (and you) make a difference to those trapped in it?
- We can pray
- We can support organizations who work to free slaves.
- We can change our buying habits.

PRAYER: Dear God, I am touched by the plight of modern slaves. Help me to remember to pray for them. Please show me other actions I can take. Amen.

MORE: Organizations to check out and support

Shadow of His Wings is an organization that rehabilitates girls and young women who have been rescued from forced labor, abuse and neglect on the streets of Guatemala City.

The Dalit Network works to liberate the Dalit people of India from slave labor. I first became aware of them at Missions Fest in 2009 (and blogged about them here).

International Justice Mission works for justice around the world. It also has a Canadian arm.

Stories:
- Brick Kiln Rescue

- South Asia Quarry Raid

- Namwaan's Story

Do your 8-12-year-olds have daily devotions? Point them to Bible Drive-Thru.