Friday Thought -- February 28, 2014

Good Morning Friends,

“The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.’ But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.” (Jonah 1:1-3)

Jonah did not like the assignment God gave him. Preaching to the people of Nineveh was not something that he wanted to do. They were enemies of God’s people. Jonah had no desire to see them repent. He wanted to see them destroyed, not saved. And he certainly did not want to be the instrument God used to prolong the life of Nineveh. He probably would have been fine if he had been called to be the instrument of Nineveh’s destruction.

Because he did not want to do what God assigned, Jonah ran away from it. In fact, the Bible says that Jonah didn’t just run away from the assignment, he ran away from the Lord. Somehow he thought he could hide from God. He thought he could go where God would never find him. What a foolish thought!

There are times when God does give one of His children an assignment that is not pleasant. He sometimes gives assignments that we would rather not do. But, as Jonah will find out, it does not pay to try to hide from the Lord. There is no place to hide from Him!

It would have been better for Jonah if he’d trusted the Lord and been obedient to Him from the beginning.

It would be better for us if we would always do that, too!

His, by Grace,

Steve

Thursday Thought -- February 27, 2014

Good Morning Friends,

“Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land, saying, ‘When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?’ -- skimping the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat. The LORD has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: ‘I will never forget anything they have done.’” (Amos 8:4-7)

The Lord cares about how we do business. Not giving a fair price to your customers. Being dishonest in how you deal with people. Taking advantage of the poor. Providing goods that are inferior. All of these things are sinful -- displeasing to the Lord. God expects every aspect of our lives to reflect His character, even our work lives.

But most of us aren’t small businessmen who can be guilty of the kinds of things with which Amos charged Israel. But even if we work for someone else -- even a large employer -- God expects the way we do business, the way we handle ourselves at our workplace to reflect His character.

The stories you tell at work. The quality of the work you perform. The honesty with which you turn in reports. The language you use. The way you treat your co-workers. The way you do business. All of these should reflect the Lord’s character.

Paul taught, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” (Colossians 3:23-24)

Serve the Lord -- even when you are being paid by someone else. Let your work reflect God’s character.

His, by Grace,

Steve

Wednesday Thought -- February 26, 2014

Good Morning Friends,

“Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: ‘Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words. For this is what Amos is saying: “Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go into exile, away from their native land.”’ Then Amaziah said to Amos, ‘Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.’ Amos answered Amaziah, ‘I was neither a prophet nor a prophet’s son, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. But the LORD took me from tending the flock and said to me, “Go, prophesy to my people Israel.”’” (Amos 7:10-15)

The priest, the king, and the people of Israel didn’t want to hear the message that Amos was bringing to them. They were satisfied with their lives. They weren’t interested in changing. They just wanted life to continue as it was. Amos was preaching a message of repentance, and the judgment that awaited if repentance did not come. That was certainly not what they wanted to hear!

The message of God is often something that the people do not want to hear. What people want to hear is that they are doing fine and can continue doing their own thing. But that’s not always God’s message. God’s message is often a message of repentance and the judgment that awaits those who don’t repent.

Those who bring God’s message to people are often opposed. Being a spokesman for God is rarely fun. It often brings great distress and pain. God’s messengers face opposition, ridicule, and sometimes violence against them.

A messenger of God doesn’t choose his assignment or his message. It is given by God. Despite the difficulty, the messenger has to be faithful to what God has called him to do and told him to preach.

Are you willing to be God’s messenger to the people around you, even when it’s a tough assignment?

His, by Grace,

Steve

Tuesday Thought -- February 25, 2014

Good Morning Friends,

“This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. And the LORD asked me, ‘What do you see, Amos?’ ‘A plumb line,’ I replied. Then the Lord said, ‘Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.’” (Amos 7:7-8)

Carpenters used to use plumb lines and perhaps some still do. Attach a weight to the end of a string and then put the other end at the top of the wall and let the weight hang down. That’s a way for the carpenter to be sure he gets the wall straight up and down. He doesn’t want the top to tip in or out. It’s also a way to check houses that have already been built to see if its walls are still straight, or if they’ve slipped through the years.

A plumb line is a test to see if things are as they are supposed to be, as they were designed to be.

God has a plumb line, too – a standard He uses to determine if people are the way way He desires them to be.

When God put His standard up against the people of Israel it showed they had slipped from where they had been, from what they had been designed to be. God had formed them. He had designed His people to be pure, different from the rest of the world. But they’d fallen from the standard, they were no longer plumb.

I wonder what God’s plumb line would show about His church today? He formed the church. He designed it to be what He wanted it to be. If He were to put His standard up against the church now would He find that it has slipped through the years?

Or, maybe God should put a plumb line on your life. What would He find there?

His, by Grace,

Steve

Monday Thought -- February 24, 2014

Good Morning Friends,

“I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” (Amos 5:21-24)

Empty ceremony without true heart change does not impress God. Israel was careful to follow all of the prescribed rituals and ceremonies, but their hearts were not changed. They celebrated the Lord in feasting. They brought the daily sacrifices that were outlined in the Old Testament. They sang songs of praise. But none of those meant anything to God. They were just empty ritual.

God was looking for changed hearts among the people of Israel. He was looking for the compassionate actions toward others that that kind of heart change would bring – justice. He was looking for the new lifestyle that kind of heart change would bring – righteousness.

God has not changed His attitude toward empty ritual. A person can attend church weekly. He can sing in the choir. He can give tithes and more. He can pray long and loud prayers. But if his heart is not in them and if his heart is not changed, these are but empty rituals, meaningless to the Lord.

It’s how you love Him that matters to God. It’s how you love others that shows you are His disciple. It is how you treat your neighbor that demonstrates a heart commitment to the Lord. It is the righteousness that God is developing in your life that is the true fruit of His Spirit.

It’s not that worship is not important -- it is. But it is important only as it comes from a heart that is being renewed. If our hearts are right then our worship will be pleasing to God.

His, by Grace,

Steve

Friday Thought -- February 21, 2014

Good Morning Friends,

“Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel, and because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel. He who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, he who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the high places of the earth -- the LORD God Almighty is his name.” (Amos 4:12-13)

“Prepare to meet your God.”

That is some good advice. Judgment was coming upon Israel and God warned them to be ready to stand before Him.

It is good advice for us all. After all, “man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27)

Israel should have been considering Who it was that they would be standing before. So should we! He is the One who took nothing and formed the mountains from it. He is the One who turned on the fans that send the wind across the earth -- sometimes blowing gently, sometimes blowing with gale force. He is the One who warns man of judgment and invites man to salvation. He is the One who turns the light switch off and on every day -- and the One who can make the sun stand still. There is no place man can go to hide from Him. Man is destined to stand before the Lord God Almighty and face His judgment.

For those who have not prepared to meet God, “only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God” awaits them.  (Hebrews 10:27)

But Israel was too caught up in day to day living to think about the judgment that was ahead. They were having too much fun to think that it might ever end. That sounds like another people we know about -- and live around!

But life will not always go on like it is today. Judgment is coming. It is a fearful expectation for those who are not prepared.

And there is only one way to prepare. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1) Thank God that in Christ Jesus not even facing God brings terror. Knowing Christ is the one and only way to prepare to meet your God!

His, by Grace,

Steve

Thursday Thought -- February 20, 2014

Good Morning Friends,

“‘I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me,’ declares the LORD. ‘I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another. One field had rain; another had none and dried up. People staggered from town to town for water but did not get enough to drink, yet you have not returned to me,’ declares the LORD. ‘Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards, I struck them with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you have not returned to me,’ declares the LORD. ‘I sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt. I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps, yet you have not returned to me,’ declares the LORD. ‘I overthrew some of you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire, yet you have not returned to me,’ declares the LORD.” (Amos 4:6-11)

Famine. Drought. Disease. Pests. Plagues. War. Disaster.

These were the tools of God to try to bring Israel back to Him. He used them all. He emptied His arsenal of instruments against them in an attempt to wake them up. He tried over and again. He waited patiently for them to respond.

But they did not respond as He wanted them to respond. They did not return to Him. They cried out in their sorrow, but did not repent. They kept on with their empty ceremonies and rituals, but they did not repent of their sins and return to the Lord.

Was Israel stubborn or blind, or both?

Earthquakes. Floods. Tornados. Hurricanes. Fires. Disease. Famine.

God continues to use His arsenal of tools in an attempt to get the people of the world to wake up. He uses them all. It seems as though He is holding nothing back. He is emptying His arsenal. He is waiting patiently.

The world cries out in anguish and sometimes in anger toward God, but they do repent. The world does not return to the Lord.

Is it stubbornness, blindness, or both?

His, by Grace,

Steve