Read the Bible in a Year (22SEP19)

DAILY REMINDER – Today, September 22’s Bible reading is Amos 1-5.

NEXT DAY REMINDER – Tomorrow, September 23’s Bible reading is Amos 6-9. May God bless you with the reading of His WORD. 

Amos’ Introduction 

The book of Amos is so named after the Prophet Amos whose name means burden bearer. He was a herdsman from a small town in Judah but was called to prophesy to the northern kingdom of Israel and their foreign neighbors. His message was burdensome in that he had to prophesy during a time when Israel was prosperous, and no one wanted to listen to him during the reigns of Uzziah and Jeroboam II. The Lord had given Amos the message that if they did not repent of their pagan practices, they would be taken captive by the Assyrians. Amos’ book is believed to have been written about 760-750 B.C. His messages were comprised of judgment, social justice, and restoration. 

 

AMOS MOMENT – (22SEP19) “I hate, I despise your feasts,  and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,   I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,  I will not look upon them” (Amos 5:21-22). Israel was straddling the fence between God and their foreign idols that they refused to let go of. On one hand, they wanted to bow down to their idols, but on the other hand, they wanted to throw God just enough crumbs to hopefully keep Him appeased. They did not care to fully submit to Him nor did they want to part with their idols. This is why the Lord did not take any delight in their half-hearted sacrifices, offerings and feast days. They were detestable to Him for He was not to be second to any other god. Amos had been sent to warn Israel about their idolatrous ways even though they did not listen to him nor the other prophets. They had been warned for years; therefore, when the enemy nations came against them, they had no one to blame for their defeat but themselves.

Every weekend, thousands of people attend worship services in our nation and abroad. Yet, how many have truly surrendered themselves to the Lord? This does not mean that we will be perfect, but it means that we are striving towards perfection. The church at large is more interested in hearing the refined motivational speaker than the one crying out in the wilderness. The Bible says: “’And I raised up some of your sons for prophets, and some of your young men for Nazirites. Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel?’ declares the Lord. ‘But you made the Nazirites drink wine, and commanded the prophets, saying, ‘You shall not prophesy’” (Amos 2:11-12). There were prophets that were to be born to His people, but because they did not raise their children up in the ways of the Lord, the office of the prophet that was to be theirs was forfeited. There are many children who were destined for greatness in the Kingdom of God, but because of the parents’ spiritual state, the Lord has to reach them another way. With the nearly 60 million babies that have been aborted since Roe vs. Wade, one may wonder how many would have been prophets, pastors, evangelists, missionaries, or destined to do some other work for the glory of God. We will probably never know, but we can be sure the some of them would have done great things for the kingdom if they had been allowed to BREATHE. History does indeed repeat itself when we fail to learn from it. There is something that YOU can do to help save innocent children. Every morning when you get up, ask the Lord to change the hearts of the women who are contemplating abortion on that day. This allows for your prayers to intercede on behalf of a child DAILY. If you do this, one day, when you get to Heaven, the angels may point out the child to you whose life was saved by your prayers. Something to ponder….

QUESTION OF THE DAY - (22SEP19) Has God warned the nation about its sins prior to sending judgments? The Bible says: “For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). There are many of God servants sounding the alarm as to what is coming to our nation. They have prophesied events such as what took place in Texas, the destruction of New York, and the mega earthquake that will one day, according to the prophets, happen in California. So yes, the Lord has been giving His servants warnings regarding the events that are and will soon take place in this nation and around the world. All we have to do is pay attention to His true prophets and confirm with the Lord in prayer. God always warn before He does anything, but we have to be able to hear His voice. The Bible says: “Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God” (John 8:47). If you are in tune with the Lord, He will speak to you in various ways. If you do not know how to hear His voice, begin a very active prayer life, if you do not have one already. Combine it with a fast if possible, and ask the Lord to speak to you, so that you may begin to recognize His voice. He speaks through His Word, dreams, visions, the Spirit on the inside of you, through people – just to name a few. Allow Him to show Himself to you in ways like you have never imagined before. Something to ponder….