Clean Up Your Heart Every Day

Amos 3:10-11 -  "My people have forgotten what it means to do right," says the LORD. "Their fortresses are filled with wealth taken by theft and violence.  Therefore," says the Sovereign LORD, "an enemy is coming! He will surround them and shatter their defenses. Then he will plunder all their fortresses."

 

Amos continues to speak the words of God to the people.  God gives him the very reasons for their judgment. He had chosen them…and given them the rules that would help them do right…but they had forgotten them.  They had done whatever made them happy…whatever filled their pockets with wealth…even if it mistreated or hurt the others around them. So God was going to allow all the possessions they had acquired the wrong way to be plundered.

 

It was sin that distorted their view. It was sin that separated them from their source of goodness.  The more sin they allowed in their lives…the harder it was to remember the God that brought them to such a great land.  The longer they sinned…the more it took control of their hearts and souls and minds.

 

It is a reminder to me to constantly clean up my heart.  Just as we wash our dishes on a daily basis...so should we wash our hearts of sin each day.  We need to spend time in the presence of God each day…so he can help us to uncover any sin that might be a problem later in the week….or month…or year. That sin…if left in our lives….will eventually have us hiding in the garden….just like Adam and Eve.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that sin separates me from you.  Forgive me for the times I have harbored sin...known or unknown...in my life…and left it there long enough to affect my relationship with you.  Help me to listen closely to you each morning and evening as I study and pray…so you can uncover any sin before it damages my heart.  Keep my heart strong…totally connected to you…so as soon as you uncover any sins…I will confess t quickly…so you can wash it away from my life…and restore me back to a right relationship with you.  Amen.

Remember To Thank God For All He Has Done

Amos 2:9-11 -  "I destroyed the Amorite before them, though he was tall as the cedars and strong as the oaks. I destroyed his fruit above and his roots below.  "I brought you up out of Egypt, and I led you forty years in the desert to give you the land of the Amorites.  I also raised up prophets from among your sons and Nazirites from among your young men. Is this not true, people of Israel?" declares the LORD.

 

God continued to use Amos to speak to his own people.  He sent him to Moab…but then told him to take his words of judgment to Judah and Israel as well.  God was so angry that they had already forgotten all he had done for them.  God was displeased that they had turned their back on his laws and commands. They had even gone so far as to encourage the few Nazirites to stop the vows they had sworn before God as well.

 

It only takes a few moments of time in a good place to shade our memories of how God rescued us from the past. As the time passes….we forget the feelings of passion and comfort he brought to our heart and life when his love and mercy was new. The world easily distorts our view of what is right and wrong…and before you know it we are right back into a new mess.

 

I will be the first to admit that my life resembles the wanderings of the Israelites for the last 40 years.  I see God do a miracle in my life…revel in in and let it power me for a while.  But it doesn’t take me long to feel the pressure of the world…to begin to whine that life is not what I thought it would be as I step by faith into the future.  I forget all that he has already done for me …and forget to thank him for it.  I forget that God has a plan for the good of his kingdom…and begin to focus a little too much on me again.

 

Matthew 6:33 says…. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”  If we keep our eyes focused on God…not only will he shield us from most of those attacks of satan…he will give us the scripture and power to fight him with…just as he gave Jesus the strength and power to overcome his temptations for 40 days and nights in the wilderness. Jesus stayed so focused on his father that e only needed 33 years to complete his purpose here on earth.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I need to stayed focused on you at all times.  Forgive me when I have let my focus slip…and stepped back in the wrong direction from your will.  Help me to keep my eyes on you…and seek your kingdom first….so that you may give me what I need to complete the purpose you placed me here for.  Amen.

God Uses The Simplest Of Lives To Tell Of His Love

Amos 1:1-2 -  The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa--what he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel.  He said: "The LORD roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds dry up, and the top of Carmel withers."

 

Amos was called of God while shepherding his families sheep out in the fields one day. He was given the task of delivering God’s words of judgment to the cities that had treated his people in a corrupt way.   God was displeased with the sin that existed in those places and was going to destroy each one .

 

Amos was not a priest…or the son of one.  He was not born a prophet.  He was called while he provided a the man power to watch his families sheep.  It was a hard job…requiring many hours of exposure to all kinds of weather. You slept with your sheep…usually guarding the opening to the sheepfold at night.

 

The job Amos did for God was so important that his simple story made it to the Bible. God must have chosen him for his heart instead of his status. He was just as important to God as the wisest king Solomon in all his splendor. He became one of the first laymen preachers…. God using him to warn the people of coming judgment.

 

It is a reminder to me that God uses all people to spread his message of love to others. No matter how simple your day job might seem…God has a plan to use you to speak his truth to others.  He might call you out with a vision as he did Amos…or he might leave you just where you are to model for others a strong Christian life…to be an example to the ones he placed you near. God uses all people…and the simplest of workers to do his work.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that All people are valuable to you ….that all of us are called…even in our simple lives to spread the truth of your love. Forgive me for the times that I have not seen my job as a calling to show your love…and wished for a grander way to be used.  Help me to bloom where you have planted me…and show your love to all the people you allow to cross my path. Amen.

Guard Against A Complacent Heart

Joel 3:1-2 -  "In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,  I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land.

 

Joel told the people God’s plans for restoration when they returned to him with their whole heart. He would save anyone who believed in him and provide the highest level of refuge for their weary and worn lives. He was going to strengthen them nback into the nation that he had meant for them to be in the first place.

 

That promise was not just for the Israelites….it is for all people who believe in his power and name. His promise is the basis of hope for anyone that has ever suffered a loss….gone through hard times…or made a mistake that devastated their lives. He calls for us to wake up from our complacency….and share the truth of what God has done for us with others.

 

Complacency is a dangerous emotion to harbor in your life.  It makes you too comfortable with the routines in your life that provide happiness and pride. We should never rest too long in any one happy moment…we should let the reality of verse 14 ring in our hearts.  It says… “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.”  That means there are always multitudes of people that will not be saved unless we share God’s Love with them.

 

I will be the first to admit that I spend too much time being content with the good things God has given me.  I need to step up my game…and let the reality of judgment for the nonbeliever rule what I do more that the blessings I exist in. God wants us to be happy and blessed so we can share what his love can do for others who don’t know him yet.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I need to guard against the emotion of complacency.  Forgive me for focusing too much of my time on pleasing myself.  Help me to take the happiness you have given me and share it more with others…so that less people will find themselves judged to not believe. Amen.

Where There Is Repentance.....There Is Hope

Joel 2:1 and 12-13   -  Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand—

…"Even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning."  Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.

 

Joel was told to tell the people to sound the trumpet…the warning bell that God’s judgment day of gloom and darkness was approaching quickly. Anyone who had not repented of their sin and begun to walk in God’s ways would die ….all the things they cherished and held dear gone forever.  He wanted them to feel the fear of eternal separation from God.

 

Then he told them of the hope that repentance could offer the situation.  God is a loving God…he can be persuaded by a humble heart and prayer to lessen the sentence of death…even turn it into eternal life with him. He called for the people to stop tearing their garments…an outward show of humility….and start tearing their hearts. He called for them to fast and pray as ever before...and show God they really wanted him as an active part of their lives.

 

It is a reminder to me that repentance multiplies the feelings of hope that power us through the tough times. No public prayer…or public gift to the needy…or other outward show of love will power our heart and life with God’s strength like giving our total being to God.  He wants all of our heart…all of our mind…and all of our soul…..so he can begin to direct our paths with his love and hope.

 

The last part of this chapter contains the huge blessing earth can receive if we all begin to turn back to God and pray with all our hearts.  Verses 28-29 say…. "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.”

 

I could use a fresh dose of God’s Spirit to keep me focused and going in the right direction.  I am only human…and satan tricks me into messing  up more than I get it right. So I guess I need to get serious about my prayers…and start asking God to expose any sin I have not noticed in my life.  Only then can I ask God to forgive me and wash it out of my life…so I begin to see the blessings God has promised in these verses. Then I need to get serious about sharing what I have learned with others…so that all people can repent and be saved.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I need to come to you with my whole heart in humility and ask you to forgive me of any sin in my life. Forgive me for the times that I have skirted over my need to ex[pose sin in my life…and let satan trick me into justifying it as okay.  Begin this day to expose all the hidden sins in my life so that I can be washed clean and acceptable to be used of you share the truth of your love. Install in me a new dose of your Holy Spirit …so that I may feel the power and hope that Joel foretold so long ago.  Amen.

Fast...Show God You Are Serious

Joel 1:13-15 -  Put on sackcloth, O priests, and mourn; wail, you who minister before the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you who minister before my God; for the grain offerings and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God. Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD. Alas for that day! For the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.

 

God sends yet another prophet named Joel to deliver his words of repentance and judgment.  He told everyone to listen…to weep….to mourn for the destruction that was coming.  God’s judgment was going to destroy all the crops they depended on for food…he was going to allow all the water to dry up from the rivers.

 

Joel called for the priests to take drastic measures to ask God to reconsider.  He told them to put on sackcloth and weep before the Lord to show their humility.  He told them to fast and pray for repentance of the people they had been given to lead and teach the commands of God.

 

It’s a reminder to me that sometimes…when we let the circumstances around us get so bad…when we have prayed and petitioned God...and are still waiting for answers…we need to show God just how serious we are with fasting. Fasting calls for us to give up something we dearly love in order to spend more intense time with God praying and seeking his direction…or praying for an important change in someone we love.  It can be giving up time on our favorite social media ap….giving up a favorite drink…going without one food…or all food for a period of time….to name just a few examples.

 

The act of fasting takes our focus off ourselves…or the problem we have been praying about …and puts the focus back on God’s reason for not giving us an answer yet.  It causes us to reflect on the sin …or behaviors we have been doing that might be blocking our answer…or even preventing us from hearing and accepting God’s “no” to our request.  It allows us to spend more time in prayer….shows God a bit of humility on our part…and provides the time to study and seek his will from study of his word.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that fasting is way to focus my worries back on you.  Forgive me for forgetting this extreme way of spending more time with you by giving up some earthly thing that I love. Help me spend some time today considering what answer I think I need the most from you…and pray about what I should fast to ask you for an answer. Help me use the time I fast to seek you in a deeper way.  Amen.

Ask God To Restore You To HIs Love

Hosea 14:3-4  and 9 –  Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount war-horses. We will never again say 'Our gods' to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion."  "I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them.

…..Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.

 

Hosea’s last words to the people were God’s call to return to him. He begged them to realize that no other nation…no other god could help them.  True restoration would come only from a heart that uttered to God to forgive their sins and ask him to be gracious in restoring their nation back to its former strength.

 

God promised to cure them from their idolatry and unfaithfulness. He promised to increase his love to them in unmeasured bounds. He would remove all his anger from them and restore them like the morning dew refreshes the earth in the springtime.

 

Hosea’s last chapter reminded me of my favorite verse…Jeremiah 29:11.  He knows the plans he has for us…and wants to give us good things...to bless us with the wisdom and discernment we need …so our future prospers in his love….even though we don’t deserve it….(translation mine).  

 

It is our choice whether to accept this great love…and let it enrich our life.  We can cling to the earthly things around us that we think are giving us happiness…or we can turn those things over to God…realizing that they are gifts…on loan only to do hs will here on earth.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that I must daily seek a time with you to ask you to expose any sin in my life…and ask you to remove it and fill the space it occupied with more of your love.  Thank you for the promise to care for me…even though I stray far away from you will at times.  Thank you for the promise of restoration no matter what mistakes I make.  Help me to wake each morning and thank you for the day to come…and claim your promise of growth for my good.   Amen.