 This is a photo I took in my community of the beautiful, July full moon. Before being called by God to prophesy, Amos was a herdsmen & farmer. He became like the light of this full moon, shining God's warning & wisdom upon his neighbors who were caught up in corruption & spiritual darkness. There are numerous examples through out the old testament showing us what Acts 10:34 tells us: among the wayward & unrepentant, God doesn't show favoritism. His Holiness brings justice upon everyone. His 'chosen' people, Israel, are certainly no exception. Yet, He is patient & gives lots of chances for people to make changes by seeking & returning to Him. It is our choice to heed His messages (scripture) or to not. Whom of those who've read, can honestly deny His ROAR!? Therefore, thus I will do to you, O Israel; Because I shall do this to you, Prepare to meet your God, O Israel. Amos 4:12 God's instruction to His people is not convoluted. It seems to me as straightforward as looking both ways before crossing the street ... so that we may live. For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel, "Seek Me that you may live." Amos 5:4 But even with this simple instruction, I sometimes wonder, what hope do we have here? Given that long ago, while in union with God in the Garden of Eden, we turned away from having all our needs met, unto sin! From this act of rebellion, we fell into conflict & layers of impossibility; obstacles within obstacles. Such is the day of the Lord: Alas, you who are longing for the day of the Lord, for what purpose will the day of the Lord be to you? It will be darkness and not light; As when a man flees from a lion, and a bear meets him, or goes home, leans his hand against the wall, and a snake bites him. Amos 5:18-19 The hardships of life on earth surrounded by spiritual death can lead us back to the Lord if we open ourselves to this possibility. The hope we have comes from following Jesus, who takes all judgement of others out of us because everyone is equally in need of His salvation. I pray for God's justice to keep working its way through each of us unto others & this land, amen. But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amos 5:24 Justice comes through sharing God's word, which I like to do, hopefully so, in ways that inspire curiosity & awe ('The Spirit') rather than repulsion. As we know from 1 Cor. 2:14 "The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness..." Thank you God for ending my famine for hearing your words. I praise you for filling, healing & strengthening me with the Holy Scripture. I do not take for granted that the Bible is freely available to me. I pray that all who are in need, waiting & searching, many who know not for what they seek, will find you dear Lord Jesus, hearing & heeding your word, amen. "Behold days are coming," declares the Lord God, "When I will send a famine on the land, not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, but rather for hearing the words of the Lord. Amos 8:11
0 Comments
 “You can’t have God’s mercy & grace without His wrath & His justice.” —Pastor Doug Wiebe. At our Easter service at Aldergrove Alliance Church, Pastor Doug went on to explain that without Jesus Christ's finished work on the cross, God's justice (wrath) would "ruin us" because in our fallen state of sin, we can not survive the presence of God without the atoning sacrifice of our Lord & savior, Jesus Christ. What better book of the Bible to demonstrate pastor Doug's point than Ezekiel? I pray that we all learn from this important history & humbly accept the gift of God's mercy & grace, His son, our redeemer & advocate, amen. In chapter 9, verse 9 of Ezekiel, it is written: "The iniquity of the house of Israel & Judah is very, very great..." & yet God shows His mercy, sparing those "who sigh & groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst." (Ezekiel 9:4-6). However, towards those committing atrocities, He says: “Now the end is upon you, and I shall send My anger against you; I shall judge you according to your ways, and I shall bring all your abominations upon you. In Chapter 11, God expresses His promise to help us choose Him & remain steadfast in His ways: “And I shall give them one heart, and shall put a new spirit within them. And I shall take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, God instructed & equipped Ezekiel to repeatedly warn the people of Israel in numerous ways, throughout a period of about twenty years, of the coming consequences of their sins! "Say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God, ... Say, 'I am a sign to you...." (Ezekiel 12:10-11). Furthermore, He promises to protect a 'remnant' who go on to share with other nations about the saving grace & miraculous sustaining power of God: “But I shall spare a few of them from the sword, the famine, and the pestilence that they may tell all their abominations among the nations where they go, and may know that I am the LORD.” Ezekiel 12:16 However, towards those committing brutal atrocities against God, who do not listen to warnings to change, there is no escape: “As silver is melted in the furnace, so you will be melted in the midst of it; and you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out My wrath on you.” Ezekiel 22:22 “And your lewdness will be requited upon you, and you will bear the penalty of worshiping your idols; thus you will know that I am the Lord God.” Ezekiel 23:49 “Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’ in the presence of your slayer, although you are a man and not God, in the hands of those who wound you?” Ezekiel 28:9 God pleads with His created fallen ones that they turn from their destructive actions & idolatries but He knows they have fallen too far away from Him to do so: “Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’ Ezekiel 33:11 May their deaths at least continue to serve as more than a warning for others to heed & respond to: “But as for you, son of man, your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, ‘Come now, and hear what the message is which comes forth from the Lord.’ Ezekiel 33:30 In today's modern world, so many of us are raised without any notion of the necessity for reliance on God. Science, culture & other forces have taught us that Bible scripture & even God is nothing more than a fairy tale of superstitions from the past when people were ignorant of what is really going on. To many, the Bible describes a time when, to make sense of things, people had to make up outrageous stories. But actually, the same atrocities that took place back then, are still occurring today. The violent wars, bloodshed, corruption, oppression & other forms of "hard-heartedness" toward God & His guidance persist despite His patient protection & pleas for us to get our 'stuff' together & choose Him over all else. Science nor culture; nothing of this world can save us from evil, our own or otherwise. But the good Lord God can, will & does everyday, amen. “I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest” declares the Lord God. According to Biblehub.com 'the fat & strong' mean "prosperity which begets hardness of heart and forgetfulness of God". https://biblehub.com/commentaries/ezekiel/34-16.htm God teaches us with dire warnings from the past & ultimately graciously gave us His son, Jesus Christ; 'showers of blessing' (Ezekiel 34:26) in which the choice to partake is ours: “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.” Ezekiel 36:25 “And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever.” Ezekiel 37:26  To honor the book of Lamentations, which in Hebrew is made of acrostic poems, I write 26 words in alphabetical order describing what God is: awesome, beautiful, compassionate, daring, everlasting, friend, good, holy, illuminating, just, kind, loving, majestic, needless (without needs), omniscient, powerful, quotable, real, savior, truth, uplifting, victorious, welcoming, xenagogue, yearning, zealous. These beautiful verses quoted in the image above from the third chapter of Lamentations demonstrate truth, hope & the love of God to me. While we are not promised an easy life, with on-going difficult circumstances, it can feel as though God has rejected us. Is this plight His way of beckoning our attention? We neglect Him & His guidance time & time again but then when the crumbling of life exceeds our limit, we shout, cursing & crying out, blaming God. To our great mercy, He forgives because HE IS FORGIVENESS: And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 1 Peter 5:10 Shining His love upon us to the exact 'next thing' that requires our growth & change, He sets us up so that we MUST keep probing our ways for sin rather than to just keep on complaining! It is crucial that we return again & again to that which is good, worthy, healthy & elevating AND KNOW THIS IS THE LORD! Thank you God, for giving us eyes to see & ears to hear, amen.
 The books of Kings & Chronicles have taken me much longer to read through than the Gospels, the beautiful flowing poetry of the Psalms & wisdom oriented books such as Job. These two Bible verses (2 Kings 17:13-14) & writing this blog is inspiring me to look closer at the bigger picture & Biblical time line of events to orient myself. From 1050 to 586 B.C. there were forty-two kings & one queen (Athaliah) ruling over Israel & Judah. Apparently, only seven of them acted in ways that were pleasing to the Lord for some portion of their command!
Evil leadership is not surprising really, given our sinful natures (“As it is written: there is no one righteous, not even one." Romans 3:10). Those 464 years of kings' reign during the ancient world, are they really much different than present day's ruling class? Sadly, maybe not so much. Before the coming & death of Christ, there were many Godly laws - some consensus says there are 613 recorded throughout the old testament. Of these, most people know the moral laws; the ten commandments, (which Jesus summarizes in Mark & Matthew (22:38-39) by pointing out the primacy of 1a. & b.) These instructions from God are woven into our DNA & the fabric of our society yet claiming this is now taboo. 1a). You shall have no other gods before Me. b). Love your neighbor as yourself. (Leviticus 19:18; Mark 12:30-31) 2. You shall not make idols. 3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain. 4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 5. Honor your father and your mother. 6. You shall not murder. 7. You shall not commit adultery. 8. You shall not steal. 9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 10. You shall not covet. Whether we are kings, pastors or just regular people, past or present, try as we might, no one can keep one hundred percent free from breaking any of these rules & thus committing sin & doing evil in the sight of the Lord. And so out of love for us, God gave us a way of salvation out of the "prison of sin" through His son, the sinless sacrifice of Jesus Christ as the new covenant. In Matthew 5:17 Jesus says: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. I love the simplicity of how the author of "God's Ten Laws" puts it: "Jesus fulfilled the purpose of the temple, and became the new door through which to come to God. People no longer had to come to the temple and offer sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins. Now they would come to the new Temple – Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. Shortly after Jesus’ ascension into heaven He sent the Holy Spirit to indwell all who would trust in Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 6:19 we are told that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit – the place in which He dwells...." "A believer’s mission is not to obey the Ten Commandments – that is old covenant thinking and it proved inadequate (which was its purpose). A believer’s mission is to ..." be moved by the Holy Spirit as described in Ezekiel 36:27 "And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws." The difference in these missions is about intent. The new covenant is not about virtue signaling, compliance or works for self gain, rather, it's about love: "Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." Romans 13:10 Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for entering & reigning over our hearts & letting your Kingdom come through us to Earth as it is in Heaven. Lord, please help me up when I am discouraged about injustice & evil and when I don't see actionable ways Christianity is flourishing. When I'm concerned wondering where & how is your Holy Spirit moving us? When I am blind to the Kingdom's expansion & fortification by your grace, power & glory Lord, please clear my vision & place me safely wherever you want me. Equip me Father with all the fruits of the Spirit I need. I Lord, do not know much yet about all this but YOU know & I trust you. You are always working your good & divine, almighty plan. Your love holds us steady in Faith & I thank you. Come Holy Spirit, come! Please Lord, banish everything that obstructs the Holy Spirit from fully filling, purifying, refining & moving all Christians to do YOUR will on Earth as it is in Heaven. Lord, I pray that the Holy Spirit moves deeply & undoubtedly into the hearts & lives of those who do not yet know you personally & those who have gone astray. God, please leave the ninety nine to reunite one more lost sheep as you did with me. I pray all this in Jesus precious name. Amen!  "Have I not commanded you? Be strong & courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9) ~ When I am resting still and silently, I do a meditation in which I imagine/remember and feel myself within the infinity of God. Like a organelle within a cell of the 'body' of God/Christ. Its a pretty cool way to connect with the creator of this universe especially when I'm not feeling well. Just as organelles follow the commands of their environment, all brought into being and orchestrated by the natural order of God, I'm like that also, following God's instructions being strong and courageous through difficulties. P.S. This is a photo I took today :) Amen!
 God gives fair warning, it's up to us to listen. 3:9 "Then will I purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve him shoulder to shoulder. 3:12 But I will leave within you the meek and humble, who trust in the name of the Lord. 3:17 The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." May our Lord God bless us all in 2022, thank you, Amen!
 This Micah Bible verse jumped out at me as healing because it is so straightforward. God gives us clear directions and guidance and it is good advice :) Imagining we are eternal beings getting lifetimes to experience everything, we can perhaps better understand alternate perspectives and what it means to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God.
|