Amos came from humble country roots…he was tending sheep when the Lord appeared and said to him, “Go, prophesy to My people Israel.” (Amos 7:15) Amos had no great educational background, but yet the Book of Amos is a very skilled and beautiful literary writing. He grew up as a poor shepherd, yet God sent him to speak against the Rich and their sins against the needy. God will use anyone, at anytime, to do His Will…He just needs a willing vessel brave enough to step out in Faith.
Matthew 11: 28 ” Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
This world is very adept at weighing us down with cares, guilt, and shame. We will never be pretty even, rich enough, or skinny enough by it’s standards…so we wonder why we feel so bad! Jesus said to Come to Him with all our cares, and concerns…Come to Him with all our failures and broken promises…For He will take them all, and in the process will allow us to see ourselves through His loving eyes, and His standards…His eternal standards.
I Timothy 6:10 ” For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. “
This might be one of the most misquoted verses in the Bible. We usually hear it misquoted as…”Money” is the root of all evil. But money , in and of itself, is not bad…it’s when we either covet money or what it can buy that we’re drawn into evil. When our desire is towards material things rather than the Lord, we’re headed down that slippery slope of covetousness.
Psalm 90:4 ” For a thousand years in Your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.”
We constantly get upset with God when our timetable and His don’t match…when He doesn’t do things in the time frame we think they need to be happening. That’s when we should realize that God’s timing and ours are no way alike. The Lord is not concerned by time…His concern is imperatively with the final outcome…not by how long it takes to get there. Not surprisingly then, if you look up the Hebrew words for thousand and day, they can both mean the same… an indefinite period of time. The Lord’s timing may not be always to our liking…but it’s always perfect.
July 26,2013 10:30 AM
I wanted everyone to know that I will be speaking at the Idaho Auxiliaries in Ministry Convention on July 26 at 10:30 AM. The convention this year will be at The First Church of the Nazarene in Idaho Falls, Idaho. For more information you can call Donovan Stokes @ 719-205-3750. The title of my talk is Gifts, Talents, and Passions Finding God’s Ultimate Purpose in Your Life. I’m excited to share what God has given me.
Galatians 2:20 ” I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Water baptism is an outward declaration of an inward commitment. When we are lowered into the water, our “old self” dies…only to be brought up or raised up to new life. That fleshly, worldly body is gone…exchanged for a new spiritual one. Our mortal body has been exchanged for an immortal one that is no longer a slave to sin. As it says in II Corinthians 5:17, ” Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old is gone, the new has come!” We come up out of that water a new person in Christ.
Job 5:18 ” For He wounds, but He also binds up; He injures, but His hands also heal. “
The hands of Jesus…boldly touching the leper…patting the little child…tenderly holding the sick. The hands of our Savior…mixing dirt and His spit to wipe on a blind man’s eyes…breaking up bread and fish to feed the crowds…taking the hand of a dead girl and commanding her back to life. His hands quickly catching Peter as he’s sinking in the water from fear. The hands of Jesus are a testament to His life and His Walk on the Earth…they bear witness to all He was and did. But it’s those exquisitely hideous nail-scared hands of our Lord that bear the real and vivid testament to us all today…those gapping, wounded hands showing graphically just how far He would go to save us from our sins.
Isaiah 26:10 ” Though grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and regard not the majesty of the Lord.”
The Lord’s kindness and mercy is extended to all…it is us who turn away, not Him. It is us who look with disdain on His grace, never taking into consideration what it will cost us in the end. Romans 2:4 says, ” Do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience – not realizing that God’s kindness leads you towards repentance?”
I Corinthians 1:5 ” For in Him you have been enriched in every way – in all your speaking and in all your knowledge…”
The Lord would say to you…Do not waste you time lamenting for things you do not have…for talents or gifts I have not given you. Rather, use what I have given you. Use the talents, gifts and passions I have placed uniquely in you, and do not limit Me. Do not limit My working through you. Use what you have. You need nothing else. You lack nothing I have not already placed in you. Do not limit Me in Your life. Trust Me, and you will never lack… for lacking is not of Me…as is fear and anxiety. Trust Me.
II Thessalonians 3: 13 ” And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.”
Perseverance…to continue steadfastly, especially in something that is difficult or tedious. This verse exhorts us to not give in to trouble, or to become exasperated by difficulty. We are to persist…not losing heart and giving in to discouragement. As I’ve heard it said somewhere before…When you’re at the end of your rope…tie a big “God” shaped knot, and hang on!
Safetypinlove 