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“If all men count with you, but none too much”–Kipling.  This coming Sunday I have asked Stephen if we could sing “In Christ Alone”.  It is a new song–representative of the very meaningful hymn/choruses that are being written in our day.  I’m attracted to it Sunday because we are reading the story of Micaiah (1 Kings 22).  Like all of us, Micaiah came to a point of having to stand for Christ, ALONE.  If Christ is all we have theologically, He will, at times, be all we have experientially.  Having Him ONLY, we will be LONELY.  As a Pastor, it has been a hard lesson to learn–listen to the people, but not too much, God more.  Maybe that is the reason that Jesus always got up early to go pray by Himself.  (Mark 1:35)  He wanted to hear from the Father before he heard from everyone else. ” In Christ alone, my hope is found”.  I will look for you on Sunday.

“And men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil”  (John 3:19)  Ahab with Micaiah is a warning.  All of us tend to resent/avoid people who tell us the truth.  God’s truth is especially painful.  It reproves.  It rebukes.  It challenges.  An antiseptic that doesn’t burn is probably not doing its job.  When we pray (honestly) we willingly enter a world that is shaped by truth and not our comfort.  When I say “Father. . .thy kingdom come” I am pleading to be included in a program that treats my happiness as a secondary value.  Sometimes it hurts!  Do we want truth enough to face it when it does?  As you read 1 Kings 22 this week (thank you for reading 1 Kings this week) will you open your heart to the not-easy-to-hear-but-still-true truth?  I am at Youth Camp this week.  I am praying for you.

“But this is the one to whom I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at my word”. (Isaiah 66:2) Yesterday in worship and Sunday School we looked at Amos. (Thank you, Lord, for the “Re: verse” system of scripture study).  This week we continue with Micaiah.  Not a writing prophet but a prophet nevertheless.  Like all prophets, he reminds us that God still speaks to His people.  Jesus said we LIVE “by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”.  The question is, do we listen?  Do we tremble when He speaks?  A reverent fear of God is a safequard against ignoring His word, or delaying our response.  Today, as you pray the Lord’s prayer, will you be careful to notice what the Lord is saying to you through the words and the ideas of Christ?  Be still.  Ask God to give you ears that hear and a heart that fears.

In 1 Thessalonians 1: 4-6, Paul describes the conversion of the Thessalonians.  “The word of God came with POWER” he remembers with fresh reverence years later.  The power came from a combination of factors–the example of Paul and his companions (vs 5), the gracious choice of God (vs 4), the preaching of the gospel (vs 5).  Like the word of Christ that called Lazarus from the grave, the word that saved the Thessalonians was not something to be considered or debated, IT EFFECTIVELY CALLED THEM TO LIFE.  What a sad contrast to the preaching of Amos.  Our study this week has been a fresh warning to us that “good seed” can fall on hard ground.  When Amos called the people of Israel to new life, they said “no thank you, we already have a religion “.  Today as we gather for worship at FBC, will the power of God be present for healing?  Will the preaching of the word call us to LIFE?  I am praying for you and with you.

One of the reasons we do not hear from God is that we listen to other people.  Our ears are so accustomed to “the wisdom of this age” that we neither discern nor heed the “Still Small Voice” saying a very different thing.  When Amaziah invited Amos to “get out of town” (Amos 7) he did so because they already had a religion–and one that they liked very well, thank you.  No matter that their religion was man-made and lacked the power of God.  If we are not careful we make the same mistake.  In Jeremiah 23:28-29 God says, “The prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has My word speak it in truth.  What does straw have in common with grain?  Is not my word like FIRE, like a hammer that shatters the rock?”  May we all hunger for nothing less.  I will look for you tomorrow.  I am counting on your prayers.

Be still and know that I am God.  (Psalm 46:10)   There is a sweet stillness in the prayer of Christ.  When the Lord says, “for thine is the Kingdom, and the power and the glory”, I can almost hear the CALM CONFIDENCE of His heart.  He doesn’t say that the kingdom and power and glory WILL be God’s.  He say it IS!  Absolute certainty.  To be certain before God, one must be certain of God.  We must hear His promises and then hold to them.  Reading the book of Amos has made me aware that the threatened “famine for the Word of God” (Amos 8:11) is already in effect.  The desperate need of this present hour is for “ears to hear”.  I will take time this afternoon to seek the Lord that I may hear clearly and then speak boldly as I have been called to do.  Will you pray with me?

“Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart. . .Thou my best thought by day or by night, waking or sleeping thou presence my light.”  I reading the book of Amos this week.  Thank you for reading it with me.  (Thank God for giving us this “Life Together” pattern. ) Amaziah calls Amos a seer (read “see er”), a person who sees invisible realities so as to speak about them to others.  Are we see ers?  Do we see the Kingdom of God at work in the world?  Do we see God for who He is, sin for what it is?  In Luke 18:41, Jesus asks a man what he could do for him.  “Lord, I want to see again” was his childlike reply.  His prayer is mine today.  “Open my eyes, Lord, I want to see Jesus”.

Good morning, dear friends.

If the first commandment is that we should not have OTHER gods (Exodus 23), the second is that we should not make IDOLS (Exodus 24).  These are similar thoughts, but not identical.  The first points to a SMALL NUMBER (one God, not many; one focus, not several; one supreme love unshared).  The second points to a BIG SIZE (a God not limited or contained by what we can imagine or see).  Perhaps that’s what Jesus wanted us to contemplate when He taught us to pray, “Our Father, which art IN HEAVEN.”  As you pray today, will you lift up your eyes to a big, mysterious, holy, infinite God?  He commands that we do.

” SIN IS LAWLESSNESS.”  (1 John 3:4)  Good morning.  I am at youth camp.  Thanks for your prayers for our teenagers and hundreds of others from around the state.  I am teaching (in the evening sessions) on the 10 Commandments.  In our first session (last night) I noticed a pronounced heaviness.  Many or most of these teenagers have never thought or talked about “the Rules” that God set down for our welfare.  Consequently, they  frequently have never considered the regular resistance that we all express toward God’s commandments.   We are lawless. We do not like to be told what to do.–  This week we are reading the book of Amos.  The prophet says that “the Lord ROARS”. (1:2)  It is an unfamiliar image. A terrifying sound.  Menace.  Danger.  It speaks our failure. It speaks His anger.  When the Lord taught us to pray “forgive us our sins”, He was thinking of this same reality.  To receive God’s mercy, we must first recognize our failure.

Good morning dear friend,  If the first Commandment is that we should not have OTHER gods. (Exodus 20:3), the second Commandment is that we should not make IDOLS. (Exodus 20:4)  These are similar thoughts but not identical.  The first points to a SMALL NUMBER( one God, not many, one focus, not several, one supreme love!)  The second points to a BIG SIZE ( a God not limited or contained by what we can imagine or think.  He is not like us.  He is MORE).  Perhaps thay is why Jesus wanted us to pray “our Father WHICH ART IN HEAVEN.”  As you pray today, will you lift up your eyes to a BIG God?  Mysterious? Infinite?  Holy?  It is His commandment that we do so.