Sunday, November 27, 2011

AMOS & OBADIAH

Today is Sunday!  Praise the LORD!  I love Sundays!  We had such a wonderful time last night with our children and grandchildren.  They did not want to go home.  It was a blessed time of good food, laughter, games, and Oregon football.  What a great time.  My wife and I took time to thank Jesus for our children and their desire to spend time with us.  They are a blessing!  I'm in Amos and Obadiah and there were about a dozen items I marked down to share, but only have time for about three of them.  So, here are three:
1) PREPARE TO MEET THY GOD- This is said to Israel in Amos 4:12, and then it proceeds in verse 13, to tell who God is:  "For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name."  and then in 5:8 it says:  "Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:"  Also in Amos 9:6:  "It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name." We forget how great God is, and this is what Israel did.  Had they reminded themselves of the greatness of God, they never would have looked towards any idol or other god.  Our God is the God of gods.  There is no other.  He alone is God.  We need to realize His greatness, His vastness, His wisdom, His strength, His Holiness, His Love, His immenseness, His presence, His wonder, His creativity, His compassion, His completeness, and on and on we could go.  Think about who God is!
2) CAN YOU PASS THE PLUMBLINE?  In Amos 7:8, God says:  "I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel:"  In verse 7, we read:  "... the LORD stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand."  Any builder will know what a plumbline is, but most people do not.  A plumbline is a weight that comes to a point like a cone shaped object with a string attached to the end of it. (not the point of it).  The string is attached to the top of a wall about three inches out, and hung down to within a half inch of the floor.  If the wall is in plumb (straight up and down) then the plumb bob will also be three inches from the bottom of the wall as the string is from the top of the wall.  In other words, it lets you know if a wall is straight up and down vertical.  Walls can be deceiving and look straight and not be straight.  So we use a simple instrument like a plumbline to let us know for sure if the wall is straight.  God is saying this:  Israel was measuring themselves by nations around them and by their own selves, and they thought they were pretty straight, but when God gets out His plumbline, they are going to see that they are not straight but out of plumb.  We too can start comparing ourselves with other Christians and think we are doing well, but we are to compare ourselves with God's Word, and then we will find that we too are "out of plumb", and need to ask God for forgiveness and help to live for Him.  So let this truth remind us to live with God's Word, our plumbline, to see whether or not we are doing right.  I'm guessing we all have reason to walk humbly before God.
3) A FAMINE IS IN THE LAND-Amos 8:11-12  "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:  12  And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it."  Here we read of a famine, not of bread, but of hearing the words of the LORD.  Oh may the preaching and teaching of God's Holy Word be found in our Bible believing Churches till the day that Jesus comes for us all!  Let us ring out truth and thunder forth its teachings.  Preach the Word, in season, out of season! 

Well, so much for today! Hope you have a blessed Sunday!  Blessings on you my friend.  Pastor Mike Mutchler
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