Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Amos 1-4, 1 Timothy 5

1st Timothy 5 is all about how we must treat the elderly and widows in our church, and it made me think how I don't see many meetings or church groups with the widows, we have something for the kids, youth, young adults, and elders, but not the widows. It is hard to understand what they have gone through but the Lord tells us that we need to be there for them always.









Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage: Amos 5-9, 1 Timothy 6

Sunday, December 17th: Amos 7-9; Revelation 8 ~ Emma

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Amos 7-9; Revelation 8

“I will firmly plant them there in their own land. They will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says the Lord your God.” - ‭‭Amos‬ ‭9:15

At school, I pass so many empty souls everyday, and I always wonder how they can live their lives with no hope. Why wouldn’t they want to believe in Someone who could give them the hope, love, and peace they try to find in their own humanly ways? How can they live life with so many questions unanswered? I’m so thankful we have Jesus, and that He gives us a hope and a purpose while we are still living here. And I am so thankful for the promise that we will be with Him forever, one day. I am so thankful I don’t have to live a day without Him with me, watching over me, giving me a hope, and a purpose.

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage: Obadiah; Revelation 9

Saturday, December 16th: Amos 4-6; Revelation 7 ~ Tammy

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Amos 4-6; Revelation 7

Revelation 7:17b ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Life on earth is hard.   There's no doubt about it.  Everyone goes through hard times.  Some people to seem to get more than their "fair share" of trials and tribulations in this life, but no one escapes earthly life unscathed by sin and its effects on our lives.

But this verse gives us hope to make it through those time.

Eventually, all WILL be made right.
Eventually, justice WILL be done.
Eventually, God WILL wipe away EVERY tear.

There will be no more mourning.  There will be no more tears.  There will be no more sorrow.

What a promise, what a comfort!


Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage:  Amos 7-9; Revelation 8

Friday, December 15th: Amos 1-3; Revelation 6 ~ Conrad

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is: Amos 1-3; Revelation 6

After reading today's passage, I'll be honest in that not a whole lot stood out to me.  However, the following verses brought a thought in mind to me:

"I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place." 
Revelation 6:12-14 
 
I was reminded of the fact that our God is all powerful.  Not only has He created all things, but He can also choose to remove or alter all things.  Every day the sun rises.  When we can see it, it is a bright yellow light.  Every evening the moon is high in the sky.  When it is visible, it is bright and provides light as well. 

It is hard to imagine these two God created items to be any different than we have seen every day of our lives.  But yet God has the power to change them to whatever He wants.

Knowing He has this much power, do I give Him the credit that He is due?  Do I trust Him the way I should?  God is all powerful and is always in control of everything.  Something I need to remember when things don't go according to my plan.
  

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage: Amos 4-6; Revelation 7

Thursday, June 23rd: Amos 6-9 ~ Jeannine

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Amos 6-9

These passages seem to have a running theme...People's sin, complaceny, comfort and pride vs. God's judgment and punishment. Amos pulls no punches as he describes the sins of the Israelites.  He's bold enough that Amaziah tries to stop Amos's preaching (Amos 7:10-17). But Amos continues relating the visions that God has given him about the future judgements.  After all the judgement, the book of Amos concludes with a message of hope that God will eventually make his people great again and restore them.

These are good questions to ask ourselves...

Have we grown complacent?  Do we ignore those in need? Have other things taken God's place in our lives? Are we obeying God's call on our lives?  Do we give regular time to rest and worship God and is our heart in the right place?

We've been given God's word as our "Plumb Line" so we can know what God desires of us and for us.  We should not assume and be complacent in our faith but let God's love and desires shine through our actions and out to the people around us.

Sinners will not go free and the faithful will not be forgotten. But the good news is that he is always willing to restore us.

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage: 2Kings 14:28-29, 2 Kings 15:8-29, 2 Kings 15:6-7, 2 Chronicles 26:22-23, Isaiah 6:1-13, 2 Kings 15:32-38, 2 Chronicles 27:1-9

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29, 2 Kings 15:6

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7, 2 Chronicles

26:22

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23, Isaiah 6:1

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13, 2 Kings 15:32

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38, 2 Chronicles 27:1

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9

Wednesday, June 22nd: Amos 1-5 ~ Nathan

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Amos 1-5

These first chapters of the book of Amos are written by Amos himself, one of the shepherds of Tekoa, and according to Wikipedia he spoke at a time of relative peace and prosperity and also neglect of God's laws. He spoke against an increasing divide between rich and poor, which was going on then.

In some ways, this sounds familiar, and could have been the current times we live in. In fact, as I look further into what this book has in store for us, I feel like it speaks to us now as if we were around back then, the times that followers of God then went through, the difficulties, were a lot of what we're going through starting now and getting more into, with the persecution we see Christians facing in North America already.

In chapter 4 we read how God gives his people many warnings to come to him and rely on him, but they turn away,

4:5 Burn leavened bread as a thank offering and brag about your freewill offerings — boast about them, you Israelites, for this is what you love to do,” declares the Sovereign Lord.

In the following verses we see how God gives the Israelites many hardships, like hunger (v6), withholding rain, and water to drink (v 7,8), and sending plagues (v 10), and still they refuse to truly go and commit to Him.

In chapter 5 God gives the Israelites clear commands on how to change and live,

5:4 This is what the Lord says to Israel: "Seek me and live"

5:15 Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.

It won't be easy, but the Israelites will have to change their ways if they want to truly know God and live for Him. This reminds me of our nation, many here have slipped away from truly knowing God. Many still have time to change, but it won't easy. Let's pray for our leaders in government and in private business, that they (and we) will chose wisely and make decisions that God would want.


Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage:  Amos 6-9

Saturday, September 19th: Amos 7-9, John 8:1-27 ~ Tammy

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Amos 7-9; John 8:1-27

Rayburn gives us an impressive list of the things we can learn from the book of Amos...

1. That God’s wrath and judgment is a reality in the world and it falls first and most severely on God’s house, the church;
2. That there is a progression in unbelief, beginning with indifference to God’s Word;
3. That there is a point of no return which unbelievers even in the church pass with their constant refusal to heed and answer God’s summons to repentance; and once having passed these people are dead even though they live;
4. That divine wrath is revealed suddenly and ferociously over and over and over again in the history of the world and yet, nevertheless, it always surprises the unbeliever;
5. That the poor are swept up in this judgment as well as the rich; and that in God’s holy judgment he remains forever no respecter of persons;
6. That repentance consists not of feelings and experiences, but of the repudiation of one’s sin and the putting on of obedience before God because of one’s consciousness of the Lord, of his reality, of his presence, and the reality of salvation in him and him only.

In today's passage we also see that God will vindicate His faithful ministers who speak the truth just as surely as He will punish the false teachers and unfaithful ministers; you cannot rebel against God without impunity forever; you cannot mistake His patience to mean anything but the fact that He is delaying judgment, for it is surely coming; absolutely no guilty persons will escape unpunished;  but that there will always be a remnant of genuine believers.

We are that remnant and we must live like we are.

The beginning of our John passage is not in the earliest manuscripts, but it is still faithful to the rest of the gospel.  Jesus did not condemn the woman, but neither did He ignore or condone her sin.  He stands ready to forgive any sin, but true repentance and confession means a change of heart which will bring with it a change in behaviour.


Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Ezekiel 1-2; John 8:28-59

Friday, 18 September 2015 Amos 4-6; John 7:28-53 ~ Elizabeth

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Amos 4-6; John 7:28-53

In the beginning of our reading from Amos, the people of Israel are compared to fat, well-fed cattle and of walking along like them, looking neither right nor left. They've ignored all His warnings and not responded to His other signs and punishments for unfaithfulness.

Their only safety is in seeking the Lord. They have built nice things for themselves but they will not be able to enjoy them. They think that by belonging, literally, to the house of Israel, they are safe, but they're not following God's will. They're depending upon their names and heritage to save them. They're like someone who has escaped a lion only to meet a bear. (I love that image!)

They people are too sure of themselves and their lifestyles. They think because they have it good that they can't be sinners. They've been blessed! They have their best lives now! They can't possibly be under a curse! They have trusted in their armies and their own abilities but they're about to find out that they can only trust in the Lord. Nothing they have or do can be trusted.

In our Gospel reading we're dealing with Christ's origin. The people are confused. He claims to be the Messiah, but the religious rulers, who should really know the Messiah when they see Him, are calling for His arrest to get Him out of the way. So the question remains among them, who is He really? The people are believing Him and the religious leaders can't have that. They send the guard to arrest Him but since He's in control of the situation, they're unsuccessful. In fact the guards are as confused as the rest of the crowd. The rulers are intent and refuse to even listen to Nicodemus, ridiculing him along with the crowd.

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Amos 7-9; John 8:1-27

Thursday, September 17th: Amos 1-3, John 7:1-27 ~ Tammy

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Amos 1-3; John 7:1-27

We know the difference between right and wrong, and yet we do wrong anyway.  Amos exposes the wicked deeds of the nations for what they are - wicked deeds that deserve to, and will be, punished.  And the nation of Israel will be punished right alongside the pagan nations surrounding them because they are just as guilty - in fact, they are actually more guilty because they committed their sins against light and privilege.  They very well knew better.

Even as believers, we continue to sin.  As Rayburn says.... 

the way to ensure that we do not come to take those sins lightly or to allow ourselves to indulge them is precisely to hear, over and over again, what God thinks of those sins and what he does to those who commit them who do not repent and forsake them.

And we could say the same thing about God’s wrath. It is as important for Christians to remember as it is for the world to learn in the first place that the God of the Bible, the Creator of heaven and earth, the living and true God, is equally a God of love and justice, of mercy and holiness, of grace and vengeance. The fear of God is not for unbelievers only, but, usually in the Bible, for Christians. In our hearts that fear of God is tempered wonderfully by the knowledge of his grace, mercy, and fatherly affection for his people – we encounter God through Jesus Christ who suffered and died for our salvation – but the requirements of his holiness remain. Indeed, there never would have been a cross apart from the inflexible demands of God’s holy justice. It is true that, as in Toplady’s hymn, the wrath of God “with me can have nothing to do” since “my Savior’s obedience and blood hide all my transgressions from view.” But still the wrath of a sin-hating God must remain a permanent part of the consciousness of a Christian. [Motyer, 32] It keeps him from taking his salvation for granted; it keeps him hard at work killing his sins and putting on righteousness in his daily life; and it keeps him alive to the fact that the world around him is doomed and that he must live his life as an ambassador of the gospel of Christ. “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling,” Paul writes, “knowing that it is God who is in you…”

Divine judgment is coming.  It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when.

The world does not want to hear this news nowadays, and it didn't in Jesus' day either, as see clearly in our John passage.  The world hates Jesus and we can expect that many people will hate us for following Him and exposing evil to the Light.  If we never experience any opposition at all in our lives, it may be time for some introspection to see if we're only following Jesus half-heartedly.


Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Amos 4-6; John 7:28-53

Friday, July 15 ~ tammi

Today's reading from the Chronological OT/NT Reading Plan is Amos 7-9; Galatians 2.

Our adult Sunday school class went through a series of minor prophets this spring and you know, quite honestly, I think most of us had trouble with the lessons.  After all, the messages are specifically for the people of Israel and Judah, the images are disturbing and hard to understand sometimes... what possible meaning and/or benefit is there for us?  But more and more as I thought and studied, the more I think we often miss the point of these books because we look at the specifics.  Taking them apart chapter by chapter, phrase by phrase often makes them confusing, especially when there are no scholars in the group to help shed light.  I really think the way to understand these Old Testament "minor prophet" books is to read them as a whole.  That's the only way you really get the whole point, the bigger picture.  And when we look at these books that way, it makes a lot more sense that they are included in the Scriptures and are expected to teach us something.

Amos's message is not only to complacent Israelites, but to today's complacent Christians, too ~ those living under a pious veneer of religion, loving material posessions and social status more than serving God, and not really caring about the needy souls around them.  Amos confronts us with these sins and reminds us of how God feels about them.

But he also offers hope for restoration if we choose to confess and change our ways.  Sometimes it's only a small glimmer at the very end of a very ominous sounding book ~ like the case is here with Amos ~ but virtually all the prophets call God's people to repentance, promising God's grace and full restoration if we do.  I believe the promises made to Israel and Judah could very well be literal promises, but the fact that they are included in the Canon of Scripture leads me to believe these are promises somehow for us as well.  And what a beautiful picture is painted in the last few verses!  I don't know about you, but I am looking forward to the days described here, whether in reality or in the spirtual life of the Church!

And then in Galatians chapter 2, what caught my eye was the confrontation between Peter and Paul.  I struggle a bit sometimes with what looks a bit like Paul's superiority complex.  I wonder if that's how other people occasionally felt when he berated them for not living like they should or not setting the example they should??  Of course, this was written after the fact ~ maybe it just sounds harsher the way he writes about it than the actual, real-life conversation was.  In any case, I also sort of admire him for having the courage to confront another "super-apostle."  And I admire that he didn't write letters to the churches or talk to other church leaders; he spoke directly to Peter.  Like my Life Application Bible says, "...there is no place for backstabbing in the body of Christ."

People make mistakes ~ even very sincere, godly people ~ and it may take another sincere, godly person to draw their attention to it and set them straight.  I just hope I am developing the humility necessary to admit when I'm wrong and to continue to grow spiritually if and when I am confronted.  And that my relationships won't suffer, but get stronger as a result.

Tomorrow's passages: 2 Kings 15-16; Galatians 3

Thursday, July 14 ~ Miriam

Today's reading from the Chronological OT/NT Reading Plan is Amos 4-6; Galatians 1.

Scripture - 
Galatians 1:10 - Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God?  Or am I trying to please men?  If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.


Observation:
Paul was talking about people who were preaching a different gospel - one to please men rather than preaching the truth.  Do we water down the things in the Bible that we don't like or that we think others won't like in order to make it more palatable?  If so, then we aren't doing them or ourselves any good.

Application:
We can't pick and choose the verses we like best and ignore the parts of the Bible that say things we don't like.  We can't follow church leaders who tell us that as long as we accept and believe, we can live any way we please because we'll be forgiven.  We can't tell people that God loves them so much that just being a "good person" or going to church will get them into Heaven because He would never condemn a good person to hell.  We can't believe that all bad things happen as a direct consequence of sin and all blessings are rewards for good behaviour (this is sometimes the case, but not always).  We know from the Bible that these things are not true.  Sooner or later, as Christians, we have to commit -- if the Bible is true, it is all or nothing.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, we thank you for the Word of God.  We thank you that we have it in easily accessible, written, audio, video, and other forms so that we are able to learn more about you -- who you are, what you've done for those who've come before us, what you've promised us as your children, and how to live in such a way as to bring honour and glory to you.  Forgive us if we have taken it for granted or been dismissive about the message you've given us, and forgive us if at times we have been less than committed to the truth of what it says.  I pray that as we read your Word each day that we would learn more, appreciate more, strengthen our faith, and live it out better in our families and our communities.  Bless our time with you and each other.  In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

 Tomorrow's passage:  Amos 7-9; Galatians 2.

Tuesday, June 22 - Miriam

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Amos 7-9; 2 Kings 14:28-29; 2 Kings 15:8-29; 2 Kings 15:6-7; 2 Chronicles 26:22-23; Isaiah 6:1-13.

From bible.org - The Minor Prophets has a brief overview of each of the "smaller" prophetic books of the Bible, including Amos.  Here is an excerpt:

The divine message given to Amos was primarily one of judgment, though it ends with words of hope. Amos warned that the Lord God, the sovereign Ruler of the universe, would come as a Warrior to judge the nations that had rebelled against His authority. Israel in particular would be punished for her violations against God’s covenant. Amos sought to bring the prosperous and materialistic northern tribes under Jeroboam to repentance as the only escape from imminent judgment. In the process, the book demonstrates God’s hatred of evil because of His holiness and that His justice must act against Israel’s sin for He cannot allow it to go unpunished.
 However, even though the nation would be destroyed, God would still preserve a repentant remnant and one day this remnant would be restored to their covenant blessing and political prominence when the Lord would then also draw all nations to His Himself.

Chapter 9 is a key chapter because of its focus on the restoration of Israel. Set in the midst of the harsh judgments of Amos are some of the greatest prophecies of restoration of Israel anywhere in Scripture. Within the scope of just five verses the future of Israel becomes clear, as the Abrahamic, Davidic, and Palestinian covenants are focused on their climactic fulfillment in the return of the Messiah.
 
Amos presents Christ as the One who will rebuild David’s dynasty (9:11) and as the one who will restore His people (9:11-15).

The part that stood out most for me personally was in Chapter 7 where Amaziah tells Amos to take his prophesying elsewhere.  I don't imagine it was easy being a prophet, especially as the bearer of bad news.  No one ever likes to tell someone something bad.  Sometimes because the messenger knows the news will cause the other person pain and sorrow, and sometimes because there is a tendency in human nature to blame the messenger for the message he or she brings. 

"Now then, hear the word of the LORD,"  was the particular phrase that really pricked me while reading.  We have the Bible readily available to us.  We need look no further for instruction.  And yet we sometimes want to pick and choose the parts that we want to follow and do what we want the rest of the time.  We don't want to read or "hear" the parts that tell us something we're doing is wrong.

It's hard to hear when someone corrects or rebukes us.  It's hard to have a humble heart and accept correction - meaning actually learning from it and trying to change it going forward. 

I watched "Inedible to Incredible" last night.  It was the very first time it was on (TLC, I think?).  There were two episodes and both cases the husband called in an award-winning chef to tell his wife what he didn't have the heart to tell her - that her cooking was awful - and teach her some better cooking techniques.  I have to say, I was impressed with both women and their attitudes towards the "experiment".  It must have been hard for them to hear that their husbands hate the food they cook.  Especially since both of them prided themselves on being creative cooks.  The first woman's ingredient creativity was extremely bizarre (strawberry cornflake hamburgers, anyone?).  The second woman used more normal combinations, but a lot of fat and sweet with little flavour.  Both of them accepted the challenge to learn to cook three new dishes.  Both of them graciously accepted the chef's help and learned about new and wonderful things like measuring ingredients and following a recipe.  Both of them ended up preparing three delicious dishes for their husbands, families and friends to try and it was a raging success.

I can only pray that when my areas of weakness are brought to my attention, that I can be as gracious in accepting help and learning to correct them as were these women.

The passage from Isaiah right away touched on a couple of my favourite things about that book.  How incredible to have a vision of God and angels.   Even if Isaiah was being given bad news to bring to the people of Israel, what an absolutely unimaginable thing it must be to have even a glimpse of such amazing glory and holiness.

"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

How could one say anything else, when faced with the awesome glory of God?  I hope that we all respond to His call, even without a vision of Him or angels.  I pray that as we go about our daily lives and duties, following His will to the best of our knowledge and abilities, that we will always say "Here am I," when He is searching for someone to do something for Him.

Tomorrow's reading is 2 Kings 15:32-38; 2 Chronicles 27:1-9; Micah 1:1-16; 2 Kings 16:1-9; 2 Chronicles 28:1-15; Isaiah 7:1-25.

June 21

Today's reading in One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Amos 1-6:14

He who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, he who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the high places of the earth—the LORD God Almighty is his name. Amos 4:13

Amos was an ordinary man whom God had called to proclaim His message to the people of Israel. Unlike Jonah, he was preaching to his fellow Israelites. But totally like Jonah, he was preaching to a people who were evil, who had turned their back on God despite the consequences God had already sent them.

This verse reminds us of the utter fear that should fill our hearts with dread if we are to meet God on Judgement Day as a lion of wrath.

As John Piper says
He makes mountains like Play-Dough, and mighty wind with a whisper. He knows every thought of your mind before you speak it. He governs all the workings of the solar system, and steps from the Appalachians to the Rockies in one stride. Do you want to meet him roaring from Zion, or rejoicing over us with gladness?

And here's one that might step on your toes like it did mine..

Amos is a devastating book for people who give token attention to God through assemblies and songs, but whose hearts are much more genuinely engaged by sports, or business, or family, or hobbies. If your outward acts of worship are a mask to give you some respectability while your heart is really attached to the world and to your own comfort, then God hates your worship and despises your solemn assemblies and offerings and songs.

Through Amos, God takes the people to task for turning away from God, for loving comfort and luxury which in turn led to dishonesty and callousness towards the poor. Though specifically for the people of that time, we would do well to heed the warnings of this book. For God is the same yesterday, today and forever. Actions and motives that He despises in the OT He still despises today.

In the book of Jonah the Ninevites listened to the Word of the Lord, repented and were spared.

In retrospect we know that Israel did not heed the voice of Amos and they were taken into captivity. Let us not make the same mistake.

Tomorrow's passage: Amos 7-9, 2 Kings 14:28-29, 2 Kings 15:6-29, 2 Chronicles 26:22-23, Isaiah 6:1-13