There was a shepherd who God sent to deliver a message a long time ago…… God is the Word and His Word is life and alive from yesterday, and today and for evermore.
Can His Word for us this day be from the past to forevermore? His Word is relevant…. He has not changed….. He intends us to change as we draw near to Him. This happens by His glory found in His Word.
The heart of man and woman is as deceitful as it was in the beginning, but God has not changed. He wants us too…..
So let’s see what He has to say today! Hebrews 4:7 speaks: again He designates a certain day, saying in David, Today, after such a long time, as it has been said: Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.
This Amos spoke as instructed from God in chapter 4:6- Seek the Lord and live!
Amos’s prior chapter reveals the Lord’s heart as He speaks in 3:6-13, Also I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places, Yet you have not returned to Me, says the Lord.
I also withheld rain from you, when there were still three months to the harvest. I made it rain on one city, I withheld rain from another city. One part was rained upon, and where it did not rain the part withered. So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water, but they were not satisfied; yet you have not returned to Me, says the Lord.
I blasted you with blight and mildew, when your gardens increased, your vineyards, your fig trees, and your olive trees, the locust devoured them; yet you have no returned to Me, says the Lord.
I sent among you a plague after the manner of Egypt; the young men I killed with a sword, along with your captive horses; I made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils; yet you have not returned to Me, says the Lord.
I overthrew some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning; yet you have not returned to Me, says the Lord.
Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel; Because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!
For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind, who declares to man what his thought is, and makes morning darkness, who treads the high places of earth- the Lord of hosts is His name.
He then speaks in Amos 4:6-15,- Seek the Lord and live! Lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, with no one to quench it in Bethel- You who turn justice to wormwood, and lay righteousness in the earth!
He made Pleiades and Orion, He turns the shadow of death into morning and makes the day dark as night; He calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the face of the earth; the Lord is His name.
He rains ruin on the strong, so that fury comes upon the fortress.
They hate the one who rebukes at the gate, and they abhor the one who speaks uprightly.
Therefore because you tread down the poor and take grain taxes from him, though you have built houses of hewn stone, yet you shall not dwell in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink wine from them.
For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins; afflicting the just and taking bribes; diverting the poor from justice at the gate.
Therefore the prudent keep silent at that time, for it is an evil time.
Seek good and not evil, that you may live; so the Lord God of hosts will be with you, as you have spoken. Hate evil, love good; establish justice in the gate. It may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
This little book from Amos is very awesome….I hope you sit down and read it. Though it is written and found in the Book of Prophets, it is a view of God speaking to a hardened heart generation……
It is the whole counsel of God, for He does not change, we are to change…. This helps us understand His ways. If the Old Testament was to be irrelevant for today, Holy Spirit would have not saved all books as He has over two thousand years…..
We can’t use 2 Chronicles 7:14 for us and throw harder exhortation away found in the other books, especially the books of the prophets……
I hear Malachi used a lot for offerings though…….hmmmmm.
Can we learn to adhere to the whole counsel of God which He has left us?….. Who makes the cake without all the ingredients and with out the heat of the oven…… Holy Spirit is the fire…. and we are…….? Part grain and part fat offering?
We know the Day of the Lord is terrible and awesome….. Awesome for believers and terrible for those who lifted their fist towards the Lord….
But as of right now, this is not His Day ,YET!
In reading Amos, I am forever grateful for the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, shedding His blood and washing away our sins. Do you believe? You believe and live according to His Spirit and Truth, right? YAY!!
Nonetheless as written, we take heed to the knowledge in Hebrews 13:8, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever…….There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears; But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist……(Isaiah 11:1-5).
The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead is in us and the same Spirit who is described in the above scripture resides inside of us who believe…..
We must know the whole counsel of the Lord. A good healthy dose of medicine of the fear of the Lord should be established in our heart’s foundational belief. This is the same Jesus Christ who is coming back and is with us now! This is His mighty Holy Spirit…….. He is not a feeling. He is the firey power of God….. He is the all knowing and seeing Lord Jesus Christ.
The main point is Jesus Christ took the wrath of God, but we must not be ignorant in knowing the fear of the Lord…The fear of the Lord is more of giving Him all our honor due to all He is and was and is to come. We do not want to trample on the precious blood of Jesus Christ. We must hold His sacrifice precious….. We live by this scripture, right? I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.
How do we do that ? By faith in talking to Holy Spirit to show us !!! For is is written: John 14:26; But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to remembrance all things that I said to you.
So what is suppose to flow out of our belly? The same Spirit that is written in Isaiah 11…..
Let us see God’s purpose for His Spirit to dwell in us and be with us for now and forever…..
Ezekiel chapter 47:1-12 reveals the inheritance for His people….First, Ezekiel was shown the instructions to rebuild the temple….. which is symbolic of the temple of the Lord that is now being built in us for Him….. as written in 2 Corinthians, ( check it out).
Then from the throne comes this river…..which is greater and mightier than any found on this earth…..And did you know this river is to heal the nations?
Let us read on this special Holy Writ: Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple towards the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar , ( remember, Jesus Christ is the Door and His sacrifice allowed the Door of heaven to be opened to man again, cool huh?).
He brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me around on the outside to the outer gateway that faces east; and there was water, running out on the right side.
And when the man went out to the east with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters came up to my ankles.
Again he measured one thousand and brought me through the waters; the water came up to my knees. Again he measured one thousand and brought me through; the water came up to my waist.
Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross; for the water was to deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed.
He said to me, son of man, have you seen this? Then he brought me and returned me to the bank of the river.
When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, were very many trees on one and the other.
Then he said to me: This water flows towards the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea, its waters are healed.
And it shall be that everything that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes.
It shall be that fishermen will stand by it from En Gedi, to En Englaim; they will be places for spreading their nets. Their fish will be of the same kinds as the fish of the Great Sea, exceedingly many.
But its swamps and marches will not be healed; they will be given over to salt.
Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their waters flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.
This is also confirmed in the Book of Revelation, chapter 22:1-2: And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb….. In the middle of its street, on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for healing of the nations.
As Jesus was walking a long while, He took a break by a well in Samaria. He was thirsty and a woman came to the well to draw water…. He asked her for some water: Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, Give me a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.
The woman said to Him, Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?
Jesus answered, and said to her, Whoever drinks from this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.
The woman said to Him, Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw…..
Jesus said, go call your husband, and come here……
The woman answered and said, I have no husband.
Jesus said to her, You have said well, I have no husband, for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.
The woman said to Him, Sir, I percieve you are a prophet….( John 4:9-19).
Before we go to Jesus for this Water of Life, we must confess and repent of how we may have more than five idols in our lives….. Our God wants us to cling to Him as our Everything….. If we cling to any but Him, we are probably going to pass by this Spirit of Life in which we desperately need…… Do not look at this woman as so below us, our heart may have many other lovers before our King….. He must be number One and all else bend thier knee to Him. We hold ourselves back from His great neverending eternal life which flows through us in His Spirit and by His Spirit. We are the ones who block the flow of His Spirit, not Him…. We are the ones who have ears that do not hear Him because they are tuned to our idols and distractions. He still speaks…… He still is speaking to His beloved…… Watch out though for it is written His Word is also as a hammer and fire…..He is not to be mocked or taken lightly. Do not mistake His longsuffering and patience for His approval of things that should not be in our lives or resident in our hearts- for this is HIS HOME!
We must come clean and washed anew by His blood….. and then we can do a high jump into His Spirit, the River of Life.
John chapter 6, Jesus Christ revealed to all that He was the Living Bread that came from heaven….. So we partake of Him, right? All of Him, we live from His fullness,…… Now we are prepared for the His Precious Spirit to dwell in us and through us…. as He declared to all in John 7:37-39;’On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus Stood and cried out, saying, if anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.
But He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Again, His voice never ceases calling all to repent and believe in His death and resurrection life….. He never ceases calling His beloved to partake at His table and drink from His cup…. Holy Spirit is given to all who call on the name of the Lord and believe.
Holy Spirit is ready to teach, instruct, guide, comfort and reveal our King in His glory….. You going to jump in or what? Our God is patient and kind as He is also a consuming fire…… He is knocking at your door, you going to let Him in?…….We are not the owners of this earth. He is and He is coming back to claim His…… Which side of Him are you going to be found? Do you know if there is a tomorrow? Do you know when your last day is? He does….. For those who believe, if we are gone from this earth, we are with Him in glory…… Do you know where you will be found? Will He know you? He wants to know you but you must come to Him -His way…. through the sacrifice of His Son, through His blood and bowing at His cross. Then come beloved, and enter in to the everlasting eternal God for knowing Him is eternal life……
Come on and jump in to the River of God…… Take a deep breath, repent. Bend your knees to Your Savior and King. Then jump high and fly and be caught by His Spirit into the adventures of our God……
We must not see the signs of the times around us and down play God trying to get our attention to turn to Him…… His signs confirms His Voice that has been muffled by idols and adulteries of our hearts. Let us turn and receive Him. Give glory to the King. Open up the gates!!!!
Take away the barriers to His reigning in our lives for we are the temple of the Living God. Let the waters flow. Believe in the impossible being possible…. Look up and see! God is our Medicine for this Day! Let us eat of Him, for He is the Best Meal we will ever have and in His meal we are found full in Him…. Thank You Father, all we need we have found in You for You are our Medicine for the soul……by and in Christ Jesus our Lord!
I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers,: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His callimg, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all, ( Ephesians 1:15-23).
SELAH!
Father, we have quieted our souls and trust in You. We listen for Your quiet still Voice that thunders the earth with Your greatness. We ask for Your grace to be still, and listen. Thank You for Your Spirit to give us Your strength we need to obey in living godly lives, holy and acceptable to You… You have given us all things and You are worthy to be praised. In Jesus Christ’s name , we ask. We thank You and love You….. May our hearts be consumed with the Spirit of Fire filling us in Your fullness of Life. Father, I pray we understand that we are complete in Your Son and are so humbled by Your Gift of Him to us and the nations. Amen and Amen.
