- Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words.” Amos 7:10 – What we have here is an idolatrous priest speaking lies to a wicked king of Israel about a faithful prophet of the Lord. Amos was called out from being a shepherd to proclaim God’s message to God’s people. Yet as we’ve seen throughout our study of the different prophets, rarely do God’s people embrace God’s message with acceptance. Amaziah, the idolatrous priest, tells the kings that the words of Amos are just too much for the people to handle and Amos needs to be silenced. Sadly, the truth can seem too much to handle when one is deep within sin. No one enjoys being told they are doing something wrong, and no one enjoys hearing the consequences attached to their wrongs. We would rather just be told that whatever we want to do, if it feels right to us and makes us happy, that its acceptance for us to go after. Nothing is wrong and nothing has consequences; that’s a message we’re able to handle easily. We know though this isn’t the truth, and while difficult to share and difficult to embrace concerning our own sin, we must be willing to speak the message that is hard to bear. God has outlined for us things that are not acceptable to do in this life, and if we do them there are consequences. We can choose to disagree with scripture, but that doesn’t change the fact they are still wrong and they still have consequences. You can choose to believe the fire won’t burn you when you touch it, but it still will burn you. God’s word will remain true, and while hard to bear sometimes when it comes to the things we want to do but hear is wrong, make the wise choice to agree with the Lord for He has His purposes why He labels things right and wrong. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3295
- Then Amos answered and said the Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’”(v.14-15) Don’t ever let your titles hold you back from carrying the message that God has put in your heart. The title “too young” doesn’t hold you back. The title “just a church member” should never hold you back. Carrying the title of “businessman,” “stay at home mom,” “teacher,” or “student” are no excuses to why we can’t carry the message of Jesus’ love and grace. I love how Amos answers Amaziah, saying I’m not a prophet or have any connections with one. In fact I was just a shepherd, but God met me while I was taking care of my sheep, gave me a message, said go share it, and that’s what I did. It so simple and so beautiful, and it’s exactly the same for us. So what if you aren’t trained in ministry and have gone to Bible college. So what if you aren’t a pastor or church leader. That doesn’t matter, but what does matter is that God has met you today wherever you are at. He’s given you a message to share. Now He’s saying share it. If Amos, a shepherd with no credentials could share his message, then you have what it takes to share your message too. Don’t ever let your lack of a title, or the presence of a title, be what holds you back from carrying out God’s message. You have special talents and special gifts that enable you to spread the message in a way only someone like you could. You have everything you need already to make His name known, so get out there however God leads you. – Daily DEVO 49
- And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass by them Amos7:8 – So after some research on my part I figured out what a plumb line was. Picture a weight hanging from a string that builders would use as a tool to make sure a building was centered and standing straight. With it they could see how straight certain boards are and how far off centered others were. God is saying he is placing a plumb line in the midst of His people to see how straight or off centered they are. We can use God and His Word as our plumb line too. We can place His Word within our life to see just how centered we are with Him. We also can find ourselves building in wrong ways when we don’t have God and His Word at the center telling us how to build. Make sure then that you have God and His Word at the core of what you do. Measure off of Him and what He says to ensure the path you are walking and building on is straight and centered. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1198
- But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, “Go, prophesy to my people Israel.” Amos 7:15 – God changed Amos’ role. God took Amos from a position of following to a position of leading. Amos was where God wanted him at with the flock, but the moment God called him away from the sheep was the moment Amos remaining there any longer would have been against God’s will. Where you are at right now may be exactly where God wants you, yet if God has shown you that some sort of change needs to happen, then a staying-where-you’ve-been decision isn’t right. God may be asking you to move jobs, quit that job, break up with that person, propose to that person, leave that church, settle in and join that church, reach out to that person, or serve in a new way at your church. Changes that God is directing you to make can come is all sort of forms, but the answer to any change God is directing you to make must be, “Yes Lord.” Remain in God’s favor by remaining faithful when He says to move. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2083
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