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Amos 6:1-14. 9/9/13. WOE TO THE COMPLACENT AND PROUD-my devotional

Amos 6:1-14. 9/9/13. WOE TO THE COMPLACENT AND PROUD-my devotional

deny self

 

Amos 6:1-14                                                                           Kevin E. Jesmer

 

Key Verse: 6:1a                                                                      9/9/13

 

“Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria,…”

 

Dear Lord heavenly Father, thank you for your great love for each of us. Thank you for teaching that we need to focus in you and we need to overcome distractions in order to know you and follow you. I get so easily distracted. Help me to focus my heart on the prize set before me, which are Christ and the kingdom of God. I pray that all of my family and all those whom you have brought into my sphere of influence may focus on Jesus and seek first, your kingdom and righteousness. I place all of my hope and my trust in you. Please grant me one word of God to hold onto today. I thank you and I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

 

Part 1: Your Fasting And Lounging Will End (1-7)

 

Verses 1-7, Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come! Go to Kalneh and look at it; go from there to great Hamath, and then go down to Gath in Philistia. Are they better off than your two kingdoms? Is their land larger than yours? You put off the day of disaster and bring near a reign of terror. You lie on beds adorned with ivory and lounge on your couches. You dine on choice lambs and fattened calves. You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments. You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph. Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile; your feasting and lounging will end.”

 

In the time of prosperity, the people of both Israel and Judah became complacent. No one was concerned about the rampant immorality and injustice in the land. Instead, the people congratulated themselves on their successful conquests. They were unrepentant, lazy and self- indulgent; they lounged around eating rich food and strumming their harps. Such people would be the first to go into exile.

 

Let’s face it…when we ignore the plight of the poor and live for self indulgence, then one day, the “party will be over.” It will be time to face up to the consequences of our actions. There are students today who don’t want to study hard. They get many student loans and try to live self indulgent lives, spending one student loan after another. There are literally thousands of such students who have huge debt, no degree, and they end up scrambling to find out how to survive. I know two ex-students who are actually homeless. The hens have come home to roost.

 

What about families?  People get married and think that their marriage is for their pleasure and self indulgence. They put no effort into laying the proper foundation and making the marriage work. Eventually the time of self indulgence will end and they will be in danger of having their family falling apart.

 

Everything takes an effort. All things worthwhile require sacrifice and serf denial. Life in this world requires a sincere effort to bear fruit. It is the same with our spiritual lives. If we think that we can be Christians and at the same time ignore the plight to of the poor and seek after self indulgence, we are mistaken. We will reap what we sow. We will be wounded again and again by the devil’s attacks on us, on our family and ministry. We must remain humble and be ready to pick up our crosses and deny ourselves and follow Jesus daily. We need to care about others who suffer around us, who are in need and who can not find justice nor salvation. The day of the Lord is at hand. It can be a day of much rejoicing or it can be a day of dread for those who are not right with God.

 

Part 2: The Lord Abhors Israel’s Pride (8-14)

Look at verses 8-14, The Sovereign Lord has sworn by himself—the Lord God Almighty declares: “I abhor the pride of Jacob and detest his fortresses; I will deliver up the city and everything in it.” If ten people are left in one house, they too will die. 10 And if the relative who comes to carry the bodies out of the house to burn them asks anyone who might be hiding there, “Is anyone else with you?” and he says, “No,” then he will go on to say, “Hush! We must not mention the name of the Lord.” 11 For the Lord has given the command, and he will smash the great house into pieces  and the small house into bits. 12 Do horses run on the rocky crags?  Does one plow the sea with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness—13 you who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debar and say, “Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?” 14 For the Lord God Almighty declares, “I will stir up a nation against you, Israel, that will oppress you all the way from Lebo Hamath to the valley of the Arabah.”

God abhors pride. In Israel, people were so proud that even if all but ten men in one family died, the remnant would not repent. And even one survivor would not turn to God. Justice and righteousness had once been the hallmarks of God’s people, but they had turned justice into poison. They boasted about empty conquests as though they had overcome their enemies by their own strength. God would break their pride with the rod of Assyria (14).

The amazes me…ten people die and another sees it and yet even that last one refuses to repent and glorify the name to the Lord. What will it take for people to repent of their sins and come to God? I hope that when I am faced with hardships that I may turn my heart to God and not blame God or ignore God. My natural response must be to turn my heart to the Lord and draw near to him, because I know that in Jesus there is salvation and deliverance. On my own I can only shrink into seclusion and isolation. I thank God for drawing me closer to him in some recent inner struggles. God is good, all the time…he is good. He delivers me daily.

 

There are so many suffering people in our land, but there are so few people telling them to turn their hearts to the Lord in times of trial. What can they do? Get counseling they can’t afford and pills they can’t afford either. We need to be Christians who can tell the people where to turn to. I am thankful for K-Love Radio. They are sponsoring a free conference to teach people how to be grief counselors. A friend of mine, Lori is going. Good for K-Love! May many Christians be raised who can point people to Jesus in the time of their crisis.

 

Prayer: Lord, save our nation from complacency and false pride. We come to you for deliverance.

 

One Word: Don’t be proud and complacent but come to Lord, especially when the times get tough.




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