The Trap of Pride

Readings for today: Amos 6-9, Psalms 127

Pride presents a clear and present danger to our relationship with God. I commit the sin of pride every time I live or think or act as if God is not my helper. As if I don’t need God. As if my own strength, my own wisdom, and my own resources are more than enough. If I am honest, pride is something I have to fight each and every day. It’s why it’s essential for me to spend time with God every morning. When I spend time in God’s Word and in prayer, I am reminded of my desperate need for Him. I am reminded of my need for daily bread from His hands. I am reminded that though I may not have it in me to face and overcome the challenges of that particular day, God is more than able. And not only is He more than able, He is more than willing to be my supply. Why is pride so dangerous? It leads to spiritual amnesia. It causes us to forget God. It makes us start to believe our own hype. It turns us into fools.

In our reading today, the people of God come under severe judgment. Judgment so harsh that it would put an end to them altogether except for the intercession of Amos. Amos cries out to God multiple times to spare His people lest they be utterly consumed and God relents. At the same time, God doesn’t clear the guilty. He doesn’t give them a pass. He will take them into exile and turn them over to their enemies and all the wealth they’ve accumulated for themselves will be wiped away. All the injustices they’ve allowed to stand will be atoned for. All the pain and suffering they’ve created will be visited back on them many times over. What is God’s goal here? Is it punitive retribution? Vengeance over all they have done? Has God finally lost His patience and lashing out? Not at all. God is humbling His people. He is reminding them on a visceral level of their desperate need for Him. And once that lesson is taught. Once that lesson is learned. God promises restoration. God promises to rebuilt the ruins. God promises to bring them back home again.

I love how the Psalmist puts it, “Unless the Lord builds a house, its builders labor over it in vain; unless the Lord watches over a city, the watchman stays alert in vain.” (Psalms‬ ‭127‬:‭1‬ ‭CSB‬‬) God is our helper. God is our builder. God is our provider. God is our protector. Without God, humanity is to be pitied. Without God, humanity has no hope. Without God, humanity is lost. And it is up to people of God, filled with the Spirit of God, walking humbly before their God to show the world what a life with God actually looks like on the daily. For better or worse, we are the instruments God has chosen to make known the riches of His love and grace.

Readings for tomorrow: Obadiah 1, Psalms 128 (No devotionals on Sundays)

Accepting our Place

Readings for today: Amos 1-5, Psalms 126

I’ve been listening to a great podcast recently called, “Unbelievable?” The show brings together Christians and non-Christians, theists and atheists, religious and secularists to discuss a variety of topics. They come from all across the spectrum socially and politically. They represent some of the best thinking today on issues like the problem of evil, the dangers of AI, just war, faith and politics, etc. It’s really amazing to listen to participants debate back and forth. One of the fundamental differences that comes up over and over again is who is responsible for the evil and pain and suffering in the world. For the atheist, there is no one responsible. The world is the way that it is. It’s a closed system and everything can be explained through natural or material processes. There really is no such thing as a natural disaster. It’s simply nature being nature. Volcanoes erupt. Earthquakes shake the ground. Hurricanes whip the ocean into a frenzy. Mass extinction events happen with some degree of regularity. While this argument has some degree of internal consistency, it is clearly inadequate for most people. For the Christian, responsibility is split between two entities. First, we believe in a supernatural being we call “the satan” or the accuser. A fallen angel who is the Father of lies and the author of evil and who does all he can to weave death and destruction and entropy and chaos into the fabric of all God has made. Second, humanity. A creature made in God’s own image who embraced rebellion and sin at the dawn of creation and who continues to wreak havoc on all God has made as he/she pursues his/her own selfish ends. This argument too has internal consistency but also proves inadequate for most people. Most people find themselves somewhere between these two poles. On the one hand, we don’t want to bear the responsibility for how our actions lead to so much suffering in the world so we tend to reject the Christian point of view. On the other hand, we cannot seem to escape the existential feeling that something is terribly wrong or horribly broken about the world so we tend to reject the atheist point of view.

The Bible is clear. “For three crimes, even four” God will not relent from punishing the nations. “For three crimes, even four” God will not withhold judgment even from His chosen people. We are guilty. God makes that abundantly clear. We are responsible. God is direct and honest and forthright about it. We are at fault and in the wrong and God will hold us accountable. I talk to lots of people in my line of work. Christians and non-Christians alike. Progressives and conservatives. Marxists and capitalists. Democrats and Republicans. Young and old. Rich and poor. People of different ethnicities and cultural backgrounds. One of the things they all seem to have in common is an inner resistance to the idea that they are guilty of crimes against God. They seemingly have no problem seeing how other people could be credibly accused but they struggle to see it in themselves. The same was true for our ancient near east ancestors. It didn’t matter whether they lived in Damascus or Gaza, Tyre, Edom or Moab, even Israel and Judah! No one wanted to acknowledge their culpability before God. Even when God brings all kinds of judgment in the form of famine, drought, blight, or plagues; they still refused to humble themselves and change their ways. And what is God’s response? One would think He would completely out those who rebel against His rule and reign. But that’s not what happens. Instead, God comes to them. God reveals Himself to them. All in an effort to draw them back to Himself. “Therefore, Israel…prepare to meet your God! He is here: the one who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, the one who makes the dawn out of darkness and strides on the heights of the earth. The Lord, the God of Armies, is his name.” (Amos‬ ‭4‬:‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭CSB)

Friends, not much has changed in the thousands of years since Amos walked onto the scene. Humanity still rebels against God, still struggles to accept responsibility for our crimes against our Creator. Thankfully, God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. There is no shadow or turning in Him. He is eternally consistent and unchangeable. Rather than judge us and destroy us, He comes to us. He reveals Himself to us in the Person of Jesus Christ. All in an effort to draw us back to Himself. He has defeated the powers of sin and death and the devil and is even now working through humanity to restore all He has made. God’s great desire is to restore us to our rightful place within His created order but for that to happen, we need to humble ourselves and submit to His will and ways.

Readings for tomorrow: Amos 6-9, Psalms 127

The End of Judgment

Readings for today: Amos 6-9

Reading from the Message today was like reading something straight out of the headlines of the New York Times or Wall Street Journal. Amos’ prophetic words powerfully describe what’s happening in our nation today. Listen to them again from Amos 6:3-6…

“Woe to you who are rushing headlong to disaster! Catastrophe is just around the corner! Woe to those who live in luxury and expect everyone else to serve them! Woe to those who live only for today, indifferent to the fate of others! Woe to the playboys, the playgirls, who think life is a party held just for them! Woe to those addicted to feeling good—life without pain! those obsessed with looking good—life without wrinkles! They could not care less about their country going to ruin.”

Greed. Exploitation. Indifference. Indulgence. Unrestrained hedonism. The constant pursuit of the dopamine rush. Obsession with appearance and the fountain of eternal youth. These same sinful attitudes infect our culture today and they represent a clear and present danger to the future of our country. God will not be mocked. He will hand us over to the lusts of our hearts and allow us to suffer the natural consequences of the choices we make. We might as well be “holding a horse race in a field of rocks” or “plowing the sea with oxen.” (Amos 6:12 MSG) We have forgotten God. Even worse, we have specifically rebelled against His will and created design. It won’t end well.

So what are God’s people to do? What are we to do when we read Amos 7 and the series of visions God gives His prophet, foretelling the destruction of Israel? What are we to do when we see the cutting locust on the horizon? The firestorm that’s on it’s way? The plumb line God is holding over our nation? We do what Amos did. We pray. We intercede. We call on God to remember His love for His people. We call on God to remember His love for the world. Most of all, we call on God to remember the judgment He poured our on Jesus Christ who died not just for our sins but for the sins of the world. (1 John 2:2) Amos cried out to God. Three times he interceded for the people of Israel. Jacob is so small. Jacob is so weak. He cannot stand the coming judgment. Twice God relented. The third time He brings judgment and it is terrible but leaves Amos with a promise.

“But also on that Judgment Day I will restore David’s house that has fallen to pieces. I’ll repair the holes in the roof, replace the broken windows, fix it up like new. David’s people will be strong again and seize what’s left of enemy Edom, plus everyone else under my sovereign judgment.” God’s Decree. He will do this. “Yes indeed, it won’t be long now.” God’s Decree. “Things are going to happen so fast your head will swim, one thing fast on the heels of the other. You won’t be able to keep up. Everything will be happening at once—and everywhere you look, blessings! Blessings like wine pouring off the mountains and hills. I’ll make everything right again for my people Israel: “They’ll rebuild their ruined cities. They’ll plant vineyards and drink good wine. They’ll work their gardens and eat fresh vegetables. And I’ll plant them, plant them on their own land. They’ll never again be uprooted from the land I’ve given them.” God, your God, says so.” (Amos‬ ‭9‬:‭11‬-‭15‬ ‭MSG‬‬)

God’s judgment is never the last word. It is always a means to the much greater end of restoration, redemption, salvation. God longs for the nations of the earth to turn to Him. God loves every nation on earth. Every people group on earth. Every tribe and tongue and language. This includes our own. The most important thing we can do as God’s people, called to live and serve for such a time as this in our nation’s history, is pray for our country. Pray for our leaders. Pray for the hearts of our neighbors. Ask God to intervene and bring us to repentance for we, like Jacob, are small and timid and weak and cannot stand the coming judgment.

Readings for tomorrow: Hosea 1-5

Testing God

Readings for today: Amos 1-5

Violence. Slavery. Rage. Greed. Desecration. These are just a few of the sins of the pagan nations that prompt God’s judgment. Rejection. Disobedience. Deceit. Sexual immorality. Mistreatment of the poor. These are just a few of the sins of God’s people which God clearly will not overlook. It doesn’t matter that Israel and Judah have enjoyed a special relationship with Him for centuries. All the history of God’s mighty acts of deliverance on their behalf provides no safety blanket when it comes to sin. Humanity, especially the people of God, have tested God’s patience. They have pressed Him too far. As The Message puts it, “I’m hard-pressed - to the breaking point. I’m like a wagon piled high and overloaded, creaking and groaning.” (Amos 2:13 MSG)

It’s hard for us to imagine God’s patience being tested. We tend to think of Him as immutable - unchanging - or impassible - unaffected by emotions. And while these things are true on a certain level, they tend to reflect more Greek philosophy than Biblical theology. The God who reveals Himself in the Bible - and especially through the prophetic books of the Old Testament - is a God who is deeply moved by the actions of His people. He is a God who exists in intimate relationship with them and His heart breaks over and over again at their sin. One can hear the pathos of God throughout our reading today from Amos.

“Out of all the families on the earth, I picked you!” (Amos 3:2a MSG)

“Do two people walk hand in hand if they aren’t going to the same place?” (Amos 3:3a MSG)

“In the same way that a shepherd trying to save a lamb from a lion manages to recover just a pair of legs or the scrap of an ear, so will little be saved of the Israelites…” (Amos 3:12 MSG)

Amos presents God’s judgment as a kindness. An action by God to bring His people to repentance and back into right relationship with Him. “I’m the One who emptied your pantries…but you never got hungry for Me…I’m the One who stopped the rains…but you never got thirsty for Me…I hit your crops with disease…but you continued to ignore Me…I revisited you with the old Egyptian plagues…but you didn’t notice Me…I hit you with earthquake and fire…but you never looked My way…All this I have done to you, Israel, and this is why I have done it.” (Amos 4:6-12 MSG) What is it about us that causes such resistance to God and His ways? What is it about us that causes us to fight God every step of the way? Why do we bring such judgment on ourselves rather than turn and embrace Him?

Two reasons. First, we forget God. We forget who it is we are actually dealing with. God is not an idol of our own making. He is no abstract thought or philosophical idea or ethical system of our own creation. “Look who’s here: Mountain-shaper! Wind-Maker! He laid out the whole plot before Adam. He brings everything out of nothing, like dawn out of darkness. He strides across the alpine ridges. His name is God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.” (Amos 4:13 MSG) Second, we forget where we live. We live in God’s universe. We live under God’s rules, like it or not. We live in the world God made. Despite what we may think, we are NOT the masters of our domain. We are NOT the captains of our destines. We have little, if any, real power or authority. All that we have is given to us by a Will much bigger and greater than our own. “Do you realize where you are? You’re in a cosmos star-flung with constellations by God, a world God wakes up each morning and puts to bed each night. God dips water from the ocean and gives land a drink. God, God-revealed, does all this. And He can destroy it as easily as make it. He can turn this vast wonder into total waste.” (Amos 5:7b-9 MSG)

Now think about your own life. Are you aware of where you are and under whose authority you live? Do you cultivate a deeper awareness of God’s presence in your life? Do you marvel at all He has made and the gift it is to live in the universe He has made? Do you intentionally seek to grow your understanding of God’s greatness and glory? Do you intentionally slow down to see the beauty and wonder of a flower or watch a bird in flight or stand to take in waves of grain that grow in the field? Do you ever look up at the night sky and catch your breath in awe at the stars God knows by name? These are the kinds of everyday practices that draw us deeper into relationship with God and set our hearts on the path back to Him.

Readings for tomorrow: Amos 6-9