This morning I was up early, but seemed to have a hard time getting going. I did make it my Tuesday morning leaders prayer time. We did have some plumbers come to finish some rough in work for our basement refinish. We may just be done by the end of June. It keep pushing out my timeline. I did attend my Rotary meeting in Loveland and was able to get some errands accomplished before the end of the day.<\/p>\n
BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY…<\/strong> “In that day <\/span>I will restore the fallen booth of David: <\/span>I will repair its gaps, <\/span>restore its ruins, <\/span><\/em>and rebuild it as in the days of old…I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel. <\/span>They will rebuild and occupy ruined cities,<\/span> plant vineyards and drink their wine,<\/span> make gardens and eat their produce.<\/span> I will plant them on their land,<\/span> and they will never again be uprooted<\/span> from the land I have given them.<\/span> Yahweh your God has spoken<\/span>.”<\/em> Amos 9:11,14-15 HCSB<\/span><\/p>\n Job observed about the Lord, “For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal.<\/em>“<\/em> (Job 5:18 NIV) Amos is the shepherd\/farmer\/prophet of the Old Testament. He is called by God to speak the Lord’s words of judgment against both Judah and Israel and other nations as well. The prophecy begins with a stern view of the Lord, “<\/em><\/span>The Lord<\/span> roars from Zion <\/span>and raises His voice from Jerusalem; <\/span>the pastures of the shepherds mourn, <\/span>and the summit of Carmel withers.”<\/span><\/em> (Amos 1:2 HCSB)<\/p>\n From that beginning, what follows is chapter by chapter and verse by verse of the Lord’s judgment and the reason for His judgment as the shortcomings and failures of God’s people are laid bare. So severe were the words of Amos that the priest of Bethel sent word to King Jeroboam saying, “The land cannot endure all his words…”<\/span><\/em> (Amos 7:10 HCSB)<\/span><\/p>\n The King confronts Amos and tells him to leave,\u00a0 \u201cGo away, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah. Earn your living and give your prophecies there,\u00a0<\/span>but don\u2019t ever prophesy at Bethel again, for it is the king\u2019s sanctuary and a royal temple.\u201d So Amos answered Amaziah, \u201cI was not a prophet or the son of a prophet; rather, I was a herdsman, and I took care of sycamore figs.\u00a0<\/span><\/em>But the Lord<\/span> took me from following the flock and said to me, \u2018Go, prophesy to My people Israel.\u2019\u201d<\/em> (Amos 7:12-15 HCSB) Just when the king and people thought they had enough, the Lord had more to say. The Lord was preparing to wound His people. But He also was going to bring healing. When the Lord disciplines, He does so for our good. It is not about Him, it is about us and our relationship with Him. The Lord does correct, in order to restore. He does allow destruction, so there can be rebuilding.<\/p>\n When the final words of Amos come to an end, it is like a sigh of relief or a cool breeze\u00a0 a hot summer day. So Amos ends with power words that reveal God’s final plan. Words like, “rebuild” “restore” “repair” “plant.”<\/p>\n We see this powerful imagery of that which is torn down being rebuilt. That which has experience decay and ruin being brought back to life. We see fortunes and prosperity and fruitfulness and security and permanency. I believe it is a reminder of the Lord’s ultimate redemptive work when He makes a “new heaven and a new earth.” The new emerges out of the destruction of the old.<\/p>\n How important for us, to accept the destruction of that which needs to die, in order for the new life and that which is far better to emerge from the Lord’s plan and purpose being fulfilled. Sometimes, as difficult as it is, when we feel like all the we have built lies in ruins, it may just be the time when the Lord will speak His word and begin the process of “making everything new.” Just as Amos begins with the Lord who “roars” His prophecy ends with words of assurance that, “Yahweh [the Lord ] your God has spoken!” What the Lord speaks comes to pass. God’s final word is a promise of hope and restoration.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This morning I was up early, but seemed to have a hard time getting going. I did make it my Tuesday morning leaders prayer time. We did have some plumbers come to finish some rough in work for our basement refinish. We may just be done by the end of June. It keep pushing out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3095"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3096,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3095\/revisions\/3096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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