Judgment

Amos 1:1 The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa- the vision he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam was king of Israel.

Amos 4:6" 'I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me,' " dclares the LORD.

(7)" 'I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another. One field had rain and another had none and dried up. (8) People staggered from town to town for water but did not get enough to drink, yet you have not returned to me,' " declares the LORD.

(11)" 'I overthrew some of you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire, yet you have not returned to me,' " declares the LORD.

(12)" 'Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel, and because I will do this to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God." (13) He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth- the LORD God Almighty is his name.

God gives us warning after warning that the people in the United States and in other countries are not being obedient to him. Certain nation's citizens support and follow the maniacal leadership of dictators and their immoral plans to proclaim their power through a show of force. The leader may possibly use a force as powerful as a nuclear weapon from which humanity may not be able to return.  Terrorists attack our country and other countries that support a belief in freedom and democracy. Every attack they make is plotted and planned for the most damage and emotional turmoil. We send our young men into war on the basis of the recommendation of men. Prayer to God for advice is being removed from our military and schools because of an extreme view point that freedom of religion means no religion or allowances made for other religions. Our forefathers wanted to give everyone freedom of religion, but they did not plan for our Judeo-Christian heritage to be subjugated to other religions.  Christianity is getting suppressed so as not to offend others of different beliefs. Christianity is being lost in our country also because many people are making idols of material things,vanity, pride, desires, fame, power, and fortune.  Following Christ would not support their "lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes nor pride of life."  We Christians need to spread the word that only faith in God and His power to save us from our sins through His sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, can let us lead a completely fulfilled life.  It does not mean that our lives will never contain tragedy or sadness but that we will be able to feel peace knowing that God is in control. Americans fight as members of different political parties with seemingly more interest in that their party remain in control rather than in making decisions based on what God wants them to do.  People from different backgrounds and countries are suspicious of each other and fear each other's motives.  We need to pray for leaders whose agape love for his/her fellow man will be blessed by God to allow him/her to communicate with leaders of other countries and with our own citizens with a tone, spirit, and desire for positive resolutions. We have to recognize that our God is the Almighty God. I was reminded of this when I read Amos, especially when I read that he forms the mountains and creates the wind and is the Creator of all things. He tells Israel to prepare to meet their God. Americans, prepare to meet your God.  The LORD God Almighty is His name!

Keep reading His Word and declaring it to others,

Kay

Do not be Wise in Your Own Eyes

Proverbs 3:7-8 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

I read a devotional about being out of your "comfort zone" and being in the "God zone." We are nervous, shy, or even terrified when we get out of our comfort zone and face difficulties. This is the time to fear the Lord and expect his faithfulness. There are many kinds of problems we face that have to do with bad health, age, poor  finances, personality conflicts,and loss of loved ones. If we can trust in God to get us through our problems, even if he doesn't fix them, we will be relaxed, comfortable, and at peace. This faith affects our health in a positive way. The problem is that it is very hard to stop trying to fix our problems ourselves, and we get wound tighter and tighter. This attitude may bring headaches, nervousness, depression, etc. We must not be "wise in our own eyes." We can't solve anything without God's work in us. All we can do is count on Jesus for our righteousness due to His sacrifice on the cross. Jesus did not give His life just to save us so there will be no death when our bodies pass away. He also loves us and plans for good things and relationships with Him and others during our lifetime. He is there during every hardship. He is on our side encouraging us along throughout each day's activities and trials. I really believe that if we let ourselves go and allow God to do His work, then we will be nourished in every way possible!


A recipe just for fun. This is my son's favorite. Mexican chicken casserole.

3 boil chicken breasts, cut into pieces
A can of green chile peppers chopped
1 can of cream of chicken soup
Enough chicken broth to make it creamy
Doritos
Chedder cheese

Line a 3 quart casserole with Doritos. Stir the boiled chicken, green chile peppers, soup and chicken broth in a skillet over low heat. Pour over the Doritos. Put another layer of Doritos on top. Add cheddar cheese over Doritos. Heat at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. If Doritos brown too quickly, lay a piece of aluminum foil lightly over the casserole. Eat and enjoy!

Blessings,
Kay

Proverbs: Wisdom for Daily Living: Trust

Proverbs: Wisdom for Daily Living: Trust: Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will m...

Trust

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 1:32-33 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.

When we go through hard times, it is hard to trust sometimes that God is still watching over us and caring for us.  I have noticed however, that many times something better comes along that we are better equipped to handle after going through this period of hardship.  Also, I have learned that we need to look around because we will find that others have more difficult problems than we do.  Often they are in heart wrenching situations that appear to have no help for them.  They too, I am sure, can find a way to trust that there is help through the peace of having Christ in their lives. The help may not be what we expect, but it will be extremely sufficient and comforting.  Life takes turns that we don't expect or want, but we are on an adventure for Christ and must ride the thrill of his plans on out.  We may never understand why God does what He does until eternity, but we don't need to understand.  We just need to trust.

In His love,

Kay

God is Our Refuge

Proverb 14:32 When calamity comes, the wicked are brought down, but even in death the righteous seek refuge in God.

Proverb 18:19 The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.

Nehemiah 8:10 Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

I think about the disappearance of the Malaysian airplane, and I wonder what the families of the passengers on that airplane are feeling with the loss of their loved ones. The devastation, anger, and questions it must cause in their lives must be excruciating. How can people find peace in their hearts after a tragedy?  The only way for an individual to emerge from a depression of this magnitude  is by drawing strength form the Holy Spirit.  Without Jesus, all would be hopeless, but with Him there is hope.  There is hope that soon there will be joy in the memory of their lost loved ones rather than only pain for their passing.  This joy takes time to obtain, but God's presence and an intimate relationship with Him encourage the heartbroken to continue on.  Moment by moment God eases the pain by speaking to the the heart.  That peace that He gives becomes the peace of the one who is hurting.  One realizes  that Jesus knows about suffering from His sacrifice for us on the cross. He was tortued, crucified, and became sin because He loved us.  He is our refuge when we hurt because He knows exactly how we feel.  He was separated from His Father at the time of the crucifixion, and it must have been unbearable for Him. He was obedient, and His Hope for a reunion with God gave Him the strength to finish the course. Slowing but surely, the bereaved recognizes Jesus' great love for him, and then starts to notice little things that bring him joy. It starts with noticing His creation and moves to a renewed feeling of being happy to be alive. He is happy that there are caring friends and family who are still on this earth to comfort him.  God loves this support system and teaches this brotherly love through His commandments. Fellowship with others eventually brings a normalcy to the lives of the hurting one.  Relying on God, the person has a revival of hope, and his life no longer seems as burdened by loss.

I know the sadness of losing a loved one to old age, but my loss is different from an unexpected loss of a person in the prime of their lives. I have never experience this kind of shock and loss, but I pray that God would be able to reach my heart as he always has before.   A grieving process must take time and go through its stages, but God is our strength and carries us through it. We Christians need to reach out to those who are hurting so that we can be reflections of God's great love for them.

Confession of Sin

Proverb: 28:13  He who conceals his sins does not prosper.  but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

Do you ever pray for everyone in your family and then forget to praise God, thank Him,  or ask for forgiveness of your sins?  You pray everyday for all the members of your family and for their success, peace, good health, love, and walk with Christ.  Everything focuses intensely on them. It is great to concentrate on intercession for family and friends, but before asking for things, we need to praise his name and ask Him for forgiveness.  How can we expect God to hear us when we don't show recognition of who He is? He wants us to humble ourselves and reach out to Him for a relationship.  Our prayer conversation should be about our thanks for his wonderful promises and love.  We should show appreciation for his character and saving grace.  We should give thanks for his greatest gift of his only Son.  Then we should ask his forgiveness for the things we have done intentionally and for things we may have unwittingly done.

I am saying these things because I realized a while back that I was begging for help for family and not considering my sins.  I may not have killed people, but I have done many sinful things.  I think about my pride and how I want people to approve of me and admire my achievements.  I want to be happy with the triumphs that God has given me, but at times I want to further improve my life with my own strength. I came to see that I was very prideful and needed to constantly remind myself that God should get all the credit for my life.  I am very competitive and always want to come out a winner in any situation; however, God has made clear to me that to fail gives me the power to learn and to improve. Pride is just one of my many sins.  I find that I can be judgmental about situations and people.   Often I think that I know best, and that people should just ask my opinion so I can rectify their mistakes.  Disapproval of things can cause me to be somewhat impatient and exasperated, and these feelings should have no place in my life.  Luckily I constantly talk to God so my thick- headed self finally gets the picture that I am a true sinner.

Now when I pray, I begin with thanks for all my blessings and then I praise Him for his grace.  Then I talk about my sins and how I will try to be a better person and more Christlike. I want to be an encourager not a discourager.  Even if I have not said anything to discourage someone, I'm sure that I need to find chances to uplift  others.  I need to reach out to others in friendship and love.  God wants much more of me than I am willing to give.  It is hard to put others first, to promote fellowship, and to further God's kingdom.  It is easy for me to say that I will get to those things when I have more time, feel better, or have enough confidence.  I'm like Jonah with his excuses for not wanting to do what God told him to do to help the Ninevites learn the error of their ways.

I will constantly pray in an ongoing way to God and will ask for his grace and for the Holy Spirit to guide me on the path to righteousness.  I will constantly be aware of my sinful self and will continue to battle my wrongs. I will tell God that I know I am a sinner but I am a new person in Christ.  He made me white as snow, and there was nothing I could do to save myself except through Him. God is a merciful and forgiving God.  I can rest easy and know that I have been forgiven.  God is great and can take care of all our doubts and needs.

When we pray,  let us remember to confess our sins and ask for forgiveness.

Diligence

Proverb13:4 The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.

The lazy person is always wanting more for himself, but he never wants to work for anything.  This desire covers more than just material possessions.  The sluggard craves fame, glory, riches, beauty, and admiration.  His life remains static and never develops in any satisfying way unless someone gives him something.  Craving something brings to mind being addicted to and desperate for something.  This kind of need is unhealthy because it depends on worldly things. What the lazy person cannot or will not see is that he or she is focusing on self rather than pleasing God.  To please God is to bring a  satisfaction of a miraculous kind into your life.  God grants one a peace and self respect when one is in tune with Him. This refers to a relationship in which the believer knows his/her every need will  be met.  One realizes that there is no need for the earthly glories that won't last.  God lets one know that he/she is special in his sight and that the gifts he gives one are to be used to glorify God. When one feels unworthy, ignorant, and useless, one should remember that God loves us, gave us a purpose, and gave us the gifts with which to accomplish that purpose.   The lazy person searches and feels unworthy, but the diligent one works in order to glorify God in every task whether small or large.  The diligent person does not give up on any undertaking.  He is diligent because his /her cause is worthy because he /she is part of a mission that rises above the mundane and carnal.  A diligent person knows that God will get him/her through the difficult times so there is a confidence in any situation.  

At times we may wonder about our purpose for being placed here.  We are to never stop reaching toward accomplishing the goal that God has set before us.  The fulfillment of our purposes are accomplished by the use of diligence, prayer, spiritual gifts, and reading his Word.  The diligent person has a life of satisfaction because this person has come to the understanding that God can be trusted. One's obedience results in the peace for which we are all striving.  A right relationship with God results in an encouragement and a lifting up our hearts and souls like no other. This is what being fully satisfied is all about.

Kay