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It has been often time said, “You can fool man, but you cannot fool God.” Your life will be better when you accept the fact that you can- not get over on God. God knows what you do and the motive behind what you do. God knows if you are being “real” or if you are “faking”. This week’s lesson recorded in Amos 5:14, 15, 18-27 ex- poses Israel’s effort to take advantage of God’s forgive- ness.
Verses 14 - Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. As a Christian it should be your mission to seek to do good and partake in good
daily. Seeking to do good will result in your continua- tion of life. Evil leads to death. The living and dying is not just physical but everything connected to the life of righteousness. As you seek to do good you will dis- cover that God will be with you. Having God with you in every area of your life is ben- efit enough to seek to do good.
Verse 15 - Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts.
Perhaps the LORD God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph. Notice here that the readers are instructed to hate evil. You are not sup- posed to hate the individual
Can’t Fool God
who does evil. In whatever you do, maintain a spirit of justice. Do not let your jus- tice be perceived as evil. When God sees that you love that which is good and are seeking justice he might have mercy on you.
Verses 18-20 Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD! Why do you long for the day of the LORD? That day will be darkness, not light. 19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him. 20 Will not the day of the LORD be darkness, not light— pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?
The people had devel- oped a misconception about what the day of the Lord’s return would be like. Amos lets them know it will not be sunshine as they suppose. People will have to give an account of their actions and
behaviors.
This will be a dark day for
many because the stuff they thought they got away with will have to be answered for. For those who have not been living according to God’s commands the day of His re- turn will go from bad to worse. You will run from a lion and meet a bear. You will think that you have made it home safe only to find that a snake is waiting for you to bite you. It is to the advantage of the believer to make the right choices now so that when God does return it will not be as Amos describes.
Verses 21-23 - “I hate, I despise your reli- gious festivals; your as- semblies are a stench to me. 22 Even though you bring me burnt offer- ings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. 23 Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the
music of your harps.
Amos attacks their wor- ship practices. When your worship is not true or you have hidden agendas God is not well pleased. You cannot think that God is fooled by your singing and praying on Sunday when your heart is far from Him during the week. God wants your life to resemble what you display on Sundays. You cannot buy God’s approval for your sin- ful or evil deeds. They at- tempted this through their offerings. He is not fooled, He knows!
Verse 27 - Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damas- cus,” says the LORD, whose name is God Almighty. As a result of their behavior and unwill- ingness to change God pun- ishes them to exile. The people will no longer be able to live in their native land. When you are exiled you will not live in the state of prom- ise God has prepared for you. You shall live as a stranger in a foreign place.
FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 7-B