TODAY’S DAILY READING:  Amos 7-9 & Proverbs 12

Old Testament: Amos 7-In The Gap

Amos 7:5-6
“Then I said: ‘O Lord God, cease, I pray! Oh, that Jacob may stand, For he is small!’ So the Lord relented concerning this. ‘This also shall not be,’ said the Lord God.”

Amos, the shepherd-prophet, saw two consecutive visions that revealed the impending disaster looming… Read More

Amos 8- Your are Precious

Amos 8:6
“That we may buy the poor for silver, And the needy for a pair of sandals— Even sell the bad wheat?”

Because of sin, conditions in the nation of Israel had become so bad people were essentially, selling themselves to have their basic needs met. Men, women, and children were involved in deplorable acts for pennies. Amos figuratively describes a person who had sold themselves for a pair of shoes. I have often been struck by how little some… Read More
Proverbs 12- Don”t Worry

Proverbs 12:25
“Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad.”

Anxiety can be defined as an abnormal and overwhelming concern over the reality of a threat, and our inability to cope with it. Similar words would be care, concern, fear, nervousness or worry. Anxiety is usually… Read More

 

TODAY’S DAILY READING:  Amos 4-6 & Proverbs 11
Old Testament: Amos 4- Prepared

Amos 4:12
“Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”

Whenever a big event is on the horizon, it is a good idea to spend the necessary time preparing for it. Every year the women’s ministry at our church has a mid-summer luncheon. If you were to wander onto the campus you would see the place decorated to the hilt. Every table, backdrop, wall covering and notebook fits within the overall motif, and the place always looks amazing. It would be clear, even to the most casual observer, that lots of… Read More

Amos 5- When Lions Attack

Amos 5:18
“Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! For what good is the day of the Lord to you? It will be darkness, and not light.”|

In recent years, people have become fascinated with end-of-the-world scenarios. We have been inundated with movies about environmental crises, alien … Read More

Amos 6- Who’s To Blame

Amos 6:14
“But, behold, I will raise up a nation against you, O house of Israel,” Says the Lord God of hosts; “And they will afflict you from the entrance of Hamath to the Valley of the Arabah.”

Israel was facing calamity; their economy was in the tank and the nations around them were becoming an increasing… Read More

Proverbs 11- Mercy and Compassion

Proverbs 11:17
“The merciful man does good for his own soul, but he who is cruel troubles his own flesh.”

Mercy is often defined as not getting what we deserve. While that is true, the word carries a greater meaning. It also means to show compassion and kindness to those who are in need or distressed. We see it evidenced in the life of Jesus. When He heard the leper calling out for Him, we read Jesus was… Read More

 

TODAY’S DAILY READING:  Amos 1-3 & Proverbs 10
Old Testament: Amos 1- Shepherd Or Butcher

Amos 1:1
“The words of Amos, who was among the sheepbreeders of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.”

When the car breaks we look for a mechanic, when the body breaks we want a doctor, and when pipes… Read More

Amos 3- Walking Together

Amos 3:3
“Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?”

If you and I were to go on a walk, we would not have to agree about everything, but we would have to agree about where we were going. Once we disagreed about direction, we could no longer walk together. Amos is suggesting that Israel failed to walk with God because… Read More

Proverbs 10- Sports

Proverbs 10:23
“To do evil is like sport to a fool, bur a man of understanding has wisdom.”

While Jesus hung on the cross paying for the sins of humanity, paving the way for man to have fellowship with God, and giving entrance to heaven, we are told a group of soldiers were gambling for His clothing. The most important event in the history of humanity is unfolding, and06… Read More

TODAY’S DAILY READING: Joel 1-3 and Proverbs 9
Old Testament: Joel 1- Unattended Children

Joel 1:3
“Tell your children about it,
Let your children tell their children,
And their children another generation.”

The days in which Joel lived were quite difficult. Israel was experiencing economically difficult times, brought about by locust swarms that had devastated… Read More

Joel 2- Turn To Me

Joel 2:12-13
“Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing… Read More

Joel 3- Looking Ahead

Joel 3:1
“For behold, in those days and at that time…”

Joel leads us to the climax of this book. Chapter one spoke of a locust army attacking Israel as a form of judgment for sin, chapter two spoke of the Babylonian army and captivity of the nation. Now chapter three speaks of the ultimate judgment upon the nations who rebel against God and come against His people. All that… Read More

Proverbs 9- Overflowing Life

Proverbs 9:11
“For by me your days will be multiplied, and years of life will be added to you.”

Jesus promised, those who believe in Him would be the recipients of eternal life. He also promised we would have abundant life while we … Read More

TODAY’S DAILY READING: Hosea 13-14 and Proverbs 8
Old Testament:  Hosea 13 – Smoke

Hosea 13:3
“Therefore they shall be like the morning cloud and like the early dew that passes away, like chaff blown off from a threshing floor and like smoke from a chimney.”

When we are young everything seems to take forever, but the older we get, the more we realize how brief… Read More

Hosea 14-Healing for the backslidden

Hosea 14:4
“I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away from him.”

Backsliding refers to a condition where a person who was once closely following the Lord, is now far from… Read More

Proverbs 8- Fork in the road

Proverbs 8:2
“She takes her stand on the top of the high hill, beside the way, where the paths meet.”

Have you ever been following someone’s directions to a place you have never been, and encountered an unexpected fork in the road? When that happens, we are forced to stop, study the… Read More

TODAY’S DAILY READING: Hosea 11-12 and Proverbs 7
Old Testament: Hosea 11- Bands of love

Hosea 11:4
“I drew them with gentle cords, with bands of love, and I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck. I stooped and fed them.”

God uses many different means to get man’s attention. Paul spoke of His kindness leading us to repentance and Jude wrote about saving some with fear of… Read More

Hosea 12- Unnecessary Assistance

Hosea 12:3-4
“He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and in his strength he struggled with God. Yes, he struggled with the Angel and prevailed; he wept, and sought favor from Him. He found Him in Bethel, and there He spoke to us”

The story of Jacob is a very common one. Although few of us shared the womb with our… Read More

Proverbs 7- Falling Down

Proverbs 7:24
“Now therefore, listen to me, my children; Pay attention to the words of my mouth”

This chapter is given entirely as a warning against the danger of falling into sexual sin. It is written as a letter from a father to his… Read More

TODAY’S DAILY READING: Hosea 9 & 10 and Proverbs 6
Old Testament: Hosea 10 – Sow What

“Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy;
Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you.” – Hosea 10:12

Hosea wrote of the spiritual condition of Israel, which at the time, was quite dark. Sin had led them away from the… Read More

 

New Testament: Proverbs 6 – The Ant

“Go to the ant, you sluggard!
Consider her ways and be wise,
Which, having no captain, overseer or ruler,
Provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest.” – Proverbs 6:6-8

Solomon used the natural world as a teacher of spiritual truth. Not to the extent that his understanding…Read More

TODAY’S DAILY READING: Hosea 7-8 & Proverbs 5
Old Testament: Hosea 7- Silly Bird

Hosea 7:11
“Ephraim also is like a silly dove, without sense— They call to Egypt, They go to Assyria.”

There are times in Scripture when God will resort to name calling, not as a way to be mean, but as a means of illustrating the behavior of His people. There is that famous … Read More

Hosea 8- Watch Your Step

Hosea 8:11
“Because Ephraim has made many altars for sin,
They have become for him altars for sinning.”

Growing up, one of my favorite TV shows was Sherlock Holmes. As most of us know, he was a detective from London who used his keen skill of observation to solve crimes. Often, when he would uncover a clue, he would declare, “It’s elementary my dear Watson.” Which was an underhanded way of stating that what he discovered was obvious to anyone who would take the time to look. Hosea makes a statement that Holmes would find elementary, he declares that if a person builds an altar for sin, he will find it lead… Read More

Proverbs 5-On The Edge

Proverbs 5:14
“I was on the verge of total ruin, in the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

“The assembly of the congregation”, or in our case, the church, was designed by God as a means to help the individual believer grow in Christ. The Word of God, corporate worship, and fellowship, were all designed by God to help each of us grow in Christ. When we come to church with a soft heart, eager to hear from God, His Word has a way of speaking directly into the… Read More

TODAY’S DAILY READING: Hosea 4-6 & Proverbs 4
Old Testament: Hosea 4- Confusion

Hosea 4:6
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…”

The days of Hosea were very dark; the nation had wandered from the ways of God and idolatry was as common in Israel as it was in the pagan nations that surrounded it. Just about every hilltop was the site of an altar to… Read More

Hosea 6- Come back

Hosea 6:1
“Come, and let us return to the Lord; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.”

The mercy of God is so great that He not only invites us to come to Him for salvation, but invites us to return to Him… Read More

Proverbs 4- Healthy Home

Proverbs 4:3-4
“When I was my father’s son, tender and the only one in the sight of my mother, he also taught me, and said to me: ‘Let your heart retain my words; keep my commands, and live.’”

Solomon is giving us a brief glimpse into his home life. In these verses we learn he was raised in an… Read More

 

TODAY’S DAILY READING: Hosea 1-3 & Proverbs 3
Old Testament: Hosea 2- Undue Influence

Hosea 2:14
“Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
Will bring her into the wilderness,
And speak comfort to her.”

Hosea is ministering to people
who have drifted from the Lord. Their drifting was partially caused by the spiritual confusion of the day; a result of the leaders using their influence to pressure others into… Read More

Hosea 3- Sale Rack

Hosea 3:2
“So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and one and one-half homers of barley.”

At first glance, Hosea’s story seems to be a unique one. He was instructed to marry a woman who was involved in prostitution. We have three choices as to exactly what this… Read More

Proverbs 3- Benefits

Proverbs 3:1
“My Son, do not forget my law”

Have you ever heard someone ask, “What’s in it for me?” As if they will not consider the cost of doing something, unless they can understand the personal benefits they will derive. In light of that, notice how Solomon goes to great lengths to express… Read More