Category: Thoughts and Meditations

“A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness.” – Isaiah 10:21-22

There is a pattern throughout Scripture that’s vital to understand – God always saves a faithful remnant of His people. From Noah and the Flood throughout the entire history of Israel and Judah, we see, time and again, that God brings judgment on many of “His people” who aren’t truly faithful. They fall into vile sin and the “unthinkable” happens (destruction, societal collapse, conquest) because so many among His people take Him for granted and rely on their ethnic status or religious membership to save them.

That isn’t how God saves. He doesn’t save based on labels, like “Israelite” or “Christian”. He saves people based on His grace through their faith. It is that remnant that God lovingly protects, disciplines, refines, and restores. In every era, there have been many who assumed they were “in” because they followed the rituals, attended the temple, and made the required sacrifices but they lacked real faith and were disobedient in heart and action. This pattern continues to the present day. There was a time, not so long ago, when “everyone” was Christian because they went to church on Sunday. Not so! The culture attached social reward to attending church and making a good show of Christianity. Many who lacked saving faith attended church religiously because it was good for business, for career, for politics. Nonetheless, they weren’t part of God’s faithful remnant.

Those days have passed, which isn’t all bad. Churches are smaller, but increasingly, those who remain are the faithful remnant. Much of what has taken place during the years of the church’s “decline” in the west has been a sifting of the church to reduce her to the faithful remnant. Those who love and obey Jesus. Those who believe God’s Word and try to live by it. That sifting is likely to continue in these Turbulent ‘20s. It will become more costly to be a faithful follower of Jesus. It may limit job opportunities and career growth, reduce social standing and kill political dreams. That’s entirely consistent with what Jesus taught and will help further identify the faithful remnant within the membership of American churches.

The Bible is clear – you should desperately want to be part of God’s faithful remnant! The remnant is who is loved, blessed, saved, guarded, and ultimately brought into glorious eternity. How do you make sure you’re among that remnant? Make sure you truly believe in Jesus as your Lord. Believe in His life, death, and resurrection that atoned for your sins. Repent of those sins and #FollowJesus!

“But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’” – Amos 7:15

The message of Amos was deeply unpopular. He’d drawn the anger of the king of Israel for delivering God’s word of coming judgment for their sins. When told to be quiet and go home, his answer was simple. Amos explained that he wasn’t a professional prophet. This wasn’t what he expected to be doing with his life. Instead, he was a business man who’d been given a message and a command by God. God told Amos to go and he went. God told Amos what to say and he said it. He could do nothing else and still be faithful to His God. Despite the unpopularity of the message and the opposition that would arise, Amos simply had to go and speak. Would you? Would you go? Would you speak?

Regardless of your career field or employer, God has given you a message and a command as well. After His resurrection, Jesus proclaimed that He’d been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Flowing out of His absolute authority was a command for all His followers to go and tell people about Him. Win people to the faith and teach them how to follow and obey Jesus. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…”

The command you’ve been given by King Jesus doesn’t necessarily mean you need to leave your career behind. But it does mean that you need to be talking about Jesus as you go about your daily life. It means that you need to be prayerful in understanding what God is asking and expecting about how you do your job. It means that your top priority in your career shouldn’t be success or promotions but instead should be proclaiming Jesus faithfully. The message will be unpopular, especially in our present-day society. Embrace God the way Amos did and let His commission become your mission so that, like Amos, you simply feel you must go and speak freely. #FollowJesus

“Hate evil, and love good,
and establish justice in the gate;
it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,
will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”
– Amos 5:15

Israel had a serious problem…. They thought they were doing OK spiritually when they weren’t. They thought that since they held regular worship services, celebrated the major holidays, and made all the ritual sacrifices that they were doing fine in God’s eyes. They weren’t! They may have been putting on a good show of obeying God, but their heart wasn’t in it. They weren’t actually submitted to God, His commands, and His heart for other people. God, being God, knew the truth of their spiritual rot.

Though they made a great show of religiosity, they were cruel and uncaring toward others. They cheated, mistreated, and exploited the poor. They appeared religious but really worshipped idols of money and status as they pursued beautiful houses and extravagant displays of wealth. God condemned them for this. God’s heart is for all people, but particularly for the poor and vulnerable. He expects His people to share that heart and act on it. As He prophesied destruction for Israel, He held out yet another chance to turn from their false obedience and embrace true obedience to Him.

God’s people must hate evil, not flirt with it, praise it, participate in it, excuse it, or celebrate it. God’s people must love good. Not the mere idea of good, but actually doing good toward others out of love and obedience to the God Who saves us. God’s people must care about and work for justice and promote systems and structures that bless all people, particularly those who are most vulnerable. These aren’t optional for God’s people. They aren’t what save anyone but they are what those who are truly saved care about.

This hasn’t changed since the time of Amos. The same critique can sometimes be made about God’s people today. We can easily take on the appearance of great religiosity without embracing the heart of Jesus for the poor and vulnerable among us. We can be focused on the appearance of following Jesus while rebelling against Him in the privacy of our homes, in the priorities of our hearts, and in the policies we advocate. We chase idols of wealth, status, and comfort while praising the name of Jesus in worship. Let us be careful today, in our time, that we really do hate evil, love good, and establish justice in our communities. #FollowJesus

“And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’” – Isaiah 6:5

When the prophet Isaiah saw a vision of God the Father on His throne, he responded the way we all should. He became deeply aware of his own sins and shortcomings. He knew he had no business being in the presence of a God so perfectly holy, holy, holy. He took no satisfaction in being a generally good person living among God’s people. Instead, Isaiah saw God’s perfect holiness and it overwhelmed him as he fully understood the wrath and doom he deserved for his rebellious words spoken against His creator’s will.

That really is how God truly is. Almighty. Holy. Supreme. Overwhelmingly pure. He is the almighty creator of the universe. He rules from heaven in absolute power and stunning, overwhelming, absolute sinless perfection. He is supreme over all things and utterly without hint of sin or shadow of darkness. If we could see Him as He is, we would all be like Isaiah with a deep sense of our own sinfulness. We would never again ask for what we deserve because we would know that we deserve God’s judgment. Think about how God truly is. Try to picture His overwhelming holiness and presence, surrounded by angels praising Him. Let yourself be in awe of Him.

Then realize that what God did for Isaiah, He’s done for you. The prophet was completely overwhelmed by the sinful words that had flowed out of his mouth throughout his life. In his vision, an angel touched his lips with a burning coal to atone for his sin and purify his tongue. In His great mercy, God has made that atonement and purification available to everyone through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the burning coal made flesh! He entered our world, lived a sinless life, died an atoning death on a cross, and rose from the dead so that all our sin would be utterly destroyed when we put our faith in Lord Jesus. Faith in Jesus transforms you from a person of unclean lips to a holy vessel prepared to serve a holy God.

However, Jesus is far more than just the burning coal. He is the person and presence of God come to the earth and made flesh so that we can embrace and enjoy God’s presence among us. The eternal Son of God took on a human body and nature so that we could gaze upon God without being doomed for our sin. God has lived, walked, taught, and worked among us so that we can love and fellowship with Him without disaster. Marvel at what God did to make Himself approachable by unclean people like us and rejoice that you’re invited into God’s throne room without fear. #FollowJesus

“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” – 1 Corinthians 3:16

If Jesus is your Lord, then this is true for you! Think about it… YOU are God’s temple! You! God’s Spirit lives IN YOU!!!

You are now the most holy place. You are now the place where God dwells on earth. Take that seriously! You matter. Your faithfulness matters. Your holiness matters. Your growth in Christ matters. You have purpose. You are a walking, talking temple of the Most High God of the Universe!

As God’s temple, enjoy His presence in you. Spend time with God and enjoy that time. Recognize His presence in you and delight in it. As God’s temple, seek to be a holy temple worthy of His presence. Have nothing to do with sinful, wasteful thoughts, words, or deeds. Strive to be holy because you are the temple of God.

Meditate on this for awhile…. #FollowJesus