Amos 6 - Complacent?

"Woe to you who are complacent in Zion,
    and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria..." (Amos 6:1 NIV)

We probably all get a little complacent from time to time. Complacency is when we get too satisfied with the way things are and don't care for or want anything to change. But, is that a good thing? Is it good to go through life without making any changes; with ourselves or the things around us?

We all need change. When I was young, I use to hear this quite often: "When you quit learning, you die." Everyone of us needs to keep learning and growing. St. Paul wrote: "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." (1 Cor 13:11-12 NIV)

We cannot remain babies forever; not, in this world and not in the Kingdom of God. One day, we will all know the truth fully. That day has not yet come. But, it does not mean that we should be complacent and not strive to seek the truth or seek His face.

You think you know Jesus? How well do you know Him? Have you become complacent with a Sunday morning (or less) relationship?

 "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come." (Eph 1:17-21)  Amen!

God's Peace - Pr. J

Isaiah 34 - Day Of The LORD's Vengeance

The day of the LORD's vengeance, prophesied by Isaiah. Total annihilation of the LORD's enemies is promised and the land is promised to the unclean animals. I remember reading Mark Twain's "Letters from the Earth" many years ago. I can't find my copy today; but, if I remember correctly, his view included that the animal kingdom, not including humankind, did only what it was created to do. They killed one another in order to eat as that is how God created them. Humankind on the other hand often kills for reasons other than because that is how God created us. So, in today's lesson we hear that following the day of the LORD's vengeance, those animals will be left to live in the land.

I normally feed the animals in my backyard. We are quite a ways from the highway so I don't worry about them getting run over on a road to get here. My husband does not always appreciate the feeding of the animals. Among other things, it is my way of recycling. Any thing that is left over and edible is put out the door. Clean and unclean birds and animals come to eat. My husband is not real thrilled that some of these leftovers might attract bears, coyotes, or raccoon to our back door. In fact, when I woke up the other morning it appeared a porcupine had been in competition with someone for the scraps. There were quills left at the stoop or maybe it was a thank you gift for me. Probably not... He really does not like all the blue-jays that feed from the feeders and yesterday the crow standing on the bird bath was really an unpleasant sight for him. My response was only: "Even the crows have to eat. Let them eat." So far none of these other animals have kept the deer or the song birds from coming. There are multitudes that come. Now, I know that God has provided an abundance of food for them in the woods and the water, but I like to see them, so I feed them that they might come closer in and so the leftovers don't get wasted in some landfill.

A little off topic today, again. But, I cannot help think that the animals that God has created are true to who God made them to be. Are we? Were we not given dominion (care takers) of creation? How do we care for it? How do we care for one another? In the day of the LORD's vengeance, what will be our response when we stand before Him?

God's Peace - Pr. J.