Morning Coffee With Renae

Amos 2:13 – 16  “Now then, I will crush you as a cart crushes when loaded with grain.  The swift will not escape, the strong will not muster their strength, and the warrior will not save his life.  The archer will not stand his ground, the fleet-footed soldier will not get away, and the horseman will not save his life. Even the bravest warriors will flee naked on that day,” declares the LORD.

I once had the dubious privilege of carting a bunch of bricks from the top of a hill to the bottom of a hill. While going downhill with such a load is much easier than going uphill, it was still quite a chore. Back and forth I went, loading my wheelbarrow with bricks and then guiding it down the hill, keeping the wheelbarrow from toppling over and spilling its bounty. On those trips downhill, when the cart was weighted down with bricks, it made deep divets in the grass, crushing and killing anything in its path.

God’s message to the Israelite people — and to us — is that our sin is a heavy burden to Him. While He poured out His love and mercy on the Israelites, they returned His goodness with insults and cruelty and rebellion. They heaped their sin on so thick, piled it so high that God finally said, “Enough! I refuse to take any more.” If Israel was going to choose to live as enemies of God, He’d treat them as enemies. He’d crush them, just as that cart crushed the earth beneath it.

Go back and re-read the verse. It says even the swift won’t escape. The strong won’t have enough strength to withstand God’s crushing blows. No one would avoid God’s wrath, not even the bravest warriors. Not even the most skilled archers. Not even the guy on the best horse would get away.

You see, friends, while God’s patience may eventually wear out, His power never does.

The people of Israel had taken advantage of their own Israelite brothers. They had shown no mercy, no kindness, no love. They had crushed the poor beneath the weight of their own greed, and ignored God’s countless warnings. Now, God planned to give them a heaping helping of their own lack of hospitality.

They didn’t show mercy. God wouldn’t show mercy.

They didn’t show kindness. God wouldn’t show kindness.

They crushed their brothers. Now, it was their turn to be crushed. God would take away their inheritance and take away their lives.

Friends, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but God will do the same thing to us today. As a matter of fact, He has already done it in many of our churches across this nation and around the world. You see, like Israel, many of our churches have played at being religious while neglecting the intent of their religious rules. We condemn instead of love. We cast judgment instead of mercy. All the while, we hide behind our churchianity and religious piety and heap sin upon sin upon sin.

Friends, God’s patience will run out. But His power will not. He will crush us, take our inheritance and our lives, just as He did to Israel.

In many churches, He has done just that. He has taken their inheritance, which is the Holy Spirit. In many of our churches today, the Holy Spirit just isn’t there. And since the Holy Spirit is the source of life for the church, the Spirit’s absence brings certain death to a body of believers. Many of our churches today are as dusty and dry as a bone-filled tomb. Dead, dead, dead.

When we live in opposition to God, when we heap sin upon sin, when we refuse to do what we know is right, His patience will run out. We’ll find ourelves crushed beneath His power, and beneath the weight of our own sin. Oh, that it would never be in my life! May I always do what is right. May I always show mercy, so He will show mercy to me. May I show goodness and kindness and patience, so He will pour out those things on me. If I’m going to be crushed, I’d rather be crushed beneath His love.

Dear Father, Forgive me for continuing to live in opposition to Your ways. Give me a tender, teachable heart. Amen

Amos 2:11 – 12 “I also raised up prophets from among your sons and Nazirites from among your young men. Is this not true, people of Israel? But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.”

I can’t describe the feeling of joy and pride I get when one of my children does something exceptional. I suppose it’s the same feeling any parent gets, when his or her child does something brag-worthy. And though I love when my children bring home good grades, or excel in a sport or extracurricular activity, I feel most proud when they exhibit exceptional character.

Shouldn’t we feel that way as a nation, too? When we see young people making good choices, going to church and growing in their relationships with the Lord, abstaining from drugs and alcohol and extra-marital sex, shouldn’t we be proud? After all, they are our future.

Yet, that’s not how our society sees it. It seems that instead of rejoicing over good, godly character in our young people, our society does everything it can to pull these young people away from God. They are scoffed at when they abstain from sex. They are encouraged to loosen up, try just a sip of wine or just a puff of marijuana, or whatever else the world has to offer.

And lest we fool ourselves into believing these pressures come from outside the church, and as long as we keep our children in a church-shaped bubble they won’t be touched, we need to think again. Many a young person has lost his or her purity at a church function. Many a young person has been made fun of by people within the church, simply because their godliness exceeds that of others present.

You see, we don’t like to be reminded of our shortcomings. When we find ourselves deep in the mudpit of sin, we don’t want to watch others walk past in their pristine, shiny clothes. We want to sling mud. We want to pull them in with us.

The Israelites were no different. They had traveled far from God. But God sent them messengers along the way, godly young men who lived upright, holy lives, and who spoke His word. But the Israelites didn’t want to hear it. They didn’t want to be reminded of how sinful they were, so they slung mud, so to speak. They enticed and manipulated these godly young people until they, too, were covered in the muck and mire of sin. Then, the Israelites could cheer and laugh and go on with their mud-wrestling matches, without having anybody spoil their fun.

Shame on us as a people! Shame on our culture, for scoffing at righteousness, and for enticing people away from godly standards. And shame on us for not seeing these idealistic, unsullied innocents for what they are — God’s messengers. God’s reminders that, though the world around us may be falling, He is still God. He still has high standards for us. Friends, in my opinion, our nation won’t be destroyed by some foreign tyrant. We’re destroying ourselves, one generation at a time.

From now on, I’m going to try and take a more active role in the protection of innocence and holiness, as well as in the protection of those who have been called to ministry. When I see a person reaching for a high, godly standard of living, I won’t just stand by and wait for their fall. I’ll encourage and applaud them. I’ll listen to what they have to say. And I’ll respect their calling enough to stand in front of them, if need be, in order to protect them from the mudslingers.

Dear Father, Please continue to speak to the hearts of our young people. Call them to Yourself, and send people to encourage them in their call to holiness and godliness. Help me to be an encourager and a cheerleader to those who’ve been called as Your servants. And please don’t let me ever take part in bringing one of your special servants down.

Amen

Amos 2:9 – 10 “I destroyed the Amorite before them, though he was tall as the cedars and strong as the oaks. I destroyed his fruit above and his roots below. I brought you up out of Egypt, and I led you forty years in the desert to give you the land of the Amorites.”

Have you ever met an Amorite?

No? I didn’t think so. Me neither.

The reason we haven’t met any Amorites lately is because God destroyed them. He destroyed the entire nation, from both ends. He destroyed their leaders all the way down to their infants. God wiped them out.

Why would He do such a thing?

Well, He didn’t. At least not for a long, long time. Back when Abraham was figuring out where to settle his family, God told him, “That land will be yours one day, but don’t go over there now. The Amorites live there, and they are bad news. But I’m going to give them a chance to turn to me.”

You see, not only were the Amorites huge — they were so big they made the Israelites look like little scrub brushes compared to their tall oak-like branches — but they were wicked. Evil. Rotten.

For four hundred twenty years, God kept the Amorites from destroying Israel, while He gave these wicked giants chance after chance to repent. Finally, He’d had enough. He destroyed every last one of them.

So, not only did God protect Israel from being served up as an appetizer to these Amorite oafs, but He wiped them away, so Israel wouldn’t have to worry about them any more. Then, he handed Israel the Amorite land on a silver platter, so to speak. He said, “Here you go — the land I promised you.”

Wow. What a reminder of the great things God had done for them. And still . . .

Still, the Israelites turned from Him. They disobeyed His laws and made a mockery of His standards.

It would be easy for me to sit here in my easy chair and tsk-tsk the Israelites, but I dare not. You see, friends, God has done great things for me, as well. He has lavished His love on me. He has given me two beautiful, healthy children despite my struggle with infertility. He has healed my heart when I thought surely it was broken beyond repair. He has done so many great things for me, I couldn’t begin to list them here.

And yet, I still fail Him. I still ignore His presence at times. I’m not proud of it, but I do. Every time I gossip, every time I lose my temper over some petty thing, every time I feel jealous of someone else’s success, every time I feel dissatisfied with my life instead of being grateful for His many blessings, I fail Him.

Friends, when we find ourselves far from God, one thing we can do to move toward Him once again is simply remember.

Remember.

Remember the good things He has done for you. Israel’s failure began when they forgot to remember.

Does that make sense?

They forgot to remember how good God had been to them. That made it easy to forget His laws. That made it easy to ignore His presence.

Here, Amos laid out a giant reminder to the Israelites, and a reminder to us, as well. God is good, and He has done amazing things for each of us. Let’s not forget. Instead, let’s live our lives in gratitude for His constant, unfailing love.

Dear Father, I’m sorry for forgetting how good You are, and how good You’ve been to me. Help me to remember Your goodness, and to live in gratitude of Your love. Amen

Happy Weekend, everyone! I don’t know about you, but I’m having a little trouble staying cool these days, what with the four-hundred-twelve degree weather and all. Well, it feels that way, anyway. So to help cool things down, I thought I’d share one of the coolest videos ever. Yes, that’s me singing, at the end. With the red hair sticking out from my habit.

What’s that? This movie was made in 1992, you say? And you didn’t know I was that old? Well, I’m not. I was only eight years old. I was mature for my age.

Moving on. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!

Have a beautiful weekend, my friends.

Love,

Renae

Amos 2:8 “They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge. In the house of their god they drink wine taken as fines.”

I can hear my mother saying it, even now. “Keep digging.” Of course, the words themselves didn’t mean much. It was her tone. Her facial expression. Her body language — hands on hips, eyebrows down. When she spoke those words, I knew I was in deep trouble, and whatever I was doing was just getting me in more trouble. I had already dug a deep pit for myself, and with each insolent word or rebellious action I sunk further from the surface.

Not that I was ever insolent or rebellious. Ahem.

Israel’s list of infractions grew and grew. They weren’t guilty of just a couple of minor sins. They had dug themselves into a deep hole, and they just kept digging.

Not only did they accept bribes and walk all over the poor. Not only did father and son sleep with the same girl. But they took advantage of the less fortunate in the worst way. In Exodus 22:26 – 27, God’s people were told that if they took a man’s cloak in pledge for something, they were to give it back by nightfall. Otherwise, the poor fellow might freeze to death! If a man offered his garment in pledge, it probably meant he didn’t have anything more valuable than the shirt on his back. Out of simple human decency, God wanted his children to give the garment back.

But the wealthy Israelites didn’t care about the poor at all. They didn’t care if some poor fellow froze to death. They used his garment to cushion their own beds.

Not only that, but they took wine from the poor and drank it. The insinuation here is that even if a person hadn’t really done anything worthy of a fine, the stingy, greedy Israelites would come up with some bogus fine and take the wine, so they could drink it themselves. Now that’s just plain wrong.

Sometimes, we let ourselves become absorbed with . . . well, with ourselves. We all do it from time to time. But when we don’t repent of our self-centeredness, when we don’t allow God to shape us, our selfishness can become pretty ugly. Before long, we find ourselves feeding our own desires, without a thought for who we might be hurting.

Perhaps these Israelites didn’t realize this poor guy was out there, shivering in the cold. Perhaps they weren’t aware that the bottle of wine they drank was a family’s most valuable possession, and was being saved for a special occasion. Of course they didn’t know, because they didn’t think. They thought only of themselves. That’s what selfishness does.

To my knowledge, I’ve never taken a man’s only means of warmth or consumed his special wine. But I have been guilty of self-centeredness. I have been guilty of serving my own desires, without thinking of who I might be hurting. The only way to avoid such actions is to pry my eyes off myself, and to throw myself at God’s mercy. Then, He will begin a beautiful transformation. He will make my thoughts His thoughts, and His ways my ways. He’ll help me to see beyond myelf, to the vast world of hurting people. People who need His love. People He wants me to help.

Then, my world will get bigger, as I focus on serving others instead of myself.

Dear Father, Forgive me for hurting others by focusing only on myself. Help me to notice others, and to do what I can to make their lives better. 

Amen

Amos 2:7b “Father and son use the same girl and so profane my holy name.”

Whoa! Back up the gravy train. Did I just read what I think I read?

Well,  yes. I believe I did. Unbelievable.

Surely Amos was mistaken. These weren’t pagans he was talking to, after all. These were God’s chosen ones. These were the religious people, who went to temple and paid their tithes and took pride in their status as God’s people. Sure, they might have overlooked the poor. Sure, they might have turned their heads when some money changed hands. But father and son, sleeping with the same girl? Surely not.

Unfortunately, Amos spoke the truth. And it’s really not that unbelievable, when you think about it. After all, these people had forgotten the purpose of their tithes and their Sabbath rules and their heritage. It had become all about ritual, and they’d forgotten the relationship. And when we neglect our relationship with our Creator, well . . . let’s just say it doesn’t take long for our sinful nature to take over.

The girl these men slept with was probably a prostitute at one of the nearby pagan temples. By cover of darkness, the father might sneak over and have a little rendezvous with her. The next night, the son might do the same thing. And when these “men of God” passed each other in the temple, well, they turned their heads and pretended not to notice. After all, what’s the harm in a little hanky-panky? Everyone did it, right?

Hmmmm . . .

I can think of some modern-day “children of God,” dedicated church-goers, tithers, Sunday School teachers and Vacation Bible School workers who have dedicated their lives to the ritual of religion. Yet, in the midst of their faithful service, they’ve forgotten that it’s not about keeping all the rules. It’s about our relationship with the Almighty God.

No matter how dedicated we may seem to church life, if our relationship with God isn’t what it should be, sin will take over. Period. That’s just the way it works. And whether it’s a stealth visit to a prostitute or a little drunken binge when no one is around or a cruel gossip fest with the other church ladies, it’s all sin. It’s all wrong.

The fact that these men had sunk to perhaps the lowest of the low — father and son sleeping with the same woman — was just a symptom of their neglected relationship with their Father. They brought shame to themselves. And they brought shame on the One whose name they carried.

When I neglect my relationship with my Father, I will always end up with my head hung in shame. Sin is in my nature, and without God’s close daily presence, sin will abound. But sin cannot dwell where God is. When we draw near to Him, the sin that seeks to destroy us will retreat. We can hold our heads high, knowing we bring honor to ourselves and to our Father, as long as we spend time in His presence and daily build our relationship with Him.

Dear Father, Forgive me for neglecting my relationship with You. I know the closer I stay to You, and the more time I spend with You, the less likely I am to allow sin to destroy my life. I love You, Father.

Amen

Amos 2:7a “They trample on the heads of the poor as upon the dust of the ground, and deny justice to the oppressed.”

I remember it like it was yesterday. As a teenager, I was the typical, perpetual nice girl. One friend in particular always made me feel bad about myself. One day, I had a lightbulb moment and realized that just because I was nice, I didn’t have to let this friend walk all over me. I had other options. I changed lunch tables. I made other friends. It was very liberating.

That realization — that I had other options — freed me to rid myself of an unhealthy relationship. After that I stood taller, walked with more dignity. Jesus may have taught humility, but He was no one’s doormat. He doesn’t expect His children to be doormats, either.

That’s why it upset God so much to see His own children, the Israelites, running right over their own Israelite brothers and sisters, simply because they were poor. Unlike my situation, the poor in that society didn’t have many options. They had to do what their wealthy landlords and rulers told them to do. And as a rule, the wealthy Israelites cared more about lining their pockets than they did about justice for the poor.

In their opinions, a person’s value was based on his or her financial status. Those who had nothing were nothing. The wealthy walked all over the poor, and the poor couldn’t do a thing about it.

Friends, God created all people in His image, and He wants all people to be treated with dignity. Do I do that? Do I show proper respect to every person I meet, no matter what they look like or how they smell or what they drive or where they live?

I hope I do. But if I’m honest, I must admit that I’ve been guilty of making snap judgments about people based on the above list. I’ve made assumptions about people’s intelligence and education and all sorts of silly things, based on superficial factors. And though I do try to be nice to everyone, I’m sure my opinions have affected the way I’ve treated people. And that makes me feel very, very ashamed of myself.

Have I been guilty of throwing my weight around and walking on people? I hope not. But I’ve seen others being walked on, and I’ve done nothing to intervene. I suppose that makes me just as guilty as the one doing the trampling.

As a representative of God in this world, it’s my job to stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves. I don’t know about you, but from now on I’m going to keep my eyes open a little wider. If I need to step in front of someone in order to protect them from being walked on, then I will. And I know when I do, I won’t stand alone, for the God of the universe, the Creator of heaven and earth will stand with me.

Dear Father, Help me not to walk on others and treat them like dirt. When I notice someone else being trampled by bullies, give me the wisdom and courage to stand for what is right. 

Amen

Amos 2:6 “This is what the Lord says: ‘For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. They sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals.’”

I rarely watch television. But every once in a while, I’ll find a show that resonates with me, and before long, I’m hooked. A few years ago, there was one such show about a young judge, trying her best to make good decisions and wise judgments in a world where everything wasn’t always black and white. Though I didn’t always agree with her choices, I admired the character’s sense of integrity, and her determination to do the right thing, even when it wasn’t the easy thing.

Corruption in the judicial system is as old as the judicial system itself. Israel was no different. In a world where the lines between the classes were thick and long, Israel’s judges came primarily from the upper class. They were the wealthy, educated people of society. Just like today.

Unfortunately, many of those judges cared more about lining their pockets than about justice. Winning a court case was as simple as slipping a few silver coins to the judge, for truly, whoever had the most money would win. Even in cases where neither party was wealthy, judges were willing to be paid off with whatever was the most valuable. A judge could be bought for a pair of sandals, if that was the highest going price.

Hmmmmm . . . that still happens today. Just recently I heard of a case in a nearby town where the plaintiff, who had a legitimate complaint against a major corporation, was treated with disregard. The corporation had more money, so they got their way, even though they were wrong.

Oftentimes, a court decision boils down to which party has the most money to hire the slickest lawyers. Guilt or innocence becomes secondary to one’s financial influence.

But even outside the court system, in ordinary life, the poor are not shown justice. The job goes to the person with the fancy Armani suit and the Harvard education. A little more respect is shown to the woman with the professionally manicured nails and the designer handbag. We listen more closely to the person who lives in the fancy neighborhood, while we brush off the person who lives on the wrong side of the tracks.

Friends, that’s not the way it’s supposed to be. God is a God of justice. He will not sit idly by and allow the poor to be denied justice, and we shouldn’t, either. Whether it’s within our judicial system or in our everyday lives, we have a responsibility to be God’s hands and feet in this world. We have a responsibility to stand up for the poor, to help the needy, and to make sure every person is given the dignity befitting one who was created in God’s image.

The poor will always be with us — God’s Word tells us that. But we should always strive, as God does, to make their situations better. Though none of us, by ourselves, can completely wipe out the injustice that is often shown to our poorest citizens, we can certainly make sure we are part of the solution, not part of the problem. For remember, my friends. When we show love and compassion and mercy to others, God will show those things to us.

Matthew 25:40 “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.”

Dear Father, Help me to show compassion and justice for all people. If I’ve been guilty of injustice toward anyone, make me aware of it, and help me not to do it again.

Amen

I wish each of you a restful weekend filled with frothy iced coffee drinks and lazy naps in the shade. And while you’re sipping and napping, I thought you might like to listen to one of my favorite songs ever. Be blessed, and I’ll see you on Monday!

Love,

Renae

Amos 2:4 – 5″ Thus says the LORD, ‘For three transgressions of Judah and for four I will not revoke its punishment, because they rejected the law of the LORD and have not kept His statutes; their lies also have led them astray, those after which their fathers walked. So I will send fire upon Judah and it will consume the citadels of Jerusalem.” NAS

Amos was from Judah. He was probably preaching in one of the big temples in Israel, where, to this point, his message would have been well-received. After all, he started by proclaiming doom on all of Israel’s enemies. Judah, while technically still part of God’s chosen, was kind of like Israel’s wayward brother. The black sheep, if you will.

More than likely, there were people from Amos’ hometown present at this revival meeting. And while the “Amen’s” and “Hallelujah’s” were abundant while God cast judgment on all the pagan nations, I wonder if an awkward hush settled over the crowd when Amos turned on his own kin. I’ll bet it did.

For each of the previous nations, God’s grievance with them was cruelty in some form or another. Because God created us, He stamped a basic knowledge of right and wrong in each of our hearts. Those people should have known better, for everyone knows cruelty is wrong. There’s no excuse for it. God held them accountable for what they knew.

But Judah was a different story. Judah knew God’s laws, yet she defiantly rejected those laws. She had even adopted some of the pagan idols from neighboring nations, and worshiped them. She forgot who she was, and Whose she was.

But wait a minute! Judah didn’t do anything that bad, did she? She didn’t beat anyone with threshing tools, or sell them into slavery. She didn’t kill anyone, or disrespect any dead kings. As far as we know, the people of Judah were hard workers. They paid their bills on time and showed kindness to their neighbors. But God said He would destroy them with fire, the same way He destroyed the others. That’s not fair, is it?

Well, yes. Actually it is fair. While God holds every human accountable for accepting or rejecting His Son, He also holds us accountable for our actions, while we’re on this earth. He holds each of us accountable for what we know to do. For those who don’t have God’s Word, or haven’t been to church, or haven’t grown up with as many opportunities to know and understand God, He holds them accountable for basic human decency.

And for those of us who have been taught God’s Word, and who know exactly what He expects of us, we are held to a higher standard of accountability. To whom much is given, much is expected.

God held Judah to a higher standard. And with each new truth He reveals to me, He holds me to a higher standard, as well. He doesn’t seem to care nearly as much about my church attendance or my good moral code as He does about my heart. It seems the more wisdom He reveals to me, the greater the consequences when I don’t use that wisdom.

This may seem harsh, my friends, but it’s not. It’s actually because of His great love and mercy that He holds His children accountable for what they know to do. You see, He wants so much for each of us, and He knows that His laws are the only path to the peaceful, abundant life He has planned for us. So He draws us toward that abundance, toward the good life, if You will, and He makes the consequences of rejecting that wisdom worse than the consequences for those who never had as much of His wisdom in the first place.

But when we do honor Him in every area of our lives, the rewards are permanent and unending. I don’t know about You, but I want to remember who I am, and Whose I am. I want to honor and obey Him, for only then will I experience the beautiful life He has in store for those who follow closely after Him.

Dear Father, Thank You for having high expectations and for holding me accountable. Help me to live up to those expectations. Amen