A Lamp to My Feet

Before I get started on this article, I want to request special prayers on behalf of my daughter Spring and her husband Dan Raines. Spring has a very aggressive form of breast cancer that did not respond to her first round of chemo. This week will be her 2nd dose of this round of chemo. Last week it was very painful for her, and she had to go to the ER for pain relief.

Today, as we think about the prophet Amos, I want to make sure that you realize that Amos was not trained to be a prophet. He was a shepherd and a tender of sycamore trees. However, when God told him to go, Amos went. He went from the southern kingdom of Judah which was under King Uzziah to the northern kingdom of Israel under King Jeroboam. Read and notice how many times Amos declares that his message is from the LORD.

Amos makes several statements that we can apply to the condition of our nation today. I especially want you to notice Amos 8:11­12, “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, “when I will send a famine on the land — not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it.”

True faith is not based on how you feel. It is based on the words of the Bible. Romans 10:17 tells us that “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Many people go to church every week believing they are being taught what God wants them to hear when in truth they are being taught things dreamed up by man. What are you being taught?