Amos Bible Sketch

How can there be justice in my mess?

No matter what my or your mess is, Truth defeats lies of the devil, the world, and our fallen human nature. 

 

Righteousness is promised in the Word. 

God’s justification is where His peace enters the life of a sinner in the form of a divine gift. God creates faith to believe in Jesus. Thankfully, He knows us better than we know ourselves and His love for us doesn’t change upon circumstance or His Divine Knowledge of how depraved we are.

 “For I know how many are your transgressions and how great are your sins” Amos 5:12

The difficult things God allows are for His purpose to bring people to contrition, confession, and change for their own (or another person’s) present or eternal good. In an act of grace, His Spirit supports people through the process of confession and life of faith. Still, God’s good grace is a gift which can be received or rejected.

“Let love be genuine; abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.” Romans 12:9 read the chapter

We cannot save ourselves from the messes we make, nor those we protest.

Jesus died and was raised to forgive and clear us from our disordered position. All who receive His righteousness grow in knowledge, strength, trust, and joy! His perfect work heals and saves—it blesses and reverses the curse for the life to come.

Our Creator tenderly and constantly is doing reconciling work in our lives. 

The earth’s groaning in earthquakes and hardships are reminders to repent and turn to God for mercy. Beware of complacency. We do not deserve anything, yet forgiveness is made possible by the powerful, everflowing stream of Christ’s compassionate understanding, love and grace. His Spirit encourages us to serve Him and others by blessing us with words at the right moments—opportunities God provides for us to share this life-saving Good News. In gratitude, we share with others and cherish others who connect with us regarding the Gospel.

Amos 5:24

But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amos 5:24

God wants justice for the oppressed. 

Injustices are constant in the world. Integrity is doing what God says when we allow Him to guide us.

“God’s people are to produce justice continually and swiftly, like the flow of a river. Just as plants and animals need a steady supply of water to survive, so also human communities can flourish only when justice and righteousness prevail.” The Lutheran Study Bible

God’s commands are to show our need for Him; also, to help us love Him and each other. He wants us to have right relationships. He will take actions to correct injustice. God confronts evil for His purposes to have mercy on us and restore us to walk in newness of life.

God and God Alone 
by Steve Green

God and God alone created all these things we call our own

From the mighty to the small, the Glory in them all is God’s and God’s alone

God and God alone reveals the truth of all we call unknown

and the best and worst of man won’t change the Master’s plan it’s God’s and God’s alone

God and God alone is fit to take the universe’s throne

Let everything that lives reserve its truest praise for God and God alone

Listen to a Bible study discussion about how God works through means, even uncomfortable ones. 

Read a Christian perspective on the decision by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) Dobbs v. Jackson reversal of Roe v. Wade, stating the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion and returning the issue to the states. This positive action makes pro-life faithful people thankful for potential measures to protect lives of the most vulnerable. We pray individuals and states would step up and take responsibility to protect unborn babies.

Read more about

• Racism
• Disability
• Child Abuse
• Human Trafficking
• Domestic Violence
• Life
• Immigration
• Persecution
• Marriage
• Sexuality
• Religious Liberty

Amos Links

• Introducing Amos by Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller
• Watch an Illustrated Summary of Amos

Living proof I “chose life” and thank my grandma and mother for doing so.

My children Laura and Nathan having tire swing and sandbox fun.

Staying healthy with sweet corn and amoxicillin for dinner.

When I grow up, I could be an engineer or a pastor or an artist or a good friend…

Four-generation span shown in this photo. Great Grandma chose life for Mom who chose life for me and I chose life for Laura.

Life is reason to celebrate every moment. The only way to offer an unborn baby a Happy New Year is by choosing life.

I Googled “charity” and came up with 368,000,000 matches. It is amazing how much information is at my fingertips. When I Google “human life” there were 24,000,000 results. Topping the list is an organization dedicated to protecting life from fertilization to natural death.

Why do organizations need to promote life? The answer is because of sin. God gave us The Ten Commandments to help us recognize sin in our lives. Sin takes a gift God has given and uses it in a way God does not want it used. Each commandment also teaches us how God’s gifts are used to His honor and glory.

The Bible’s fifth commandment is You shall not murder. The Lutheran (LCMS) explanation interprets it along with the verses listed below: 

Curb anger, do not harm or kill, hate not, repay not ill with ill. Be patient and of gentle mind, convince your foe that you are kind. Have mercy, Lord!*

Human life is the crowning gift of God’s creation. We are not to end human life through murder, abortion, euthanasia or suicide. Prejudice, bigotry and abuse of those less fortunate are forbidden. We recognize that we can “murder” a person with our thoughts, certainly with our words, and then most dramatically with our actions. As God’s representative, the government has the authority to execute criminals and to wage just wars in order to punish evildoers, protect us, and maintain order. As we continue to receive mercy and kindness in Christ, so we support our neighbors when they need help. (Gen.9:6; Matt. 26:52; Jer. 1:5; Prov. 31:8; Matt. 5:22; 1 John 3:15; Eph. 4:26; Rom.13:4).

We cannot keep the commandments because of sin. Good news is that Jesus Christ sacrificed his perfect life for our sake and rose again on the third day so we may have eternal life.

I was recently invited to participate in an event called “Walk for Life”. It is a great reason to get some exercise and vitamin D (if the sun is shining) along with others who care about life. Every dollar raised will go to support the ever-expanding work of the Pregnancy Service Center. This organization is dedicated to helping meet the needs of those facing an unplanned pregnancy. You can easily donate to help! To learn more about how this organization is sharing the mercy and kindness in Christ by offering education and support to women, visit my page where you can GIVE. You will be happy you did!

*From Martin Luther’s hymn on the Ten Commandments, Here Is the Tenfold Sure Command, Hymn in Lutheran Worship (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1982).

Life: A Celebration of Ages in a Nutshell

What is your first memory? Which days in your life will you never forget? Life happens so quickly, yet each day has 24 unique hours. That is 1,440 minutes of life in one single day! When I was a child, I learned a saying, “today is the first day of the rest of your life”. Simple, yet profound. Now, each Sunday morning our Pastor greets the people with, “This is the day that the LORD has made;” and we reply, “let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24 ESV). There are plenty of moments to be sad, scared, frustrated, sick, confused, hurried, stressed; as well as times to be happy, courageous, creative, exercising, helpful, entertaining and resting. The Bible verse offers a simple truth that allows me to make the best of every situation: focus on something to rejoice and be glad about in the day that is given to me :-)

• 9 months–0: I don’t have memories of what was going on before my birth, but there is plenty of research to back up the fact that I was a precious living human being from the time of conception and during the months Mom carried me. Preborn babies respond differently to various types of music for example. I am very thankful that my Mom was NOT pro-choice/pro-abortion, but she was pro-life! A good website for information on that is Lutherans For Life.
• 0–4: Baptism was the highlight. I received the gift of faith, forgiveness of sins and peace with God by the working of the Holy Spirit. At this point God looks at me through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. The Holy Spirit led my parents to bring me to worship—surround me with Christians—and provide me with daily devotions to develop wisdom and a strong spiritual foundation throughout my childhood. The physical, spiritual and intellectual growth during this period of time is amazing! One specific memory I have (when I was short enough to walk underneath the dinner table) is when I hit my head on a corner of the framework at the gap where additional leaves were added to accommodate a large family.
• 5–9: Kindergarten was the most wonderful year! I decided I wanted to be a kindergarten teacher when I grew up. I changed my mind, but I found a great friend who has that occupation! Working on the farm, with tasks like picking rocks, chopping thistles and pulling weeds were introduced during this period. Creative growth flourished in these early years.
• 10–14: Lutheran Island Camp in Henning, Minnesota is a great memory. 4-H also provided benefits of a wide variety of social and educational experiences.
• 15–19: Working in the fields, detasseling corn and a factory job, building computer parts for airplanes. Appleton High School, dance line, theatre; Alexandria Technical College…so much education and some fun, too.
• 20–24: A move to Brookings, South Dakota, starting a professional career as a graphic designer in a printing company. Marriage!
• 25–29: A move to Kansas! Two babies!
• 30–34: Two children!
• 35–39: Two adolescents!
• 40–44: Two teens!
• 45–49: 
  Two young adults! Loss of parents. I was the mother of the groom and gained a new daughter-in-law!

Life has seen many changes in 49 years. Had I kept a diary, I’d be able to tell exactly when computers came into daily living. Technology has connected me to email, Facebook, Twitter, Blogspot, Pinterest, Google+ and my own online shop on Etsy (not to mention to the many ways it changed my graphic design career). But the most meaningful changes involve family and friends. Life holds enormous blessings within the circle of loved ones…which reminds me of Skype!