O. Addison Gethers
e-mail address [email protected] [email protected] twitter URL http//:twitter.com/OAddisonGethers Messenger contact window live/msn messenger: [email protected] aim: durangoadd64 skype: cowboys62 yahoo messenger: OADDISONGETHERS rs ----- Original Message ----- From: "Donnie Parrett" <[email protected]> To: "Donnie Parrett" <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, September 23, 2009 10:07 PM Subject: Daily Bible Reading For Thursday September 24 > Day 267 > > Amos 4-6 (The Message) > > Amos 4 > You Never Got Hungry for God > 1 "Listen to this, you cows of Bashan > grazing on the slopes of Samaria. > You women! Mean to the poor, > cruel to the down-and-out! > Indolent and pampered, you demand of your husbands, > 'Bring us a tall, cool drink!' > 2-3"This is serious-I, God, have sworn by my holiness! > Be well warned: Judgment Day is coming! > They're going to rope you up and haul you off, > keep the stragglers in line with cattle prods. > They'll drag you through the ruined city walls, > forcing you out single file, > And kick you to kingdom come." > God's Decree. > > 4-5"Come along to Bethel and sin! > And then to Gilgal and sin some more! > Bring your sacrifices for morning worship. > Every third day bring your tithe. > Burn pure sacrifices-thank offerings. > Speak up-announce freewill offerings! > That's the sort of religious show > you Israelites just love." > God's Decree. > > 6"You know, don't you, that I'm the One > who emptied your pantries and cleaned out your cupboards, > Who left you hungry and standing in bread lines? > But you never got hungry for me. You continued to ignore me." > God's Decree. > > 7-8"Yes, and I'm the One who stopped the rains > three months short of harvest. > I'd make it rain on one village > but not on another. > I'd make it rain on one field > but not on another-and that one would dry up. > People would stagger from village to village > crazed for water and never quenching their thirst. > But you never got thirsty for me. > You ignored me." > God's Decree. > > 9"I hit your crops with disease > and withered your orchards and gardens. > Locusts devoured your olive and fig trees, > but you continued to ignore me." > God's Decree. > > 10"I revisited you with the old Egyptian plagues, > killed your choice young men and prize horses. > The stink of rot in your camps was so strong > that you held your noses- > But you didn't notice me. > You continued to ignore me." > God's Decree. > > 11"I hit you with earthquake and fire, > left you devastated like Sodom and Gomorrah. > You were like a burning stick > snatched from the flames. > But you never looked my way. > You continued to ignore me." > God's Decree. > > 12"All this I have done to you, Israel, > and this is why I have done it. > Time's up, O Israel! > Prepare to meet your God!" > > 13Look who's here: Mountain-Shaper! Wind-Maker! > He laid out the whole plot before Adam. > He brings everything out of nothing, > like dawn out of darkness. > He strides across the alpine ridges. > His name is God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies. > > Amos 5 > All Show, No Substance > 1 Listen to this, family of Israel, this Message I'm sending in bold > print, this tragic warning: > 2"Virgin Israel has fallen flat on her face. > She'll never stand up again. > She's been left where she's fallen. > No one offers to help her up." > 3This is the Message, God's Word: > > "The city that marches out with a thousand > will end up with a hundred. > The city that marches out with a hundred > will end up with ten. Oh, family of Israel!" > > 4-5God's Message to the family of Israel: > > "Seek me and live. > Don't fool around at those shrines of Bethel, > Don't waste time taking trips to Gilgal, > and don't bother going down to Beer-sheba. > Gilgal is here today and gone tomorrow > and Bethel is all show, no substance." > > 6So seek God and live! You don't want to end up > with nothing to show for your life > But a pile of ashes, a house burned to the ground. > For God will send just such a fire, > and the firefighters will show up too late. > > Raw Truth Is Never Popular > 7-9 Woe to you who turn justice to vinegar > and stomp righteousness into the mud. > Do you realize where you are? You're in a cosmos > star-flung with constellations by God, > A world God wakes up each morning > and puts to bed each night. > God dips water from the ocean > and gives the land a drink. > God, God-revealed, does all this. > And he can destroy it as easily as make it. > He can turn this vast wonder into total waste. > 10-12People hate this kind of talk. > Raw truth is never popular. > But here it is, bluntly spoken: > Because you run roughshod over the poor > and take the bread right out of their mouths, > You're never going to move into > the luxury homes you have built. > You're never going to drink wine > from the expensive vineyards you've planted. > I know precisely the extent of your violations, > the enormity of your sins. Appalling! > You bully right-living people, > taking bribes right and left and kicking the poor when they're down. > > 13Justice is a lost cause. Evil is epidemic. > Decent people throw up their hands. > Protest and rebuke are useless, > a waste of breath. > > 14Seek good and not evil- > and live! > You talk about God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies, > being your best friend. > Well, live like it, > and maybe it will happen. > > 15Hate evil and love good, > then work it out in the public square. > Maybe God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies, > will notice your remnant and be gracious. > > 16-17Now again, my Master's Message, God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies: > > "Go out into the streets and lament loudly! > Fill the malls and shops with cries of doom! > Weep loudly, 'Not me! Not us, Not now!' > Empty offices, stores, factories, workplaces. > Enlist everyone in the general lament. > I want to hear it loud and clear when I make my visit." > God's Decree. > > Time to Face Hard Reality, Not Fantasy > 18-20 Woe to all of you who want God's Judgment Day! > Why would you want to see God, want him to come? > When God comes, it will be bad news before it's good news, > the worst of times, not the best of times. > Here's what it's like: A man runs from a lion > right into the jaws of a bear. > A woman goes home after a hard day's work > and is raped by a neighbor. > At God's coming we face hard reality, not fantasy- > a black cloud with no silver lining. > 21-24"I can't stand your religious meetings. > I'm fed up with your conferences and conventions. > I want nothing to do with your religion projects, > your pretentious slogans and goals. > I'm sick of your fund-raising schemes, > your public relations and image making. > I've had all I can take of your noisy ego-music. > When was the last time you sang to me? > Do you know what I want? > I want justice-oceans of it. > I want fairness-rivers of it. > That's what I want. That's all I want. > > 25-27 "Didn't you, dear family of Israel, worship me faithfully for forty > years in the wilderness, > bringing the sacrifices and offerings I commanded? How is it you've > stooped to dragging gimcrack > statues of your so-called rulers around, hauling the cheap images of all > your star-gods here and > there? Since you like them so much, you can take them with you when I > drive you into exile beyond > Damascus." God's Message, God-of-the-Angel-Armies. > > Amos 6 > Those Who Live Only for Today > 1-2 Woe to you who think you live on easy street in Zion, who think Mount > Samaria is the good life. > You assume you're at the top of the heap, > voted the number-one best place to live. > Well, wake up and look around. Get off your pedestal. > Take a look at Calneh. > Go and visit Great Hamath. > Look in on Gath of the Philistines. > Doesn't that take you off your high horse? > Compared to them, you're not much, are you? > 3-6Woe to you who are rushing headlong to disaster! > Catastrophe is just around the corner! > Woe to those who live in luxury > and expect everyone else to serve them! > Woe to those who live only for today, > indifferent to the fate of others! > Woe to the playboys, the playgirls, > who think life is a party held just for them! > Woe to those addicted to feeling good-life without pain! > those obsessed with looking good-life without wrinkles! > They could not care less > about their country going to ruin. > > 7But here's what's really coming: > a forced march into exile. > They'll leave the country whining, > a rag-tag bunch of good-for-nothings. > > You've Made a Shambles of Justice > 8 God, the Master, has sworn, and solemnly stands by his Word. > The God-of-the-Angel-Armies speaks: > "I hate the arrogance of Jacob. > I have nothing but contempt for his forts. > I'm about to hand over the city > and everyone in it." > > 9-10 Ten men are in a house, all dead. A relative comes and gets the > bodies to prepare them for a > decent burial. He discovers a survivor huddled in a closet and asks, "Are > there any more?" The > answer: "Not a soul. But hush! God must not be mentioned in this > desecrated place." > > 11Note well: God issues the orders. > He'll knock large houses to smithereens. > He'll smash little houses to bits. > > 12-13Do you hold a horse race in a field of rocks? > Do you plow the sea with oxen? > You'd cripple the horses > and drown the oxen. > And yet you've made a shambles of justice, > a bloated corpse of righteousness, > Bragging of your trivial pursuits, > beating up on the weak and crowing, "Look what I've done!" > > 14"Enjoy it while you can, you Israelites. > I've got a pagan army on the move against you" > -this is your God speaking, God-of-the-Angel-Armies- > "And they'll make hash of you, > from one end of the country to the other." > > > > > > > ~~~~~ > Please join us on Skype Monday thru Friday at 8:00 EST for our Morning > Skype Prayer Time. > Also, follow my tweets on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/Donnie1261 > > > Contact Me At: > Donnie Parrett > 1956 Asa Flat Road > Annville, Kentucky 40402 > Home Phone: 606-364-3321 > Church Phone: 606-364-PRAY > Skype Name: Donnie1261 > Email: [email protected] > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Deaf-Blind Inspirational Life Group" group. 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