December 31 – The Lord God of Hosts

“For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind and declares to man what are His thoughts, He who makes dawn into darkness and treads on the high places of the earth, the Lord God of hosts is His name.” – Amos 4:13 (NASB)

Before Amos began prophesying, he had been one of the “shepherds” of Tekoa, a town in the hill country of Judah about. It was the Northern Kingdom of Israel, to whom Amos’ message was directed. Amos, was called to prophesy in Israel and the message God gave him was primarily one of judgment, though it ended with words of hope. Like Israel in In the middle of the 8^th century B.C., we must meet our God in judgment; but if we try to face God upon our good deeds, we shall not be able to stand before Him. If we would prepare to meet our God, we must now meet him in Christ Jesus, the eternal Son of the Father, who came to save lost sinners. We must seek Him while he is to be found. Our verse reveals the God whom we must be prepared to face. He is the Lord God Almighty. Our Sovereign God who holds all things together (Colossians 1:17), who created the mountains and the winds and who can turn the dawn back to darkness, this eternal omnipotent God is who only Jesus can prepare us to stand before Him (Jude 1:24-25).

 

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August 05 – The Order of All Things

“Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
    who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord of hosts is his name:
“If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the Lord,
    then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever.”
– Jeremiah 31:35-36 (ESV)

Jeremiah was the prophet God sent to delivered many messages to the people of Israel and Judah prior and during the time Babylon conquered Judah, sacked Jerusalem and exiled most of the population. Besides the many dire warnings, there were promises of blessings also. God promised restoration, a new covenant in chapter 31. To seal its authenticity, God affirms it by the unchangeable order He established of the earth and the heavens. If the light of the sun and moon, and the tides of the sea were to cease, then Israel would cease to be a nation before Him. But such is NOT possible, the order of the Earth was set by God and it is fixed. So too, the promises of God are sure and no force can change them. What God has promised is as sure as the sun rising in the morning, setting in the evening, and the moon continuing its order of controlling the tides and ocean waves. Because God holds creation in His hand in perfect order and for His name’s sake will not abandon it. Let’s trust because our God is a promise maker and keeper.

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August 17- Everywhere Present

“O Lord God of hosts, who is like You, O mighty Lord?  Your faithfulness also surrounds You..” Psalm 89:8 (NASB) 

We understand that the Psalms were written as songs and were intended to be sung in worship and praise. Even today some of our favorite Psalms are in our songbooks.  They continue to be used to praise the Lord for all these many centuries since they were written.  They can be as real to us just as they were real for those who first sang them. The experiences of our lives might have the same or similar experience as the writer of this song had. We can say these words with true feeling as we think of how great and powerful our God is. And we can remember how faithful our Lord is in keeping his promises to us. How can we know that He is able to keep his promises to us? Because He is mighty and powerful – He is all-powerful and the only one for there is no other one like him. Let's trust in his all-embracing faithfulness – for it surrounds Him which means God faithfulness can be found everywhere around Him. It is present everywhere as His vicinity is because God is present everywhere.  

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July 10 – Eyes Open

“O great and mighty God. The Lord of hosts is His name; great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds;”  Jeremiah 32:18b-19 (NASB)

We are thankful that the Bible includes some great expressions of prayer.  Today we have chosen words from a prayer recorded by the prophet Jeremiah which he had prayed in worship to God.  God had just revealed to the prophet Jeremiah that He would do for His people, something that seemed impossible at the time.  Jeremiah saw again what a great God he had and it stirred him to pray and praise God in worship.  Jeremiah's God is our God.  We too can call Him the Lord Almighty because that's what He is.  He has great plans and great purposes for each of us just as He had for His people then.  And, He shows us His greatness as He carries out His great plans.  Let's trust Him and let allow Him to carry out His purposes for each of us.  Let's join with Jeremiah in his words of praise to our great and mighty God. Be thankful today for the promise that God's eyes are open to all our ways.