Verse of the Day - Amos 5:23

[God says,] "Away with your hymns of praise! They are only noise to my ears. I will not listen to your music, no matter how lovely it is. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, a river of righteous living that will never run dry." ~ Amos 5:23 (NLT)

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I love the Old Testament! Alot of people think it's boring (e.g. Leviticus) or irrelevant (e.g. Numbers)...I've read about Noah and Jonah and David a million times...and what's up with all those prophets of doom? What does that have to do with me? I'll just read the New Testament, because Jesus is "the reason for the season", and I can learn so much from the apostles' writings...

Please don't miss out on hearing from God's heart in the Old Testament, from getting your arms around God's big picture! There is so much He has shared with us through people like Moses, David, Solomon and the prophets..."You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13). Are we willing to seek God in the vast sea of the Old Testament?

God "keeps it real" in these verses from Amos. It brings to mind the first chapter of Isaiah...

"The multitude of your sacrifices—what are they to me?" says the LORD. "I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—I cannot bear your evil assemblies. Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow."
~ Isaiah 1:11-17

Wow -- God is not playin'! He calls people out on their religious show, which belies their heart. He says, Where is your justice? Where is your mercy? You treat people like dirt, and then sing a song of praise to Me? I'm disgusted by it all!

God says (in Jeremiah 9:23-24) if you really know Me, you know that I'm all about exercising kindness and justice and righteousness on the earth...THIS gives Me pleasure -- THIS is what makes Me happy. You are putting the fluffy icing of your outward worship on a rotten cake full of maggots. Don't you think I can see inside your heart?

You are not pleased by sacrifices, or I would give them. You don't want burnt offerings.The sacrifice God wants is a broken spirit. God, you will not reject a heart that is broken and sorry for sin. ~ Psalm 51:16-17 (NCV)

God is very clear in His word (both Old and New Testament) what He's about...justice, mercy, love, truth. And Jesus brought it up-close-and-personal in ways that were tangible. He loved people...He accepted them, embraced them, defended them. He challenged their sin, but He loved them...

Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum? When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” ~ Matthew 9:10-13 (NLT)

We really need to check ourselves, my friends. What we do in the name of God...our weekly corporate worship, our daily religious habits such as listening to Christian music, making sure we pray and read our Bible...can mask or overshadow our wicked and selfish heart toward others.

If we're just putting on a show, God's left the building. He doesn't want religious rhetoric...He wants radically real, relational children who do what He does.

So, as Jesus said, go learn what this means:
I desire mercy, not sacrifice.

Love,
Joelene