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Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.
This verse always made me think of the story of Samson and Delilah. We should be discrete about what we say, and pay attention to not letting out things that should be secret, even to the people we think we can trust the most.
And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
If we want full joy, we should read the Word, because that's why these things were written.
He hath shewed thee, O man, what [is] good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
The Lord requires us to do justly
. Let's make sure we're honest with our school and everything, and not cheating.
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, [and] easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
One of the ways this says, that wisdom from above is supposed to be, is gentle
.
gentletone of voice.
Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands.
If we destroy the idols out of our own lives now, it would be a lot less painful than waiting for the Lord's judgment.
Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go [even] to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.
I think Micah 4 is talking about the 1,000 year (Millennial) reign of the Lord Jesus Christ, in His kingdom on earth, right after His return. It also makes me think of how us believers are God's people now, like Israel was. Part of verse 10 said, ...the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies...
We're involved in spiritual warfare, where we have spiritual enemies. We're tempted to sin and treat each other the wrong way. I've been praying that the Lord would get the victory in those things right now, and this verse is like a promise that He will.
The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, [Is] not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.
Money shouldn't be more important to us than the Lord and His righteousness. We should be generous, and not selfish. We should give up good things for other people for free.
I also thought that I should spend time with the Lord in the morning, before I start trading stocks in the stock market.
And they covet fields, and take [them] by violence; and houses, and take [them] away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
We need to watch out for ripping other people off of what belongs to them, and we need to not do that.
For the transgression of Jacob [is] all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What [is] the transgression of Jacob? [is it] not Samaria? and what [are] the high places of Judah? [are they] not Jerusalem?
The Lord was talking to His people about their sin of idolatry, and that made me think of the idols in my life. If I spend my time on something else, even if it's something harmless or good, when I should be spending time with the Lord (Bible Study, etc.), that's idolatry.
Not only should we abstain from doing things that are complete wastes of time. We also need to make sure to do the right thing at the right time.
For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
I've been reading Jonah. In Jonah 4, Jonah got very angry because the Lord had mercy on Nineveh. To show Jonah how wrong he was, the Lord made a plant grow that shaded Jonah from the sun. Jonah was very glad to have it. Then the Lord sent a worm to eat the plant so it shriveled up. Jonah was mad about that. The Lord explained that Job had compassion on the plant, even though it was insignificant compared to Nineveh, so it's perfectly right that the Lord had compassion on Nineveh also.
In Jonah 4, I saw how we should be more merciful, like the Lord is.
And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, [was] not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou [art] a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
Jonah was very angry that God spared Nineveh. It says, ...he prayed unto the LORD...
. We shouldn't pray for evil things to happen to people, even if we think they deserve it.
And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did [it] not.
Like Nineveh when Jonah preached to them, We should be serious about applying the preaching we hear, and repenting from our sins.
Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know [these things] before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
I was wrong to think that verse 9 just applies to other people who are unsaved or aren't walking with the Lord: [That the Lord is willing] ...that all should come to repentance.
(I emphasized the word, all).
I need to be making sure I, myself, am repenting all the time. I'll be considering to make sure I'm not led away with the error of the wicked.
Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
So, I'd love to do that... but how?
Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, [and] easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all [men], apt to teach, patient,
In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
And [that] they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
lying vanities
made me think of idols. We should keep our commitments to the Lord and praise Him, instead of regarding other things too much. Those idols are deceitful and empty, and we dig ourselves into a hole by respecting them.
But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
When we have trials of our faith, we should pray in faith.
I'm praying about a certain trial in my life. I'll believe that the Lord will work it out OK somehow.
But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
I noticed it said, "he paid the fare." We don't accidentally turn from the Lord. There's a cost of sin, sometimes up front.
We shouldn't be pay the fare to turn from Him.
One cost of sin could be time. Money is another, obviously. Sin is often a thing that ends up taking up a lot of time and a lot of money.
I'm just going to keep trying to redeem the time, like I've been talking about a lot lately.
But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress.
The Lord was rebuking Edom, a nation related to Israel. He said they should not have "...spoken proudly in the day of distress."
There's a tendency to say things just to look good to other people, to show off how much we think we know about it. We shouldn't do that.Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD [are] upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the LORD.
The Lord has warnings of judgment in Amos 9, but He also has great promises of blessing for His people. We need to be on the Lord's side, to escape the judgment of sin and enjoy the blessings of His promises.
Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?
They Lord's people were looking forward to making a profit from cheating people. They were even looking forward to their time of rest being over so they could.
There's a little thing that I probably wouldn't get in trouble for. It doesn't really seem like it should be against the rules, but I just found out for sure that "I'm not supposed to."
I was praying about whether I be doing it anyway, right before I read Amos 8. I couldn't think of anything in Amos 8 that spoke to me, so I prayed that the Lord would speak to me about something out of it. Then I saw verse 5, and I remembered what I had been praying for the Lord to show me.
I should do what I'm supposed to do in light of that little thing.
Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not [thy word] against the house of Isaac.
Therefore thus saith the LORD; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.
The person in these verses was going to have a terrible judgment for telling Amos not to prophesy where the Lord sent him.
If someone wants to bring a message to me, I shouldn't tell them not to say it. Even if it sounds cruel, if it's a Word from the Lord, I should receive it.
A wise son [heareth] his father's instruction: but a scorner heareth not rebuke.
Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; [and] them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.
We should remember people who suffer hardship as if we ourselves are in their body suffering with them. Many of my friends are suffering because someone died recently. I should remember them.
Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly.I'll pray for my friends who are suffering.
Woe to them [that are] at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, [which are] named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!
I usually think about how we're supposed to rejoice, but this chapter talks about the time to be serious.
That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.They thought everything was OK for them, even though they were sinning.
Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength?We know that we should examine ourselves for sin once a week when we're getting ready to take part in the Lord's remembrance. We should also examine ourselves for sin more often than that. Also, we should be serious about praying for other people.
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