Daily Worship is a great resource designed to help you in your personal devotions. Each weekday morning, and once on the weekends, a new worship guide is published at 4:30am that includes a Scripture passage of preparation, a passage to read and meditate upon, prayer points, and a song of response related to the day's reading. For those that prefer the printed format, they can be downloaded here.
Prepare: Psalm 119:69-72 Read: Amos 7:1-9:15 Think: 1. (7:1-3) 2. (4-6) 3. (7-9) [note: what is a plumb line?] Beginning with v. 10, the prophetic ministry of Amos is explained. 4. (8:1-3) In the rest of chapter 8 follows the now familiar and unfortunate pattern: the people love injustice, God promises judgement, a famine of truth. 5. (9) A vivid vision of judgeme...
Keep ReadingPrepare: Psalm 119:65-68 Read: Amos 5:1-6:14 Think: Three woes are introduced, as destruction for a defiant and sinful people is prophesied. Memorable: the phrase "seek the Lord and live." Take that to heart! Ponder, perhaps even memorize, the powerful statement of God's creative glory and judgement (Amos 5:8-9). Woe #1: God calls out the sin of injustice and call...
Keep ReadingPrepare: Psalm 119:61-64 Read: Amos 3:1-4:13 Think: "This series of sayings draws out the implications of the previous oracles against the nations. If God would punish the nations for their wickedness, how much more would he punish Israel and Judah, who ought to have known better, given their special status before God." (Sailhamer) In ch. 4, their future captivity...
Keep ReadingPrepare: Psalm 119:57-60 Read: Amos 1:1-2:16 Think: The sheepherder from Tekoa was called by God to prophesy "fearful words of impending doom" concerning King Jeroboam and the soon to be exiled people of God (Sailhamer). "Within the book itself, Amos stressed the moral ruin of God's people and their mistaken assumption that since they were the elect, nothing bad c...
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