Rev. Ray and Pat Amos
Rev. Ray Amos Devotion – May 3, 2017 – 1 Corinthians 3:16 – Mark 6:3a
“Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” 1 Corinthians 3:16
Every good gift is from our unchanging God. Love cannot give a bad gift. Our life on earth is a gift; what we do with it is our gift back to God. There are many things that can cheapen and even destroy what He has given. It seems to me that it is time to reclaim and appreciate the beauty of this gift of all gifts.
People refurbish old houses at great cost. We have seen houses practically taken down to the foundation and rebuilt all new again. Scripture teaches that our physical body is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. We all have seen homes of great worth that depreciate quickly because they are neglected, and have rubbish all about them. The same thing can happen to our lives.
Do we really understand what Christianity has to offer in a world where human life is being treated like worthless property? Remember that at the completion of creation God said it was very good. It still is! Life has not gone bad, but people have taken a bad view of life. We must also remember that Christ is in the restoration business. That’s what Jesus came to do. He puts glory back where it belongs. We sometimes see the difference a little “TLC” makes in a place. Christians are living witnesses of what a transformation that “JLC” makes in a life.
I see signs around town that say, “Will buy houses in any condition.” That is the message of the church: Jesus will buy back any life in any condition. That is what we call redemption. No life is beyond His ability to restore. He will completely remove the rubbish of sin; and replace the damage that it has caused with new hope, happiness and peace. Even the finest houses need repair from time to time. Look to Jesus, “Is not this the carpenter…” (Mark 6:3a).
Grace and Peace, Rev Ray
Rev. Ray Amos Devotion – May 5, 2017 – 1st Samuel 9:3-5 – Luke 12:22-32 – 1 Samuel 10:22
“Now the donkeys belonging to Saul’s father Kish were lost, and Kish said to his son Saul, ‘Take one of the servants with you and go and look for the donkeys.’ So he passed through the hill country of Ephraim and through the area…but they did not find them…Saul said to the servant who was with him, ‘Come, let’s go back, or my father will stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us.” 1st Samuel 9:3-5
Dictionaries can’t keep up with the times. They are swelling with new nouns (stuff). We are a “stuff” oriented world. Yet, I have noticed a change in attitude among many as we grow older; and especially as we follow Jesus. A good number of those things that once seemed so valuable have molded, rusted, or have been carried away from a yard sale.
Jesus taught us that we should not worry about the things we think we must have to be happy, but to exchange our anxiousness for absolute trust in God. (Read Luke 12:22-32)
Kish lost his donkeys, so he sent his son to find them. After a long time searching, Saul said, “Let’s go back home, or my Father will stop thinking about the donkeys, and start worrying about us.”
God will move us from the lesser to the greater. Things become less important, while meaningful relationships become a great treasure. I have noticed that the older we get, the more we talk about downsizing. We become less anxious about earthly life and more earnest about Heaven, less interested in things, and more interested in friends and loved ones.
When Saul was appointed the first king of God’s people, they could not find him. The Bible says, “He hid himself among the stuff.” (1 Samuel 10:22 kjv) Stop hiding, come out from among the stuff and be who we are intended to be: Sons and Daughters of God.
Grace and Peace, Rev Ray
Rev. Ray Amos Devotion – May 6, 2017 – 1 Timothy 2:4
“No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.” 1 Timothy 2:4
We were asleep in our bunks when we heard the sound of gunfire in our barracks. At first it seemed like a weird dream, but I soon realized that it was real. Airmen were scrambling like mice trapped in a box with a cat about to jump in. I’m not sure what was the loudest, the sound of a gun, or the yelling of the man holding it. It wasn’t combat, nor was it someone trying to do us harm. It was 4:30 a.m. on the first day of basic training. The gun was blank, and the man was our “TI” (training instructor) who was saying, “Good morning children, this is your new home, but I ain’t your mama!”
Forty-eight years later I laugh at how silly that must have looked. (I can’t imagine what Norman Rockwell could have done with that picture.) But, at that time it seemed like an unending nightmare had begun. I don’t claim to understand all the philosophy of military basic training, but there is no doubt that a military without it would soon fall apart. It will empty you of your foolish self, discipline you in a new way of life, and unite you in a greater cause.
While salvation comes by grace, discipleship requires spiritual discipline. We seemed to have dropped basic training from the Army of God and it is showing up in self-centered Christianity. The cross is getting buried in the pile of “causes” that we have hoarded as if we believe that Christ will endorse our ideas. We are more fragmented as a people of God that we can even imagine. Some “Boot Camp” might do us all much good.
Christ emptied Himself to save us; can we do less to serve Him? A soldier never goes into battle with a “You do it your way, and I’ll do it my way” attitude. UNITY HAPPENS WHEN EACH SOLDIER OBEYS THE ONE VOICE OF THE COMMANDER. If the Army of God is disunited, then somebody is not listening. The Hymn Ask, “Am I a soldier of the cross, a follower of the Lamb? And shall I fear to own His cause, or blush to speak His name?”
Grace and Peace, Rev Ray
Rev. Ray Amos Devotion – May 8, 2017 – 1 Thessalonians 4:11
“…make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands…” 1 Thessalonians 4:11
Every community should have a memorial and a tribute to the cogs in the gears that keep the life and business of our streets turning. We recognize the people who carry the keys to important doors, who write the paychecks, and whose faces are known in public places. They are the leaders and visionaries, who we love, and with whom we fuss, and we also trust. But, they, and we, would quickly move from happy to mad, and from success to helpless without the everyday faithfulness of the men and women who labor without applause or notice
These warriors of everyday life rise up early and some will work all night. They ride on the back of garbage trucks if the weather is zero or burning hot. They dig in the water soaked earth with hands that turn to ice. Some sweat by the side of the road to make the traffic flow. The laborers are many, but the appreciators are few.
Would you have a cup of coffee and maybe a biscuit or donnut? Did you notice that the lady at the drive-up window is smiling though tears are in her eyes? How do you go to work at five, get the kids to school by eight, and pay the bills with a check so small? Everyone has answers, but they don’t really understand that the question has many questions.
Community life is like a town clock. It has a chiming voice like Big Ben, and its hands point true. Never forget that behind its noble face are gears and cogs working and ticking. The truth is people need people, and people need the Lord.
Grace and Peace, Rev Ray
Rev. Ray Amos Devotion – May 9, 2017 – John 6:58 – John 6:68-69
“(Jesus) is the bread which came down from heaven…the person who takes this bread for food will live forever.” John 6:58
Today is our monthly Second Harvest ministry. We will probably serve about one hundred families with groceries, love and prayer. We never know what the truck will bring. We pray it will be good, and that the Lord will multiply it as He did the loaves and fish. I am thankful for a congregation that knows the difference between “just handing something out” and “loving others.” One person said to me, “I would come even if there was no food; everyone is so nice.”
Years ago I was on a mission trip in Jamaica. I stayed in the home of a missionary pastor from England. We were busy during the day traveling and preaching at different locations. On our first evening when we got back to the manse, his wife said that we would have some biscuits. Now, they were talking my language: good hot biscuits with butter dripping off of them. I soon learned that what they called a biscuit was not a biscuit at all. It was a cracker.
Jesus had fed a multitude with the loaves and fishes. They were satisfied and looked forward to having more the next day. But, the next day Jesus offered them bread for the soul; and they were disappointed because they wanted more bread for the belly. John wrote some of the saddest words in the Gospel, “From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus asked His twelve, ‘Will you go away also?’ Peter answered, ‘Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe, and are sure, that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (John 6:68-69)
I do believe that one of the greatest witnesses of Christians is this: That even though many have tasted the bitter cup, and the bread wasn’t what they expected; they still walk with God. Though prayers did not bring about the answer they wanted, and struggles did not stop; yet they still sing, “May Jesus Christ be praised.” Christians do not come to the table because the bread is always good and easy, but because it is needed.
When we celebrate Communion at church, some of the young people will ask me after the service, “Can we have the leftover bread?” I watch with gladness that all the bread is eaten. I think they will remember this in years to come; and I pray a silent prayer that they will always love The BREAD OF LIFE.
Grace and Peace, Rev Ray
Rev. Ray Amos Devotion – May 10, 2017 – John 3:17
In the Bible the first question recorded that God asked is, “Where are you?” The answer is important to Him; and should be to us. To be unable to answer that question is to be lost. The phone rings in the night and you answers. Your son or daughter is in a car that has broken down. Your first question is, “Where are you?” A shepherd searches for a lost sheep; He listens for the faintest sound of bleating. God calls out to a man and woman, “Where are you?” They were lost in paradise because they too quickly had lost their soul.
The second question God asked was, “Who told you…?” Someone had pointed out their sin and unveiled shame of the world’s first couple; and the accuser wasn’t God.
Jesus said, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17).
Anyone of us can feel the guilt and shame of our sins. The accuser roams back and forth on the earth pointing out our failure. Discouragement and condemnation are powerful weapons in his hands. As a Christian we have no business giving him any assistance.
Walk with Jesus through the Gospels. He changed lives from tragic and destructive stories into something beautiful. Not once did He walk up to a broken person and point out their shame. He pointed out something else (that most did not know), He told them that they were made beautiful in the image of God, and if they would believe Him, He would reveal it in their lives.
Jesus did not come to tell us that we are sinners. We have already been told that. He came to save us from our sin. Now, that’s Good News! The Hymn says, “Something beautiful, something good; all my confusion He understood. All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife, but He made something beautiful of my life.”
Grace and Peace, Rev Ray
