Yes, You Can Ministry

I hate….

“I hate; I reject your festivals, nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer up to Me your burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; and I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps, but let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.” Amos 5:21-24

WOW!!!! Did anybody else just get a cold shiver down their back? I’m pretty sure from what I’ve seen in the church that not many people have read this, and I’m fairly sure that this is not regularly preached passage of Scripture. This is not a happy-go-lucky, make you feel good about yourself message from God. You talk about stepping on toes; God is jumping up and down on them with these words. I can hear some people thinking now; well that’s Amos (Old Testament). Okay, keep thinking that and listen to these words.

Matthew 25:34-46, “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father inherit the kingdom prepared for from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me’. And then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You drink? And when did we see You naked, and clothe You, or a stranger, and invite You in? And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer, and say to them, ‘Truly, I say to you to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me….Then He will say to those on His left depart from Me accursed ones, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels…Then they will answer also themselves, saying ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or naked, or in prison, or sick and not take care of You.’ Then He will answer them saying, ‘I tell you the truth, in the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give to you that you love one another, even as I have loved you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples if you love one another.”

I Peter 1:22-23, “Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart…”

I John 4:7-21, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins. Beloved if God so loved us we also ought to love one another. No one has beheld God at any time; if we love one another God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us because He has given us of His Spirit…”

Is everyone clear that God is love, and to be like God we must love, but those verses from Amos says God hates. Yes, God does hate. He hates it when we “play” church instead of being His body. When all we do is go to the church building a few times a week that breaks the heart of God! If we do not treat others in a way that shows them the love of God by our actions then we are going against the Word of God which says, “That we should love others as ourselves.” God does HATE! He hates sin, but HE LOVES US SINNERS! We are loved by God, but when we do not love other like He loves us then He hates our conduct!

As you go throughout your day, week, month, etc. I ask that you think to yourself am I showing others the love of Christ? If the answer is no, then you are not living up to His calling on your life!

The image above can be found at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/janoid/1086952912/