Devotion Talk 9/29/07

Tonight I read Amos 4…

This chapter is another chapter on God’s wrath on how he will treat us if we disobey him. This is essential! We can’t live our lives rebelling against God. Not only will we get destroyed, but it is wrong not to obey the Lord that created us, gave us life, and made it possible to go to heaven. We can’t let anything come before him. He is our God. We are his people. We are meant to follow him and let him show his glory through us. He showed his glory and power through the people of the time of Amos who did not rebel and instead praised him. These people were rewarded:

‘ 7 “I also withheld rain from you
when the harvest was still three months away.
I sent rain on one town,
but withheld it from another.
One field had rain;
another had none and dried up.” ‘

This means that after all our hard work to be faithful to God, we will get a rain of salvation. We as the Outliers will save many people and be rewarded. We are not here to see other fields dry up- we are her to help these fields receive rain. We need to create and irrigation system and help people receive their own rain. Then, God will be very happy with all of us.

Devotion Talk 9/28/07

I read Joel 2 tonight.

This cahpter is another chapter that speaks of the punishment that we all deserve for our sins. It also speaks of God’s pity for us. He will seize to tear us apart and send his armies away if we pray, fast, and rejoice in all the good he has given us. He will, although hurt if we disobey, if we do not pray, if we do not rejoice and if we do not fast.

” 18 Then the LORD will be jealous for his land
and take pity on his people.

19 The LORD will reply to them:
“I am sending you grain, new wine and oil,
enough to satisfy you fully;
never again will I make you
an object of scorn to the nations.

20 “I will drive the northern army far from you,
pushing it into a parched and barren land,
with its front columns going into the eastern sea
and those in the rear into the western sea.
And its stench will go up;
its smell will rise.”
Surely he has done great things. “

Devotion Talk 9/27/07

Tonight I read Hosea 11.

We are sinners. We have turned from the LORD in so many ways. We worship idols, we lie, we cheat, we steal, we lust, we do everything God tells us not to do. God’s wrath is gargantuan, huge, almost ALMOST big enough to take it out on us. The wall that stands between God and wiping the human race out is that God’s wrath was satisfied when he sent Jesus. God says in this chapter all that we have done against us, but assures that he will not take out his wrath on us:

” 9 I will not carry out my fierce anger,
nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim.
For I am God, and not man—
the Holy One among you.
I will not come in wrath. “

We need to stop how we act towards God, praise him and thank God for all that we have instead of thanking other things.

Devotion Talk 9/26/07

Tonight I read Hosea 2-3.

These chapters speak of how if we do not look to God in times of good and only in times of bad. We shall be punished. We will be stripped of all our good things. We will be sent away until we trust in the Lord and look in favor of him for our good fortune and not the soil or idols or family. his chapter is just mainly about that we should worship God in good and bad, which in a way can both be difficult. When you score in a soccer game, most people, most of the time run around and scream and blame it on their skill or modestly say, “My team really helped me out.” What we need to say is God helped me out. God was with me. God helped me score. We also need to praise God in a loss of a life. We can’t mopishly wait around till God comes to take us away. We have to praise God that the person is in a better place or that you were able to meet the person and learnt something from them.

“15 There I will give her back her vineyards,
and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
There she will sing as in the days of her youth,
as in the day she came up out of Egypt.”

PS. Mopishly is a real word. Look it up on dictionary.com. It means: “To be gloomy or dejected.”

Devotion Talk 9/25/07

Tonight I read Daniel 6.

Daniel 6 is a great story. It is similar to the one of Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego. The story is of how Daniel “disobeyed” a law made buy two men that wanted to overthrow Daniel so he didn’t become lord of the whole kingdom, a step up from his third he ruled at the time. Daniel heard of the law to not pray to God for thirty days. Daniel obviously wanted no part, was thrown in the lions’ den, and came out unscathed. Why? He believed that God would be with him every step of the way. And he was.

We as teens when we share faith have to believe that God will be with us forever. Once we firmly believe this, we can get other people to believe it, like Daniel did. A new law was created that everyone had to pray to God and no other idol for our God is “the living God”, “the one who endures forever.

“26 “I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom
people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel.
“For he is the living God
and he endures forever;
his kingdom will not be destroyed,
his dominion will never end.

27 He rescues and he saves;
he performs signs and wonders
in the heavens and on the earth.
He has rescued Daniel
from the power of the lions.”

See, if we believe God is with us, we will be thrown in many dens of lions, but the mouths will always be closed, and we shall not be harmed.

Devotion Talk 9/24/07

I read Daniel 5.

This chapter is a bit confusing. Especially the end. It happens that Daniel was called upon to read a message on the wall. He also shared faith to everyone in the palace. The king killed himself, whether to punish, or for fear. He handed over his empire.

” 17 Then Daniel answered the king, ‘You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.’ “

Verse 17 is a great way that Daniel was being alike God. He decided that he didn’t need a reward for doing good. God does so many great things for us, sometimes we don’t thank him. He is angry at this, but he doesn’t need repayment. After all, how can we repay him for the sacrifices he made?

Devotion Talk 9/23/07

I read Daniel 3 tonight.

This passage is a great example for us teens. We are going to have to go through many challenges to reach our goal, many furnaces to walk through that could eat us alive. But, in every one of those furnaces, God will be the extra figure walking in the flames.

We are going to be tempted to bow down to many idols in our quest of creating a new image of the teenager, but we have to refuse to bow down to it, because if we do, we will be the same as everyone else. We have to be willing to risk our lives like Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego to share with the world what God has done for us all.

Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego were one of the kings most favorite servants. Nebuchadnezzar was willing although to throw them in the flames, because he was so furious that they had disobeyed him. God is that way too. He gets furious when he is not obeyed. We need to be like God and Nebuchadnezzar and be focused and angry and yearning to change lives. We can’t just go to Church, pray, read the Bible, and wear meaningful shirts (A Blood Donor saved my Life!). We need to do all these things and spread God’s word, and share our faith, and change this world! Think of that! This movement called the Rebelution, The Outliers, and all of those other sites for Christian teens could change the way the whole world thinks. We are the future, and we need to make ourselves good so the future can be good!!!

“25 He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.” “

God will always be with us in whatever we do, wherever we are, whenever it is.

Devotion Talk 9/22/07

I read Daniel 1 tonight.

This chapter speaks about what God wants of us, in a way. He wants us to be strong, to not drink. He wants us to not take anything that God wouldn’t give us. Daniel was a great example. He refused to drink the wine and to eat the royal food. Daniel also later prayed as we know, to find meanings of dreams for Nebuchadnezzar. He was then sent to the lions den and lived to share his faith with the king. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, later showed their belief in God by not worshiping the idol. After being thrown in the furnace they lived to tell the tale of God’s power and love.

“11 Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12 “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” 14 So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.”

Devotion Talk 9/21/07

Tonight I read Ezekiel 37…

This chapter is an elaborate description of how God took us back. Ezekiel preached to our dead, unclean, unfaithful souls, and we were risen up and God forgave us because he loved us. Jesus was the one who died for when God’s wrath was almost unbearable. He used prophets like Ezekiel to make us change our ways, so he could forgive us.

“7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’ ” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.”

God loves us, he forgave us for our sins so long ago, and because he didn’t want to destroy us, He made Jesus so he could take our sins and we would live while one would die.

The two sticks that God tells Ezekiel to use is a most likely a cross. He said to lift it up, probably so people would wonder, and ask and be saved.

“5 The word of the LORD came to me: 16 “Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Ephraim’s stick, belonging to Joseph and all the house of Israel associated with him.’ 17 Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand. 18 “When your countrymen ask you, ‘Won’t you tell us what you mean by this?’ “

Devotion Talk 9/20/07

Tonight I read Ezekiel 4.

This passage speaks of God’s punishment to us for our sins and an example of how Jesus felt. Although Ezekiel suffered for others sins, that was just Israel and Judah’s sins. Just think how much pain Jesus felt. Unbearable, Excruciating. In verse 16 & 17 it describes how we were made suffering:

” 16 He then said to me: “Son of man, I will cut off the supply of food in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair, 17 for food and water will be scarce. They will be appalled at the sight of each other and will waste away because of their sin.”

We deserve to waste away because of our sin, but Jesus was sent to die for our sins because God loved us so much.