Hate the Evil – Love the Good … by Hannah Erickson
Today’s Passage – Amos 1 – 5 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)
(Second Milers also read – 1 John 1 – 5; Psalms 106 – 110; Proverbs 22)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Matthew 6:33
Read the “0922 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
“Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.” (Amos 5:15)
I read and re-read today’s passage in preparation for writing today’s post. I had a few different thoughts from the passage I started to write but one phrase kept popping into my head, “hate the evil, and love the good.” That’s it. It’s so simple but I think that it’s often the thing I forget the most.
Hate the evil. In the world we live in today there is so much evil. Now more than ever we need to stand up against evil. Evil is destroying our nation and most times I find myself ignoring it or thinking it’s not really “that bad.” As Christians, we need to stop taking sin lightly and start hating it like the Bible commands.
“Ye that love the Lord, hate evil: he preserveth the soul of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.” (Psalm 97:10)
Love the good. Yes, we should hate evil, but we can’t forget to love the God. It’s easy to get caught up in all the bad that is happening or the business of life and forget all the good that is happening. Our world is a mess but there is still good. You can find good in the big things like family, friends, people getting saved, etc. but you can also find good in the little things like a sunny day or a smile. So, as you go about your day, look for the good things in your life whether big or small. I think you will find that there is still a lot of good in life to love.
Hate the evil. Love the good.
Posted in Devotions by Hannah Erickson with 6 comments.
For Such a Time as This … by Hannah Erickson
Today’s Reading – Esther 1 – 5 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click hereto view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers Read – 2 Corinthians 5 – 8; Psalms 11 – 15; Proverbs 3)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 19
Read the “0603 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Read previous posts from this passage – “It’s a God Thing“; and “Obsession.”
“For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, [then] shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for [such] a time as this? Then Esther bade [them] return Mordecai [this answer], Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which [is] not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:14-16)
“For such a time as this” – I’ve heard that phrase get thrown around my entire life, I’ve heard messages preached on it and lessons taught and I’m sure you have too. It has almost become a cliché phrase, but I think now more than ever it is something we need to be reminded of.
God did not make Esther queen so that she could live large and be waited on hand and foot. God had a purpose for her to stand up for His people. Mordecai had to remind Esther of her purpose and encourage Esther to be bold for the sake of her people. Esther would have to go before the King and risk her life to stand up for what was right. I’m sure Esther was terrified. I know that I would be, and I honestly don’t know if I would be able to do what Esther did. Esther set her fears aside and risked her life because she was created “for such a time as this.”
The world is becoming crazier and crazier, there seems to be something new happening every day. As Christians, we need to be bold like Esther and take a stand. God has placed us where we are for a specific purpose. Think about what would have happened if Esther had gotten caught up in the royalty and lost her purpose. We can’t get caught up in the things happening in the world and lose focus on what really matters. Just like Esther we need to be bold and take a stand “for such a time as this”
Posted in Devotions by Hannah Erickson with 4 comments.
Wholly Following God… by Hannah Erickson
Today’s Passage –Numbers 32 – 33 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – 1 Corinthians 1 – 4; Proverbs 27; Psalms 136 – 140)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Micah 6:8
Read the “0227 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Read a previous post from this passage – “Be Sure Your Sin Will Find You Out.“
“Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me: Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the LORD.” (Numbers 32:11 – 13)
In this passage, it mentions that none of the Israelites were wholly following the Lord except for Caleb and Joshua. Because Caleb and Joshua wholly followed God, they were the only two of their generation who were able to see the promised land. As Christians, we need to wholly follow God. God doesn’t just want a part of us, He wants all of us.
Caleb and Joshua had to be different than the rest of the Israelites in order to wholly follow God. If we are going to wholly follow God, we have to be different than the rest of the world.
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2)
I’m sure it was not easy for Caleb and Joshua to follow God when no one else was. Not only did they have to be different, but they also had to be unashamed. To wholly follow God, they had to go against the grain of what everyone else was doing. They had to be bold and they had to be unashamed.
According to my earnest expectation and [my] hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but [that] with all boldness, as always, [so] now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether [it be] by life, or by death. (Philippians 1:20)
In addition to being different and unashamed, they had to be focused. If Caleb and Joshua were not focused on God, they wouldn’t be able to wholly follow after Him. You can’t follow something if you are not focused on it. If you are not focused on God, you can’t wholly follow him because He doesn’t have all of you. We as Christians need to be fully focused on God, if the things of this world have our attention than we are not following the Lord “wholly.”
“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24)
We can’t wholly follow God in our own strength. Caleb and Joshua were not able to be different, unashamed, and focused because of their own strength. In fact, if you turn back to Numbers 14:24, it says that Caleb “had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully.” The secret to wholly following after God is to have God. We can only wholly follow God if we are relying on God to help us.
Because Caleb and Joshua were wholly following God, they were able to enter the Promised Land. If we are different, bold, and focused, wholly following after God, He will bless us just like he blessed Caleb and Joshua with the Promised Land.
Posted in Devotions by Hannah Erickson with 6 comments.