Day 172

Amos 1-6. “Declared Righteous”

I want you to think of that one person or that particular group of people that you know for certain deserves God’s judgment.  
For God’s people that would have been the surrounding nations against whom Amos declared God’s judgment.  How popular Amos’ message must have been as he spoke of the very thing God’s people wanted to hear.  And then that all changed as God turned His focus toward His own people declaring judgment against their wickedness.
Through Amos, Israel and Judah learned that you cannot pray for God’s judgment on sin and not be included in the process.  This is because God does not show favoritism in his judgments (Rom. 2:11).
So why are we to fear God?  We do not fear God because He is some kind of vindictive or cruel deity.  Rather, we fear him because He is just in His judgments and cannot allow sin to go unpunished.
Faith in Christ does not spare us from God’s judgment, for all men will be judged (Matt. 16:27).  But our faith allows us to be declared righteous because of Christ’s atoning sacrifice in spite of our being judged guilty.

General Questions for each day:
Summarize the day’s Bible passage in your own words.
What thoughts, actions, attitudes or beliefs are addressed in the passage?
How is the Holy Spirit leading you to apply this passage to your life today?