RTW 2022

And the LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” I answered, “A plumb line.” And the LORD replied, “I will test my people with this plumb line. I will no longer ignore all their sins.
Amos 7:8

God will keep and uphold His standards.

God has a standard.

• For Israel
  And the LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” I answered, “A plumb line.” And the LORD replied, “I will test my people with this plumb line. I will no longer ignore all their sins.
  Amos 7:8
  
  Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.
  Isaiah 1:17 (ESV)
  
  “You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless. “If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him.
  Exodus 22:21-25 (ESV)
  
• For the Believer
  
  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
  Mark 12:30-31
  
  “Do for others what you want them to do for you. This is the teaching of the laws of Moses in a nutshell.
  Matthew 7:12 (TLB)
  
  “And I, the King, will tell them, ‘When you did it to these my brothers, you were doing it to me.'”
  Matthew 25:40 (TLB)

God corrects disobedience.

• For Israel
  
  What do you see, Amos?” he asked. I replied, “A basket full of ripe fruit.” Then the LORD said, “Like this fruit, Israel is ripe for punishment! I will not delay their punishment again.
  Amos 8:2
  
  In that day…
  Amos 8:9-11

• For the Believer
  
  For the LORD disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.
  Hebrews 12:6
  
  For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
  Hebrews 12:11 (ESV)

God has a promise.

• For Israel
  In that day I will restore the fallen house of David. I will repair its damaged walls. From the ruins I will rebuild it and restore its former glory.
  Amos 9:11
  
• For the Believer
  We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
  Romans 6:4 (ESV)
  
  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
  2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)
  
  And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
  Revelation 21:5 (ESV)
  
  In the end, each child of God will be restored.
  In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So, after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.
  1 Peter 5:10

‍

But Amos replied, “I’m not a professional prophet, and I was never trained to be one. I’m just a shepherd, and I take care of sycamore-fig trees. But the Lord called me away from my flock and told me, ‘Go and prophesy to my people in Israel.’ Now then, listen to this message from the Lord:…”
Amos 7:14-16

I’m just a man who takes care of fig tree, but God told me to do this so listen.

WPP (Wendy Pope Paraphrase- a much lesser know paraphrase of the Bible.)

‍

Follow the standard God sets for me as an individual and for the church.