10 days

I will be married in 10 days. Next Saturday I will no longer be single. Sarah, my fiance, will no longer live by herself. Instead, we will both enter into the holiest of covenants between men. Marriage is a remarkable statement of the nature of God in salvation. I hope that Sarah and I bring him much glory in how we live out the covenant. To God be the glory, -joe

daily meditation: salt to taste

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
Colossians 4:6

Have you ever tried something that lacked salt and seemed bland, then added a dash to bring the flavor out? In the same way, don't make your life and words flavorless.

-joe

daily meditation: real famine

“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD,
    “when I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
    but of hearing the words of the LORD.
They shall wander from sea to sea,
    and from north to east;
they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the LORD,
    but they shall not find it.
Amos 8:11-12

A great famine has come. Will we be the storehouses of Egypt or the barren wasteland of Canaan? Store up the Word for yourselves so that when the hungry come, you can dispense freely.

-joe

daily meditation: hardly a prophet

Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, "I was no prophet, nor a prophet's son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. But the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'
Amos 7:14-15

Untrained and outmatched, yet speaking truth. It is the foolish in the world who are chosen to shame the wise. The Spirit is the only maker of prophets.

-joe

daily meditation: mercy for the remnant

Hate evil, and love good,
    and establish justice in the gate;
it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts,
    will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
Amos 5:15

What shall bring mercy to the remnant (those faithful sheep)? Hate evil. Love good. Establish justice. Make it true of the Church, both local and global.

-joe