Kristi Burchfiel

VERSE: Amos 3:7–Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants the prophets. TRUTH: The Lord is not tying to be a mystery to us. He wants a relationships with us. God, through Jesus Christ, has allowed us to come together with Him and He can give us insight into what He is doing. Are we looking for and waiting on Him and His counsel. RESPONSE: Lord, I want to know what You are doing. I want to be a part of it. Help me to be patient and seek You in all things.

VERSE: Amos 2:13–“Behold, I am weighted down beneath you as a wagon is weighted down when filled with sheaves.” TRUTH: God is speaking here describing how He feels when people disobey Him. Do we realize that our disobedience matters to God? It affects Him and He is disappointed and “weighted down.” Certainly, He still loves us no matter what, but He longs for us to be right with Him. Ho will God respond to us and our actions today? RESPONSE: Lord, help me to follow Your ways because I love You and I desire for my relationship with You to bring You joy.

VERSE: Amos 1:2–He said, “The Lord roars from Zion and from Jerusalem He utters His voice; and the shepherds’ pasture grounds mourn and the summit of Caramel dries up.” TRUTH: Sometimes, it seems God does not hear or react to the evils and injustices of the world. Yet God roars His displeasure here. God is not passive, He is patient. He longs for all to come to Him. But make no mistake, He will respond and His word will be the final word. RESPONSE: Lord, thank You for Your holiness, but also for Your patience and mercy, desiring that none would perish but that all would come to repentance. I…

VERSE: Romans 16:17–No I urge you, brethren, keep an eye on those who cause divisions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned and turn away from them. TRUTH: Now, just like then, there are people who try to stir up arguments and division between believers in Christ. We must be wary of these people and not get caught up in arguing with one another. Do we remain focused on Christ and His goals or allow ourselves to be distracted by petty disagreements? RESPONSE: Lord, help me to see when people are trying to distract from the things of You. Help me to seek You first and not get…

VERSE: Romans 15:1–Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. TRUTH: God has blessed each of us in different ways for different purposes. When we find ourselves strong in situations, we are to use that strength to help and encourage others. Have we shared our blessings with others today? RESPONSE: Lord, I thank You for Your blessings in my life. I pray that You will help me not hoard those to myself, but share them with others who need to know You love them.

VERSE: Romans 14:12–So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God. TRUTH: Even as a believer, we are responsible to God for everything that we do. We must realize that Christ dies to save us from all our sins; past, present, and future. But even so, we still must give an accounting of how we use the time and resources God has given us. RESPONSE: Father, today, help me to use my time and resources to be a blessing for You. I want nothing more than to be pleasing in Your sight today.

VERSE: Romans 13:8–Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. TRUTH: How should we manage the resources God gives us? We should owe people, but only owe them love. We are to strive to live without owing people any money or anything else except for love so that they see our focus on them is only about sharing God’s love, not about anything else. When people receive payment from us, is all they see love? RESPONSE: Lord, thank you for meeting our needs everyday so that we can focus only on showing love to others, not paying any other debt. Help…

VERSE: Romans 12:21–Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. TRUTH: We are to overcome evil, but how do we do that? Often, we thing we overcome evil through justice. We punish evil. But according to this verse, the way we overcome evil is through good, not justice. The previous verses explain how we are to go about doing good to the evil that we face. RESPONSE: Father, it is hard to do good to those who are evil to us, but today I will trust in You and Your ways. I will do good and You, in Your perfect timing, will handle the justice.

VERSE: Romans 11:18–Do not be arrogant toward the branches, but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who support the root, but the root supports you. TRUTH: It can be easy to get our perspective turned around and be focused on all the good things we do for God. “See God, how great I am and all I do for You?” Paul reminds us here that we should never lose focus of the fact that Jesus Christ is the root, the source of all our strength and ability. Only by being connected to Him are we able to do anything. Apart from Him we can do nothing.…