1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,000
Day 250, or September the 7th.

2
00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:08,680
Problems can be possibilities.

3
00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:13,160
Our thoughts today are rooted in Amos chapter 2 verse 5.

4
00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:21,120
I will send fire on Judah that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem.

5
00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:23,800
Now the big picture surrounding this verse.

6
00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:29,360
Amos prophesied to the northern tribes around the same time as Hosea.

7
00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:36,680
Times were good as godly kings were ruling, but godlessness was rampant, and Amos addressed

8
00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:38,400
it head on.

9
00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:44,680
As a southerner, Amos started with a disadvantage, and a bit like in many countries today, there

10
00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:48,760
was a divide between the north and the south of the promised land.

11
00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:53,760
This was still evident when Jesus came many centuries later, with the north being the

12
00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:58,320
most rebellious and the south being the most prosperous.

13
00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:05,120
Add to this the fact that Amos wasn't even a proper prophet, but a shepherd and farmer.

14
00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:11,200
Amos is a unique name in the Old Testament, and can be translated as burden bearer.

15
00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:13,900
What a name for a prophet of God!

16
00:01:13,900 --> 00:01:20,240
He begins his book by declaring a series of eight judgments on Israel, Judah, and their

17
00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:23,640
immediate neighbours.

18
00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:26,920
And now today's action step.

19
00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:31,760
After reading the first couple of chapters in the book of Amos, it seems one of God's

20
00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:34,940
favourite tools of judgment is fire.

21
00:01:34,940 --> 00:01:41,880
On second reading, however, it seems God is not burning his enemies, but their fortresses,

22
00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:44,980
signs of their own strength and security.

23
00:01:44,980 --> 00:01:51,500
He is telling them that he is the ultimate security, and anything else is totally inadequate.

24
00:01:51,500 --> 00:01:54,760
They need to turn to him and trust him.

25
00:01:54,760 --> 00:02:01,440
Fire isn't always destructive, it can be a cleansing agent which stimulates growth.

26
00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:07,720
Whenever fires sweep the Yorkshire moors and appear to destroy every growing thing, it's

27
00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:11,860
only a matter of weeks before green shoots begin to show.

28
00:02:11,860 --> 00:02:16,680
What appeared to be destruction is now the producer of good things, because it wasn't

29
00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:19,560
the end, it was a fresh beginning.

30
00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:26,880
If only we could appreciate many of the fires in our lives, they are not endings, but beginnings.

31
00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:32,760
Don't be blinded by a problem, but try to look through it and build on it.

32
00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:50,280
Always try to see difficulties as opportunities.