Seek Good (Amos 5:14) Pastor Steve Selfridge

02 Jul Seek Good (Amos 5:14) Pastor Steve Selfridge

“Seek good and not evil, that you may live; then truly will the LORD, the God of hosts, be with you as you claim!” ~ Am 5:14 (full readings)
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Pastor Steve’s Reflections:  I have four children ages 11, 9, 7, and 5.  I love to wrestle with them and they love to wrestle with me—well not the 9 year old girl.  Whenever we wrestle, she likes to stay as far away from the pile as she can.  My 11 year old is getting bigger now and I need to be ready for his “attacks” and he loves when he can knock dad over.  Sometimes when we are wrestling, an inadvertent arm, elbow or knee gets tossed my way.  For whatever reason it seems that blow catches my nose (or maybe those are just the ones that I remember because it hurts so much!) Ouch. I don’t like that one bit.  In some of those moments, I want to lash back because it really hurts, but I don’t lash back usually because it wasn’t meant to be.  Or we were all wrestling—what did I figure was going to happen?  At times I need to offer some self control even though I got whacked which I didn’t enjoy.  As you think of others and how they treat you, sometimes we get “whacked”.  It may come through an email, a text, an unpleasant phone call, or a word said across the cubicle, down the hall, across the bedroom, or on the field of play.  This could be in reference to a variety of things at work or when we aim to defend the life of the unborn.  How would our Lord respond?  We see it in the verse from today “Seek good and not evil”.  The natural response of our nature is to respond in anger.  If we look underneath the problem, we are wrestling—struggling really with the enemy of our souls and with others.  And during that struggling, we need to seek good and not evil—just like I am not going to punch my kid back in the nose—and he doesn’t even mean it.  When someone means to hurt you because of your stance and belief in the Lord and all life, know that you seeking good will serve as a testimony of God’s grace and hope in your own life.
* Steve Selfridge is a pastor at First Wesleyan Church in Rapid City, SD.  He has a beautiful and awesome wife and four children that rock the world.
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Faith Challenge:  Today I believe you will be challenged to seek good.  Seek it and show it to others and God’s Spirit will shine through you.

Counter-Culture News: LifeSiteNews, LifeNews, American Family, Vatican, Project Rachel..
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Our Prayers: Pray LIFE Runners Creed to End Abortion.  Add Prayers. Pray with meals, bedtime, wake up, unceasingly. Consider mid-week Family Rosary (17 min). Let’s pray now.
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Feast Day:  St. Berardino Realino
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Faith Quote:  “May God strengthen you deep within as you strive to seek good and not evil, even when bad happens to you.” ~ Unknown Author
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Through Christ our Lord,
Pastor Steve