ahhh. prophets. yes. finally.

there is so much love in my heart for my students that most of the time i dont even know what to do with it. i smile all the time. i think about them all the time. i want to KNOW them. i want to know them well. the more i know them, the better i can teach them. i know this, because i'm putting it to practice on a daily basis. my students are my heart.

(for my students that are reading this... YES. i love YOU. sincerely. i do. too much for my own good.)

today i started talking about Amos. Amos? yes, amos. if you dont know much about him, i recommend you do a little study. amos was a nobody. he was a shepherd. he was nothing. and he knew it. God called him to be a prophet during a time when Israel was thriving. They were rich, snobby, luxurious, "religious" and ritual people. they had all of the right practices, but none of the heart necessary behind them.
why would someone who is a nobody try to talk sense into these kind of people? they have everything in the world a man could desire, and really, they thought they had it together. they were doing all of the right "things" (and after all, they werent nearly as evil as the nations surrounding them... what with the tearing open pregnant ladies bellies, killing brothers, auctioning off nations and such... for real. read amos. CRAZY!) they were thinking just that... we're not that bad, look at these other nations, look what they're doing... do we think that? do i think that? "oh i'm not that bad off... i'm not killing any body or anything... no big deal, i cheated on a test... no big deal, i told a little lie..." STOP. if you know God. if you know his love. if you know his deliverance. and you are not ACTING IN IT; you ARE JUST AS BAD OFF. (whoa.)

amos acts simply because GOD TOLD HIM TO (Amos 7:15). what? that's it? no secret power? no magic strength hair? nope. just because God said to do it.

we are all nobodies. in the grand scheme of life we are nothing. BUT; good news. God has called us too.

^"For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."

HELLLLLOOO. God has chosen the foolish, the weak, the DESPISED.
ME. I AM ALL OF THOSE THINGS. why am i not acting? why am i hesitant to follow?
YOU. why are you waiting? what else do you need? God has called, answer.
we boast in nothing but his call and his redemption, and his grace, and his love, and his wisdom, and his strength. or at least we're supposed to. do we?
what have we to boast in but that?