Give God the Credit!

"Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plow there with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness— you who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debarand say, “Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?”

- Amos 6:12-13

These verses had several aspects that really jumped out at me. The first part talks about how the people of Israel had turned Justice into poison and righteousness into bitterness. It was amazing to me how much of those phrases applied to our nation. The courts really have become a place of poison and corruption, I remember hearing court cases where people tried to defend the actions of murderers by saying that they were a "product of our modern society" while at the same time there are Christians who have to fight certain things in the courts. "righteousness into bitterness" I am seeing this in the way that society is trying to shed a positive light on things that are wrong such as abortion, homosexuality, and premarital sex. Those who say anything negative against such behavior are deemed "uptight" or "judgmental" or in some cases even "intolerant". The last part of the verse is what really has stuck with me, not only for it's personal application but also for it's place as the root cause of all this evil. At the end of the verse, the Israelites are taking credit for how they took Karnaim "by our own strength". I think this was the source of their problems- and ours. We often forget to give God the credit for the good things that have happened in our life, including the small ones. The Bible tells us that: "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." (James 1:17) This means that if anything good has been given to you today, God is the one who deserves to be recognized and praised. Our society has so abandoned God that instead of "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." (Phil 4:13) people are now thinking "I can do anything if I set my mind to it" or "I can do everything if I just believe in myself". This leads to pride, something which God hates strongly when we are supposed to be committing ourselves to him and to his plan: "Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed. The Lord has made everything [to accommodate itself and contribute] to its own end and His own purpose--even the wicked [are fitted for their role] for the day of calamity and evil. Everyone proud and arrogant in heart is disgusting, hateful, and exceedingly offensive to the Lord; be assured [I pledge it] they will not go unpunished." (Prov 16:3-5 AMP) We need to remember that God is the one who has given us strength for every single moment, he has chosen us specifically to place us where we are and to guide us where we walk, he is the one who deserves the credit for our greatest victories! So give God the credit, not yourself!