DO GOOD; RUN FROM EVIL

Amos 5:14  Do what is good and run from evil—that you may live!  The LORD God Almighty will truly be your helper, just as you have claimed he is.  NLT

       It’s not very hard to understand at all.  If we want to live in Christ we must do good and run from evil.  If we do this, then the Lord will help us do it. 

      We cannot do good if we aren’t good.  What makes us good is the shed blood of Christ applied to our hearts.  No one is good in the Biblical sense except for God and no one can be good apart from a relationship with Him.  Just because we do good things doesn’t mean we are good people.  It’s not too hard to be good before man while not being good before God.  We often confuse the two and think that our standing with man makes us in good standing with God.  It doesn’t.  Only Christ can make us good before God.

       If we are good before God we will run from evil.  Now, we can’t avoid evil; it’s the norm for the world in which we live.  But, we can choose to not participate in the evil that surrounds us.  We can choose to run from tempting situations.  We can choose to not be entertained by evil.  We can choose to not get too close to evil and avoid it rubbing off on us.  Godly people have a distaste in their mouths for evil and seek instead the things of God.  They seek to let the Lord build them up instead of letting Satan tear them down.

      The Lord promises to help us when we set our hearts and minds on Him.  He wants to see us become a holy people, a people after His own heart.  He wants to make us heaven ready.  He wants to teach us His ways.  He wants to help us get rid of all the baggage that hinders us.  He wants to help us live in victory and not defeat.  He wants to help us, but He won’t do it unless we let Him have control of our hearts and minds.