Amos 5:14 Seek good, not evil,
that you may live.
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,
just as you say he is.

Throughout history various people and various groups have claimed that God was with them. Even the German troops of WWII had “Gott mit Uns,” that is, “God with us,” on their belt buckles. It should be fairly obvious that you can’t be pursuing evil ends and still have God on your side, but we tend to forget that. God through Amos is calling us back to sanity on that point. The thing is, when we allow the devil to use our lusts to blind us, we become not only blind but stupid. It is a logical impossibility to get God on your side; you’ve got to get on God’s side. Our enemy is a consummate liar, and he does all he can to convince us that assorted evils are things we should aim for. Actually, he doesn’t stop with that; he distracts us with things that are good in themselves, so long as they are not what God wants us doing. To be on God’s side we first need to be familiar with His character, his personality, if you will, and the best way to do that is to become as familiar as possible with the Bible. There are many important reasons God provided us with the Scriptures (which means, “written things”) and one of those is simply to get a feel for who He is and how He acts and speaks. Anytime you find someone proclaiming a “revelation” that contradicts the Bible, you can be sure that person and that revelation aren’t from God. However, focusing strictly on what has been written doesn’t guarantee you’ll be doing what God wants, because our daily circumstances aren’t recorded in the Bible. That’s why we also need an active relationship with the Holy Spirit, letting Him show us which good things we are to be doing so that we will be more and more on God’s side. There’s no question, logically speaking, that God’s side is the correct side, the winning side, the side with peace, joy, and all the rest. It only stands to reason that we should do all we can to be on that side.

I will confess to thinking many times in terms of God being on my side, but I now see how foolish that was. It is true that God is for us, (Romans 8:31) but that means He desires the very best for us, not that He rubber stamps our desires. This is something I sometimes have a lot of trouble getting across to people. Just yesterday I was counseling someone who is ready to give up on God, because He hasn’t answered their prayers in the way they wanted. I’ve learned that’s no sign He isn’t there, or that He doesn’t love me, but rather that I have room to grow in learning how to get on His side, instead of trying to pull Him to mine. Again, I need to show others the same patience that was poured out on me, always speaking the truth in love, so that they may receive the truth and be set free. (John 8:32)

Father, thank You for Your grace. Thank You for sending Jesus to make it possible for us to be on Your side. Help me walk in closer and closer harmony with You, in step with Your Spirit, so that I may give You the pleasure and glory You deserve as I do Your will. Thank You. Hallelujah!