Micah looked around and could not find even one honest man. There was corruption everywhere and all the godly people had disappeared. He could have been talking about the world today, where it is not unknown for leaders to browbeat the opposition, kill or attack their opponents and have an election where they are the only candidate. Biblical principles are ignored, the bible is compromised, watered down, to fit in with the world today and political correctness rules. Even priests condone things that are forbidden in the bible, saying it only applied to Old Testament time, and that God didn't mean for it to be a sin, or something was just for the Early Church and doesn't apply to us.
As it says in my study bible, the standards of honesty come from God not society. We can't go ahead and do something just because we feel like it or because everyone else is doing it, or because we have "a right to be happy." We have to follow God, to obey Him to act as He would have us act (act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God), to be the truth setters for the nations, the peoples of this world and not to compromise our biblical principles just to fit in, to avoid giving offence to others. We need to do it in love, not hate (hate the sin, love the sinner) because we are each guilty of our own sins, the mean and nasty things we have each done, and since we have been forgiven by God, washed clean in the blood of the Lamb, then how can we not extend the same compassion and forgiveness to others, no matter who they are or what they have done?
We need to have faith and trust in God, and I admit, this is harder to do some days than others, when your whole world is crashing down around you, where is God then? He is right beside you, me, crying with us, grieving with us, holding us up, comforting us, and yes, the bad things may not go away, we may not magically be cured of cancer or whatever, we may not suddenly find a very healthy bank balance, the wind and the rain may still continue to pour down, but God will never, ever, ever, leave us and when He seems far away, we are the ones who have moved.
Showing posts with label Micah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Micah. Show all posts
Wednesday, 9 July 2008
Micah chapter 6
The Lord presents his case against Israel, and what a case it is. The mountains and hills were a witness of the pagan altars and Asherah poles they had built to sacrifice to false gods. They had oppressed the poor, used dishonest measures, extortion, violence, lying, cheating. Nothing new there then as all of that is still going on today.
And God asks them what exactly he has done to make them tired of him, for them to turn away and worship false gods. And what could they, or we, possibly say to justify it? Has God been wicked, cruel, overbearing? Has he brought calamity after calamity down on us, chased after us, threatened us, punished us? Or are we where we are today because of the things we have done, the lifestyle we have led? One of those questions that you can give all sorts of answers to depending upon what you believe in.
I know I believe in God, that he is full of love and grace and mercy, slow to anger, quick to forgive, never changing, all knowing, all seeing. And here, He is telling us how we should live our lives: to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him.
Many people are good people. They are kind, considerate, charitable, always willing to help out, want to see justice done, help those suffering, they act justly and love mercy. But the third requirement is to walk humbly with God, and I reckon this is the most important one, because if you are walking humbly with your God, then acting justly and loving mercy will come naturally. After all, how can you possibly walk humbly with God and then use dishonest scales in your shop, refuse to help someone in need, demand more than your fair share of everything?
But being good is not a "get into heaven" card, anymore than standing in a garage makes you a car. Faith without good works, as James says, is meaningless. If we are truly believers in Christ, and have accepted Him as our Lord and Saviour, and are seeking to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God, then things will change in our lives. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit, and He will change us from within to become more like Jesus, although I know he has a hard task with me, and a very long way to go. It may be a gradual change, it may happen overnight, it may be a combination of the two. But change we will.
There is a saying, "the proof of the pudding is in the eating." It is just the same with believers. We cannot say we are Christians if we are bossy, bullying those we work with, lying, gossiping, being full of pride, anger, jealousy, carrying on with that affair, cheating the taxman, and so on. One day, we will all have to give account of every word and deed, and yes, we may have been forgiven, but imagine having to stand before God trying to explain why you were continually angry with your spouse, your children, why you lied on your cv to get that job, why you told everyone the piece of news that was told to you in confidence….And the thing is, God already knows you are doing/have done these things, and He sees you no matter where you are, knows your every thought, your actions, your motives. He is omnipotent, with the ability to watch over the birth of the babies that are being born every second, be with the people dying every second, answer prayers, co-ordinate everything, control everything, and to be with each and every one of us at the same time. Awesome!
We need to line up our talk and our walk, practise what we preach, act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.
And God asks them what exactly he has done to make them tired of him, for them to turn away and worship false gods. And what could they, or we, possibly say to justify it? Has God been wicked, cruel, overbearing? Has he brought calamity after calamity down on us, chased after us, threatened us, punished us? Or are we where we are today because of the things we have done, the lifestyle we have led? One of those questions that you can give all sorts of answers to depending upon what you believe in.
I know I believe in God, that he is full of love and grace and mercy, slow to anger, quick to forgive, never changing, all knowing, all seeing. And here, He is telling us how we should live our lives: to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him.
Many people are good people. They are kind, considerate, charitable, always willing to help out, want to see justice done, help those suffering, they act justly and love mercy. But the third requirement is to walk humbly with God, and I reckon this is the most important one, because if you are walking humbly with your God, then acting justly and loving mercy will come naturally. After all, how can you possibly walk humbly with God and then use dishonest scales in your shop, refuse to help someone in need, demand more than your fair share of everything?
But being good is not a "get into heaven" card, anymore than standing in a garage makes you a car. Faith without good works, as James says, is meaningless. If we are truly believers in Christ, and have accepted Him as our Lord and Saviour, and are seeking to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God, then things will change in our lives. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit, and He will change us from within to become more like Jesus, although I know he has a hard task with me, and a very long way to go. It may be a gradual change, it may happen overnight, it may be a combination of the two. But change we will.
There is a saying, "the proof of the pudding is in the eating." It is just the same with believers. We cannot say we are Christians if we are bossy, bullying those we work with, lying, gossiping, being full of pride, anger, jealousy, carrying on with that affair, cheating the taxman, and so on. One day, we will all have to give account of every word and deed, and yes, we may have been forgiven, but imagine having to stand before God trying to explain why you were continually angry with your spouse, your children, why you lied on your cv to get that job, why you told everyone the piece of news that was told to you in confidence….And the thing is, God already knows you are doing/have done these things, and He sees you no matter where you are, knows your every thought, your actions, your motives. He is omnipotent, with the ability to watch over the birth of the babies that are being born every second, be with the people dying every second, answer prayers, co-ordinate everything, control everything, and to be with each and every one of us at the same time. Awesome!
We need to line up our talk and our walk, practise what we preach, act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.
Tuesday, 8 July 2008
Micah chapter 4
This is a wonderful chapter about what life will be like when Jesus returns, when everyone will go to the mountain of the Lord to worship. It is full of promise, of hope, of peace, with swords being hammered into ploughshares, spears into pruning hooks, and every man able to sit outside his house under his vine (or in his garden) without any fear at all. There are places in this world now where people have to have strong gates, stout doors, they have to bar themselves in for protection, so imagine how they would feel knowing that they could safely sit outside without fear of any harm?
But the verse that really struck me was verse 12 "but they do not know the thoughts of the Lord; they do not understand his plan, he who gathers them like sheaves to the threshing floor."
God is the creator of the universe. He made the sun, moon and stars, the earth and all the planets, the land, the sea, the plants, flowers, animals and insects, even spiders and daddy long legs that I hate. He made each one of us, decided upon the colour of our hair, our eyes, our skin, the shape of our nose, forming us in the womb and watching over us. He knows each one of us intimately, and at any second of the day, he knows exactly what each and every person is doing - he is watching the babies being born, people dying, he knows what we're thinking, how we are feeling, and he is co-ordinating the weather, the wind, and he never sleeps.
And many of us carry on regardless, never giving a thought to the fact that the odds on there not being a creator, a grand designer of the world and all that is in it, are something like 1 in 10 to the power of 40000! Those are some serious numbers which make me wonder just how people can not believe in God.
We carry on with our lives, going to school, college, work, taking the children to school/work, keeping the house running, earning a living, all the everyday things we have to do, and life happens around us. And God is watching over us the whole time. Yet which one of us really knows the mind of God? Knows why things happen? Why we or our loved ones get ill, why we struggle at times, why there are floods, earthquakes, famine, disasters? Why our prayers are unanswered or answered?
I think the thing here with these verses, is that the leaders, the priests, the teachers, chose to ignore God, to live their lives without him, and just to pay lip service to Him, to the Laws of Moses, the rituals, festivals and ceremonies and so on. Well, you cannot string God along. You can't tell Him in church on Sunday (or the Temple on Saturday) that He is a great and awesome God, offer him your praises, your worship, and then the rest of the week ignore Him, ignore his laws, His calling , his guidance in your life. He is not a just God of our Sundays, He is God of our Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays as well, God of our nights and our days, our work and our leisure time.
Knowing God, or desiring to know God, is a conscious choice we make, or don't make, we have to choose to want to know him. The leaders Micah is talking about didn't want to know God, seek him, talk to Him, ask Him for help, for guidance, but instead, they wanted to go their own way, do what they wanted to do without having to count the cost, to take into account what God would have them do. And yes, it is often easier to do that than to make a stand, to do what you know God would want, but the rewards of obeying God, which may well never come in this lifetime, only after we are dead and buried, far outweigh any temporary gain from going our own way or following the crowd.
But the verse that really struck me was verse 12 "but they do not know the thoughts of the Lord; they do not understand his plan, he who gathers them like sheaves to the threshing floor."
God is the creator of the universe. He made the sun, moon and stars, the earth and all the planets, the land, the sea, the plants, flowers, animals and insects, even spiders and daddy long legs that I hate. He made each one of us, decided upon the colour of our hair, our eyes, our skin, the shape of our nose, forming us in the womb and watching over us. He knows each one of us intimately, and at any second of the day, he knows exactly what each and every person is doing - he is watching the babies being born, people dying, he knows what we're thinking, how we are feeling, and he is co-ordinating the weather, the wind, and he never sleeps.
And many of us carry on regardless, never giving a thought to the fact that the odds on there not being a creator, a grand designer of the world and all that is in it, are something like 1 in 10 to the power of 40000! Those are some serious numbers which make me wonder just how people can not believe in God.
We carry on with our lives, going to school, college, work, taking the children to school/work, keeping the house running, earning a living, all the everyday things we have to do, and life happens around us. And God is watching over us the whole time. Yet which one of us really knows the mind of God? Knows why things happen? Why we or our loved ones get ill, why we struggle at times, why there are floods, earthquakes, famine, disasters? Why our prayers are unanswered or answered?
I think the thing here with these verses, is that the leaders, the priests, the teachers, chose to ignore God, to live their lives without him, and just to pay lip service to Him, to the Laws of Moses, the rituals, festivals and ceremonies and so on. Well, you cannot string God along. You can't tell Him in church on Sunday (or the Temple on Saturday) that He is a great and awesome God, offer him your praises, your worship, and then the rest of the week ignore Him, ignore his laws, His calling , his guidance in your life. He is not a just God of our Sundays, He is God of our Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays as well, God of our nights and our days, our work and our leisure time.
Knowing God, or desiring to know God, is a conscious choice we make, or don't make, we have to choose to want to know him. The leaders Micah is talking about didn't want to know God, seek him, talk to Him, ask Him for help, for guidance, but instead, they wanted to go their own way, do what they wanted to do without having to count the cost, to take into account what God would have them do. And yes, it is often easier to do that than to make a stand, to do what you know God would want, but the rewards of obeying God, which may well never come in this lifetime, only after we are dead and buried, far outweigh any temporary gain from going our own way or following the crowd.
Sunday, 6 July 2008
Micah chapter 3
Another chapter filled with doom and gloom.
This is a dreadful indictment on the leaders, the priest and the prophets of Israel. They were supposed to lead the people, guide them , help them, and yet here they are denounced for robbing the people blind, refusing to prophesy or teach unless they were paid, taking bribes instead of showing justice.
Because of their behaviour, how they have hardened their hearts and preyed on the people, their pride in assuming that God was with them, even though they were behaving in exactly the opposite way from the way God wanted them to act, then when they called out to God He would refuse to hear them.
When I first read this, it seemed harsh that when they turned to God He would ignore them. But really, they would be using God as a Mr Fix it, a cure for all ills, a magician who could solve all their problems and nothing in their hearts would have changed. After all, how can we approach God, ask for His help when we do not change our ways? When we continue to be full of pride, envy, jealousy, greed? When we commit adultery, when we have lust in our hearts, when we sleep around, take drugs, abuse our children, scrounge on others, lie, gossip, cheat, steal, murder, rape? When we consider ourselves to be better than others, superior to our neighbour, when we refuse to see the log in our own eye but are quick to point out the splinter in a friend's?
Time and time again, I am reminded of 2 Chronicles 7:14:, the promise given by God to Solomon on the dedication of the temple.
When my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
This is a dreadful indictment on the leaders, the priest and the prophets of Israel. They were supposed to lead the people, guide them , help them, and yet here they are denounced for robbing the people blind, refusing to prophesy or teach unless they were paid, taking bribes instead of showing justice.
Because of their behaviour, how they have hardened their hearts and preyed on the people, their pride in assuming that God was with them, even though they were behaving in exactly the opposite way from the way God wanted them to act, then when they called out to God He would refuse to hear them.
When I first read this, it seemed harsh that when they turned to God He would ignore them. But really, they would be using God as a Mr Fix it, a cure for all ills, a magician who could solve all their problems and nothing in their hearts would have changed. After all, how can we approach God, ask for His help when we do not change our ways? When we continue to be full of pride, envy, jealousy, greed? When we commit adultery, when we have lust in our hearts, when we sleep around, take drugs, abuse our children, scrounge on others, lie, gossip, cheat, steal, murder, rape? When we consider ourselves to be better than others, superior to our neighbour, when we refuse to see the log in our own eye but are quick to point out the splinter in a friend's?
Time and time again, I am reminded of 2 Chronicles 7:14:, the promise given by God to Solomon on the dedication of the temple.
When my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
It is a case of:
- being called by God
- humbling ourselves
- praying
- seeking His face
- turning from our wicked ways
And then God will:
- hear from heaven
- forgive our sin
- heal our land
The leaders here were not doing any of this, they were carrying on regardless, not changing anything, using and abusing the people, and assuming that God would come to their aid because they were His chosen people. But it is a two way street - how can we expect God to help if we ignore him except when we need Him? How can we expect Him to hear our prayers when we continually do things that grieve him? And I think here, that there is a difference between those who try to do right and then mess up, as opposed to those who never give it a thought, who carry on sinning left right and centre and have no intention of even attempting to do anything God has asked.
So Micah tells them just what he thinks of them, and then proceeds to inform them that he is filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, filled with justice and strength to boldly declare Israel's sin and rebellion.
This is how we as Christians should be. I know we are each filled with the Holy Spirit, but really, do we truly appreciate all that means? That we have been given the power to do all that Jesus did and more? That our prayers can move mountains, heal the sick raise the dead, make the blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear? I know I read this in the bible, I know it is true, but actually believing that I can make a difference, can do all these things is such a huge leap of faith, and I am only taking baby steps when really, I should be running marathons as far as faith and prayer goes. And then what about being filled with justice and strength to boldly declare Israel's sin, the sins of our nations, the world? When do I actually stand up and say something is wrong? When does the church? There is the huge rift in the Anglican church at the moment and I can't help but think that if only the church, you, me, each one of us believers, actually stood up and said what we believed in, acted in faith, said that certain things are wrong, and that just because we can do something doesn't mean we should, then maybe others would listen, would turn to Jesus, and maybe the world just wouldn't be in the mess it is in.
Saturday, 5 July 2008
Micah chapter 2
Well, here in chapter 2 there is a warning to those who lie awake at night plotting and scheming, those who use their position to oppress others, and also the false prophets, who put their heads in the sand and say everything is all right.
To me, the false prophets sound like the church today, or at least many people in the church. They say what the people want to hear, telling them that the words in the bible are not relevant for today, that people in the Old Testament times were living in a different age, a different era and that we need to move with the times. Things were different then and God did not mean that we couldn't do x, y or z now, that only applied in the Old Testament days. There are even ministers in the church who do not believe Jesus rose from the dead, something which is at the very heart of Christianity.
But how can we pick and choose what to believe in the bible and what to ignore? God does not change, so why should His word change? Is it right to only pick out the bits of the bible that lets us live life the way we want to? To only listen to those prophets and preachers who tell us what we want to hear?
If you truly believe that God is omnipotent, omniscient, all seeing, all knowing, ever present, unchanging, slow to anger, quick to forgive, knowing the past, present and future, then surely He would have known when the bible was written, Spirit breathed, what was going to happen? That He would have made His word just as relevant for today as it was all those years ago?
I sit here and read these words in Micah, and really, what is so very different today? People still lie awake at night plotting and scheming evil deeds, people in positions of authority and power still oppress those underneath them and there are preachers and prophets who even today will tell people what they want to hear rather than the solid truths in the bible. It is easier to go with the flow, to try to keep everyone happy rather than stand out from the crowd. And yet what punishment awaits those who lead others astray, the false prophets and teachers who draw people away from God instead of pulling them towards Him. It is such an awesome responsibility, and yet such a privilege but it is abused by many.
Then in the final verses of this chapter, the promise of restoration, of hope, and the return of Jesus. Just as true now as it was then, and even nearer in this year of 2008.
To me, the false prophets sound like the church today, or at least many people in the church. They say what the people want to hear, telling them that the words in the bible are not relevant for today, that people in the Old Testament times were living in a different age, a different era and that we need to move with the times. Things were different then and God did not mean that we couldn't do x, y or z now, that only applied in the Old Testament days. There are even ministers in the church who do not believe Jesus rose from the dead, something which is at the very heart of Christianity.
But how can we pick and choose what to believe in the bible and what to ignore? God does not change, so why should His word change? Is it right to only pick out the bits of the bible that lets us live life the way we want to? To only listen to those prophets and preachers who tell us what we want to hear?
If you truly believe that God is omnipotent, omniscient, all seeing, all knowing, ever present, unchanging, slow to anger, quick to forgive, knowing the past, present and future, then surely He would have known when the bible was written, Spirit breathed, what was going to happen? That He would have made His word just as relevant for today as it was all those years ago?
I sit here and read these words in Micah, and really, what is so very different today? People still lie awake at night plotting and scheming evil deeds, people in positions of authority and power still oppress those underneath them and there are preachers and prophets who even today will tell people what they want to hear rather than the solid truths in the bible. It is easier to go with the flow, to try to keep everyone happy rather than stand out from the crowd. And yet what punishment awaits those who lead others astray, the false prophets and teachers who draw people away from God instead of pulling them towards Him. It is such an awesome responsibility, and yet such a privilege but it is abused by many.
Then in the final verses of this chapter, the promise of restoration, of hope, and the return of Jesus. Just as true now as it was then, and even nearer in this year of 2008.
Thursday, 3 July 2008
Micah chapter 1
Micah was just a countryman who lived in a small village in Judea, about 20 miles southwest of Jerusalem near Gath. He prophesied during the reigns of kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah, at the same time that Isaiah was a prominent prophet in Jerusalem. He exposed the sins of both the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, and boldly proclaimed the destruction of Israel (1:6-7), as well as of Jerusalem and the Temple (3:12). He also foretold Judah's restoration.
In this first chapter, Micah is telling the people that the judgement of God is at hand, to prepare themselves for the worst, because it is about to happen. I wonder how many actually listened to him? I'm sure I remember Ahaz telling another king that Micah never prophesied anything good about him, and you can understand why he had that opinion from just reading a few verses.
But the one thing that struck me was in verse 9, which in the NLT is translated as "For my people's wound is too deep to heal. It has reached into Judah, even to the gates of Jerusalem."
The sins of the people were so bad, so ingrained, so much a part of their nature, that the people of Samaria were incurable. Their sins had proved to be a mortal blow to their bodies. They had reached the stage that even though Micah was telling them what was going to happen, they would not, could not, change their ways. Their hearts had become so hardened, that they refused to even consider that Micah might be right, that he might be telling them a message from God, rather than just giving his rather forceful opinion on their lifestyle.
Look around today, and exactly the same things are going on now in the world as there were in the time of Micah, Isaiah and the other prophets. Man has a tendency to sin, and the world today is such a truly evil and wicked place. There are stories in the newspapers, on the radio and television, of murder, rape, crimes, child abuse, extreme poverty, famine, floods, earthquakes. Drugs are readily available on street corners (mind you, if you were to ask me to go get some, I wouldn't have a clue where to start). People are hungry for God yet are looking in all the wrong places - sex, drugs, work, tarot cards, spiritualism, witchcraft, Buddha, New age religions, Islam, and so on. The world is hurting, the people and the lands are crying out, yet many have hardened their hearts. They have deliberately turned their backs on God and ignored Him, gone their own ways to such an extent that like the people of Samaria, their wounds are too deep to heal.
And it is progressing throughout the world, like an infectious disease. As crime, poverty, and other things become more and more common place, we close our ears, we accept it as a way of life and disregard it, switching off the news, doing something else to avoid having to face the reality that God is missing in so many people's lives. Political correctness is commonplace, you cannot stand and say what you believe in, say something is wrong without being categorised as prejudiced, and the church has accepted all this. It was a gradual process taking many years, but now, the church seems to have no backbone, trying to appease everyone, to keep the peace and avoid giving offence to anyone.
We need to turn our hearts back to God, to repent of our sins, because we are all guilty even if it is the sin of omission, of not standing up and saying something.
In this first chapter, Micah is telling the people that the judgement of God is at hand, to prepare themselves for the worst, because it is about to happen. I wonder how many actually listened to him? I'm sure I remember Ahaz telling another king that Micah never prophesied anything good about him, and you can understand why he had that opinion from just reading a few verses.
But the one thing that struck me was in verse 9, which in the NLT is translated as "For my people's wound is too deep to heal. It has reached into Judah, even to the gates of Jerusalem."
The sins of the people were so bad, so ingrained, so much a part of their nature, that the people of Samaria were incurable. Their sins had proved to be a mortal blow to their bodies. They had reached the stage that even though Micah was telling them what was going to happen, they would not, could not, change their ways. Their hearts had become so hardened, that they refused to even consider that Micah might be right, that he might be telling them a message from God, rather than just giving his rather forceful opinion on their lifestyle.
Look around today, and exactly the same things are going on now in the world as there were in the time of Micah, Isaiah and the other prophets. Man has a tendency to sin, and the world today is such a truly evil and wicked place. There are stories in the newspapers, on the radio and television, of murder, rape, crimes, child abuse, extreme poverty, famine, floods, earthquakes. Drugs are readily available on street corners (mind you, if you were to ask me to go get some, I wouldn't have a clue where to start). People are hungry for God yet are looking in all the wrong places - sex, drugs, work, tarot cards, spiritualism, witchcraft, Buddha, New age religions, Islam, and so on. The world is hurting, the people and the lands are crying out, yet many have hardened their hearts. They have deliberately turned their backs on God and ignored Him, gone their own ways to such an extent that like the people of Samaria, their wounds are too deep to heal.
And it is progressing throughout the world, like an infectious disease. As crime, poverty, and other things become more and more common place, we close our ears, we accept it as a way of life and disregard it, switching off the news, doing something else to avoid having to face the reality that God is missing in so many people's lives. Political correctness is commonplace, you cannot stand and say what you believe in, say something is wrong without being categorised as prejudiced, and the church has accepted all this. It was a gradual process taking many years, but now, the church seems to have no backbone, trying to appease everyone, to keep the peace and avoid giving offence to anyone.
We need to turn our hearts back to God, to repent of our sins, because we are all guilty even if it is the sin of omission, of not standing up and saying something.
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