Micah is a small OT book with a big story… Micah alternates between destruction and hope. A true Christian faith that is strong and well nourished has as its foundation hope. Hope is ever present even in the days such as the people of the Ukraine, are suffering this very day. Micah wrote this book between 735 and 700 BC. This was a period of great prosperity in Jerusalem even though they did face some threats from Assyria. As Micah wrote this book he most likely would remember that the Northern Kingdom fell to Assyrian forces in 722 BC, I am sure he thought of this because although he lived in the Southern Kingdom he had witnessed the carnage the North. The tie if there is any to the present day situation in Ukraine is the hope of the people and their undeniable faith in their hope for a better day. Right now for most of us there is a stubborn refusal to examine the state of our relationship with God. We refuse to acknowledge the social ills of our day and do what is necessary to restore our relationship with God through our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Where is our Micah? It is thought that Micah wrote this prior to the good King Hezekiah’s reign, this being the time of the wicked King Ahaz. (2 Kings 16) This King subjected himself to being a subordinate of Assyria, not trusting in God. There was idol worship and the destruction of God’s temple, which leads to Micah’s predictions of the fall of Samaria (the Northern Kingdom)  and several other warnings to the people of Judah.

In the remaining verses in chapter six (9-16) God has made known through Micah that cheating and violence will be punished. In chapter seven we find four other points in this closing chapter. The first is the total corruption of the people, their perversion of justice ,family and the people in general turn away from others as well as God. Contempt and lack of compassion have a free hand. Micah calls for penitence and trust in God. The book comes to an end with two wonderful thoughts. There is the prophecy of restoration and ends with God’s compassion and steadfast love. Read these last verses of the book of Micah and rejoice….

 18 

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
and passing over the transgression
of the remnant of your possession?
He does not retain his anger forever,
because he delights in showing clemency.

19 

He will again have compassion upon us;
he will tread our iniquities under foot.
You will cast all our sins
into the depths of the sea.

20 

You will show faithfulness to Jacob
and unswerving loyalty to Abraham,
as you have sworn to our ancestors
from the days of old.

Micah 7 New Revised Standard Version

Our world needs a Micah and even though Micah chastises us for our sins he leaves us with the promises God has made and set before us through his son Jesus Christ. We need to understand that while our God is one of mercy and forgives, casting our sins into the depth of the seas… There is a judgement.

Life is Good

jk

Note:Did Micah write the Book of Micah? The book is a compilation of materials some of which come from a period considerably later than Micah’s time. The threats in chapters 1–3 and 6–7:7 are usually attributed to Micah, but the promises in chapters 4–5 and 7:8–20 are generally dated several centuries later.     (britannica) 

All through the Bible we read of the peoples, government and Churches unfaithfulness and disrespect for God. We should realize by now that our God, one of mercy, grace and hope also is a God of Judgement. God’s wrath has been felt by many nations, peoples and in some instances even the Church. In the first three chapters of Micah we are made aware of the Judgement of Samaria, the Doom of the cities of Judah and a Denunciation of the prevailing social evils. The third chapter speaks to Wicked Rulers and Prophets. There is in chapter two a small respite in verses twelve and thirteen. In chapter four we find the possibility of Peace and Security through Obedience and Restoration promised after exile. Moving on to chapter five we read of the Ruler from Bethlehem and the Future Role of The Remnant. Today, I have chosen to look a little closer at chapter 6:1-8.

Back in the day I had a great aunt that was always telling me about how the church had changed. She bemoaned the absence of a good old fashion hell and damnation sermon. She said that “people needed to experience a good old fashion gospel tongue lashing…never hurt nobody.” Well, here in the book of Micah we  get that and then some. Our nation today and I guess it would be safe to say, the world is in bad need of a little divine intervention. What do we do? How do we seek the forgiveness of our God for this mess we made of his creation? What does God require? In the sixth chapter of Micah that question is answered. In verses 6-7 those things that were of much value in that day are offered up as perhaps something to offer God and be in his favor. I offer for your consideration today, Verse 8…. 

Micah 8   

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;

and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?

As Christians there are the requirements of the faith…instructions if you will that are tossed aside to make way for a faith of convince that meets the demands of the day, socially and agenda wise. In a real sense the word requirements is really out of place here. The first few words of verse eight are far more meaningful…He has told you, O mortal, what is good… Please read Micah in its entirety. Next week we will continue in chapter six and finish the book in chapter seven. I plan to focus on the last three verses of this somewhat under read book.

Our nation and the world need now more than ever a good hell and damnation message, we need a divine intervention. 

Life is Good

jk

Many of us have over the years experienced adversity of one kind or another, prompting that classic response..why me Lord? David wrote this Psalm when he was an old man, he had plenty of time to reflect over his life. In the world today wisdom isn’t much valued…Part of the shame of this is that there is a definite distinction between wisdom and knowledge…the first being God given and the latter acquired. It is not my intention to spend time lingering in the adversity of the day and as we walk with God there no need to do that. David had been there. Although he had been anointed king as a teenager, he spent the better part of his twenties running from the ungodly King Saul. David had many occasions to reflect on the problem of personal injustice. The first nine verses spoke to the wisdom he had gleaned from years of walking with God.

Psalm 37

1 Do not fret because of the wicked;
do not be envious of wrongdoers,

2 

for they will soon fade like the grass,
and wither like the green herb.

3 

Trust in the Lord, and do good;
so you will live in the land, and enjoy security.

4 

Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5 

Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.

6 

He will make your vindication shine like the light,
and the justice of your cause like the noonday.

7 Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him;
do not fret over those who prosper in their way,
over those who carry out evil devices.

8 

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath.
Do not fret—it leads only to evil.

9 

For the wicked shall be cut off,
but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

(New Revised Standard Version)

For convince I have inserted those first 9 verses. The first 22 verses are Godly advice for those who are in adversity not to envy the prosperity of the wicked, because it is superficial, and of short duration but today we will stay with the first 9. Now part of the message here is to put your confidence in God, and live to his glory, as this is the sure way to be happy in this life, and in that which is to come.

Gleaning from the above verses we find a list of actions we can take to make each day better. Do not worry, trust in the Lord, do good, please Him… avoid evil, take heart, there will be vindication. Put aside anger, turn from wrath. It is noted that those of evil intent will be cast aside but those who live for Christ  will prevail. A bit of a personal note here. I have always believed that there are miracles occurring around us every day. Some years back the group  Alabama had a song,  Angels Among Us…and I believe that to be true also. What I think is we are so busy living our life, our way that we allow God’s way to be obscured by the way of the world. Sometimes that little voice we hear is put off to be our  conscience, a little cricket sitting on our shoulder. Have you ever considered the possibility that it might be an angel or even….God? So…to the point here.My devotional this morning was written by John Blasé and it was about being anxious, which I will claim to be the cousin of adversity which could be the driver of anxiousness.  From the John Blasé  article I share this with you. 

“The 2019 You Version  shared that the most shared, highlighted, and bookmarked verse of the year on its online and mobile Bible app was Philippians 4:6, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” The verse that didn’t make “verse of the year” but follows it is—“And the peace of God . . . will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (v. 7). That’s quite the reassurance!”

I was a bit unsure about the topic I had picked for this week, I started to search for a topic on Sunday evening…Today’s devotional took the worry away. I believe there might have been angel on my shoulder during my devotional time. I hope you will read Psalm 37 in its entirety because as I have written often…content is important and the truth lies in the wholeness of a thing. Let God be part of all your tomorrows and your life will be better. 

Life is Good

jk

I always sign my blog with the tagline Life is Good…and indeed it is. All of us will at one time or another find a rough road, some bad times and truthfully the degree is never the same from one person to another person. Bumps like potholes come in all sizes and to navigate them requires knowledge, attention and avoiding those roads in life that they seem to be more prevalent on. To travel the Christian Road does not guarantee a smooth ride but the destination is worth the effort. What is important is that all of us will at various times in our lives find ourselves out on that preverbal limb, or subject to Murphy’s Law, the truth is the real reason being we made bad a decision…it’s human nature to avoid two thing whenever possible…responsibility and discipline and that brings us to this point… ‘Zacchaeus! Hurry and come down! for this very day I must stay at your house.’ On the surface a reasonable request if you are aware of the context in which it is said and by whom and to whom. I love the stories of the Bible and I particularly enjoy going beyond the words or to quote Paul Harvey getting the Rest of The Story.

As the story goes Jesus was passing through Jericho and there he encountered a man named Zacchaeus. This man was the Commissioner of taxes, and he was rich. Now Zacchaeus knew who Jesus was and wanted to see him but being short in stature didn’t help and the crowd that had gathered knew him only as the commissioner of taxes, and  that he was rich and they disliked him intensely. This intense dislike made going among the crowd a bit risky. Zacchaeus was a quick thinker and ran ahead of the crowd and climbed up into a sycamore tree, not to tall but stout with strong sturdy limbs…easy to climb and there he waited to see Jesus. Jericho was one of the greatest taxation centers in Palestine. Give Zacchaeus credit, he was good at what he did. He had reached the top of his profession but with that distinction he was the most hated man in the district. Consider these things…Yes he was wealthy but he was not happy. He was a lonely because the path he chose had made him an outcast. Zacchaeus was determined to see Jesus, and would not let anything stop him. From other readings because of his stature he could not see Jesus because most of the people were taller than him and the crowd took delight in making sure of that. Written accounts say that this tree was a good source of shade and provided a nice spot to stop for a moment, catch you breath and maybe visit a moment. Jesus saw him out on that limb and thus came Jesus’ invitation….

‘Zacchaeus! Hurry and come down! for this very day I must stay at your house.’ 

What an opportunity to change his life! Zacchaeus, to his credit saw this and had no intention of letting it go by. He took steps to show all the community that he was a changed man. In Jesus he had found a new and wonderful friend. We must understand that on this day and upon this house came forgiveness, salvation and restoration from evil ways. It is followed by a wonderful and gracious act of restitution and the fact that in his restitution he went far beyond what was legally necessary. A testimony such as this must contain sincere contrition. Jesus is not looking for a change of words but rather a change of life. Some words to bring this story to a close. “The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.”  Being lost is not meant to mean doomed or damned. It is more about being in the wrong place. Zacchaeus knew of Jesus, and went looking for him…He sought out Jesus and got to the right place in his life. Are you in the right place with God?

Life is Good

jk