Month: September 2023

Micah  6:6-8 (MSG) – How can I stand up before God and show proper respect to the high God?  Should I bring an armload of offerings topped off with yearling calves?  Would God be impressed with thousands of rams, with buckets and barrels of olive oil?  Would he be moved if I sacrificed my firstborn child, my precious baby, to cancel my sin?  But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women.  It’s quite simple:  Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, and don’t take yourself too seriously—take God seriously.

Micah 6:8 AMP – He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, and to love kindness and mercy, and to humble yourself and walk humbly with your God?

Observation

Micah, a contemporary of Isaiah circa 800 BC, was one of the prophets who began to speak for God directly to the people rather than to the king (as did Samuel, Elijah, and Elisha).  Micah spoke both God’s warning regarding injustices committed on a personal level and, also, of hope because of God’s willingness to forgive those who will commit to change their hearts.  Micah made it very clear that God is against those who think they can wash away deliberately committed sin with a sacrifice (the “I’m going to do what I want now and I’ll repent later” syndrome).  This portion of Micah is reminding the people that trusting obedience (listening and obeying even when we don’t understand) is better than any amount of sacrifice (see Saul’s big mistake in 1 Samuel 13:9-12).

Micah 6:8 brings pleasing God down to 3 things. 

• Treating others justly (fairly, decently, equally, honestly). 
• Being kind and merciful (forgiving, forbearing, compassionate, gracious) to others. 
• Walking out this life humbly (respectfully, simply, submitted) with and to God.  

These 3 echo another familiar set of verses describing how God wants us to walk out this life.   1 Corinthians 13 (NIV) ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  ^8a Love never fails.  Choosing obedience in these, too, requires a true openness and submission to allowing the Holy Spirit to change our selfish human flesh-driven hearts.  It can only happen when we condition our souls to listen to and obey the Spirit of Jesus in us rather than going with the pre-salvation flow.

Impact on Me

Micah 6:8 is a life-defining verse for me.  When the Word of God says that He has shown me what is good and pleasing to Him, I need to pay attention to what follows.  God is not asking me to fix all of the world’s problems.  He is asking me to allow Him to fix me so that others can see Him working in and through me, evidenced by the fruit of His Spirit and His love guiding my behavior, my choices.  It is my part to choose to listen, obey and walk humbly in submission to Him so I can be changed into what He needs me to be to do what He has called me to do. 

These 3 commands are all within my ability to choose to obey, irrespective of the circumstances surrounding the opportunity or what I think it might cost me.  I can choose to be fair, decent and honest even if the one benefitting is not a nice or honest person or, in my estimation, deserving of what he/she will receive.  I can choose to be kind and merciful (forgiving, compassionate, gracious) whether or not I receive the same in return.  It is my choice whether to steal God’s glory or give Him all the credit when I am fully aware that, without His power, grace and anointing, I would be merely another human worshipping myself and my accomplishments.  Living in this Micah 6:8 mode is part of the Romans 12 “putting it all on the altar” in order to be conformed to God’s kingdom, His principles and His methods.  As I choose this life style of consecration, the Lord will share with me the part I am to play in bringing others to the knowledge of Christ and the salvation available in Him.  The actual calling on each of us is God’s prerogative; we serve at His pleasure.

Prayer

Father God, Almighty, Omniscient, Everlasting, Savior, Lord of my life, remind me often of this simple list that brings You pleasure.  There are so many areas and individual circumstances where I struggle to hear and must weigh the options because I am not sure what is pleasing to You at that moment.  This simple list will help me choose.  My bottom line is always a desire to give You joy in Your heart in everything I do.  Lead me in doing so.  In Jesus’ name, make it so.

2 Cor 10:3-5  ESV   ³For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. ⁴For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. ⁵We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 MSG  The world is unprincipled. It’s dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn’t fight fair. But we don’t live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.

Observation

Paul knew we needed to be reminded often that we do not operate on a purely human level.  The true battle of the ages occurs in the invisible realm of our souls – our minds and hearts.  What we can hear, touch and see may seem more real to us, but our minds and hearts are where the most powerful battle rages, affecting not only our life on this earth but also our life ever after.  These eternal battles are spiritual, unseen, and outside our human comprehension, so we should not be surprised that the weaponry for battling in the spiritual realm may seem strange but nonetheless is incomprehensible in its power.  We forget that all we can humanly do is nothing compared to what Christ can do in and through us if we will conform ourselves to “the structure of life shaped by Christ.” 

The religious leaders of Jesus’ time could ignore all of the miraculous power and authority in and through Jesus because He did not fit the picture they had of Messiah, a great and mighty warrior who would merely change their earthly situation – overcoming and driving out the Romans to re-establish a Jewish state.  How tragic that their fixed expectation caused them to miss Messiah in the flesh.  What we determine God should do in a situation – the plans and accomplishments we have determined are just and right in our human senses and culture – are not always in sync with what God is set to accomplish.  He is willing to trade winning individual battles in order to win the war.   Just obedience (doing what He teaches us to do) rather than following our flesh (what we want to do), whether we understand or agree or have confidence that His way will work, has a high impact in the spiritual realm.  If we will really be so gracious and forgiving as to turn the other cheek rather than be offended and strike back, the enemy has lost his power and control over us in that place – one victory for Jesus’ side!

Impact on Me

So, I want to always be equipped with “powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.”  This requires setting aside what I can do on my own, with my own hands, and becoming (surrendering as) an instrument in God’s hands.  Obedience requires that I take the Sermon on the Mount seriously because it will equip me with those powerful God-tools in my service to Him.  Obedience requires that I trade my human weapons for His weapons and trust that any cost to me is worth the benefit to Him.

Therefore, I recognize that the weapons of our spiritual warfare are the same ones Jesus used in His ministry – prayer, love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control, grace, forgiveness, mercy, compassion, among so many others rooted in the relationship modeled by Jesus for us as He walked this earth and by Father God for us over the ages.  I must commit to take captive every thought of offense, pride, personal praise, revenge and every other un-Jesus-like judgment.  Will I always succeed?  No, but I do know how to repent and be restored.  Thank You, God, for creating repentance, reconciliation and restoration of relationship with You.

Prayer

Lord, cause me to be aware of the choices as I live out my day.  Teach me to war with Your weapons.  Let me be intentional in the weapons I choose for each battle, led and guided by You in how I fight, when I fight, and the battles I choose. I want to be an instrument in Your hands for bringing Your victory.  Help me on the journey of “fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.” I want to be obedient and accountable to you in all things.  In Jesus’ name, make it so.