Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus)

“All the world’s a stage,” writes Shakespeare.  The stage of history is large.  Arrogant people appear on this stage from time to time, swaggering about, brandishing weapons and money, terrorizing and bullying.  At any given moment a few superpower nations and their rulers dominate the daily news.  Every century a few of these names are left carved on its park benches, marking rather futile attempts at immortality.

Eugene Peterson writes, “The danger is that the noise of these pretenders to power will distract us from what is going on quietly at the center of the stage in the person and action of God.  God’s characteristic way of working is in quietness ad through prayer.  If we are conditioned to respond to noise and size, we will miss God’s word and action.”

God’s prophets are those who stand up above the noise of the world to pay attention to Him, then warn others around them to do the same.  Nahum is one of those called by God to draw people back to who God is and what HE is doing center stage—the main action—at the very heart of the life! 

Nahum’s assignment was to the capital of Assyria, Nineveh.  At that time Assyria dominated which paralyzed God’s people.  Nahum urged people to believe and pray to a sovereign God.  His preaching, his Spirit-born metaphors, his God-shaped words, knocked Assyria off her high horse and cleared the field of Nineveh-distractions so that Israel could see that despite her world reputations, Assyria didn’t amount to much.  Israel could now attend to what was really going on.

“Because Nahum has a single message—doom to Nineveh—it is easy to misunderstand the prophet as simply a Nineveh-hater.  But Nahum writes and preaches out of the large context in which Israel’s sins are denounced as vigorously as those of any of her enemies.  The effect of Nahum is not to form religious hate against the enemy but to say, ‘Don’t admire or be intimidated by this enemy.  They are going to be judged by the very same standards applied to us.’” –Peterson

Nahum 1, The Message

God Is Serious Business

A report on the problem of Nineveh, the way God gave Nahum of Elkosh to see it:

^2-6 God is serious business.
    He won’t be trifled with.
He avenges his foes.
    He stands up against his enemies, fierce and raging.
But God doesn’t lose his temper.
    He’s powerful, but it’s a patient power.
Still, no one gets by with anything.
    Sooner or later, everyone pays.

Tornadoes and hurricanes
    are the wake of his passage,
Storm clouds are the dust
    he shakes off his feet.
He yells at the sea: It dries up.
    All the rivers run dry.
The Bashan and Carmel mountains shrivel,
    the Lebanon orchards shrivel.
Mountains quake in their roots,
    hills dissolve into mud flats.
Earth shakes in fear of God.
    The whole world’s in a panic.
Who can face such towering anger?
    Who can stand up to this fierce rage?
His anger spills out like a river of lava,
    his fury shatters boulders.

^7-10 God is good,
    a hiding place in tough times.
He recognizes and welcomes
    anyone looking for help,
No matter how desperate the trouble.
    But cozy islands of escape
He wipes right off the map.
    No one gets away from God.
Why waste time conniving against God?
    He’s putting an end to all such scheming.
For troublemakers, no second chances.
    Like a pile of dry brush,
Soaked in oil,
    they’ll go up in flames.

A Think Tank for Lies

¹¹ Nineveh’s an anthill
    of evil plots against God,
A think tank for lies
    that seduce and betray.

^12-13 And God has something to say about all this:
    “Even though you’re on top of the world,
With all the applause and all the votes,
    you’ll be mowed down flat.

“I’ve afflicted you, Judah, true,
    but I won’t afflict you again.
From now on I’m taking the yoke from your neck
    and splitting it up for kindling.
I’m cutting you free
    from the ropes of your bondage.”

* * *

¹⁴ God’s orders on Nineveh:

“You’re the end of the line.
    It’s all over with Nineveh.
I’m gutting your temple.
    Your gods and goddesses go in the trash.
I’m digging your grave. It’s an unmarked grave.
    You’re nothing—no, you’re less than nothing!”

¹⁵ Look! Striding across the mountains—
    a messenger bringing the latest good news: peace!
A holiday, Judah! Celebrate!
    Worship and recommit to God!
No more worries about this enemy.
    This one is history. Close the books.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God is.  God was, is and always will be God.  Don’t mess with God.  Believe God.  God will correct what is bad with all that is good for God is Good.  In fact, God is the definition of Good.  God is also love and because of that love, He is Savior.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) 

God created all, is in all, is over all and loves all that He created.  He loves us and wants His very best for us.  He wants us to believe seriously and honestly what He says is really real.  Only then can we begin our intimate, growing relationship with Him.  There is no one like our God!

There will always be the enemy who is against God and wants to be God.  He is easy to spot when we pay attention.  Our enemy is not flesh and blood (each other) but the Prince of all that is dark.  He does his best work under the cover of darkness appealing to our pride.  Be just as aware of what is pulling us away from God as what is pulling us to God.  Our prayer life, our “never ceasing” communion through communication with God, is our best defense.  What the enemy hates most are true believers in God, on their knees, praying in Jesus Name.  When we do this, the enemy flees from us.  So—do exactly that!  Run from the enemy to God!

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  Ephesians 6:12

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”  James 4:7 NIV In another translation, “So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7, NLT

The devil appeals to our pride—God is drawn to our humility.

Lord,

I am so glad You are who you say You are.  I am grateful for your promise to always be with us.  I pray for focused attention on all that is You.  I thank you for Your Holy Spirit living in me to do your work of changing and transforming me to be all you created me to be—yours.  Thank you, Jesus, for saving me and making me whole.  Lead us not into temptations, but deliver us from the evil enemy of distraction from you.

In Jesus Name, Amen

You might be right in the middle of trouble caused by missteps in judgement, misleading trust in what is not really true, or relying people who told you lies.  You arrive at truth but to undo what you have done will be monumental and costly to you.  We might be down but not out.  According to Micah, God knows and God is not finished with us yet.  As long as we live and breathe, God is always at work. 

God is for us, not against us—even when we make mistakes.  He will help us live through it, help us clean up the mess we made, learn from it and then help us move forward with new wisdom from Him.  Yes, even though overwhelmed for a moment, God’s mercy, grace, compassion, and love lasts a lifetime and beyond to eternity.  Don’t give up, stick around to see what God will do to help us through temporary inconveniences, troubles, challenging finances, family issues with fractured relationships…anything and everything that happens to us will affect what is happening in us.  What does God require of us while He is working in us?

“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, MSG

Micah 7, The Message

^1-6 I’m overwhelmed with sorrow!
    sunk in a swamp of despair!
I’m like someone who goes to the garden
    to pick cabbages and carrots and corn
And returns empty-handed,
    finds nothing for soup or sandwich or salad.
There’s not a decent person in sight.
    Right-living humans are extinct.
They’re all out for one another’s blood,
    animals preying on each other.
They’ve all become experts in evil.
    Corrupt leaders demand bribes.
The powerful rich
    make sure they get what they want.
The best and brightest are thistles.
    The top of the line is crabgrass.
But no longer: It’s exam time.
    Look at them slinking away in disgrace!
Don’t trust your neighbor,
    don’t confide in your friend.
Watch your words,
    even with your spouse.
Neighborhoods and families are falling to pieces.
    The closer they are—sons, daughters, in-laws—
The worse they can be.
    Your own family is the enemy.

* * *

⁷ But me, I’m not giving up.
    I’m sticking around to see what God will do.
I’m waiting for God to make things right.
    I’m counting on God to listen to me.

Spreading Your Wings

^8-10 Don’t, enemy, crow over me.
    I’m down, but I’m not out.
I’m sitting in the dark right now,
    but God is my light.
I can take God’s punishing rage.
    I deserve it—I sinned.
But it’s not forever. He’s on my side
    and is going to get me out of this.
He’ll turn on the lights and show me his ways.
    I’ll see the whole picture and how right he is.
And my enemy will see it, too,
    and be discredited—yes, disgraced!
This enemy who kept taunting,
    “So where is this God of yours?”
I’m going to see it with these, my own eyes—
    my enemy disgraced, trash in the gutter.

* * *

^11-13 Oh, that will be a day! A day for rebuilding your city,
    a day for stretching your arms, spreading your wings!
All your dispersed and scattered people will come back,
    old friends and family from faraway places,
From Assyria in the east to Egypt in the west,
    from across the seas and out of the mountains.
But there’ll be a reversal for everyone else—massive depopulation—
    because of the way they lived, the things they did.

^14-17 Shepherd, O God, your people with your staff,
    your dear and precious flock.
Uniquely yours in a grove of trees,
    centered in lotus land.
Let them graze in lush Bashan
    as in the old days in green Gilead.
Reproduce the miracle-wonders
    of our exodus from Egypt.
And the godless nations: Put them in their place—
    humiliated in their arrogance, speechless and clueless.
Make them slink like snakes, crawl like cockroaches,
    come out of their holes from under their rocks
And face our God.
    Fill them with holy fear and trembling.

* * *

^18-20 Where is the god who can compare with you—
    wiping the slate clean of guilt,
Turning a blind eye, a deaf ear,
    to the past sins of your purged and precious people?
You don’t nurse your anger and don’t stay angry long,
    for mercy is your specialty. That’s what you love most.
And compassion is on its way to us.
    You’ll stamp out our wrongdoing.
You’ll sink our sins
    to the bottom of the ocean.
You’ll stay true to your word to Father Jacob
    and continue the compassion you showed Grandfather Abraham—
Everything you promised our ancestors
    from a long time ago.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Our God is abundant in love and steadfast in mercy. He saves us, not because we trust in other humans, traditions, religious symbols, or ceremonies, but because we trust in a Savior.

Micah lamented because there were no godly people left in the land. Looking for a godly person was as futile as looking for summer fruit after the harvest was over.  Not only was Micah grieved at the corruption of the officials, but also, he was grieved at the unfaithfulness of the common people of the land. You couldn’t trust anybody! Has our society come to this realization?  It seems that way if you do business with the world.

When truth is no longer the standard for society, then everything starts to fall apart; faithfulness to our word is the cement that holds society together. The situation had deteriorated to the point where neighbor couldn’t trust neighbor and friends couldn’t trust each other. 

Micah reached a turning point when he looked away from the sins of the people and meditated on the faithfulness of the Lord. He would “look” and “wait” and put his trust only in the Lord. This forms a bridge between sin and judgment with Hope.  When it all seems hopeless, we need to stand firm with God, and stick around because Hope is at work.

Micah’s final words tell us that there is no one like our God!  He extols God’s character, particularly His unfailing love. God doesn’t ignore our sins, but in His compassion He “sinks our sins” into the depths of the ocean!  Jesus paid the debt of our sins, now and forever.  Believe and be saved.

Hope faces God’s righteous and inevitable judgment but dares to look beyond it, knowing that God always keeps His promise to love us unfailingly.  Yes, there is no one like our God!  There is no one we can trust with our lives but God. Trust Him.  Do what He says—then stick around to see what He will do. 

Lord,

We realize that amid trouble, You have been there all the time.  You know what we are going through and you will provide a way over, around and through it.  I trust you, dear Jesus, with all my life.  I love you with all that is in me.  Be our wisdom and strength today.  Forgive us when we trust in anything not You or in anyone who does not believe in You.  Have mercy on us, Lord.

In Jesus Name, Amen

What do you look for in a person you want to be with these days?  I look for someone who is pleasant, smiles, looks me in the eyes with compassion, loves without conditions, listens, and speaks truth.  Typically, these are trustworthy people.  These people are precious to me and to God. Generally, these are people who trust God.  I trust God.  Therefore, we can trust each other because of our love for God. 

I don’t know what you are looking for in a person to learn from, hang around and enjoy life with, but I’m pretty simple.  I just want others to love me back even though I’m not perfect in every way.  I want to love and be loved, thought about and prayed for on good days and especially on challenging days.  I enjoy praying for others so they can see the glory of God at work in their lives as well as in mine. 

So, where does this longing of belonging and loving come from?  It comes from our Creator.  We are created with the longing to love and relate to God.  When we realize in our growing, intimate relationship with God how much He loves compassionately and unconditionally, we begin to be like Him in our love for each other.  Our love takes on his character in all ways as our love deepens for Him.

And this is what God is looking for—love for Him and love for others.  Jesus taught us that this love for God and for others are the two most important commandments (our expected behavior) delivered from God.  Our love for God that begins with God is expressed in a variety of ways.  Micah narrows the field of understanding of this love and how to respond to it in verse 8, one of my favorites and most quoted verses in the Bible.  Do justice—love mercy—walk humbly with God. 

Micah 6, The Message

^1-2 Listen now, listen to God:

“Take your stand in court.
    If you have a complaint, tell the mountains;
    make your case to the hills.
And now, Mountains, hear God’s case;
    listen, Jury Earth—
For I am bringing charges against my people.
    I am building a case against Israel.

^3-5 “Dear people, how have I done you wrong?
    Have I burdened you, worn you out? Answer!
I delivered you from a bad life in Egypt;
    I paid a good price to get you out of slavery.
I sent Moses to lead you—
    and Aaron and Miriam to boot!
Remember what Balak king of Moab tried to pull,
    and how Balaam son of Beor turned the tables on him.
Remember all those stories about Shittim and Gilgal.
    Keep all God’s salvation stories fresh and present.”

^6-7 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?

* * *

⁸ 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.

⁹ Attention! God calls out to the city!
    If you know what’s good for you, you’ll listen.
So listen, all of you!
    This is serious business.

* * *

^10-16 “Do you expect me to overlook obscene wealth
    you’ve piled up by cheating and fraud?
Do you think I’ll tolerate shady deals
    and shifty scheming?
I’m tired of the violent rich
    bullying their way with bluffs and lies.
I’m fed up. Beginning now, you’re finished.
    You’ll pay for your sins down to your last cent.
No matter how much you get, it will never be enough—
    hollow stomachs, empty hearts.

No matter how hard you work, you’ll have nothing to show for it—
    bankrupt lives, wasted souls.
You’ll plant grass
    but never get a lawn.
You’ll make jelly
    but never spread it on your bread.
You’ll press apples
    but never drink the cider.
You have lived by the standards of your king, Omri,
    the decadent lifestyle of the family of Ahab.
Because you’ve slavishly followed their fashions,
    I’m forcing you into bankruptcy.
Your way of life will be laughed at, a tasteless joke.
    Your lives will be derided as futile and fake.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Micah also expresses what God is NOT looking for in us with what disgusts Him causing Him to put a stop to what is destroying our relationship with God.  Micah knew that sacrifices were outward expressions of inner faith and trust. What God desired most of all was for Israel to relate to him in a heartfelt, personal way—not just in some superficial, ritualistic fashion. 

If our grown children and grandchildren only came to visit us because they felt it was their obligation to do, put a time limit on the visit of one hour, then left gifts because it made them feel like they had fulfilled their requirements us to us, we would know it and feel little to no love from them.  These actions would be unkind and devastating to our relationship.

Real, honest, love, God’s love, should drive every thought and action.  Sincere hearts full of the love from God back to God is what He is looking for—just as parents long to have their children love them back for no other reason, but love for them.  It’s not about the gifts but the longing to spend time with the One who loves you most.  It’s about loving each other like He loves us. 

“The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”  2 Chronicles 16:9

God’s love in us, loving Him back with committed hearts, prompts the flow of God’s benefits that He is longing to give to us!  God gives strength, power, wisdom, insight, understanding that produces His compassion for others in us, guidance around or through the tough stuff of life—not to mention provisions enough and protection from the enemy! 

Now we know what God is looking for in us—what are we looking for in life?  Who do we really believe?  Who do we follow?  Who has the best for us?  Who loves us so much He laid down is life for us so we could be free from sin?  The answers to these questions will be shown by our hearts and reflected in our behaviors.

Lord,

What you really want is a personal relationship, not an external connection only. May my life today, all of it, imperfections, and all, be an offering to you today.  I love you with all my heart, mind, and soul.  Cleanse my heart of all that does not belong, renew and transform my mind to think more like you, refresh my soul with Your power and strength and restore the joy of your salvation at work within me.  Then I will be able to love more like you love me—with mercy and grace.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen 

About four hundred years before coming to earth, Jesus is described for who He is and what He will do.  There is no one else who can lay claim to their foretelling birth and life in such detail proving that only God is doing the speaking through Micah and the other prophets who speak of Jesus’s coming.  Hope is coming, Israel!  Hope is on the way, world!  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Micah 5, The Message

The Leader Who Will Shepherd-Rule Israel

But for now, prepare for the worst, victim daughter!
    The siege is set against us.
They humiliate Israel’s king,
    slapping him around like a rag doll.

^2-4 But you, Bethlehem, David’s country,
    the runt of the litter—
From you will come the leader
    who will shepherd-rule Israel.
He’ll be no upstart, no pretender.
    His family tree is ancient and distinguished.

Meanwhile, Israel will be in foster homes
    until the birth pangs are over and the child is born,
And the scattered brothers come back
    home to the family of Israel.
He will stand tall in his shepherd-rule by God’s strength,
    centered in the majesty of God-Revealed.
And the people will have a good and safe home,
    for the whole world will hold him in respect—
    Peacemaker of the world!

^5-6 And if some bullying Assyrian shows up,
    invades and violates our land, don’t worry.
We’ll put him in his place, send him packing,
    and watch his every move.
Shepherd-rule will extend as far as needed,
    to Assyria and all other Nimrod-bullies.
Our shepherd-ruler will save us from old or new enemies,
    from anyone who invades or violates our land.

⁷ The purged and select company of Jacob will be
    like an island in the sea of peoples.
They’ll be like dew from God,
    like summer showers
Not mentioned in the weather forecast,
    not subject to calculation or control.

^8-9 Yes, the purged and select company of Jacob will be
    like an island in the sea of peoples,
Like the king of beasts among wild beasts,
    like a young lion loose in a flock of sheep,
Killing and devouring the lambs
    and no one able to stop him.
With your arms raised in triumph over your foes,
    your enemies will be no more!

* * *

^10-15 “The day is coming”
    —God’s Decree—
“When there will be no more war. None.
    I’ll slaughter your war horses and demolish your chariots.
I’ll dismantle military posts
    and level your fortifications.
I’ll abolish your religious black markets,
    your underworld traffic in black magic.
I will smash your carved and cast gods
    and chop down your phallic posts.
No more taking control of the world,
    worshiping what you do or make.
I’ll root out your sacred sex-and-power centers
    and destroy the God-defiant.
In raging anger, I’ll make a clean sweep
    of godless nations who haven’t listened.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Micah continued his prophecies to Judah and Jerusalem. He rebuked the present leaders but promised a perfect future leader, Christ.  Jesus would come as the Prince of Peace.  His reign will be over all, including our friends and our enemies.  God promises that one day all weapons of war will be done away with and God’s people will live in total peace. We are ready for that day, right?!

God has great and mighty plans for you and me. He is recruiting for himself a people who will populate heaven. God will restore his planet and his children to their Garden of Eden splendor. It will be perfect. Perfect in splendor. Perfect in righteousness. Perfect in harmony.  But we are not perfect.  So, how do we enter this splendor?  Jesus. 

Jesus stepped out of eternity into human history, sent by the Father to die for the sins of the world (1 John 4:14). We are perfecting forgiven when we say yes to Jesus, asking forgiveness of all our sins.  He not only forgives, but then wipes the slate clean to be remembered no more.  Done.  It is finished.  Old life of sin gone.  A new life of living for the King, with the guidance of His Holy Spirit begins.  Mistakes will happen along the way, but Jesus, our Advocate and Savior, makes it right again.  No more war within ourselves when the Peace of Christ rules our hearts.  Yes!

It is interesting to note that this is the prophecy that the priests shared with the magi who came to Jerusalem looking for the King (Matthew 2:1–12).  More proof that God is doing the talking!

In Micah’s day, both Israel and Judah were guilty of sins that violated God’s law and grieved God’s heart. Time after time, He had sent messengers to the people to denounce their sins and warn of impending judgment, but the people would not listen.

Are we listening, watching, waiting in holy expectation for the return of Jesus? 

Are we listening to His guidance, correction, leading, encouragement, and challenge to follow in His ways until He comes? 

Do we ask for wisdom in the waiting? 

Are we trusting in what He says, leaning less on our own understanding as our standard for living? 

These are all questions that evaluate our faith in the One who loves us most and wants the best for us.  May we all pause to pray as we reflect, asking for His help for this day.

Lord,

Challenges come daily to draw us away from you.  We think we can handle the “small stuff” until we realize that it is in the small stuff that we learn to lean on you.  You give us exactly what we need when we need it most for you our God who cares and the Savior who redeems us.  You are also Holy Spirit who lives within us to guide us on the path less traveled.  Thank you for being with us always.  Thank you for Peace who rules hearts fully committed to you.  The daily battle it seems is the war within ourselves to choose whom we will serve, worship, love, trust and obey throughout the day.  Help us all, Lord to choose you at every turn.

In Jesus Name, Amen 

Micah’s message alternates between prophecies of doom and prophecies of hope; the theme is divine judgment and deliverance.  God sees, hears and knows all that is going on now and what will happen in the days ahead because He is in control.  We might be down currently in a current crisis of circumstances but we who believe are certainly not out for the count. 

Where does faith fit in with media reports of violence, corruption, war, and terrorism occurring around the world? The prophet Micah reminds us that even when God seems distant and uninvolved, he still cares and offers hope to those who choose to remain faithful to him. 

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6 He always has and always will make our paths straight—back to Him!  What wisdom and assurance!

Micah 4, The Message

The Making of God’s People

^1-4 But when all is said and done,
    God’s Temple on the mountain,
Firmly fixed, will dominate all mountains,
    towering above surrounding hills.
People will stream to it
    and many nations set out for it,
Saying, “Come, let’s climb God’s mountain.
    Let’s go to the Temple of Jacob’s God.
He will teach us how to live.
    We’ll know how to live God’s way.”

True teaching will issue from Zion,
    God’s revelation from Jerusalem.
He’ll establish justice in the rabble of nations
    and settle disputes in faraway places.
They’ll trade in their swords for shovels,
    their spears for rakes and hoes.
Nations will quit fighting each other,
    quit learning how to kill one another.
Each man will sit under his own shade tree,
    each woman in safety will tend her own garden.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies says so,
    and he means what he says.

⁵ Meanwhile, all the other people live however they wish,
    picking and choosing their gods.
But we live honoring God,
    and we’re loyal to our God forever and ever.

^6-7 “On that great day,” God says,
    “I will round up all the hurt and homeless,
    everyone I have bruised or banished.
I will transform the battered into a company of the elite.
    I will make a strong nation out of the long lost,
A showcase exhibit of God’s rule in action,
    as I rule from Mount Zion, from here to eternity.

⁸ “And you stragglers around Jerusalem,
    eking out a living in shantytowns:
The glory that once was will be again.
    Jerusalem’s daughter will be the kingdom center.”

* * *

^9-10 So why the doomsday hysterics?
    You still have a king, don’t you?
But maybe he’s not doing his job
    and you’re panicked like a woman in labor.
Well, go ahead—twist and scream, Daughter Jerusalem.
    You are like a woman in childbirth.
You’ll soon be out of the city, on your way
    and camping in the open country.
And then you’ll arrive in Babylon.
    What you lost in Jerusalem will be found in Babylon.
God will give you new life again.
    He’ll redeem you from your enemies.

^11-12 But for right now, they’re ganged up against you,
    many godless peoples, saying,
“Kick her when she’s down! Violate her!
    We want to see Zion grovel in the dirt.”
These blasphemers have no idea
    what God is thinking and doing in this.
They don’t know that this is the making of God’s people,
    that they are wheat being threshed, gold being refined.

¹³ On your feet, Daughter of Zion! Be threshed of chaff,
    be refined of dross.
I’m remaking you into a people invincible,
    into God’s juggernaut to crush the godless peoples.
You’ll bring their plunder as holy offerings to God,
    their wealth to the Master of the earth.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Wake up with thanksgiving to God for a new day with Him.

Ask God what He has planned for each day and do that because obedience gives us the gift of His peace and contentment.

When circumstances bring us down, look up to God who knows what we are going through and has already gone before us with His plan of learning and growing through it.

Focus on the benefits of knowing God through communication with God.  Our God bends down to hear every sincere word we say because of His great love for us.  There is no one like our God.

Thank Jesus daily for His work to redeem us, setting us free from the debt of our sins.  Thank Him by trusting Him.  Learn from His teachings that give us a plan for growing in God’s love and compassion for others.

Live, knowing where we are headed.  Jesus is currently preparing a “place” for us with Him in heaven, our forever home.  Don’t get to attached to where we are living right now for the best is yet to come. Be grateful but don’t hang on double fisted to what is temporary.

Believe.  Really believe that what God says is really real.  We can’t go wrong with what is true and right.  God is always up to something new!

Lord,

Thank you for reminding us of what is true about you and our relationship with you.  You are God.  You always were, is and will be God.  You know our comings and goings and you love us unconditionally.  You lift us up when we are brought low.  You take us by the hand and guide us through this life.  You saved us.  There is no one else I trust with my very life—for you are Life!  To you be the glory, honor, and praise!  Forever and ever!

In Jesus Name, Amen…Yes!

We who believe God and trust in what He says to do because we love God are sick at heart when a fellow believer, we work alongside becomes increasingly more arrogant.   We sometimes cringe and look the other way while they become full of themselves but still pretend to love God as if nothing is wrong.  Their thinking and behaving progressively changes while we stand by wondering.

The pretense can go on for years, fooling and betraying others who follow this person’s teaching and believe all is well.  But when the great pretender believes his/her own lies so much he/she can no longer hear God and believe that what they are doing is righteous and good merely because they are doing it, God must step in before many others are hurt by their lies and deception. 

We must examine our hearts’ motivations daily to stay focused on our God who called us to live for Him, love like He loves us so others can see Him in us.  Evil leads us to self-destruction.  God leads us to all that is good for us—His best work in us!  We choose daily who we will serve.  We must choose wisely.

Micah has been called to expose the great pretenders in his day…

Micah 3, The Message

Haters of Good, Lovers of Evil

^1-3 Then I said:

“Listen, leaders of Jacob, leaders of Israel:
    Don’t you know anything of justice?
Haters of good, lovers of evil:
    Isn’t justice in your job description?
But you skin my people alive.
    You rip the meat off their bones.
You break up the bones, chop the meat,
    and throw it in a pot for cannibal stew.”

⁴ The time’s coming, though, when these same leaders
    will cry out for help to God, but he won’t listen.
He’ll turn his face the other way
    because of their history of evil.

* * *

^5-7 Here is God’s Message to the prophets,
    the preachers who lie to my people:
“For as long as they’re well paid and well fed,
    the prophets preach, ‘Isn’t life wonderful! Peace to all!’
But if you don’t pay up and jump on their bandwagon,
    their ‘God bless you’ turns into ‘God damn you.’
Therefore, you’re going blind. You’ll see nothing.
    You’ll live in deep shadows and know nothing.
The sun has set on the prophets.
    They’ve had their day; from now on it’s night.
Visionaries will be confused,
    experts will be all mixed up.
They’ll hide behind their reputations and make lame excuses
    to cover up their God-ignorance.”

* * *

⁸ But me—I’m filled with God’s power,
    filled with God’s Spirit of justice and strength,
Ready to confront Jacob’s crime
    and Israel’s sin.

^9-12 The leaders of Jacob and
    the leaders of Israel are
Leaders contemptuous of justice,
    who twist and distort right living,
Leaders who build Zion by killing people,
    who expand Jerusalem by committing crimes.
Judges sell verdicts to the highest bidder,
    priests mass-market their teaching,
    prophets preach for high fees,
All the while posturing and pretending
    dependence on God:
“We’ve got God on our side.
    He’ll protect us from disaster.”
Because of people like you,
    Zion will be turned back into farmland,
Jerusalem end up as a pile of rubble,
    and instead of the Temple on the mountain,
    a few scraggly scrub pines.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

When we fall for self, we are prey for the evil one to do what he does best—lie to us about how great we are.

Micah continued his prophecies to Judah and Jerusalem. He rebuked the present leaders but promised a perfect future leader, Christ.  This leader would bring true justice, love, mercy and grace like that world has never seen before while living a life with no sin having dominion over him.

God promises that one day all weapons of war will be done away with and God’s people will live in total peace. He also told of how a tiny town in Judah would be the birthplace of the Prince of Peace?  That truth is to come later in Micah 5!

I love how Max Lucado describes the love of God and what He desires for those who love Him back:

“One word describes heaven: perfect.

One word describes us: imperfect.

God’s kingdom is perfect, but his children are not, so what is he to do? Abandon us? Start over? He could. But he loves us too much to do that.

Will he tolerate us with our sin nature? Populate heaven with rebellious, self-centered citizens? If so, how would heaven be heaven?

He had a greater plan. “God was pleased for all of himself to live in Christ” (Colossians 1:19 NCV).

All the love of God was in Jesus. All the strength of God was in Jesus. All the compassion and power and devotion of God were, for a time, in the earthly body of a carpenter. No wonder the winds obeyed when Jesus spoke; he was God speaking.

No wonder the bacteria fled when Jesus touched the wounds; he was God touching.

No wonder the water held him as he walked; he was God walking.

No wonder the people stood speechless as he taught; he was God teaching.

And no wonder ten thousand angels stood in rapt attention as Jesus was nailed to the cross; he was God dying.

He let people crucify him, for goodness’ sake! He became sin for our sake. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21). What started in the Bethlehem cradle culminated on the Jerusalem cross.

Christians should pray for peace and harmony in the world. The Prince of Peace, born in a stable in Bethlehem just as Micah foretold, will one day bring perfect peace to our hurting world. In the meantime, he offers perfect peace to the hearts of those who love him.  (Lucado, “Encouraging Word Bible”)

We are not perfect but we are perfectly forgiven.  God made a Way.

Really believe, repent of pretense, love Him back, love others like He loves in Truth and be saved to live with Him now and forever! 

Lord,

Thank you for your prophets then and now who expose pretenders. Thank you for your Holy Spirit living in us to expose our own pretense in our times of blurred focus on you.  Thank you for the Way back to you that gives life now and forever.  I am forever grateful to you.  Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh our souls while restoring the joy of your salvation at work within us.  Thank you, Lord.

In Jesus Name, Amen

As we read the exploits of the bullies who “covet, grab, take and see people as only for what they can get out of them” in Micah’s day of prophecy, we realize that the same evil is happening in our world.  Evil is not creative.  The same ancient tricks of his trade of spreading lies, grabbing souls and turning hearts for himself, causing wars through miscommunications that stem from pride and arrogance and wanting it all for himself still exist. 

We think of whole countries being bullied by a larger country…just because they can.  We think of the internal struggles of the smaller country of Haiti who are rebelling against poverty, looting, taking and grabbing all they can from each other while terrorizing anyone who gets in their way.  When will God have enough of it in our world, in this time and place?  We wonder.  We pray often for resolution and peace for Haiti.  We have been there many times in our past.  We have good friends who work hard in churches and schools to follow God in His ways.  Our hearts are broken for the misery they are going through just to stay alive.  We also think and pray of the struggles of the Ukrainian people who are bullied by Russia.  Our own country is full of bullies, dressed as executives, who use people as step stools for advancement in any organization or group.  This is the playground of life where we all live!

What do we do? It depends on who we are with God.  We must stay close to and focused on the One who wins in the end.  Who is the One? Jesus—Savior and Lord of all who believe!

“…God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.”  Philippians 2:9-11

Micah 2, The Message

God Has Had Enough

^1-5 Doom to those who plot evil,
    who go to bed dreaming up crimes!
As soon as it’s morning,
    they’re off, full of energy, doing what they’ve planned.
They covet fields and grab them,
    find homes and take them.
They bully the neighbor and his family,
    see people only for what they can get out of them.

God has had enough. He says,
    “I have some plans of my own:
Disaster because of this interbreeding evil!
    Your necks are on the line.
You’re not walking away from this.
    It’s doomsday for you.
Mocking ballads will be sung of you,
    and you yourselves will sing the blues:
‘Our lives are ruined,
    our homes and lands auctioned off.
They take everything, leave us nothing!
    All is sold to the highest bidder.’”
And there’ll be no one to stand up for you,
    no one to speak for you before God and his jury.

* * *

^6-7 “Don’t preach,” say the preachers.
    “Don’t preach such stuff.
Nothing bad will happen to us.
    Talk like this to the family of Jacob?
Does God lose his temper?
    Is this the way he acts?
Isn’t he on the side of good people?
    Doesn’t he help those who help themselves?”

* * *

^8-11 “What do you mean, ‘good people’!
    You’re the enemy of my people!
You rob unsuspecting people
    out for an evening stroll.
You take their coats off their backs
    like soldiers who plunder the defenseless.
You drive the women of my people
    out of their ample homes.
You make victims of the children
    and leave them vulnerable to violence and vice.
Get out of here, the lot of you.
    You can’t take it easy here!

You’ve polluted this place,
    and now you’re polluted—ruined!
If someone showed up with a good smile and glib tongue
    and told lies from morning to night—
‘I’ll preach sermons that will tell you
    how you can get anything you want from God:
More money, the best wines . . . you name it’—
    you’d hire him on the spot as your preacher!

* * *

^12-13 “I’m calling a meeting, Jacob.
    I want everyone back—all the survivors of Israel.
I’ll get them together in one place—
    like sheep in a fold, like cattle in a corral—
    a milling throng of homebound people!
Then I, God, will burst all confinements
    and lead them out into the open.
They’ll follow their King.
    I will be out in front leading them.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Jesus said, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.”  Matthew 24:6-13

We must turn our focused eyes of faith on Jesus no matter what is happening around us.  Stand firm, calling on the Name of Jesus, to the very end and we will be saved. 

Paul tells followers of Jesus how to live in the meantime…

“Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Do everything without complaining and arguing,so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless. But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy. Yes, you should rejoice, and I will share your joy.”  Philippians 2:12-18

Though the nation of Israel might rebel against God, a faithful remnant would always trust Him and seek to do His will, and God would work because of the faith of this group of faithful believers. (This is true of the professing church today.) The hope of the nation lies with the remnant.

Today, feeling like the “remnant” at times, we need to deal daily with our own sins of covetousness, selfishness, and willingness to believe religious or society’s lies. Sift through what the world says and believe what Jesus says.  “You have heard it said, but I say unto you…” throughout Jesus words of clarification about what God wants is always right and true.  See Matthew 5-7 for help in solidifying our relationship with the King of kings and Lord of lords.  Read John for how to live a life of Love.  Then speak the Truth in this Love of God in us.

This is my prayer, In Jesus Name, For His Glory, Amen

Prophets use words to remake the world.  The world—heaven and earth, men and women, animals and birds—was made in the first place by God’s Word.  Prophets arriving on the scene and finding that world in ruins, finding a world of moral rubble and spiritual disorder, take up the work of words again to rebuild what human disobedience and mistrust demolished.  These prophets learn their speech from God.  Their words area God-grounded, God-energized, God-passionate.  As their words enter the language of our communities, men and women find themselves in the presence of God, who enter the mess of human sin to rebuke and renew.

Left to ourselves we turn God into an object, something we can deal with some thing we can use to our benefit, whether that thing is a felling or an idea or an image.  Prophets scorn all such stuff.  They train us to respond to God’s presence and voice.

Micah, the final member of that powerful quartet of writing prophets who burst on the world scene in the eighth century BC (Isaiah, Hosea, and Amos were the others), like virtually all his fellow prophets—those charged with keeping people alive to God and alert to listening to the voice of God—was a master of metaphor.  This means that he used words not simply to define or identify what can be seen, touched, smelled, and heard or tasted, but to plunge us into a world of “presence”.  To experience presence is to enter that far larger world of reality that our sensory experience point to but cannot describe—the realities of love and compassion, justice and faithfulness, sin and evil—and God.  Mostly God.  The realities that are WORD-evoked are where most of the world’s action takes place.  There are no “mere words.” –Eugene Peterson, Introduction to Micah, The Message

Micah 1, The Message

God’s Message as it came to Micah of Moresheth. It came during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. It had to do with what was going on in Samaria and Jerusalem.

God Takes the Witness Stand

² Listen, people—all of you.
    Listen, earth, and everyone in it:
The Master, God, takes the witness stand against you,
    the Master from his Holy Temple.

* * *

^3-5 Look, here he comes! God, from his place!
    He comes down and strides across mountains and hills.
Mountains sink under his feet,
    valleys split apart;
The rock mountains crumble into gravel,
    the river valleys leak like sieves.
All this because of Jacob’s sin,
    because Israel’s family did wrong.
You ask, “So what is Jacob’s sin?”
    Just look at Samaria—isn’t it obvious?
And all the sex-and-religion shrines in Judah—
    isn’t Jerusalem responsible?

* * *

^6-7 “I’m turning Samaria into a heap of rubble,
    a vacant lot littered with garbage.
I’ll dump the stones from her buildings in the valley
    and leave her abandoned foundations exposed.
All her carved and cast gods and goddesses
    will be sold for stove wood and scrap metal,
All her sacred fertility groves
    burned to the ground,
All the sticks and stones she worshiped as gods,
    destroyed.
These were her earnings from her life as a whore.
    This is what happens to the fees of a whore.”

* * *

^8-9 This is why I lament and mourn.
    This is why I go around in rags and barefoot.
This is why I howl like a pack of coyotes,
    and moan like a mournful owl in the night.
God has inflicted punishing wounds;
    Judah has been wounded with no healing in sight.
Judgment has marched through the city gates.
    Jerusalem must face the charges.

* * *

^10-16 Don’t gossip about this in Telltown.
    Don’t waste your tears.
In Dustville,
    roll in the dust.
In Alarmtown,
    the alarm is sounded.
The citizens of Exitburgh
    will never get out alive.
Lament, Last-Stand City:
    There’s nothing in you left standing.
The villagers of Bittertown
    wait in vain for sweet peace.
Harsh judgment has come from God
    and entered Peace City.
All you who live in Chariotville,
    get in your chariots for flight.
You led the daughter of Zion
    into trusting not God but chariots.
Similar sins in Israel
    also got their start in you.
Go ahead and give your good-bye gifts
    to Good-byeville.
Miragetown beckoned
    but disappointed Israel’s kings.
Inheritance City
    has lost its inheritance.
Glorytown
    has seen its last of glory.
Shave your heads in mourning
    over the loss of your precious towns.
Go bald as a goose egg—they’ve gone
    into exile and aren’t coming back.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Warnings are all around us.  There are warning labels on most everything we buy.  We have so many warnings, in fact, that we have become immune to them.  We ignore them until something goes terribly wrong and then we read to find out what we should have or should not have done.  Um, too late then, right?!?

Love cautions the loved.  The book of Micah is a warning. God’s prophet warns of the terrible judgment which awaits all who ignore God. “Be prepared,” he pleads, and then explains how to prepare.

Micah, a prophet from Judah, prophesied to both Israel and Judah. The people told him to be quiet. Micah’s message to the sinful people was not well received because it pointed out the worthless idols that the people worshiped instead of the one true God. They didn’t even realize how dry and faithless they had become.

Read this WORD from Max Lucado who writes of the warnings of our spiritual dryness with how to respond:

“Deprive your soul of spiritual water, and your soul will tell you. Dehydrated hearts send desperate messages. Snarling tempers. Waves of worry. Growling mastodons of guilt and fear. You think God wants you to live with these? Hopelessness. Sleeplessness. Loneliness. Resentment. Irritability. Insecurity. These are warnings. Symptoms of a dryness deep within.

Perhaps you’ve never seen them as such. You’ve thought they, like speed bumps, are a necessary part of the journey. Anxiety, you assume, runs in your genes like eye color. Some people have bad ankles; others, high cholesterol or receding hairlines. And you? You fret.

And moodiness? Everyone has gloomy days, sad Saturdays. Aren’t such emotions inevitable? Absolutely. But unquenchable? No way. View the pains of your heart, not as struggles to endure, but as an inner thirst to slake—proof that something within you is starting to shrivel.

Treat your soul as you treat your thirst. Take a gulp. Imbibe moisture. Flood your heart with a good swallow of water.

Begin by heeding your thirst. Don’t dismiss your loneliness. Don’t deny your anger. Your restless spirit, churning stomach, the sense of dread that turns your armpits into swamplands—these are signal flares exploding in the sky. We could use a little moisture down here! Don’t let your heart shrink into a raisin. For the sake of those who need your love, hydrate your soul!

The world can be a dry and wearying place. In such an environment, concentrated study of God’s Word becomes crucial. An extensive and thorough knowledge of God’s Word is our only means of defense. Begin a habit of studying God’s Word diligently.” –Lucado, Encouraging Word Bible

Most people don’t listen to warnings. Let’s be the exception.

Lord,

Help us pay attention to your loving warnings.  We know we hear your voice above all other voices when we abide in your holy presence waiting for your nod of direction.  It is in communion, that holy conversation with you, that we find your wisdom drenched in your love, wanting the best for our good.  On top of all that our hunger and thirst is satisfied by your gifts of peace and eternal joy in all circumstances.  I trust you, dear Jesus, Bread and Living Water, with my life—all of it. 

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen

It is a slippery slope when we, as believers, are angered when a sinner who we don’t think deserves any mercy receives buckets full of grace along with forgiveness.  Even their countenance changes from prideful scorn to humbled, joyful praise for the One who saved them from themselves and turned their lives around.  We are sometimes dismayed.  Why, because these bullies of the faith caused us so many problems! Then they fall down at the feet of Jesus in honest repentance and we are still remember the chaos they caused us before the reversal.  We have been faithful, Lord, they don’t deserve the benefits you are about to give them…they must repay, suffer consequences, live with guilt…something that will help us know this turnaround is real. Mmm…

We wonder why Jonah is yelling at God for saving the people he didn’t think could or should be saved.  Is his hate for them justified? 

But wait, what if God gave us exactly what we deserve?

Jonah 4, The Message

^1-2 Jonah was furious. He lost his temper. He yelled at God, “God! I knew it—when I was back home, I knew this was going to happen! That’s why I ran off to Tarshish! I knew you were sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich in love, and ready at the drop of a hat to turn your plans of punishment into a program of forgiveness!

³ “So, God, if you won’t kill them, kill me! I’m better off dead!”

⁴ God said, “What do you have to be angry about?”

⁵ But Jonah just left. He went out of the city to the east and sat down in a sulk. He put together a makeshift shelter of leafy branches and sat there in the shade to see what would happen to the city.

⁶ God arranged for a broad-leafed tree to spring up. It grew over Jonah to cool him off and get him out of his angry sulk. Jonah was pleased and enjoyed the shade. Life was looking up.

^7-8 But then God sent a worm. By dawn of the next day, the worm had bored into the shade tree and it withered away. The sun came up and God sent a hot, blistering wind from the east. The sun beat down on Jonah’s head and he started to faint. He prayed to die: “I’m better off dead!”

⁹ Then God said to Jonah, “What right do you have to get angry about this shade tree?”

Jonah said, “Plenty of right. It’s made me angry enough to die!”

^10-11 God said, “What’s this? How is it that you can change your feelings from pleasure to anger overnight about a mere shade tree that you did nothing to get? You neither planted nor watered it. It grew up one night and died the next night. So, why can’t I likewise change what I feel about Nineveh from anger to pleasure, this big city of more than 120,000 childlike people who don’t yet know right from wrong, to say nothing of all the innocent animals?”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God knows the minds of all His created.  Some take longer to change their minds about having a relationship with God.  Some don’t know enough about who God is so they don’t know that what they are missing in their lives, so they keep searching until they find Him.  Some know enough to know that life is not what they want or need.  Some will bully those who seem to have peace, joy and love in ways not understood by them—yet.  The search for meaning and significance plays out in a variety of ways…anger, pride, envy, arrogance and jealousy because of fear and lack of real love and belonging has not been found. 

How we respond could change a life or destroy it.  Read that again.

I’m reminded of Jesus’ story about the workers hired at various times of the day to work in the Vineyard.  Some were hired early in the morning and worked a full day in the hot sun.  Some were hired at noon.  Others in the last hours of the day.  ALL were paid the same at the end of the day.  Doesn’t seem fair, does it?  The followers of Jesus didn’t think so, either.  But here’s what Jesus said as He explained what Kingdom of God thinking is like which is different that what our world thinks…

“When those hired first came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. But they, too, were paid a day’s wage. When they received their pay, they protested to the owner, ‘Those people worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.’

“He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage? Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’

“So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.”  Matthew 20:10-16, NLT

Here’s the bottom line:  God does not give us what we deserve. He has drenched his world in grace. It has no end. It knows no limits. It empowers this life and enables us to live the next. God offers second chances, like a soup kitchen offers meals to everyone who asks. And that includes you.  It includes me. 

So, when a lost soul accepts the grace of God through repentance in Jesus Name, may our first thought be heart filled, “YES!” while extending hugs of mercy and grace from the spiritual arms of Jesus through our physical arms of love!  When we do we join all the angels in heave who respond in praise for one lost soul who has found the way to home to God, the Father.

Jesus said, “I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). Why do they rejoice? Not because they’re surprised, but because a great victory has been won! 

“Don’t overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change.”  2 Peter 3:9, MSG

Lord, God of Heaven and Earth,

Thank you for not giving us what we deserve!  Thank you for saving our souls and making us whole again while helping us point the Way to others.  Thank you for teaching us your word so we can speak Truth in love with clarity, making the most of every opportunity.  Thank you for the angels who shout with joy over every soul who repents and believes!  Thank you for cleansing our hearts of what is not right to think or do. Thank you for renewing and transforming our minds today. Thank you for refreshing our souls. Thank you for daily restoring the joy of your salvation at work within us!  I love you, Lord.  I love how you think and what you think of us.  Thank you for loving all of us they way you do.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen!!   

It has been proven to me repeatedly, through God’s Word in the lives of the repentant and in my own life, that when we are at our worst and lowest, our prayers become more honest and sincere.  God bends down to hear our honest cry for help.  Kneeling before God in the ashes of regret and remorse for our sins draws us as close the heart of God as we can get. 

When we really mean, “I’m sorry, Lord, forgive me”—God hears and lifts us up, out of the ashes and dirt of sin and puts us back on our feet with a cleansed heart, renewed thinking and refreshed soul that bring joy to our being as never before.  This is what is meant when people say God lifted them from ashes to beauty and from dark to Light!  Since God so loved the world and sent His Son to redeem us of all sins, it is also His desire that “no one perish” so He sends the redeemed to tell others of His saving grace through repentance.

God is in control. Nothing escapes the notice of God.  God created all, is in all and above all.  God is sovereign.  God knows our hearts and minds, looking for honesty and devoted commitment to Him.

God can and does change His mind throughout history when it comes to rearranging the world in order to save it.  The question I ponder though is:  Did God change His mind or did men and women change their minds in ways they could hear him again?  One thing I do know because of my own relationship and experience with God:  God pulls us to Himself, He wants us to love Him back without force or coercion on His part, and wants to save us from the sins of evil (God’s enemy) we succumb to by forgiving us.  When we finally come to the end of ourselves, God is there waiting patiently to forgive and fill us with His love again.  Without God, there is an emptiness that can filled only by God, our Creator, who created mankind to be in communion (relationship) with Him.

Jonah 3, The Message

Maybe God Will Change His Mind

^1-2 Next, God spoke to Jonah a second time: “Up on your feet and on your way to the big city of Nineveh! Preach to them. They’re in a bad way and I can’t ignore it any longer.”

³ This time Jonah started off straight for Nineveh, obeying God’s orders to the letter.

Nineveh was a big city, very big—it took three days to walk across it.

⁴ Jonah entered the city, went one day’s walk and preached, “In forty days Nineveh will be smashed.”

⁵ The people of Nineveh listened, and trusted God. They proclaimed a citywide fast and dressed in burlap to show their repentance. Everyone did it—rich and poor, famous and obscure, leaders and followers.

^6-9 When the message reached the king of Nineveh, he got up off his throne, threw down his royal robes, dressed in burlap, and sat down in the dirt. Then he issued a public proclamation throughout Nineveh, authorized by him and his leaders: “Not one drop of water, not one bite of food for man, woman, or animal, including your herds and flocks! Dress them all, both people and animals, in burlap, and send up a cry for help to God. Everyone must turn around, turn back from an evil life and the violent ways that stain their hands. Who knows? Maybe God will turn around and change his mind about us, quit being angry with us and let us live!”

¹⁰ God saw what they had done, that they had turned away from their evil lives. He did change his mind about them. What he said he would do to them he didn’t do.

WHAT DO WE LEARAN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

When we think sinful people will not possibly listen to God’s message of salvation, we need to rethink.  We need to realize that if God sends us to speak to someone or a group of people that means HE has gone before us to prepare hearts in ways we have not seen.  God knew the people of Ninevah were ready to hear the call to repentance with prepared hearts ready to turn back around to God, leaving their sinful lives behind.

I’m reminded of a little girl in my Sunday School class who just heard that her friend accepted Jesus the Sunday before when she was not there.  She looked up at me, her teacher, and said, “Well, I have been waiting to do that for a looong time!”  I told her the plan of salvation which she readily accepted because God had prepared her heart. I learned my lesson that day, too!  Be ready to share how to be saved in Jesus Name at all times!

Friends, it’s all God, all about God, done in Jesus Name, Who saves us all.  Lessons will be learned but will not make sense until we give our hearts, minds, and souls to Jesus. Be sensitive to God’s Holy Spirit, even more than the lesson before you that you have been given to teach.  God prepares hearts, yours and mine, and those hearts and minds He sends us to share His Good News of Salvation.  Will some say no?  Yes, because God created us with free will to choose Him or not.  But, God’s Word also says that planting seeds of Truth will not be in vain.  Keep spreading the news…

Jonah finally obeyed God and preached in Nineveh. The people and their king responded immediately, and God had compassion on them.

God’s words can have a transforming effect on people, causing them to repent from their sins. He is willing to pardon all who come to him.

God’s mercy is amazing. He offers second chances, pardons, grace. If God tells you to speak to others about their actions, take courage. You might be surprised at how many accept your words of testimony about God and repent.

Believe and be saved. 

Lord,

Thank you for these thoughts for today as we study the life of Jonah. Prepare our hearts to share your message to those you are preparing.  Help us hear your voice above all others voices and follow your lead in your way in your time.  For your ways are perfect. Thank you for saving my soul and continually transforming my mind.  I love you with all that is in me.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen