Tag: Micah

What are God’s 3 requirements for you?

ACT JUSTLY. LOVE MERCY. WALK HUMBLY.

Can it be this simple?

ACT JUSTLY.
(Your personal morality is drawn from God’s Word)

– Justly means the act of God declaring men free from guilt and acceptable to Him and counting them righteousness.

Let’s begin in Micah 6

1  “Hear what the LORD says:
Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice.
2 Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the LORD,
and you enduring foundations of the earth,
for the LORD has an indictment against his people,
and he will contend with Israel.”

3“O my people, what have I done to you?
How have I wearied you? Answer me!
4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt
and redeemed you from the house of slavery,
and I sent before you Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam.”

5 “O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised,
and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,
that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD.”

6 “With what shall I come before the LORD,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?

7  “Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

8  “He has told you, O man, 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?
(Micah 6:1-8 ESV)

God is reminding His people how blessed they are. After asking for the facts – why they were so constantly opposed to Him and His way of life, which was really to their best good, God gave His side of the story.

1. I brought you up out of Egypt.

2. I redeemed you from the house of slavery and hard bondage.

3. I sent Moses. Aaron, and Miriam before you to bring you into this wonderful land.

4. I protected you from the curses of Balaam and suffered him not to harm you.

5. I gave you a true revelation of Myself and My way of life. I made it clear that I do not require costly sacrifices to atone for my sin.

6. I did not require your firstborn for forgiveness of your sins, nor any fruit of your body for the sin of your soul.

7. I showed you the righteous principles of life what is good;  and all I require is for you to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before Me.

8. I revealed My laws and penalties so that you could know them and the One who has meted out punishment.

9. I cannot but demand just weights and measures, and hold every man accountable for his sins, punishing you with sickness, desolation, war, and calamity because of them.

10. You keep the statues of Omri and the works of Ahab, and walk in their wicked counsels instead of obeying Me and My laws.

We may think at times that we are giving up too much to live for Christ, really?

I am not going to list the pros and cons of living for Christ because there is no pros and cons to debate which life is better; the sinful life or the Godly life. We all know the punishment for sin is death, how can you debate over that? Not possible. While some people try to negotiate with God, why they want that sin in their life; is no excuse.

Those who are in Christ are justified by a righteous, holy God. We each are held accountable for our actions and deserve the outcome by what we have done.

LOVE MERCY.
(Show the same patience and forgiveness to the fools and sinners around you that God has shown to you.)

– Mercy, what better way of explaining mercy than someone who can forgive another by what act they had done.

As we read in Micah, God is having a controversy with Isreal. Micah in similar fashion to other prophets such as Hosea and Amos, proclaims a message of judgement to a people persistently pursuing evil.  He presents his three oracles, or cycles, of doom and hope as if he were in a courtroom.

Micha’s concern can be summarized in what God wants to see in His people: Justice and equity tempered with mercy and compassion as the result of a humble and obedient relationship with the Lord.

~ His kindness leads us to repentance.

WALK HUMBLY.
(Everything good in your life is God’s gift of love to you.)

It is a state of mind well pleasing to God; it preserves the soul in  tranquility and makes us patient under trials Biblically speaking, humility is  the opposite of pride.

A humbled life can lead to so many more opportunities in God than one can think. How can one learn without being humbled? How can one lean in the direction of God without being humble? And how can one have the right kind of relationship with God without being humble?

Being humble is key to breaking strongholds in your life as well. My years of preaching at an AA clinic; i would see this all the time, those who had pride and did not want to do anything with God, all they talked about was the rules. Their hearts would be hardened each time that they turned away the opportunity to be set free. Having this kind of attitude and pride is dangerous in a life of a Christian. We must be humble in all that we do.

6 Things God does not require in coming before Him and being accepted by Him.

1. Bowing self before Him.
2. Coming with burnt offering’s
3. Bringing thousand’s of animals to Him.
4. Offering Him 10,000 rivers of oil (v7)
5. Giving the firstborn for transgression.
6. Giving the fruit of the body for the sin of the soul.

3 Things God does require.

1. Every man to do justly.

2. To love mercy

3. To walk humble before Him

Does He ask too much from us? by living in Him, no. It’s the least we can do!