Micah 7- None Like Him

 ”Who is a God like you, forgiving iniquity and passing over rebellion for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not hold on to his anger forever because he delights in faithful love. He will again have compassion on us; he will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.“

‭‭Micah‬ ‭7‬:‭18‬-‭19‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Read Context

There are many things that we make into idols, things we want more than God.  Things that we are willing to do that go against what we know is right…Micah is saying that the One true God, the only One we should worship is different from all those other things we sacrifice to.  He is exactly the opposite!

He completely removes our sin, He delights in our healing, and gets pleasure from being faithful to us, the continually UNfaithful ones.  He is compassionate and desires what is best for us…none of my idols behave this way.  Success and accomplishment (my past idols) always demanded more from me, and never once held up their end of the bargain.  For others, drugs and alcohol briefly help them feel better, but are constantly calling out to take more…more money, more time, stronger highs…

All idols are the same, they demand more of us than we want to give and constantly fail us.  Leave us wanting, leave us depressed, leave us unfulfilled and worse off.

God is not like that, He demands nothing.  He allows us to choose, strengthens us to have peace and loves us unconditionally.  He changes our desires and gives us the ability to follow Him.

God, I don’t deserve to be loved by you…yet you love me.  I don’t deserve to have my sin removed yet you have destroyed it.  What other God/idol is like you?!? None, you are in a category all alone…and you love me!  Help me to be eternally thankful!!!

Micah 6- Love Faithfulness

 ”My people, what have I done to you, or how have I wearied you? Testify against me! Indeed, I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from that place of slavery. I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam ahead of you. 

Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.“

‭‭Micah‬ ‭6‬:‭3‬-‭4‬, ‭8‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Read Context

This chapter opens with God making His case, trying to understand why His people are ignoring Him.  He asked them if there is something He has done to offend them?  What is He missing?  Then He starts listing out the evidence of His love for them…You were slaves and He miraculously saved them in a dozen impossible ways.  He goes on and on and finally tells them, I have given you one guideline…but apparently all this has actually driven you away…

His argument is sound, in fact impossible to argue against!  And His argument today, spoken to me is probably even more potent: 

- I reached into the darkness of sin and pulled you out and set you free.

- I gave you a spiritual family, even more caring than blood relatives.

- I patiently walk with you as you are transformed so slowly it seems like there is no change.

- I have paid all of your incomprehensible debts…and ask for no repayment.

- I  have placed my Spirit inside of you, so you are never alone.

- All I ask in return is for you to love me with all of your self.

What an argument!  And yet, I still find it hard to Love Him.  I still have to fight to say “no” to my own desires so that I can say “yes” to His way.  My selfishness is strong and so many times, what He asks doesn’t make sense to me…

Lord help me to love you with my whole life.  Help me to have faith to see Your perspective when it doesn’t make sense…and give me the strength to choose your way even when I don’t understand.  Remind me of all of the previous times following Your plan (even when it didn’t make sense) turned out more perfectly than I could have imagined.  Give me faith to trust You, because Faithful is who you are!

Micah 5- Future Known

 ”Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; one will come from you to be ruler over Israel for me. His origin is from antiquity, from ancient times. He will stand and shepherd them in the strength of the Lord, in the majestic name of the Lord his God. They will live securely, for then his greatness will extend to the ends of the earth.“

‭‭Micah‬ ‭5‬:‭2‬, ‭4‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Read Context

This is the famous passage that the wise men of Jesus birth were talking about when looking for a coming King.  700+ years before Jesus was born, Micah told the Israelites where He would come into the world!

I Love that God speaks to His people, tells us the future and what He wants us to do.  I love clear instructions and simple guidance.  It really is what I need if there is any hope of getting anything right.  Thankfully, I have the Holy Spirit who strengthens me and gives me the ability to choose right, because knowing the right thing to do and doing the right thing are two different things!

Lord, help me to remember that you know the future and you have what is best for me in mind.  Help me to remember that following You leads me to the best things today, it is not sacrificing fun for something good… someday.

Micah 4- Peace, Joy and Delight

 ”and many nations will come and say, “Come, let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us about his ways so we may walk in his paths.” For instruction will go out of Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will settle disputes among many peoples and provide arbitration for strong nations that are far away. They will beat their swords into plows and their spears into pruning knives. Nation will not take up the sword against nation, and they will never again train for war. But each person will sit under his grapevine and under his fig tree with no one to frighten him. For the mouth of the Lord of Armies has spoken.“

‭‭Micah‬ ‭4‬:‭2‬-‭4‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Read Context

What a beautiful picture Micah is painting: a world of peace, comfort and beauty.  Everyone is looking to Jesus for instruction and following His ways.  God is peacefully helping each person to settle any disputes and through His leadership all fighting stops!

I long for this to be true and thankfully get to have glimpses of how this plays out even today.  It is far from perfect, but there are moments when I am truly surrendered and I am interacting with others who are also surrendered to Jesus…and this is exactly what life feels like.  Peace, comfort, satisfaction and joyous delight!

Lord, thank you for giving us a vision of what life will be like when everyone follows you.  Thank you for allowing me to experience your peace, contentedness and joy even for moments as an appetizer of things to come!  Help me to remember your goodness especially when my own flesh is pulling me toward sin, so that I will choose You and happily lay down my wants.

Micah 3- Listen Carefully

 ”Therefore, it will be night for you — without visions; it will grow dark for you — without divination. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn black over them. Then the seers will be ashamed and the diviners disappointed. They will all cover their mouths because there will be no answer from God. 

As for me, however, I am filled with power by the Spirit of the Lord, with justice and courage, to proclaim to Jacob his rebellion and to Israel his sin.“

‭‭Micah‬ ‭3‬:‭6‬-‭8‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Read Context

Gods people are accustomed to hearing from Him, it helps them remember truth, stay headed in the right direction and just know that He is there to protect them.  But they have ignored Him so long that He is telling them that they will stop hearing from Him…that is from everyone other than Micah the prophet.  He is the one speaking and has the terrible message…

God wants His people to have relationship with Him.  A relationship similar in many ways to all our other relationships.  One where I talk to him, ask His advise, seek to learn about Him, and even do what He wants me to do…after all He knows the perfect thing to do in every situation!  I would be a fool to ignore His guidance!!!

But, Lord, that is the very thing I do so often.  I think that I have a great idea, or just forget to ask.  I run ahead with what makes sense to me…but I miss out on hearing Your voice, knowing You more.  

Lord, help me to listen carefully when I pray.  Help me to focus on Your voice rather than the millions of others around me. Allow me to recognize when I forget to seek your will and stop immediately to pray and read scripture.  Your presence is the greatest blessing I can have, so help me to value it as if it were precious!

Micah 2- Spiritual Procrastination

 ”House of Jacob, should it be asked, “Is the Spirit of the Lord impatient? Are these the things he does?” Don’t my words bring good to the one who walks uprightly? 

Get up and leave, for this is not your place of rest because defilement brings destruction — a grievous destruction!“

‭‭Micah‬ ‭2‬:‭7‬, ‭10‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Read Context

In this chapter Micah is pouring judgment onto people who oppress His people.  As they are hearing of the punishment God brings, they are accusing God of not giving them enough time to change.  It’s like they say, “I was going to do that tomorrow, just chill”…but Gods response is “my judgments are to bring blessing on the good…but that is not who you are…you are just doing whatever you want and you bring destruction on yourself”.

God help me to see when I am blind to my own actions.  Give me wisdom to understand when I am rejecting you.  Allow me to recognize when I pursue my own desires and pretend that “I will change that tomorrow”.

Help me to be changed by Your Spirit, because I can’t do it on my own!

Micah 1- Known Yet Loved

 ”Listen, all you peoples; pay attention, earth and everyone in it! The Lord God will be a witness against you, the Lord, from his holy temple. Look, the Lord is leaving his place and coming down to trample the heights of the earth.“

‭‭Micah‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬-‭3‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Read Context

God sees us, understands our thoughts and motives, hears everything we say…He is the only one who is able to perfectly know us.  And here, Micah gets a message from God telling His people that He Himself will be the witness against us.  We can sometimes hide things from those around us, so it may not be too intimidating for our friend to be on the witness stand.  But God knows and comprehends everything, nothing is hidden from Him!

What I can’t help but find reassuring about this passage is that God doesn’t judge us from far away in heaven…but rather, because He knows us perfectly and that we have no hope of being innocent, He comes down to live with us.  First He sent Jesus to die in our place for all of those things He knows about us, physically experiencing all that we have to endure.  Then, when we trust Jesus He sends the Spirit to live inside us!  What kind of a God knows all of our worst, yet stills says, “can I move in with you?”

God, help me to live trusting You!  All of this is true, so remind me every day of Your love for me.  Keep these truths in the front of my eyes so that I don’t forget…the love you give is incomprehensible !!!