Micah 6:8 (NIV) “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

In the Sunday morning adult class Tom Painter was teaching from Micah when a discussion regarding Micah 6:8 started about what it means to “act justly”, to “love mercy” and to “walk humbly”. From the discussion I came away with the following understanding:

To “act justly” means to treat one another right, to be fair and to not take advantage of others.

To “love mercy” means to provide others grace as a way of life, not just when it’s convenient.

To “walk humbly” means to restrain from the pride of life, to have humility, but more importantly to trust God’s will that you will seek a relationship with Him and follow Him.

“And what does the Lord require of you?”

God has made his wishes clear, He wants His people to be just, merciful and humble, which means not just doing religious deeds, but living rightly.

 

He answered and said, “Whether he be a sinner or not, I know not, one thing I know that, were as I was blind now I see” and he said “Lord, I believe” and he worshiped him.  John 9:25

The unnamed man, blind from birth, told the people how he received his sight.  What a beautiful picture this is of all who have received Christ and now have the privilege of telling others about Christ.  How could we not want to share this kind of news?  We take so much for granted-our sight, our hearing, our health and, sadly, sometimes our salvation.

Many at that time didn’t believe in Jesus. But the blind man said, “One thing I know I once was blind but now I see.” Praise the Lord that this man was changed by the saving power of Jesus. Praise also that he was willing to share his relationship with Jesus. Are we so willing?

Verily, verily I say unto you, he that hears and believes on him that sent me hath everlasting life. John 5:24

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching and preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.  When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion on them.

Brothers and Sisters when we are exposed to the healing power of the Lord, something happens, either our eyes are opened and we see the Light as the blind man, or we remain blind by staying in the darkness away from God.  The word of God has life changing power that changed the chief sinner (Saul changed to Paul).  Don’t feel like you are too far gone living in sin that you can’t be forgiven.  Grace is so much more than we can understand, through Jesus death on the cross all of our sins are cast “as far as east is to the west.” Ps 103:12

For God did not send his son into the world to condemn it, but to SAVE it! John 3:1.

 

The Christian’s journey in this world can be precarious. Initially, we veer away from a Savior who died as a criminal – seeing it only as bitter shame and sorrow. Yet, if we are honest as to the faulty direction, we have cast our lot – then maybe we would acknowledge how lost we are.

It is at that moment we might take one last glance back from the deep mire we have become comfortable with. We might see a Shepherd that has found His lost sheep. We might hear Him gently calling to His Father on our behalf— “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they do.”

But are we ready to fully return from the pigpen we have so passionately invested in (hedonism)? Or are we able to see past the log stuck in our eye (judgementalism)? Or can we let go of our prideful spiritual traditions by which we are trying to earn our way back into heaven (legalism)?

Friend, Jesus became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV). Therefore, through these words, God is sending an ambassador to us with a message: “We
implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20 ESV).

 

Neal Pollard has been preaching at Bear Valley church of Christ for 17 years.  He will soon begin working at the Lehman Avenue congregation in Bowling Green, KY.  He has a blog where he recently included the following reasons for attending church services on Wednesday nights.  I could not have said it better myself.

• I need the fellowship of Christian family in the middle of a week spent exposed to the world.
• I draw strength from the teaching of God’s Word and the comments others make on the subject being studied.
• Others need my encouragement and influence, and my presence can be so
  faith-building to them.
• Bible class teachers have taken precious time to prepare and deliver their
  material.
• I believe God is pleased with my making such a commitment and a sacrifice, though it’s so little compared to all that He has done for me.
• It builds my interest in spiritual things.
• I believe it helps contribute to the overall strength and influence of the local church.
• It is an affirmation of the eldership’s wisdom to have such classes in the first place, where they seek to help give me spiritual food.
• I live by the philosophy that I make time for what is most important and
  valuable.
• My family is guided by my leadership and priorities.
• I live in a nation that allows me to freely assemble to build and express my faith, and I do not want to take that for granted.
• I have so many great memories of Wednesdays, and I continue to make them.
• Though I have often arrived tired and frazzled, I have almost always left rejuvenated and rejoicing.
• I want to.

You can follow his blog at preacherpollard.com or on twitter at @preacherpollard.

 

This week a troubled soul asked me for prayer from scripture. This soul is shackled to a spouse whose life is spiraling out of control. As Tom Painter observed yesterday: “You cannot live in two houses at the same time.” My takeaway was that we must leave Satan’s house to live in God’s home.

 

Paul prays such a prayer for the Christians at Thessalonica – who were striving to soar towards heaven while searing from Satan’s fiery darts. Specifically, these new converts needed to know: How to handle hardships (3:3-5); Schooling on saintly living (4:1-12); And guarantees for those gone to be with God (4:13-18). To this church, Paul PRAYS for an increasing LOVE (3:12) that moves into HOLINESS (3:13).

 

1 Thessalonians 3:11–13 (ESV) — 11 Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, 12 and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, 13 so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

 

Friend, would you too pray that our God and Father make us “increase and abound in love for one another” as we individually loosen ourselves from hell bound habits, “so that he may establish” our “hearts blameless in holiness”.

____________________

Application: Are you close to a soul living in “Satan’s house”? Instead of being impatient, try to gently warn & then selflessly love the person back into His Body. At the same time, set your soul free by accepting that, after you have warned said soul, you are only responsible for your own soul (Eze.3:18-21).

² And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

⁵ “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

⁷ “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

⁹ “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons^[a] of God.

¹⁰ “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

These first words of the public ministry of Jesus belong at the top of the list of the most subversive statements ever made.  They are more powerful than “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal…”, “We the people …” or “I have a dream”.  They cut to the heart of the principles that societies are built upon: self-gratification, self-preservation, and success through strength.  If it is true that the meek will succeed in life, not the aggressive, then most of us have been playing by the wrong rules for our whole lives.  When the most basic rules of life are changed, then everything changes.

If you have read this far, then it is safe to assume you hold the belief that the Word of God is true.  BUT, do you believe it?  What if it isn’t just a theological treatise to be affirmed, but is actually true in real life?  Does that change things?  Has that truth penetrated your assumptions and attitudes?  Have they changed not just your behaviors, but your world view?  For example, have you embraced the fact that being merciful to someone is vastly more important than convincing him/her that they are wrong?  Has being merciful taken a higher place in your life than being right?

I hope you will wrestle with each of the nine “blessed are” statements, asking yourself, “What if this really is the way the world works?”  “Have I been going about life all wrong?”  These statements will change whole nations one heart at a time.  Are you next?

 

Memories are funny things – they can produce a wide array of emotions. This week I was invited to view my school’s new Alma mater page. One of the first things I observed was a picture of my Dad, with the date he was chairman of the board. This elicited many memories that produced immense pride and a tad of sadness.

Memories are moments in time that make up our story, becoming our personal portable diary. Consider Mary’s emotional experience with her child. First, at his birth. “But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Lk.2:19 ESV). And then as a “rebellious” preteen. “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress … And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart” (Lk.2:48-51 ESV). Long before the invention of photographs, Mary had her own portable memory book – her memory.

Memories can become unhealthy when they anchor us to deep hurts of the past. Somethings are best left in the past. For instance, one suffering from PTSD can get “stuck” because of survivors’ guilt. Instead, we ought to take every thought captive (2 Cor.10:5) and choose to focus on the good of the present (Phil.4:8). The best way to do this is: confess (1 John 1:9); receive forgiveness (Heb.10:17); accept your renewed life (2 Cor.5:17; Gal.2:20); & leave the past where it belongs (Lk.9:62; Phil.3:13 “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”).

So, what memories are good for us to focus on?

First, remember how hopeless and useless we were before we became Christians,
(1 Cor.1:26 “My dear friends, remember what you were when God chose you”).

Second, remember our salvation, (Heb.2:3 “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation”…).

Third, weekly (not weakly) remember Christ death by joining His church as together we partake of the Lord Supper – every first day of the week (Acts 20:7).

Friend, may God bless you with memories that are healthy, vivid, and heartwarming.

 

At work the other day one of my teammates sent out this motivational quote from Hall of Fame college football coach Lou Holtz:

“Ability determines what you can do. Motivation determines what you will do. Attitude determines how well you do it.”

While I’m sure the purpose of this adage was to encourage young men to play better football, or to inspire college graduates, this could be a motto that we can all live by to become stronger Christians.

1 Corinthians 10:13 (ESV) “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

The Christian life was never promised to be an easy way to live. We are told that as Christians we are still going to experience trials and tribulations, but we have all the ability to overcome through Christ.

Philippians 3:14 (NIV) “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

As Christians, our motivation should be to know Jesus, to be like Jesus, and to be with Jesus.

No one is ever going to be perfect here on Earth, but rather than dwelling on our own weaknesses or looking for faults in others, as Christians we should strive to have an attitude of Christ.

If we have an attitude of Christ and the motivation to seek Him, He is able to save completely.