Wednesday, September 7, 2016

“The Lord has told you what is good, and this is what He requires of you; to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”  Micah 6:8

Yes, God requires something of His children.  

To do what is right.  To love mercy.  To walk humbly with Him, our personal God.  I cannot require or even expect this from others, even other believers.  But I can yield myself completely to One that will reward what He requires; who will equip for what He expects.  I can commit to living out this Biblical mandate, and be emboldened and empowered by His grace to actually be able to do it.  

To do what is right.  This is not “right” according to me.  This is “right” according to a holy God.  Scripture, in the book of Judges, records the chaos and darkness of a people that “did that which was right in his own eyes”.  When one is left to determine what is right for himself in any given situation, we are on a collision course to destruction.  In other words, somebody always gets hurt.  And it is often the believer that suffers, the one that has a whole-hearted desire to fully follow after God, the one that truth and integrity and honesty and kind consideration really matters to.  And that’s often enough to discourage some, making them question the God they serve.  Why??  That’s the question when wrong gets the upper hand. It’s a tough pill to swallow when wrong appears to win.  And it’s not a new question.  

    “You have said terrible things about me, says the Lord.
But you say, What do you mean? What have we said against you?  
You have said, What’s the use of serving God?  What have we gained by obeying His commands…?”  Malachi 3:13-14

But the child of God does not need to struggle with these questions.  The faithful servant that has embraced grace, has experienced the reality and unrelenting love of God, the one that loves and serves Him because He first loved them, that child can throw themselves into the open arms of a great Savior that confirms over and over again that He is enough and there is everything to gain in Christ.  Jesus, in all His tender compassion, His forgiveness, the acceptance and belonging that is found with Him, the sweet comfort of knowing He will never leave or abandon His own, the overwhelming peace that is often impossible to explain but is very, very real...He is enough.  And He has revealed himself through His Word, the promises are true and relevant.  So never back away from doing right.  

    “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”  (Philippians 1: 21)
    “In His favor is life; weeping may endure for night, but joy comes in the morning.”
(Psalms 30:5)

To love mercy.  This is a tough one, but again, nothing He requires is beyond His enabling grace to accomplish.  Why is this so tough?  Because mercy defined means it is extended to the undeserving.  It demands that we relinquish the right, even the desire to retaliate, to wish that those who wrong us suffer accordingly.  When everything in you is screaming “you should pay!” it means giving that too, to Jesus.  And believe me, He can be trusted to do right by His children.  

“He [Jesus] did not retaliate when He was insulted, nor threaten revenge when He suffered.  He left His case in the hands of God who always judges fairly.”  (I Peter 2: 23-24)

Jesus left us this example and the rest of I Peter is full of encouragement and reminders of God’s faithfulness in providing for, comforting, blessing, those that “suffer for right’s sake” and do not return evil for evil.  He will hold you until the hurt heals.  He will bring you to the place that you LOVE mercy, because you are reminded often that He extends it to you on a regular basis.  He is full of mercy...unfailing love...and we can abandon ourselves to that unfailing love because it is eternal.  And, to take it a step further, we can love others this way because of Him.  Love Mercy!

Walk humbly with your God.  There is no other way to walk with God.  We can know God.  We can know about God. We can talk the God-talk.  But to walk with Him?  To have a vibrant, intimate, personal relationship with Him that alters our egos? To live as Jesus lived?  “To cast down every imagination and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ”?? (2 Corinthians 10:5) We are so often so full of ourselves.  What we want, how we feel, what we need...our future, our friends, our reputation, our...our...our..; me, me, me!!  Stop for one moment and say with John, “He must increase, I must decrease” (John 3:30).  Jesus will never be who He can and should be in your life until you are not the most important person in it.  Stop living for yourself.  Start living for Him!  And remember, it’s not just about “walking humbly”, but walking humbly WITH YOUR GOD.    

      “Pride and arrogance, and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.”  Proverbs 8:13

He has shown you what is good.   To live a life this way...doing right, loving mercy and walking humbly with God, this is the good life.  We don’t have to question or debate what “good” is.  He has graciously explained it, made it known.  It is no mystery, it’s simplicity is just not always appreciated.  And the fact that it is required?  We’re the better for it.  It’s the better way.  

By His grace, no regrets. None.