Who’s Crying Now?

Then they will cry to the LORD,
But He will not hear them;
He will even hide His face from them at that time,
Because they have been evil in their deeds. Micah 3:4 NKJV

There will come a time when those who perpetuate evil, leading others astray intentionally, manipulating people and circumventing true authority will cry unto The Lord, when they refuse to obey Him.

It would appear that people–across the board–choose to ignore God and enjoy the fruits of their wickedness until the time comes when, God exposes the wickedness for what it is and the tables are turned on them. Then, with truth exposed, they call upon The Lord expecting Him to hear and answer, but as the Prophet Micah reveals–He won’t hear them.

What I’ve observed in human nature is that those who say they don’t know if there’s a god or not; don’t know whether they believe in Jesus or not, and then live any way they want to live, back-peddle quickly, when things don’t go their way. And the situation is even worse when those who say they believe God, but don’t want to obey Him. When they have caused others to cry–with their schemes and lies–they are quick to call on Jesus when life causes them to cry.

I wonder–do people really think that God does not see, cannot hear all that goes on in the earth? Do people think God is winking an eye at sin and that truth will never reign? We have in our society those who have no problem causing strife and dissension in the midst of things, but when the tables turn–oh my! “What did I do? O God, help me!”

Those who fuel drama and discord, lead people astray with lies and perpetuate nonsense leading to the deaths of others, will one day pay and we who have been watching them terrorize nation after nation, will see them exposed for who they really are–just as it came to pass when Micah was prophesying to God’s people. It’s amazing to me that those who don’t recognize truth when they see or hear it, are quick to twist their version of truth into lies and they cry–hoping others will never know who they really are.

We need not despair over the fate of those who create one dilemma after another for others. Weeping may endure for us–for a moment, but joy is coming!

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What The Lord Requires!

“He has shown you, O mortal, 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”(Micah 6:8 NIV).

Whenever God is getting ready to do something extraordinary, He finds those who are willing to hear Him and speak what He says. Through the prophets of old and those who “speak” as God speaks to them now, He never does anything without giving us fair warning. The problem is–like those of old who went into captivity–we choose not to hear those God is using to warn us and when calamity hits–we blame God.

Listen to the prophet Micah! God has shown us what is good and acceptable in His sight–those things that we mere mortals can do and what we receive from obedience. What does the Lord require of us? To act justly–without bias due to disagreement, to love mercy–willing to forgive those who have violated a trust or committed a wrong against us, and to walk humbly before God–not thinking we are better than any other human being.

Are we listening? Do we understand what the Lord requires? Based upon my observations–especially on social medias–we have not heard, we are not listening, and we are certainly not doing what the Lord requires. There is such hatred spread in cyberspace for those with whom people disagree–by those who claim to be Christians. The fact that they can hate so openly, exposes them for the liars they are and who their daddy is–Satan. Where is the justice we show to those who disagree with us? Our opinions of them are biased and we allow that bias to grow into disdain and hate. The very words we write and the “cartoons” we use to depict our growing disdain reveals our true inner selves. Where is the mercy? There is little displayed towards those in elected positions–the leaders in authority. Were we not told to pray for those in authority so we might live a peaceful life? Obviously, we are not praying for those in authority because we’re spending too much time, denigrating those in authority–unable to mask the hatred that dwells within in our hearts.

Then we dare to attempt to think ourselves better than others–claiming the name of Jesus, but actually demoralizing who Jesus is with our behavior. Jesus commanded us to “love one another” as He loves us. We cannot love someone and spew hate about them at the same time. Doing so makes us hypocritical and a liar. We cannot serve God and Satan at the same time–we either magnify and honor one or the other with our deeds, but we cannot honor both.

Micah and the rest of the prophets had a great deal to say–warning the people of impending disaster, but people didn’t listen then and they are certainly not listening now. When God was silent for over 400 years, the people were miserable–because they chose not to heed those speaking–and refused to change their behavior.

God is yet warning, yet requiring us to act with justice, mercy and humility. Are we hearing Him? Will we ever do what He says in order to see what He has promised us as a nation or will we just complain and undermine the authority of leaders by promoting hatred? God help us all!

Father, in the name of Jesus, we pray for leadership all over the world. We ask You to speak to their hearts, giving them a word of wisdom and direction so all may live in peace and honor You. Fill them with love overflowing and stop the mouths of those who promote hatred against them. Lord, Your will be done in the lives of all–preparing us to reap what we have sown in the earth. Forgive us for our foolish and rebellious attitudes and help us to see You in Your glory so all we do, magnifies You and not us. Thank You for giving us chance after chance to get it right. Amen!

Time After Time!

“You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19 NIV).

From the beginning, whenever mankind has fallen out of fellowship with God, He has relented and shown compassion and mercy towards us. He has given us chance after chance to get living right for Him.  Some of us have taken advantage of the opportunity and some have not. And yet, He waits–giving us space to repent before judgment falls upon us. Why are some waiting?

There are some people who have decided that having “fun” is more important than living right. They resent anyone attempting to tell them they should change their ways and stop doing what gives them “short-term pleasure.” Perhaps, just perhaps, the method being used to deter wrong behavior is judgment itself and when people feel like they are being judged–already–they feel no need to change. However, if the method to convince people to change is with loving-kindness, sharing all of the benefits of living for God, and proclaiming God’s love–and people see us “living the benefits” they will more likely believe us and change.

We do not have to beat people with The Word, we should love them with The Word.

We do not have to point out their sins; they know–they are just too fearful to let them go.

We do not have to judge others who are in sin–that’s not our job; we should live the life before them and encourage them to get to know Jesus.

If we say one thing and yet do another–we are hypocrites. We cannot convince others that God is love if all they ever see is condemnation from us. Sometimes, people who have been convicted of sin by others who were harsh and rigid think that is the only way to win others to Christ. I am so thankful that God’s love was showered upon me in such a way that I was ready to give up all that was not like Him, willingly because I wanted to please Him. Hallelujah! I’ve learned that pleasing God in all things is so much more important than any attempt to pacify others.

We must remember to share with others–God’s mercy, His love, His compassion, His forgiveness, His patience–in waiting for us–time after time. We must convince others–not with our words, but by our actions–that the benefits of living for God are greater than living for the world.

He had sent people to me–time after time–to show me the way–that one pathway to Him and though some of their methods did not work, He did not give up on me and sent those who had received His love to share with me, and I received–their love and God’s love–and now living with His benefits–walking in His favor.

I pray today that we’ll become those people-who have received God’s love–and will share it with others in bringing them into the knowledge of Jesus Christ. God has given us yet, another opportunity–as He has–time after time-for us to show people The Way, The Truth, and The Light of His Love.

Saved, But Not Yet Delivered! (excerpt)

What happens to people who succumb to the influence of the evil one after belief and confession?  This common occurrence is known as backsliding.  For the most part, we acknowledge backsliding as a common occurrence, but backsliding should not be promoted as a way of life.  The backslider is one who after having confessed Christ, repeatedly submits to the influence of past temptations.  They become backsliders because they have yet to submit their desires to God and become delivered from their ungodly ways.

Picture this:  Children on a giant slide love to climb up the slide and usually keep sliding backwards; making getting to the top difficult, if not impossible for some.  God states, in Jeremiah 3:14, that He is married to the backslider.  Since God established the institution of marriage, surely He can determine how he feels about the backslider and the consequences.  There are indeed consequences to being a backslider.  The backslider who comes to himself and repents of his sins  retains his position with God just as a couple reconciles their relationship when problems arise.

The fate of the backslider who never repents falls into the hands of an angry God.  The bible tells us that this person can expect an even greater terror than the one who never confessed any knowledge of Christ.  On the other hand, we are told in I John 1:9, 10  “that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

If God forgives us, should we care about the forgiveness of others? Who is it that we should be concerned about as it pertains to our status with God?   It is without a doubt, the most fruitless exercise in the world to try to please people.  Therefore, our only concern should be in pleasing God. According to God’s Word, we, who choose to care about what God thinks, are wise because He is the only one from whom we are seeking acceptance.

Unfortunately, many people attempt to seek acceptance from entities—church folks and institutions—who could care less about a person as an individual.  Although there are some churches and other individuals who genuinely care about people, they are too few in number to make a real difference.  Consider the following:

A young lady, who did not begin her life’s journey with any understanding of the Word or God’s way of doing things, falls short of the mark, in a number of ways.  However, once she has been shown the light and comes to a place in her life where she has now established a right relationship with God, should she not be accepted into the fold as though she has never sinned? [This example uses a young lady because females are often scrutinized more often and judged more harshly for their past sins than males.]

If we truly believe the Word, then we have to acknowledge the fact that once God forgives us, He tosses our sins into the sea of forgetfulness (Micah 7:18, 19).  Since our sins are cast into the sea, who has a right to go fishing for them, in an attempt to bring them to the surface? We must forever be on guard against the wiles of the enemy.  We cannot allow him or his minions to superimpose their views into our lives.  Therefore, whenever anyone attempts to bring our past to the surface, we must remind them—tactfully, if possible—that our past shortcomings have been confessed and forgiven.  They do not have a right to fish in God’s sea.

 

This is an excerpt from:  Saved, But Not Yet Delivered! available on amazon.com