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Daily Bible thoughts 592: Thursday 10th April 2014:

Micah 6:9-16

In verse 9, ”the city” is called to ”Listen!” In ‘The Message’ it adds the comment: ”This is serious business.” What we are about in church, in listening to the voice of God, is ”serious business”. In a lovingly blistering letter to his congregation, written in May 1954, William Still of Gilcomston Baptist church, Aberdeen, wrote: ”It is quite clear that there is a considerable company of so-called evangelicals in our city, as in others, whose interest in Christian work largely depends on its ‘Christian’ entertainment value, and who idolize Christian personalities in much the same way the world does its actors and sportsmen. Even in gatherings for the deepening of spiritual life one can sense and see people hanging on a speaker’s words, waiting for his first joke…no one who has caught the heart-beat of the eternal God in the agony of Calvary and who is called to communicate the Word will have time or inclination to be any other than intensely serious.” I am not saying that there isn’t a place for humour in church, but preachers are not club comedians doing a ‘turn’. This is ”serious business”.

You will see that there was a distinct lack of ”justice” and ”mercy” in their social relationships (10-12). These words surely have a resonance and relevance for our own society: ”Do you expect me to overlook obscene wealth you’ve piled up by cheating and fraud? Do you think I’ll tolerate shady deals and shifty scheming? I’m tired of the violent rich bullying their way with bluffs and lies…You’ll pay for your sins down to your last cent.” The Message. This is ”serious business” and God’s Word is to be taken with all due seriousness. It is not wise to trifle with spiritual things.

Sin is utterly ruinous (13, 16b). It promises good things but delivers bad things. It comes with a masterly sales pitch. It is charming and deceptive and we are easily taken in. We find that what we actually have when we open the ‘parcel’ is vastly different to how it appeared in the ‘catalogue.’

Not only is it ruinous, it is also empty and futile (14, 15). It is ironic to think that their goal was to amass more and more, and it didn’t matter to them that this would be at the expense of others. A sinful, self-centred life is one in which you will keep trying to fill an unfillable hole. For all your getting you will live with a sense of lack and depletion. ”No matter how much you get, it will never be enough-hollow stomachs, empty hearts. No matter how hard you work, you’ll have nothing to show for it – bankrupt lives, wasted souls. You’ll plant grass but never get a lawn. You’ll make jelly but never spread it on your bread. You’ll press apples but never drink the cider.” The Message.

There is an implicit warning here to beware who you emulate. It’s good to have mentors, but choose carefully who you will copy. Also, be wise about what ”traditions” you may be starting with your life. If you are someone else’s role model what will that mean for them?

So, we had better get on with the ”serious business” of listening to God now, so that we ”walk humbly” with Him, and avoid the sins that will take us to Hell and judgment. According to ‘Time’ magazine, Pope Francis recently denounced the Mafia during an annual vigil for the victims of organised crime. Apparently he said: ”Repent. There’s still time not to end up in hell…Men and women of the Mafia, please change your lives.” He warned the mobsters that they couldn’t take their ”bloody money and blood power” to the afterlife. I have to say that such courageous and specific preaching is right in the line of the prophetic tradition. It is great when it hits the headlines.

Prayer: I confess to you Lord that I am weak. Help me to always see through the lies told by temptation and sin.

 

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Daily Bible thoughts 591: Wednesday 9th April 2014:

 Micah 6:1-8

In the first instance in today’s reading, we are ushered into a court room (1, 2). God is ‘prosecuting’ His own people, and He has an unassailable case. They, for their part, do not have a leg to stand on. God calls the mountains to ”hear” His case because they have witnessed all of Israel’s sins. They have been around even longer than the nation. (See also Deut.32:1; Is.1:2).”And now, Mountains, hear GOD’s case; listen Jury Earth – For I am bringing charges against my people. I am building a case against Israel. ” The Message.

The truth is that the Lord has been only good to them all the time (3-5): ”Dear people, how have I done you wrong? Have I burdened you, worn you out? Answer! I delivered you from a bad life in Egypt; I paid a good price to get you out of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you – and Aaron and Miriam to boot! Remember what Balak king of Moab tried to pull, and how Baalam son of Beor turned the tables on him. Remember all those stories about Shittim and Gilgal. Keep all GOD’s salvation stories fresh and present.” The Message. God delivered them from Egypt, gave them great leaders, thwarted the schemes of enemies and led them across the Jordan and into the Promised Land (”…from Shittim to Gilgal.”) It was a story of sheer undeserved goodness from start to finish. It will do us all good to regularly review God’s dealings with us, and ask if our lives are in any way an appropriate response to His overflowing generosity.

In (6, 7) Israel responds as if it were a single person; perhaps a king or high priest speaking for the nation. The fact is that although God initiated the sacrificial system, He never wanted an elaborate religious set-up that entailed sacrificing animals without touching the life. ”Would GOD be impressed with thousands of rams, with buckets and barrels of olive oil?” The Message. In a book entitled ‘Worship the Lord’, Jock Anderson says that ”God is looking for worship that is living, and living that is worship.” It was ever thus. God has always wanted people to worship Him with their lives. Empty rituals just will not do. ”Judah kept the ritual and the religious side, but God was looking for more than that. The one thing that matters is how men stand with God, and the one test of that is how they stand with man. If you are in relationship with God, then you will find yourself acting justly and showing mercy, because that is exactly how he acts towards you.” J.David Pawson: Unlocking the Bible, p.531.

Verse 8 provides one of the classic summaries of what all God’s prophets were calling for. It is fair to say that the application of these words would have resolved every sin issue raised in Micah. In terms of the walking ”humbly with your God” , F. B. Meyer comments: ” We must exchange our monologue, in which we talk with ourselves, for dialogue, in which we talk as we walk with God.”

 Prayer: Lord help me to keep in step with you.

 

 

 

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Daily Bible thoughts 590: Tuesday 8th April 2014:

Micah 5:7 – 15

Here are three things about ‘the remnant’ of Israel which are also applicable to the church and to Christians:

  • They will be a blessing in the world (7): This has happened as God said it would. Some years ago I heard a sermon by a well-known preacher in which he said, ‘It is time for the Gentiles to repay their debt to the Jews.’ He highlighted, in the course of his message, just how the Jewish people have been such a blessing to the world in business, the arts and so on. Of course they are not perfect. They have not blessed the world in every single thing they have done. But as a generality it is true. However, the world has not been a blessing to them; often hounding and harassing and persecuting them. Anti- Semitism has been, and remains, a terrible blight on mankind. It is also the calling of the Christian and the church, to dispense blessing wherever we go. We are to be ‘channels’ of His blessing. Our ‘dew’ is ‘from the LORD’. I think about Paul’s words regarding Philemon that he had ‘refreshed the hearts of the saints’ (Philemon 7). We are to be ‘refreshers’ in this world. We are not to be monastics, living aloof from the rest of society. We live our lives and perform our service ‘in the midst of many peoples’ (7, 8) and ‘among the nations’ (8). We are ‘the salt of the earth‘ and ‘the light of the world’. (Underlining mine.)

‘They’ll be like dew from GOD, like summer showers Not mentioned in the weather forecast, not subject to calculation or control.’ The Message.

  • They will be victorious in the world (8, 9). They will be strong and dominant and conquering, having authority over their foes. However, before being made conquerors…
  • They will be conquered by God (10-15). Here is a vital principle: we, the church, cannot be conquerors in the world until we are ourselves first conquered by the Lord. There were things that needed to be ‘destroyed’ for ‘the remnant’ to be purified. First of all their reliance on their own strength and military might had to be broken (10, 11). Secondly, their reliance on false religion had to be dealt with (12-14). They had to get to the place where they relied on God alone. ‘In these verses, Micah also speaks to us today; we too are the ”remnant”. And we too must not rely on power, wealth, education, technology, family name, or any other worldly ”idol”; we must rely on God alone if we are to inherit His eternal blessing.’ Tom Hale: The Applied Old Testament Commentary, p.1268

 

The fifteenth verse is a stern and sobering warning, and is, I believe, still relevant today. When I hear political leaders talk about laws passed which violate the law of God, and hear them say that such things will be for the strengthening of society, my heart trembles. I feel ashamed and dismayed. To celebrate sin as though it were a good thing is a huge mistake and to persist in doing so is surely to invite the judgment of God.

‘Jerusalem staggers, Judah is falling; their words and deeds are against the LORD, defying his glorious presence. The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves…Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.’ (Isaiah 3:8, 9; 5:20.)

Prayer: We pray for all who lead us, that they will do so in the fear of the Lord.

 

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Daily Bible thoughts 585: Tuesday 1st April 2014:

 2 Corinthians 4:7-12

We Christians look fragile; we are fragile (7). We no doubt feel our fragility more and more keenly as the years go by and the aging process takes its toll. (Although for Paul and his colleagues, it wasn’t getting old that caused them to feel fragile, but the persecutions they suffered.) So when all-surpassing power is seen to be at work in and through us, it is obvious that this is God’s and not inherently our own. It is clear that we are unimpressive, basic earthenware pots. We are so easily cracked, but when that happens what is inside us spills out. Paul says that we carry about treasure that is far more splendid than the outer casing. That ‘treasure’ is the gospel of the glory of Christ (4). We carry an infinitely precious jewel within a most ordinary jewellery box. If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That is to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. The Message. The whole point is that God should receive all the glory from our frail lives. (See also Is.64:8 and 2 Cor.12:9).

 

There is an interesting repetition of the words but not in (8, 9). The mighty power of God within us does not allow these negative things to do to us what otherwise might be expected. The pot may be cracked (many times over), but it won’t be smashed, and the life and power will seep out through the cracks. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. The Message. No doubt you too can say but not. You have come through trials. There have been great losses; you have experienced sadness and difficulty; your heart has been torn with much pain. But none of this has deflected you from loving God and following Jesus. It has just created more cracks for the glory to shine through.

 

There is this paradox lying at the heart of the Christian faith, of life through death (10, 11). In fact it is a double paradox because it is life…revealed in a mortal body. If you want people to be able to see the life of Jesus now in this body of yours; a body that will one day die; then you’re going to have to be prepared to go to the cross one way or another. R.T.Kendall has said that the key to anointing is suffering. I believe that is Biblically true. Resurrection life bursts out of those who experience the sharpness of the nails and thorns and the roughness of the cross. My problem is that I would like to know the power without the pain (especially that of persecution.)

 

Any dying we do in the course of our lives and ministries is for the sake of others (12). Someone described Jesus as ‘the Man for others.’ To truly follow Him in this world will mean being a man (or woman) for others. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best. The Message.

 

There was a man who filled up a vessel with water every day, and carried it from the well. But his pot had a crack in it. After a while he noticed that all along the path he walked from the well to the house, flowers were springing up where he was inadvertently watering them. They were benefitting from the cracked pot! I don’t particularly like these cracks, or the things that cause them. But may God use them to bless others and glorify His Name.

 

Prayer: Help us, Lord Jesus, to understand that we cannot know an outflow of your resurrection life and power without a willingness to share your cross. Strengthen us to be willing to die so that the stone may once more roll away.

 

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Daily Bible thoughts 583: Friday 28th March 2014:

 Micah 4:6-13
This section of Micah combines both hope and warning. The hope shines even more brightly against the dark backdrop of the story of coming judgment. Bad times are in the foreground, but in the distance good times are coming. Beyond the pain of banishment (like that of childbirth, verse 10) there lies the blessing of restoration and triumph. Defeat will be transformed into conquering, rampaging victory: I will transform the battered into a company of the elite. I will make a strong nation out of the long lost, A showcase exhibit of GOD’s rule in action, as I rule from Mount Zion, from here to eternity…But for right now, they’ve ganged up against you, many godless peoples, saying, ”Kick her when she’s down! Violate her! We want to see Zion grovel in the dirt.” These blasphemers have no idea what GOD is thinking and doing in this. They don’t know that this is the making of GOD’s people, that they are wheat being threshed, gold being refined. On your feet, Daughter of Zion! Be threshed of chaff, be refined of dross. I’m remaking you into a people invincible, into God’s juggernaut to crush the godless peoples. You’ll bring their plunder as holy offerings to GOD, their wealth to the Master of the earth. The Message.

God does some of His best work on us and in us during hard times. One of the most meaningful messages we received following the death of my mum made reference to these words: You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand. (John 13:7). At that time (and from that time onwards) Romans 8:28 took on a bright, shiny new meaning for me: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Underlining mine). Today you may be facing a situation that looks hopeless. It may be something you have contributed to yourself. Or it may have visited your door uninvited. But realise, if you are a Christian, that the Sovereign Lord is in it, and He is on your side. He is working for your good in every situation, and there will be something positive, for your benefit, amidst this negative stuff. The Lord turns things around.

A song by Jamie Owens-Collins states: ‘The hard times make you strong.’ I would qualify that by saying they can. But there is nothing automatic or inevitable about it. We have to co-operate with God in what He is doing; with what He wants to bring about, and submit to His will. Then we will see what He will do with it. He makes delicious meals with unpromising ingredients.

Prayer: Help me Lord to really know in the depths of my heart that you are in control. Enable me to believe my beliefs.

 

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Daily Bible thoughts 582: Thursday 27th March 2014:

 Micah 4:1-5
These beautiful words are also found in Isaiah 2:1-4. (I believe I am right in saying that glorious words from verse three are to be found in the U.N. building in New York City. The people who work for that organisation must often feel that this is an unattainable ideal, but they don’t give up. Someone has suggested that the U.N. should move their headquarters to Jerusalem, because one day Jesus is going to achieve universal peace from there.) As you listen to and watch the news, you can’t help but long for the day when this prophecy fully comes to pass and Nations will quit fighting each other, quit learning how to kill one another. Each man will sit under his own shade tree, each woman in safety will tend her own garden. The Message. This is not the world as we find it now, but we can be sure that it is how it will one day be, for the God of truth has spoken.

You will note, I’m sure, a dramatic gear change between 3:12 and 4:1ff. The temple hill in Jerusalem will become a mound overgrown with thickets (3:12); but in the last days (4:1) the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the world’s mountains. He is referring to a time when the Messiah comes; days that began with the first coming of Jesus and that will culminate in His second advent. Already, to some extent, there is a fulfilment of these words. Today, under the reign of Jesus, His church, comprised of Jews and Gentiles, is being built as a city set on a hill that cannot be hid. The Word of God goes out from the church and Many nations are streaming into it. Under His rule there is peace, security and willing worship. But the fullest realisation of the prophecy will be seen when Jesus returns to the earth and establishes His Kingdom over it. I remember our highly intelligent and very godly Director of Studies at Bible College saying that there are passages in Scripture that really only make sense if there is to be a literal reign of Christ over the earth. This is one of them.

By the way, (5) is not implying that it’s okay for the pagan nations to walk in the name of their gods. He is just stating what the norm is currently; what is likely to happen. This is how it has been throughout history, but when Jesus comes back all will submit to Him (Phil.2:9-11).

F.B. Meyer writes eloquently about this passage in Great verses through the Bible,p.352: In a deep and true sense it has come to pass that the Lord’s house has been established in the top of the mountains, and has been exalted above the hills. The church is a conspicuous and influential object among the forces of the world; and peoples are flowing towards it. In very many cases whole nations have flung away the religion of their ancestors, and gathered within that Christian temple which has been built upon the foundation of Judaism. Out of Zion there has gone forth the law; and from Jerusalem the Word of the Lord. In Jesus, the Jew is still the centre of the world’s vision. But the full accomplishment of these words waits behind the curtain that is so soon to be rent at the coming of our Lord. Then holy influences will proceed from the chosen people who shall have been led to recognize Christ as their Messiah. From these the Gospel shall go forth unto all the world. Beneath the hallowing influences of that age…the canon shall be as obsolete as the tomahawk; the explosives of war shall be stored in museums; whilst schools for training the art of war shall be used as missionary seminaries. There shall be no war, because there shall be no fear…And there shall be no fear, because universal love shall reign towards God and man.

Prayer: I thank you Lord Jesus that a day is coming when you will make all wars to cease across the earth. Even so, come Lord Jesus.

 

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Daily Bible thoughts 580: Tuesday 25th March 2014:

Micah 2:12, 13
Not only must we have a Biblical ministry in the church (a point emphasised yesterday), but it must also be a balanced ministry. We often find in the prophets that following strong and even severe words about judgment, you get others bringing comfort, encouragement and hope. These two verses look to a time in the distant future when God’s people will return to the land from exile. However, the word remnant reminds us that judgment is a terrible reality. Of those taken into captivity, only some (those who remained faithful to God) would return.

  • Following scattering there will be gathering (12; see also Isaiah 10:20-23): You can feel the tenderness and loving desire in these words. God wants His people back home. The Shepherd of Israel longs for the sheep to be in the safety of the fold. There is a certainty about what is going to happen. Look how the word surely is repeated. Beyond the dark night of judgment the sun will rise and a new day will dawn. This prophecy began to be fulfilled in a preliminary way when the exiles returned from Babylon, beginning in 538 B.C. However, the promise in verse 12 would only be completely accomplished in the Messianic age. (Consider, for example, John 10. It is being brought to pass through the coming of Jesus, and all that it means will gradually unfold.).
  •  Following reduction there will be expansion and growth (12b): …the place will throng with people. (a milling throng of homebound people! The Message. )
  • Following their King there will be breakthrough (13): ”…Then I, GOD, will burst all confinements and lead them out into the open. They’ll follow their King. I will be out in front leading them.” The Message. The key to breakthrough in every situation is to look to the Lord as your head; keep your eyes on Him and follow Him. He goes before (x2). He is the One who breaks open the way so that you can break through the gate. He is the One who will lead you out of captivity and bondage and into true freedom. But you have to let Him go before you. Your King will be your Shepherd. The mind of the prophet conceives of the people as captives in a foreign city, surrounded by lofty walls and frowning gates. Like impassable barriers, these lie between them and liberty. There seems no hope of their being able to break forth; but all suddenly a Breaker appears, who, summoning them to follow, breaks through the opposition of armed men and of mighty bulwarks. With resistless might, He breaks his way through; and they that follow Him are described as having broken forth, and passed on to the gate, and gone out thereat. First the Lord, then their king, and then hosts of men. No finer description could be imagined of the resurrection, which we celebrate as the first day of every week recurs…”The Breaker is gone up” before his redeemed ones. See! They too are breaking forth, and passing on through the gate – their King passing on before them. This is also true of every new era of time and novelty of circumstance. Circumstances, like prison walls, may confine us; but our Breaker is always preceding us, breaking down opposition and strong ramparts of apparently impassable difficulty…Keep close beside Him, as the armour-bearer behind Jonathon. Let there be no perceptible interspace. The iron gate of the city will open of its own accord, through which you shall pass into perfect liberty. F.B. Meyer: Great Verses through the Bible, p.351.

Prayer: Lord you know how badly I need a breakthrough. Help me to look to you with complete trust for what only you can bring about.

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Daily Bible thoughts 579: Monday 24th March 2014:

Daily Bible thoughts 579: Monday 24th March 2014:.

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Daily Bible thoughts 578: Friday 21st March 2014:

 Micah 2:1-5

There always have been, and there always will be (at least until the end of time) evil people who plot and plan dastardly things, without even a flicker of an impact on their consciences (1). Doom to those who plot evil, who go to bed dreaming up crimes! As soon as it’s morning, they’re off, full of energy, doing what they’ve planned. The Message. They do wrong because they can. They are powerful and able and they don’t believe anyone can stop them. They are also convinced that they will get away with it. This section says otherwise. As a man sows so shall he reap. God has His own plans for those who do evil against the poor and needy (3), and who …see people only for what they can get out of them. GOD has had enough. He says, ”I have some plans of my own:’ The Message. The mighty in the land had not respected proper boundaries. God says through Micah that when the invader comes in nobody’s boundary lines will be respected.

GOD HATES INJUSTICE. This is the particular form of iniquity/evil in mind in (2). It’s the rich and powerful trampling on the poor and exploiting them. As part of our discipleship, we do need to ensure that we are siding with the God of justice, and not inadvertently supporting things that grind the poor into the dust. The prophetic books will show to us again and again a God who cares deeply about social justice. As Christians we should do all we can to stand with the poor (all-be-it, according to Jesus, poverty will never be eradicated this side of the second coming.)

God judges sin (3-5). I know this is highly repetitive, and there will be no evading this point as we study the prophetic books. Perhaps God wants us to understand how serious a matter this is and that He really does mean what He says. (This is one of the key doctrines the devil has persuaded many theologians and preachers to ditch. Or at very least, he’s got people to soften the message and dilute the truth.) But here are some of God’s Words to an unrepentant people: Mocking ballads will be sung of you, and you yourselves will sing the blues: ‘Our lives are ruined, our homes and lands auctioned off. They take everything, leave us nothing! All is sold to the highest bidder.”’ And there’ll be no one to stand up for you, no one to speak for you before GOD and his jury. The Message.

The gospel message is enshrined in (3a). A disaster is coming against ever sinner. It is the ‘disaster’ of God’s wrath and judgment. The gospel is bad news before it is good news. We have to understand how bad the bad news is before we will be ready to receive the good news. The good news is that we can be saved. We cannot save ourselves, and this point must be fully understood. But God sent His Son Jesus into the world to be our Saviour, and the Saviour of all mankind. He saves from the wrath of God, all who turn away from a me-centred life and put their trust in Him. That is the best news in the world!

Prayer: Thank God for Jesus!

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