Faithful God

As I bring the last month's reflections on Micah to an end, let us use his words as a starting point for our fresh start to 2020. They are a wonderful reminder of God's mercy, compassion and FAITHFULNESS.

"Who is a God like you,
    who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
    of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
    but delight to show mercy.
¹⁹ You will again have compassion on us;
    you will tread our sins underfoot
    and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
²⁰ You will be faithful to Jacob,
    and show love to Abraham,
as you pledged on oath to our ancestors    in days long ago." - Micah 7:18-20

Our God is Faithful.

Living in Grace
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Beautiful Reflection

As we say goodbye to 2019, many of us are reflecting on the good and tough times of this year, as well as thinking about what 2020 will hold for us. If you are looking for a passage to pray over and to help you with your reflection, take a read of these powerful words from Micah.
 
"With what shall I come before the Lord
    and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
    with calves a year old?
⁷ Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
    with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
⁸ 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 6:6-8

I believe that if we could live out these 3 qualities in the New Year we would be honouring Jesus with our lives.

Have a Blessed 2020 friends and thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts. 

Living in Grace
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Peace

"And he will be our peace" - Micah 5:5a

Perhaps the most elusive of the four Advent gifts is PEACE. We can experience the other three in small doses during the year - Faith, Hope and Love, but Peace seems to easily slip from our grasp. It is my prayer for each one of us that we would experience Christ this festive season, because ultimately He is our Peace. 

True peace is not some emotion we experience once in a while, but rather a deep seated treasure we can KNOW in our innermost being. And we get to experience this through a person and not from anywhere else.

John 16:33 - “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace."

May Christ be your peace.

Living in Grace
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Understanding God's plans

"But they do not know the Lord’s thoughts
    or understand his plan." - Micah 4:12

Who of us can honestly say we always understand the way God works? Not many of us I think!
The people in Micah's day certainly didn't fully understand what God was doing and when we consider the birth of a tiny baby as God's idea for redemption - well, that seemed totally ridiculous. 

However, we now know a little more about how Jesus' life became the GIFT for all humanity and how God's plan ended up offering salvation to the world. This is the beauty and joy of Christmas.
Indeed, God's ways are not our ways, so we are left to trust in God's plans or to ignore them.

Revelation 15:3 - “Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the nations."

Living in Grace
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No King?

People faulter without proper leadership. This is a fact and is played out in countries, schools, businesses, communities, churches and even in some homes. People need leaders!

"Have you no king to lead you?
Have your wise people all died?" - Micah 4:9

Micah's question arises as a result of the mess that he sees in the nation of Israel. People are living as if they have no king and no wise teachers to lead them. The irony was that they had a King, but they had turned their backs on God.

Remember this Advent season, that we are blessed to have a King - his name is Jesus. He invites us into his kingdom and waits to see our response.

Matthew 2:2 - “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”

Living in Grace
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Power restored

Living in South Africa has many challenges and the latest one was dealing with power outages and load-shedding. One could almost hear the collective sigh when the lights went out in your community, as well as the loud cheers when the power was restored.

In chapter 4, Micah speaks about a different kind of restoration. It is the restoration of the kingship and how the 'royal might and power' would come back to the nation.

"As for you, Jerusalem,
    the citadel of God’s people,
your royal might and power
    will come back to you again.
The kingship will be restored
    to my precious Jerusalem." - Micah 4:8

Advent is a time to remember that no matter how dark things are at the present time, the LIGHT of the world has dawned upon us and all good things will be restored in the end.

Living in Grace
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Peace and Prosperity

"Everyone will live in peace and prosperity,
    enjoying their own grapevines and fig trees,
    for there will be nothing to fear.
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies
    has made this promise!" - Micah 4:4

Even Micah dreamt of a time when war would cease and the people of Israel would get to live in peace and prosperity. It may seem like a tall order in today's political climate and the rumours of upheaval form every corner of the globe, but we should not lose hope of eternal Peace. When God promises something, He will deliver.

Luke 2:14 -“Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

Living in Grace
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Come let us adore Him

One of our favourite Christmas carols has to be "O Come all ye faithful", which has the wonderful chorus: "O come let us Adore Him, Christ the Lord." When I read through the words of the prophet Micah today, I thought of this hymn and I wanted to sing out loud "O Come let us adore him."

"Many nations will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
    so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,    the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." - Micah 4:2

As we edge ever closer to Christmas, let us draw near to the temple of the Lord and worship Him. May Jesus teach us his ways, so we can walk in his paths of Life.

Living in Grace

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Being Reconciled

We tend to forget that God's deepest desire is to reconcile us to himself. God doesn't delight in staying angry with us and nor does he withhold his mercy from any of us.

"Who is a God like you,
    who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
    of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
    but delight to show mercy." - Micah 7:18

Of course, there is also a part we need to play in responding to God's overtures of Grace. When we are reconciled to God, we should also seek to be reconciled to others. As John pointed out - we can't say we love God, whom we haven't seen, when we hate those who live among us (1 John 4).

What does reconciliation mean for you today?

Living in Grace
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Watching and waiting

 

Young children are the most enthusiastic at Christmas time and in many ways they keep the miracle of Christmas alive for lots of us. Their constant questions about presents, Santa Claus, reindeer, holidays, food and more presents, keep us unusually busy.

Of course, in responding to the myriad of questions, we should always be willing to remind them of the real reason for Christmas.

“But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord,

I wait for God my saviour,

My God will hear me.” – Micah 7:7

Our watching, waiting and hoping is all part of the Advent season. Teaching children (and adults) that all good things come to those who wait is a crucial part of this time of the year. 

As you watch and wait for the miracle of Jesus, may you not be disappointed by the GIFT that he is too you.

Living in Grace

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Buying Peace

 

"You promise peace for those who give you food,
    but you declare war on those who refuse to feed you." - Micah 3:5

One of Micah's big complaints against the religious leaders was that they were willing to manipulate people into buying peace. The whole idea of this is strange, because Peace can never be bought, but this didn't stop them from trying to squeeze money out of the pockets of the innocents and vulnerable.

In our day and age, is there any difference when you consider how we are bombarded by similar messages - shopping malls, glossy advertisements, catchy sales pitches and promises of happiness come to us all day long. Sadly, we often fall for these false promises, but the sooner we realise that TRUE PEACE can never be bought, the better.

Jesus is our Prince of Peace. 

Living in Grace
D3LM3

A new kind of Gathering

“Someday, O Israel, I will gather you;
    I will gather the remnant who are left.
I will bring you together again like sheep in a pen,
    like a flock in its pasture.
Yes, your land will again
    be filled with noisy crowds!" - Micah 2:12

I wonder what Micah had in mind when he pictured the people of Israel being gathered together again. Was it just an image of what he had already seen, or was it something that was totally new and almost unbelievable?

When we gather together this Christmas period, whether it is with family and friends, or even in our Church communities, take a moment to imagine what our Heavenly gathering will look like. I echo Paul's words (1 Corinthians 2:9), where he says:

“What no eye has seen,
    what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
    the things God has prepared for those who love him.

Living in Grace
D3LM3