The resources God has given us to live a thriving life are His Word, Spirit, and People.
Read God’s Word:
Micah 1-4
Act 2: God’s Covenant People
Scene 6:Kings and Prophets: God divides the kingdom people.
Background Information: Micah 1-4
Micah lived in a small town in the south, and he was a contemporary of Isaiah. He was one of the faithful people who served God courageously in the midst of a nation turned against him. The faithful would suffer along with the unfaithful; this is how sin works. Our sins don’t just cost us; they often cost the people around us. In modern history, consider the terrible suffering inflicted on the nations by Hitler, Stalin, and Sadaam Hussain. There were many in those countries who were complicit with evil, and many who were not but suffered none the less. God’s judgment is a severe mercy. He cannot leave sin unjudged; it would be both an affront to his holiness and also a terrible thing to do to humanity. Unjudged sin is unbridled sin. Satan cannot and will not be allowed to run wild off the leash. Micah speaks of God’s judgment against the leaders who have become wealthy through greed and corruption. The prophets, who should have been speaking the truth, have become corrupt “wealth and prosperity” preachers. They are the liberal theologians of the day who say that God never brings judgment on people, only good. They present a thin, one-dimensional God who is all grace and no justice. These false prophets will face judgment for their self-serving misrepresentation of God. God will bring about the destruction of the earthly temple in Jerusalem, but in the last days, he will bring about the New Jerusalem. Heaven and earth will meet in the future kingdom of the Messiah. All the nations will come to worship the one true God in that place. Their weapons of war will be turned into farming implements, and every person will live in the abundance of the return to the garden, where there is peace with God and therefore peace with one another. The Bible gives us tensions that we are responsible to hold firmly in place. The tension of God’s sovereignty and our responsibility is critical to living a balanced life of grace and grit. The tension of God’s love and God’s holiness is critical to living a life that rightly fears and hates sin and yet rests in God’s promise of forgiveness.
Pray:
Praise God for…
Thank God for…
Confess your sins to God
Ask God to give the youth team in San Diego strength as they serve at the sports camp. Kids and adults alike are probably tired. Pray that they would engage in relationships.
Ask God for… (what else concerns you?)
Reflect:
Write down one passage of scripture that stood out to you today.
Write down why this passage stood out to you.
Engage Community:
Text or call someone now and tell them…
– What you are praying for.
– What stood out from God’s word today.