OH OUR GOD! – Rooted

In the Bible last week I was taken to Micah in my quiet time and read about the Israelites trying to figure out what to give to God in the hopes it would please Him and He would leave them alone.

Oh our God! He told them what He wants…the sacrifices and religious rituals where not only it, He wanted changed lives!!

“No, O people, 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

In 2022 many of us have different ways we want to please God. Some churches try all sorts of ways to pull people in with great atmospheres, modern Christian music with full worship bands, and pastors that communicate super well the Word of God and dress real casual but cool. Many go to be entertained and think this is how we please God. Then some churches are very set in their religious rituals and to please God one needs to follow their strict rules. One thinks if I do what is asked through self discipline, this will please God. Maybe church is not your thing and you try…to be nice to people, not use curse words, not lie, help the poor, read a devotional a day…and we think this is how we can please the Lord.

Not saying that the above modern examples are not pleasing our God, who am I to judge and know this? But…I will say this Scripture from Micah really got me thinking and hope it will get you thinking deeper as we unpack it.

It is written clearly in Micah what God wants from us: to do what is RIGHT, LOVE mercy, and to walk HUMBLY with Him.

Really examine your life as a Christian. Do you do what is right? Think about your family, career, and friendships. The way we respond to troubles or issues, is it right and pleasing God? The way we treat friends and family, does this please God?

To know what is right we have to be reading God’s Word! Please try to commit to that if you are not doing it, it is our guide and we need it daily. Then…decide no matter what – I will do what is right! This can be scary sometimes…you may lose your job, your friends, or be cut off from certain groups, people may drop you like a hot potato! #reality

Oh our God, we need to trust Him! Many times convenience as a Christian is just easier than doing the right thing for the Lord. We can’t just go with the flow of the worldly world because it is convenient. Sometimes we just have to rock the boat, then get out of the boat, and do the right thing knowing and trusting God will protect you. Be kind as you do this.

“Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done. For God has no favorites.”

– Colossians 3:23-25

The next thing God wants of us is to LOVE mercy. This one is just tough for me sometimes if I’m gonna be 100% honest. “Judge Lisa” comes to life and God has to remind me He is in control and to have mercy!! So what does it mean to really LOVE mercy?

“Mercy is compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm” – Oxford Dictionary

Oh our God!! Thankfully He has had so much mercy when it comes to us and our sin. He wants us to LOVE mercy like He does even when we don’t want to! When we go through life wanting justice all the time, saying they did me wrong and they must pay, is this reflecting God’s way? When we are judge and jury on situations done to us or situations we see done to others, mercy seems to fall by the wayside. This attitude of justice or bust is not loving mercy.

Jesus, God’s son, is a great example of LOVING mercy all through the Gospels. He had compassion and forgiveness for ALL people He came in contact with, even if they were in the wrong. (Even the people who put Him to death – He loved and forgave!)

As we go to work, meet up with family and friends, or go to church this Sunday…learn to LOVE mercy and really show mercy to those that have wronged you. Love compassion and forgiveness over getting justice. This requires a heart transformation and we truly need LOVE in our hearts to be compassionate and forgive. Call on the Holy Spirit to help you. Pray hard to LOVE mercy, this for sure pleases our God.

“There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.”

– James 2:13

Lastly, it says…”walk humbly with our God.” This one seems like, duh…of course we need to be humble. Okay, yup, let’s do this humble thing, I am going to be humble!

Well… it is not as easy as we think it is.

We desire humility, but our worldly world shows and tells us differently. For sure we have to do the right thing and LOVE mercy to even get to humility in my opinion. When I think of humility what comes to mind is less of me and more of the Lord. We need to stop making everything in life all about us.

In humility we strive to: Serve, love, give, lift up people in our faith and in the secular world without it becoming about us! To learn to walk humbly with the Lord we must give up our lives for Him and learn to become last.

“But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.”

– Matthew 19:30

To walk humbly in our faith we DO NOT need to be right all the time and we must allow our pride to fade away.

“As the Scriptures say, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you.”

– James 4:6-8

Being humble in our everyday Christian lives is super hard you all! Think about yourself at work, how humble are you? Literally, when being humble at work – you may be considered weak, but are you? NO!! We are to stay close to God daily and be humble, this is not weak but powerful!!

With your friends and family, do you practice humility and just love them unconditionally – can you do this, or do you need to be right and make it all about you and your opinion? Are you withholding mercy??

Within your church, we all need to learn to LOVE everyone, talk with everyone, spread the LOVE of Jesus and just embrace people for WHO they are – stay out of the church politics and just love as Jesus asks us to.

Oh our God! He loves us no matter what, this I am so so thankful for. God is both perfectly loving and perfectly just. I do believe His Word and it tells us many times that He is love and He loves us! Thankfully He also tells us what pleases Him. Just think if we all just lived daily to please our Lord!! #worldchangers

This blog is not a self help, better fix myself so God will love me type of blog. He already loves you. Rather think of this blog as a way to soften, let it take you on a heart journey, be excited to follow and glorify our God with pure love. A changed life for our God surely does please Him.