Living as One Who Pleases God

"He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8)

I really question seriously today how much the average person thinks about or even cares about what truly pleases God, beloved. In fact, I am convinced that most who do think about it at all feel confident that they not only know, but are already doing it! The prophet Micah reminded the people of Judah about the conversation out of their own history between Balak, king of Moab, and Balaam, a "mercenary" prophet from Mesopotamia hired by the king to pronounce a curse on the Hebrew people. Balak had his own idea of ways he could please God and in these words we hear Israel asking of God the same thing.

"With what shall I come to the Lord and bow myself down before the Lord on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my first-born for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" (Micah 6:6-7)

It is just like man today to think that there is something that we can do to earn God's favor! Yet Micah has recorded for us what has come to be known as "the greatest saying of the Old Testament." It is the voice of God Himself reminding forgetful man that He wants from us what He has always wanted from us...nothing more, nothing less.

Note, then, in the prophet's words the first requirement for pleasing God, that we "do justice." The Hebrew word refers clearly to acting justly in every situation of life. I prefer what former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee calls "doing the right thing." And the "right" or just thing to do is always whatever the standard of God says is right or just! Think about what a tremendous impact could be made upon life in the U.S. if everyone started doing the right thing. Think about it in terms of protecting the unborn, of lowering the crime rate, of guarding the sanctity of marriage as defined by God, of educating children, of ministering to the poor and needy. I cannot think of a single area of human life that would not be affected if everyone would just determine to "do justice" and, thus, glorify God.

Next Micah mentioned the requirement from God that we "love kindness." The Hebrew word strongly implies the quality of mercy. Mercy is a difficult trait for us, even as Christians, to demonstrate, beloved. We are prone as human beings to look at the worst in others and then to quietly and piously thank God that we are not like that! If we would please God, we must not only love kindness or mercy in others, we must practice it ourselves...every day, all day long. Imagine the impact we would have upon society in our personal relationships alone were we to be merciful instead of judgmental, forgiving instead of going after our "pound of flesh," restorative instead of punitive.

Finally, Micah said that the third requirement of God is that we "walk humbly" with Him. The secret to true humility lies in seeing oneself as ever in need of God's grace. Clearly, then, the key to both "doing what is right" and "loving and practicing mercy" is to first see the need in our own lives! As long as I remain aware that I am but a sinner saved by God's grace, beloved, I will be able to do what is right and practice mercy toward others. These will only be possible because I have learned to walk humbly before God, aware of the work of His grace in my life.

Would you live a life that is truly pleasing to God, then? Here are the requirements: do what is right according to God's Word, love and practice mercy toward others, and walk in humility as you are aware of your need for God's grace. What a world this would be if we could only stop offering God substitutes for what He truly wants and just live as He here asks us to live!

Ron

Folks Who've Been with Jesus

"Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John, and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were marveling and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus" (Acts 4:13)

Have you ever heard the old adage that "bad company corrupts good morals," beloved? How well I recall my parents' warning not to spend time with this person or that one simply because "they're a bad influence." Now as a teenager wanting desperately to be accepted and to have friends, the idea of "influence" was pretty well lost on me, even as a Christian.

It was not at all lost on Peter and John, however. As they stood before Israel's highest court, looking upward into those somber faces there in the "Hall of Hewn Stone," how they would present themselves as representatives of Jesus Christ was definitely on their minds! Prompted by the unleashed Holy Spirit within, they responded to the condescending attitude of those judges with unparalleled wisdom and tenacious honesty. Their response was, in fact, the last thing the Sanhedrin expected to hear from a couple of Galilean fishermen!

As they sat and listened to Peter and John respond to their question concerning by what authority they had healed the lame beggar lying at the "Beautiful" gate of the temple, an uneasy awareness crept over them. They had heard these words before! They had seen this boldness before! But precisely where they could not yet pinpoint. Then it dawned on them. These men spoke like that pesky Nazarene whom they had just summarily crucified! These men had been with Jesus! That was where they had heard these words and witnessed this boldness. Would they ever truly be rid of Him?

Influence is a powerful tool, beloved, and one that you and I use every day whether we realize it or not. Look back over your day today. With how many people were you physically and verbally in contact? How many phone conversations did you hold? Are you aware that in each of those lives you left indelibly stamped your own influence? You marked for eternity every person you encountered today and, surprise of surprises, you will do it again tomorrow! All that remains to be seen is whether your influence in their lives will be for the good or for something somewhat less noble.

If asked, how many of the people you encountered today could honestly conclude, as did the Sanhedrin judges who listened to Peter and John, that you have "been with Jesus"? What of the Master's character is visible in your words and deeds? What are you doing on earth for heaven's sake? Guard carefully your influence, beloved! It is a priceless gift that you are giving.

Ron

Becoming an Emmaus Road Disciple

"And they said to one another, 'Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?'" (Luke 24:32)

Let's face it, beloved. Time spent walking and talking with Jesus must surely have been one of the most exciting experiences ever! At least, that's what the two disciples on the road to Emmaus thought. A few hours in the presence of the risen Lord and their hearts "burned" with holy fire and a passion to be all that they could be for Him and His glory.

What amazes me today, however, is that in contrast to the Emmaus road disciples, we actually spend as Christians twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, fifty-two weeks a year (well, you get the picture!) in the presence of that same risen Lord, yet many of us have trouble getting excited enough about Him to even make it to worship services regularly! Not only do our hearts not "burn within" us, we seldom even experience a bump in our pulse rate.

What makes the difference? It's all right there in the account of Luke the beloved physician. While walking on the road before Jesus joined them, they were talking about Jesus. Do you get that, beloved? They were talking about Jesus! Now admittedly, what they were saying about Him lacked a lot of knowledge and understanding, but at least they were talking about Him. How much time today do you and I spend talking about Jesus with anybody? How much time do we even spend with each other outside of church, much less spending time talking about our Lord?

Then, after the Master joined them on the Emmaus road, they spent time listening to Jesus teach them about Himself. They drank in every single word as He explained first each prophecy, then its fulfillment in Himself. They listened and they learned. They were true "disciples" or learners as they took in all that He shared with them about Himself. How much time do we today actually spend studying the Scriptures? And I'm not talking about following along with the pastor as he preaches his message, nor with the Sunday School teacher in your copy of the quarterly lesson book. I am talking about plain old "dig it out/write it down/learn it/apply it" Bible study! It's the only way we will ever grow to full maturity in Jesus Christ and become the instruments of His grace that He wants us all to be.

And when He was revealed to them and vanished from their sight, they rushed back to Jerusalem to tell everyone they could that they had seen the risen Lord. Did you notice that this journey took them in the opposite direction from the one in which they had originally been traveling? Nothing was more important to them than spreading the good news! They would have paid any price to get the word out that Jesus had conquered death and that He was and is Lord of all. When's the last time you and I "rushed" anywhere to share that same good news? You see, beloved, it is sadly true. Our hearts by and large today just do not "burn within" us.

Let me challenge you today to become an Emmaus road disciple! Talk about Him, learn about Him and from Him, and tell everyone you can about Him. And by all means let Him "light the fire" within you that will burn until eternity and then forever!

Ron

Projecting God's Power Wherever You Are

"And it came about one day that He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing" (Luke 5:17)

Have you ever thought about what kind of environment you project as a Christian, beloved? Are you aware that we each do so wherever we are whether we know it or not?

Note closely the circumstances in which Jesus found Himself in His beloved Capernaum, His home base for ministry in Galilee. He was likely staying at the home of Simon Peter and, as always, was surrounded by a vast multitude of people. The 19th verse lets us know that the throng of people pressed about Him so tightly that those who had brought a paralyzed man for Jesus to heal had to climb up the outside stairway to the roof and let the man down through the roof tiles just to reach the feet of Jesus.

And I'm sure you know just why the Pharisees and scribes had traveled from every compass point to be there! Let Him slip up once, speak one false word, make one outrageous claim, and they were waiting like vultures on a tree branch to discredit both His teaching and His ministry.

But it is the closing statement of this 17th verse that should really grab our attention, beloved - "the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing." How prone we are in the face of such claims to dismiss them by saying, "But that's Jesus. The power of God was present wherever He went." And you would be absolutely correct if you were thinking that. But the power of God was not present because this was God the Son, but rather because this was Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Man, filled with the Spirit of God. And that reality places an entirely different light on what Luke meant by these words.

If Jesus in His earthly ministry projected the power of God wherever He went, then you and I as His followers, ourselves to be continually filled with that same Holy Spirit, should project the divine power of God as well. When you sit at your desk at work or stand in your place of service, whatever it might be, you should be projecting the power of God. There should be an air about you, an influence that those who come into your presence can sense when they are with you. The power of God ought to flow through your words and actions and should even be sensed through the attitudes that you project to others. That is what it means to be a Christian in 2009, beloved, and nothing less!

So how about it? What do people who know you sense when they are in your presence? Is the power of God being projected into the lives of people with whom you have daily contact? Does the love of God flow from you and touch those around you? Can others sense Jesus' presence as if they were with Him back in Simon Peter's house in Capernaum? Is there anything of the divine in what you think and say and do? There should be...in your life and in mine!

Ron