My Thoughts and Reflections

"He has told you, human one, what is good and what the  Lord  requires from you: to do justice, embrace faithful love, and walk  humbly  with your God." Micah 6:8 (CEB) As followers of Jesus Christ, we believe that we receive salvation by grace through faith apart from works.  However, we do good works as a result of our faith.  It is out of our gratitude to God for the great and amazing things that he has done for us that we do good works in the world. In this passage, the prophet Micah is telling the people of Israel how God is calling us to live as a response to his goodness towards his people.  We should not get hung up on the word "require" because we know that as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, this is what we want to do whether or not is is required. Out of a response to God's goodness towards us, we are called to do justice, embrace faithful love, and walk humbly with our God.  We are called to seek out justice in th...

“For the word of the L ORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does.  The L ORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.”  - Psalm 33:4-5 (NIV) Have you noticed how it seems that our world is full of people that can never seem to tell it to you straight?  We live in a world full of liars, cheaters, two-faced people, injustice, and evil.  Does anyone tell the truth anymore?  Does anyone care about the lack of justice around the world?  Who can you rely on anymore in this messed up world?   The writer of this psalm tells us that, “the word of the L ORD is right and true.”  How refreshing it is to know that we still have one who is full of the truth and who speaks what is right!  God’s words never fail and he speaks only the truth.  We never have to worry about whether or not God’s word is reliable because we know that he only speaks the truth. The psalmist continues and tells us that God is ...

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.  And what does the L ORD require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”  - Micah 6:8 (NIV) As Christians, we often tout the Bible as God’s handbook on life, but all too often find ourselves at a loss as to where the sections that show us how to live are.  All throughout the Old Testament, God’s people relied on the Law (the first five books of the Bible, also known as Torah) to know how God wanted them to live.  This was a great gift from God to show them how he intended them to be holy people and to show them that they did not measure up to God’s standards for holiness.   The problem, however, was that they often got caught up in the intricate details and ignored the true priorities that God had for their lives.  They thought that the most important thing to do was to make sure that their sacrifices at the temple were done properly and they also made sure that they s...

“Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed.  Blessed is the man who does this, the man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”  – Isaiah 56:1-2 (NIV 1984) Are we still advocates of justice and doing what is right today?  Are we modeling what honoring the Sabbath looks like?  Are we keeping our hands from doing evil?  We live in a world that makes doing justice and what is right difficult because it champions injustice and a “do whatever feels good” attitude.  We live in a world today where the Sabbath is not honored (Saturday, Sunday, another day; take your pick!), where people do not keep their hands from doing evil and where justice is an old fashioned notion that many people believe means equal and “fair” treatment for all! Isaiah’s call to do what is right came more than 2500 years ago and still rings tru...