What The Lord Requires?
The Prophet Micah writes,
"He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice and to love kindness
and to walk humbly with your God?"
Micah 6:8 (ESV)
So if you claim to be a Christians. A true follower of Christ Jesus are you following this admonition from the prophet Micah?
God makes it clear what is good.
To do justice.
To love kindness.
To walk humbly with God.
Please think about it.
Keep our house clean
In the book of Acts we read,
"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.
All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.
Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-47.
This is a snapshot of the embryo church if you will. They were known for their devotion to God and the Love of God they showed.
Sadly in many cases the today especially here in North America where I live people don’t see the Church as loving.
The face of the church is seen by many as judgmental hypocrites. As one who supports politicians and others that are clearly not exhibiting Christian values.
As Christians we need to stop getting involved in politics and return to our roots as demonstrated by the church Luke describes in the Book of Acts.
We need to obey the words of the apostle Paul who wrote,
“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.” 1 Corinthians 5:12,13.
For it’s only when we are keeping our own house clean that we will win souls for Christ.
Please think about it.
Questions, Questions, Questions,
The Psalmist writes,
“I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints.” Psalm 52:9.
Do you praise God in the presence of the saints?
How often do you go to church?
Do you praise God for all he has done?
Is your hope truly in God?
Please think about it.
Look to Jesus
In the book of Hebrews we read,
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” Hebrews 12:2.
I have sadly seen many people over the years turn away from God. They have had bad experiences with people calling themselves Christians who are not. And this doesn’t apply to people sitting in the pew. By far most of the people I see who have turned from God have done so because of a pastor, evangelist or other so called Christian leader.
Many follow a given Christian preacher only to fall when the preacher falls.
Christians should never follow unquestioning anyone claiming to be a Christian teacher. We should be keeping our eyes fixed firmly on Jesus.
In order to do this we need to not just read the Bible but rather pray and study it, carefully. It is only in doing so that we can learn what is right in the sight of God.
By studying scripture we can steer away from false teachers and draw near to God.
Are you doing this?
Please think about it.
A Checklist
The apostle Paul writes,
"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves.
Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord.
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.
Live in harmony with one another.
Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.
Do not be conceited.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil.
Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.
If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." Romans 12:9-18
Listed above is a checklist written by the apostle Paul for all Christians to follow. It makes clear what Christians should be doing. Thus my question to you...
When people see your words and deeds do they see these attributes in you?
Please think about it.
Honourably and Faithfully
"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.
If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?" James 2:14-20
Faith without works is dead states James.
Is your faith dead?
Now I know the Talmud is a Jewish book and not Christian. It however has good points to make. Here is one I can see happening. It reads,
"When a man appears before the Throne of Judgment, the first question he is asked is not, "Have you believed in God?" Or "Have you prayed and observed the ritual? "He is asked: "have you dealt honourably and faithfully in all your dealings with your fellow men?" The Talmud.
Jesus said,
"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 7:12.
If you came upon hard times would you not want help? As Christians we are called to love even our enemies. So it’s not a stretch by any means to believe that when we stand before God He would say,
"have you dealt honourably and faithfully in all your dealings with your fellow men?"
So have you dealt honourably and faithfully with your fellow man?
Please think about it.
A time
Jesus said
“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” John 4:23-24.
There are many people within the church today who are simply following the ritual. They come to church simply because their parents or grandparents came. They know what to say and do while in church.
These people however are simply going through the ritual they’ve been brought up on. They may seem like they have it all together but they don’t. They are not worshipping God in spirit and in truth. They are not worshipping God with their body, soul and spirit.
Are you?
Please think about it.
Itching ears.
The apostle Paul wrote,
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 2Timothy 4:3,4.
Standing on my perch here in North America, I am amazed what men and women calling themselves Christians are saying from the pulpit. They are mixing false statements with just enough Bible facts to make what they are saying sound good and thus leading people away from what the Bible truly states.
The famous evangelist Charles H. Spurgeon once said,
"A time will come when instead of the shepherds feeding the sheep. The church will have clowns entertaining the goats." Charles H. Spurgeon.
I have a unique perspective when it comes to clowns. For a large part of my life I was a clown/magician. I stood in front of crowds and in word and deed made everyone in that room think I was the biggest idiot in the room. Someone who could produce things out of thin air.
It was a fun time in my life. One that taught me that people were easily fooled.
People believed what they wanted to believe. All it took was fancy words and a little bit of misdirection.
Thus it is within Christian circles today. With men and women claiming to be of God using fancy language and misleading actions to move people away from God.
Thus we as believers in Christ Jesus must be on our guard to see that we are not directed away from Gods truths.
Why not take time right now to evaluate the pastors and evangelist you listen to. Are they truly preaching the word of God?
Please think about it.
About truth
John’s gospel records this interaction between Jesus and Pontius Pilot.
"You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."
"What is truth?" Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, "I find no basis for a charge against him.” John 18:37, 38.
We live in a world today where people are twisting things. Where people calling lies truth and truth lies.
Jesus here is brought before Pilot on charges that He was calling himself a king. Jesus didn’t deny this. He however was not the kind of king his accusers were saying He was. His accusers were saying he was against the Roman government.
Pilot it seemed saw through this but for fear of insurrection he let the lie continue sentencing Jesus to death for a crime he did not commit.
Today we need to be careful not to believe the lies we hear in the media and even from the pulpit.
We remember that just because every one is parroting the lie doesn’t make it truth.
We need to remember to take time to pray believing that God will show us what is truth. Then stand up for the truth.
We must remember that the truth will aline with the Bible.
So my question to you is are you standing up for truth or are you believing the lie?
Please think about it.
You are light
Jesus said,
“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16.
As Christians. True believers in Christ Jesus. We must remember that we are taking the light of Christ to the world around us. We should not be hiding our faith.
We should be asking God to give us wisdom as to who we should talk to about Christ and the salvation He alone offers.
Are you doing so?
Please think about it.
Your attributes
The apostle Paul writes,
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.... Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22,23.
Question; If you claim to be a Christian. A true follower of Christ Jesus. Do people see the fruits of the spirit the apostle Paul notes above?
Please think about it.
Words from two apostles
The apostle John writes,
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives." 1John 1:9-10.
The apostle Paul tells us,
"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" Romans 10:9-13.
Confessing your sin directly to God and accepting His forgiveness is the cornerstone of Christian belief.
Have you confessed your sin to God?
Please think about it.
