8 Mankind, he has told each of you what is good
and what it is the Lord requires of you:
to act justly,
to love faithfulness,
and to walk humbly with your God.
Reflection
If you could not see Pastors Joe and Kate hosting a live-stream devotional at 10:30 AM on Sunday, Jan. 25th , on our church’s Facebook page. I encourage you to go see that as I feel sure you will come away feeling glad that you went and found it.
Sometimes I find something written that holds more meaning than I could ever express. The following Paragraphs come from the Tony Evans Study Bible:
“A strong biblical connection exists between our knowledge of and relationship with God and our concern for the poor and the oppressed (see Jer 22:16; Matt 25:40). Micah 6:8 reveals this: “Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.” We “act justly” in a humble relation to a just God as a natural reflection of his presence in our lives. Religion becomes authentic when it manifests itself in ministry to others in need.
The second-most talked-about subject in Scripture, after money, is the poor. More than three hundred verses directly relate to the treatment of the poor, strategies to aid the poor, God’s intentions for the poor, and what our perspective should be toward the poor. God cares about the poor particularly because they are so vulnerable to injustice.
Ultimately, acting justly fulfills the two greatest commandments given to us by Jesus—loving God and loving others. Christ says, “All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands” (Matt 22:37-40). Both the content and meaning of the Law and Prophets were centered not only on one’s relationship to God but also on whether one was rightly related to one’s neighbor.”
Thus, Jesus linked our attitude toward God (spiritual) with our attitude toward others (social). When asked, “Who is my neighbor?,” Jesus responded by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan, pointing out that your neighbor is the person whose need you see and are able to meet (Luke 10:26-37). May we put that into practice.”
by Clarence Beverage
For Pondering and Prayer
First, I have to ask, having heard Joe and Kate’s very clear message yesterday morning, and then reading the reflection, what does God want us to do with our anger, fear, despair, feeling that our federal government no longer cares about truth, morality and human life?
It is loving even those that are doing the things that we are so bothered by.
This is true, every night, just after getting into bed, before I fall asleep, that’s about two minutes thankfully, a very short prayer is in my mind. Both Laura and I are very concerned about what is happening to so many of the people in Minneapolis who are scared and no longer able to live normal lives. Several days ago, I was thinking about prayer and why it feels like our prayers are, sometimes, not answered.
A little epiphany came to me, and I want to share that here. I am realizing that I keep praying for God to do something. God doesn’t call me to do that, instead, I think God wants me to earnestly pray for the people who are causing all the bad things to happen, as well as those who are in need.
Our world becomes a better place the more that we at look at all people with love in our hearts and share that with others.
We say all things are possible with God. If we really believe what Joe and Kate taught earlier today, what the reflection is saying, and read all of Micah 6 as a reminder of what God has already done, can we not bring our hearts and minds to pray with love, for all?
Prayer: Dear Lord, You have shown us what is good and what You require from each of us. Please align our hearts with Your will. Help us to act justly in all our dealings, to love, with mercy and kindness, toward everyone that impacts our lives in any way, and to walk humbly with You, Lord. Give us the strength to stand up for the oppressed and to show compassion to those in need. Turn our hearts away from pride, and instead toward searching for ways to serve others with the love of Jesus. In Your Holy Name we pray, Amen.
