Having and Being a Micah

In the days of God’s prophet Micah (more than 2,700 years ago), the people of Israel were living in great sin against God, facilitating rampant rebellion and injustice among the people. Micah boldly declared in the midst of the wickedness, “But as for me, I am filled with power by the Spirit of the Lord, with justice and courage, to proclaim to Jacob his rebellion and to Israel his sin” (Micah 3:8).

On Sunday morning, Lord willing, I will be preaching through Micah 3 and challenging those at our outdoor worship celebration to “Respond Rightly to God’s Judgment.” God’s judgment is real and certain, so are you prepared? Are you following the trends of the culture and compromising biblical truth, or are you following Micah’s example with a counter-cultural commitment to biblical truth?

WHO’S YOUR MICAH?

While it was a very overwhelming and difficult task, Micah boldly confronted the sins of Israel. Who is your Micah? Do you have someone (or better yet, someones) in your life holding you accountable and confronting you when you fail to follow God faithfully? Do you have people who will speak up when you are blind to your own sin?

We all need accountability because we all fall short of God’s perfect standard, and we are all prone to the pride of self-justification for our shortcomings. Who is your Micah? Who is asking you the tough questions? Who is challenging you to turn from sinful tendencies and follow God according to His Word?

If you do not have people like Micah in your life, please do not delay. Make sure you are actively involved in a Bible-teaching church, and develop friendships with people you can trust to speak Truth into your life. You will not regret doing such an important, life-changing, life-giving thing.

WHERE’S YOUR MICAH?

Likewise, where is your Micah? In other words, where is the Micah inside of you? Are you walking with Jesus yourself and calling sin what it is – rebellion against a holy God? Are you involved in the lives of other Christ-followers, so that you can lovingly speak Truth into their lives?

Just like you need people to be Micahs in your life, others need you to be a Micah in their lives. We need one another.

If you have come to know and follow Jesus Christ, then you have received His Holy Spirit (see John 14:6, 26; 16:8; Acts 2-28; etc.). And, like Micah, you should gladly declare with purpose, “But as for me, I am filled with power by the Spirit of the Lord, with justice and courage, to proclaim…“

The Spirit of God will not allow you to be content to live in sin (see 1 John), and the Spirit of God will not allow you to be content with others living in sin (see 2 Corinthians 5:17-6:2).

No, you will not come down on others in prideful condescension but rather with a loving urgency to respond to the Lord in faith and repentance. We all need Micahs in our lives, and we all – by the work of the Holy Spirit – are called to be Micahs in the lives of one another.

Are you compelled to stand up for God’s Word and declare His Truth? If not, would you turn to Him and ask Him to take over your life?

THE ONLY PERFECT MICAH

Only the Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord, perfectly fulfilled the Law and the Prophets. Only He was and is the perfect Micah – the One who could always speak Truth into people’s lives because He is the Truth. And, only He can change your life in such a way that you too will desire to have people like Micah regularly speaking into your life, as well as being a Micah in the lives of others.

If you want to both have a Micah and be a Micah, make sure you have Christ. Make sure you faithfully serve Him and serve His church. Let us walk alongside one another to bring God the glory and to be a blessing to others.

Learn and trust the Good News of the gospel. Check out The Story.

When Honesty Requires Courage

If you believe something to be true and important, courage might be necessary for you to speak honestly. Sure, there are plenty of times when honesty is simple. Basic questions like, “What’s your name?”, “Where do you live?”, “Where are you from?”, etc. do not require much courage to answer with honesty.

What about when honesty is overwhelming, intimidating, or even dangerous, though?

The Example of Micaiah

When evil, ruthless Ahab was king of Israel nearly 2,900 years ago, he sent a messenger to get Micaiah, a prophet of God. The messenger demanded of Micaiah, “Look, the words of the prophets are unanimously favorable for the king. So let your words be like theirs, and speak favorably” (1 Kings 22:13).

But Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, I will say whatever the Lord says to me” (1 Kings 22:14).

While Micaiah did actually struggle initially to be truthful to the king, he quickly corrected his counsel, sharing the truth of Israel’s coming disaster, according to the word of the Lord. The result? King Ahab’s wrath and judgment: “Put this guy in prison and feed him only bread and water until I come back safely” (1 Kings 22:27).

But Micaiah said, “If you ever return safely, the Lord has not spoken through me.” Then he said, “Listen, all you people!” (1 Kings 22:28)

Talk about courageous honesty! All the other prophets were saying what the king wanted to hear – what was favorable and pleasing to him. Micaiah spoke the truth and did not waver, though, even when being sent to prison as a result.

Oh, and for the record, things did indeed happen as Micaiah said they would, or more specifically, as God promised they would.

The Call of God

“Lying lips are detestable to the Lord, but faithful people are His delight” (Proverbs 12:22). The Bible never says something like, “Be honest unless it is dangerous, difficult or uncomfortable.”

Like every other call of God on our lives, there are no conditions for obedience based on our preferences, comfort levels or safety. You are either for God, or you are against Him. You are either walking in obedience, or you are living in disobedience. You either submit to Him, or you submit to the evil one.

How can you make sure you are on the right side, then?

The Source of Courageous Truth

No matter how hard we try, we can never muster up enough strength, courage and integrity to honor God on our own. There is absolutely nothing we can do to fix our problems – our problems like weakness, fear, and dishonesty, and our eternal problem of sin against our perfect Creator.

“But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!” (Romans 5:8)

The amazing news, then, is that if we repent of our sins and trust in what Jesus Christ did for our salvation, we not only experience eternal life; we experience His provision and power in a way that enables us to live the life He has called us to live. Only then does the courageous honesty come.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment” (2 Timothy 1:7). This statement of power and promise, though, is only for those who know and follow Jesus Christ. Do you? How can you be sure?

Perhaps better than any book in the Bible, 1 John tells us how we can be sure we have come to know and follow God. To listen to recent messages from 1 John in our church’s PROVE IT sermon series, click HERE.

Dad’s cancer survivor motivational speech

Yesterday at the Relay for Life in Marshalltown, Iowa, my dad was the honorary speaker and gave a great speech about his battle with cancer, courage, faith and the need to put the “team” first. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Sorry, though, for the quality of the video, as the wind was blowing hard last night here in Marshalltown.