Micah 6:8 Act Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly

When I saw this post…and thought, it must be a good paraphrase of Micah 6:8…because it is so ‘right on’ for our situation today.

Actually, this is a direct quote from Micah…but the first half of the verse is just as important.

Micah 6:8

First Part-

He (God) has shown you (mankind) what is good (what is important in our lives) and what is required of you (in other words, do this above all else!)

Micah 6:8

Second part-

Act Justly

Love Mercy

Walk humbly

Act Justly

With all the craziness and hostility this past month, there has been one resounding message that has stood true above all else…enforce the code of justice!  Which is-

‘Protect the Innocent and Prosecute the Guilty!’

From punishing the few guilty police to protecting individuals (and police) from hate crimes, looting and the bloodshed of innocent bystanders-all the criminal activity would have been avoided if we followed two words from the Lord…act Justly.

Simply, ‘protect the innocent and prosecute the guilty!’

Note:  This is why Justice should always be administered by a ‘third’ party…by the government institution that is designed to carry out justice (the above-code of justice) and by the Lord.  See Gods Political  View

Romans 12:19   Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

On a personal level we can indeed want justice-fairness…but always with the intent of forgiveness…

2 Peter 3:9   Instead He (God) is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Love Mercy

This reminds me of the testimony of Corie Ten Boom-whose family died in the German concentration camps, but survived to write about the true stories about their experiences.    Some of the Christian prisoners would tell the Germans who were torturing them…how much Jesus loved them-and through the sacrifice of Jesus, they could become God’s children, having an eternal home and loved by God forever.

While their stories were amazing testimonies, I remember smiling after one account.  A German officer was soo stunned at their mercy and forgiveness, in typical wartime fashion, at gunpoint he ordered one prisoner to go out now!!, baptize him in the nearby river…so he could know this great God of theirs! lol 🙂

Love is something we act upon for a number of different reasons; Mercy is something we receive after we offended someone.  It is typically given by someone who could have retaliated against us but has decided to show undeserved compassion toward us.

Forgiveness is related to mercy…it wipes clean our prior offenses and works at restoring the relationship to its original place.

1 John 4:19   We love because he first loved us.

Loving mercy, combining the two…takes this task even further.  It makes us work at falling in love with the difficult act of having mercy on those who have offended us-desiring to be ‘Christ-like‘ 1 Jn. 2:6.  We ‘all’ have been guilty of violating the Lord and our fellow man.    Rm. 3:23

If we cease to have mercy on those who have offended us than we really do not have the right to forgive ourselves when we ‘blow it’ with others.

How important are these few words from the Lord, how different would our nation have been if our country would have followed them the past few weeks?

Psalm 33:12   Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.

Walk humbly

(before the Lord and man) 

In the last few days…this has been the most important message for people that I have talked to…who needed help from the Lord.  See Be Humble. 

To be honest, one was a Christian who did not want to surrender an issue to the Lord… and one would say he does not believe in the Christian viewpoint.  We as Christians are not immune to areas of pride…hostility, violence against others-sometimes within our hearts, and sometimes with actions against our neighbors.  Matt. 5:21-22.  If we do not want to surrender our issues to the Lord (ie…be obedient to the Word and pray to discover His will), these issues can grow into a bitterness that controls our lives.  Gal. 6:7 We reap what we so-still stands true for us today.  See Life’s Greatest Lesson. Part 1, Part 2.

For both individuals, however, I knew I could not nor did not want to try and convince them of anything.  I knew the only hope they had was to hear from the Lord Himself…having God speak to them-and in Divine authority He has to show them the truth.  All I asked was to pray about this issue…and hear from the Lord Himself.  See Convincing Those Whose Minds Are Made Up. 

In order to hear from God however…we have to do something that can be difficult, but incredibly simple.  Humbly give permission for God to show you the truth…in your life.  See short video   Asking God-Who He Is. 

Wow, how completely honest and pure is the relationship between God and man.  He will not ‘force’ His love on you…an eternal divine relationship has to be pure from the start…in order to be genuine.  Divine love cannot abandon its nature…God cannot coerce or violate your will  2 Tim. 2:13. See Understanding God

When I argued with Christians before I became one…I had a ‘closet prayer’ to Jesus.  If they are right about heaven and hell..then I want to know-show me if You are real.  I do not want to spend eternity separated from You because of my sins.  Show me, if You really are the savior who died on the cross for the sins of the world.

John 3:16   For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

If you are sincere…He will truly send His Spirit to you and show you His Love and Mercy as He has told  ‘us to do’  in the title verse…

Matthew 7:7-8   “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

‘Humility toward God’  before and even after we know the Lord…is the divine door that opens our hearts to the truth that He desires to show us.

Micah 6, in no uncertain terms…tells us what is important in life…and what is required for us to live in a manner pleasing to our God in heaven.

This teaching ties directly into the Lord’s greatest commandment.  See Life’s Greatest is Lesson. Part 1, Part 2.

Matthew 22:37-38   Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸  This is the first and greatest commandment.

The Lord, our God who created you and me, the heavens and the earth Ps. 19;1,  does not give us important lessons for unimportant reasons.

How critical this message is for our nation’s current hostility…and how wonderful it would have been if

were humble enough to follow His teaching.

Psalm 144:15   Blessed are the people who have these blessings! Blessed are the people whose God is the LORD!

A  life-changing message for us and our nation, given to us by a few words from our God in heaven.  🙂

Please see articles of ‘Knowing God’