Here is a good dose of encouragement in point-form.
1.
Encouragement to see the wonders of what these
Scriptures tell us of the heart of God for our hearts.
2.
Encouragement to have our own daily time with
God in his word and prayer so that we can find his treasures of wisdom and
knowledge for ourselves.
3.
Encouragement to share your testimony of
spending time with God with fellow believers to see how your puzzle pieces and
theirs together show the picture of God’s good, acceptable and perfect will.
Theme verse:
8 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)
1.
There is no excuse for idolatry since God has already
spoken of what is good.
2.
None of this can be done outwardly while the
heart is inwardly turned to idols.
22 And Samuel
said,
“Has the LORD
as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
as in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Behold, to
obey is better than sacrifice,
and to listen than the fat of rams. (I
Samuel 15)
1.
God speaks. He doesn’t wait to hear from us, but
speaks for us to hear from him.
2.
God has “great delight” in
relation to his children and guides us to attach to him in his great delight
for our joy.
3.
Listening and obeying are his greatest delight
because we are attached to him.
4.
Burnt offerings and sacrifices performed while our
hearts are attached to idols mean nothing to him even though he prescribed
them. They cannot be done independent of loving Yahweh our God.
6 For I
desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt
offerings. (Hosea 6)
1.
There is a way in which keeping the externals of
the old covenant without love and attachment to Yahweh is not even the old
covenant (as all the religiosity of the Roman Catholic church is not truly
Christian).
2.
God’s “desire” means, “to delight (take) v. — to take a high degree of pleasure or mental
satisfaction in.” This is what he WANTS with us!
3.
Steadfast love is the loyal hesed-love God reveals
in the Old Testament that corresponds to the agapè-love we read about in the
New Testament.
4.
The “knowledge of God” is a
complete package, as we would think of someone really knowing us. It cannot be
done without heart-attachment.
6 “So you, by
the help of your God, return,
hold fast to love and justice,
and wait continually for your God.” (Hosea
12)
1.
The Repentance part: God is ready to help us “return”, which means, “to repent ⇔ return v. — to turn away from sin, conceived of as returning to God or returning
from a location.” What a wonder this is that he wants such sinful
idolaters to return to him to have the same level of intimate attachment as we
could have had if we had never sinned!
2.
The Faith part: to attach to hesed-love and
justice.
3.
The Hope part: to wait in faith regarding future
things.
22 Even
though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the peace
offerings of your fattened animals,
I will not look upon them. (Amos 5)
1.
God is not denying his covenant, that if we were to
come to him according to all his provisions in the law he would not receive us.
2.
God is denying the fake religion, where people want
to have their safety with God while their hearts are attached to idols (what
James refers to as adultery).
24 But let
justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing
stream. (Amos 5)
1.
Instead of outer observances with sinful hearts,
God wants to see the reality of justice where his people want what is right
without favoritism, partiality, or self-justification.
2.
The righteousness is not good behavior that earns his
favor, but hearts that are genuinely flowing with righteousness because of our
attachment to him.
Conclusion: Everything is telling me/us that God knows our hearts. Even
if we don’t see him sifting everyone before our eyes, he is testing hearts. He
may come to a different assessment about us or others because he alone knows
each person’s heart. He alone knows how to factor in the heart-condition that
is traumatized in relation to the sinful outward behaviors. None of us have
that ability.
Which means:
8 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)
Yes, Lord!
© 2022 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8
Email: in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English
Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition:
2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News
Publishers.)
