Micah 6:6-8 (AMP) With what shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?8 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, and to love kindness and mercy, and to humble yourself and walk humbly with your God?
People are impossible to train if they do not possess essential characteristics. Because we hold on to things that we consider very important, God uses trials and hardships to discipline us. We can never be trained properly due to the sufficiency of daily life and the abundance that surrounds us through culture and civilization. We are finally trained properly when our circumstances and conditions become poor and difficult. When we have been stripped and with nothing left to rely on to face difficulties, we are now ripe to be trained.
When God disciplines or trains His chosen people, it is not because He does not love us. He is training and disciplining us to be set apart as His Holy people. When we are faced with difficult circumstances, we can be trained as we dig ourselves in prayer. If we are not placed in difficult situations, we will not be afflicted to the point where we would run to God in prayer. It is through difficulties that God compels us to pray. Our lives can be pictured as passing through continuous mountains. Our lives are filled with countless and continuous obstacles. All those obstacles and mountains are training grounds for us to enter into heaven. Because of the process, we are prepared incrementally a step at a time.
In the days of Micah, the idea or definition of God by the Israelis was incorrect. The way they approached God was incorrect. If we read today’s sermon scripture (Micah 6:6-8), it appears as though nothing is wrong. But we must discern what God may think is important. God desires us to live according to His Will and He wants us to change.
Generally, we miss the point of God’s will and we end up wandering in circles. We are then out of focus and our focus must be aligned with God’s will. It does not matter how much money we have. If we do not properly believe or know Jesus, then our lives are still wandering in circles. It would be as a person attending church and was not saved. It would be such a pity for that person.
Many people desire to experience the full blessings of God. They want to experience the Living God. In fact, they try eagerly to find out what they must do to be blessed and experience Him. But it is not that easy. We often think we are prepared and ready to be used, especially as we go through trials and tribulations. But in reality, we are not even close to being ready.
As John Wesley led the ‘Holy Club’, he emphasized prayer, bible study, and helping the poor. He had once traveled on a ship headed to America. He was fearful of the heavy seas and he shivered. But as he witnessed the Moravian saints who were in the same ship praising hymns and giving thanks to God, he was extremely shocked. With this experience, he was assured of his salvation and no longer doubted. Even though we may be saved, God prevents us from guaranteeing our own salvation. Even though we are within the assurance of salvation, God mentions through His Holy Words for us to continuously work out our salvation with trembling and fear (Philippians 2:12).
Israel was in much distress due to their spiritual sin. In their distress, they attempted to resolve their issues. However, their method was incorrect. They attempted to utilize their own effort to worship God. They did not worship as God desired. Israel desired to have an encounter with God. Therefore, they sacrificed a one year old calf but it didn’t work. They then sacrificed one thousand lambs but that didn’t work either. They then gave huge amounts of oil that would have filled 10,000 course of a river but that didn’t work as well. When all failed, they went as far as to give up their first born on the altar to sacrifice like the gentiles did. Israel thought God was the one who was being silent, quiet, and still. They thought God was nonchalant. Therefore, the Israelis thought in order to get the attention of God or get Him to move, they had to do something special.
God is very interested in all the things that are occurring in this world whether it is trivial or significant (Psalm 121:3-4, Jeremiah 33:3). Even though it may appear that God is either silent or still, He is still working. It is simply a different way of working than how we perceive work to be defined with our finite minds.
God is very gentle in character. He works and manifests His Word in a gentle way. God has already given all of the revelation through His written Word, the 66 books in the bible. God revealed Himself. He revealed His thoughts, heart, and actions. It does not matter how one’s revelation is holy and spiritual, we must first reflect it through His Word and then discern it. We must sort it out and clarify it.
People are the instruments that God utilizes. People are God’s living instrument and pathways. Therefore, if we want to be used, our character must first be changed. Our character being defined as thought, emotions, and will. God will utilize the people who are dressed in holiness and cleansed. God will use them as His pathway (James 4:8, Joshua 3:5).
Without thinking or evaluating one’s unbelief, unchanged characteristic, and personality, one cannot just go ask God to show Himself or ask Him to move on their behalf. It is unreasonable thinking. God will use a person according to the measure of their faith. If a person or church has much faith, God can actively utilize the individual or church. Once a man named Moses was trained and became a man of significant faith. As a result, the mighty events of Exodus occurred. God is determined to set His plans in motion but if there are no persons available for Him to utilize as His pathway, He cannot work. If there are no individuals to utilize, God will become silent. He can be silent for hundreds of years if there are no individuals or people to use. We must become a powerful pathway for God so that He can work powerfully and mightily through us.
What God desires in us are our actions to be justly, love mercy, and walk in humility with our God (Micah 6:8). Let us change our thoughts, emotions, and our way of looking at faith. Let us just pour out our being from the inside out before God. If you pour out what is deeply inside your thoughts and heart to your spouse or family, you will most likely end up fighting with your emotions.
The bible has instructions on what we should do and what we shouldn’t do. Do not try to find another manual outside the bible. If we shake off every old emotion, regrets, complaints, He will then speak to us. He will listen and fix us. We must come before the Lord and shake all the junk off without relying on any other source. Only then will our faith get stronger and the areas that were distorted or twisted are restored and straightened. Furthermore, our thoughts will be more board, our faith will be restored, and our thought and minds that were once deluded and ruled by man will be restored and we eventually will come to our senses.
Do not wander in the wrong places but let us come to the temple. Come to God! Let us fix and restore the areas that are in error. God will then use us as His pathway and His instrument.
The Lord’s Church
Sermon by Pastor Kim, Yong Doo, Inchoen, S.Korea
Author of Baptize by Blazing Fire
Translated by Yoojin and Steve Kim
May 15, 2010
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