Category Archives: Confession

Accountability, Advocate, Bible, Blessing, Confession, End Times, Judgment, Rapture, Scripture

THE DAY OF VISITATION 

MICAH 7:4 

“The best of them is like a thorn bush, the most upright like a thorn hedge. The day when you post your watchmen, your punishment is coming. Then their confusion will occur.” 

Don’t you love it when family comes to visit? I do. I enjoy reconnecting with loved ones. My wife and I have always lived away from family. So, when the opportunities were there for visits, we looked forward to them. Those were good visitations. 

The “day of visitation” in the Bible meant several things. Listen to Isaiah 10, verse 3. “And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?” This is the same message Micah is giving. God is here. And when He comes, things happen. 

APPLICATION 

Jesus is coming again. There is no doubt about that. When? No one knows, not even Jesus. One day (and it could be soon), the Father will turn to His Son, seated at His right hand in the heavenlies, and say, “Go get Your bride.” Then Jesus will come and take up the Church. 

When He comes the next time, it will be in judgment. He will come to judge the earth and all who are still dwelling there. The evil one will be dealt with. All things will be set straight to prepare for the new heaven and new earth. 

This is not a cliff note version of the end times. I just want you to see that when God visits, things happen. And the most important visit He will ever make in your life is when you accept His Son Jesus as Savior. Have you done that? If not, prepare for His visit! 

Lord, I know You are coming again. In the meantime, use me to lead many to You so they can experience Your presence in their lives. 

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Bible, Confession, Judgment, Pity, Scripture, Uncategorized

A HISSING NOISE 

MICAH 6:16 

“‘The statutes of Omri and every work of the house of Ahab are maintained, and you walk by their plans. Therefore, I will give you up for destruction, and your inhabitants for derision, and you will suffer the taunting of My people.’” 

What a strange title for my blog today, right? Well, I’ll explain in a bit. I am not talking about the hissing of a snake or of a tire that is leaking. I am talking about a hissing sound made by someone who was disappointed in something. It is that sound you make blowing air through clinched teeth. 

Why am I explaining that. Because the word for “derision” here in today’s verse means “hissing” in Hebrew. Jeremiah combines this word with “a horror” four different times (Jer. 25:9, 18; 29:18; 51:37). God was going to make Israel something horrible to look at. People would walk by them, shake their head and make that horrible hissing sound.  

APPLICATION 

Do people walk by you and do that? Do they wonder what in the world has happened to you. I know someone who recently has renounced their faith and walked away from their family. Hiss! Hiss! It is said to see what sin can do. It has been said, “Sin will take you further than you ever wanted to stray, keep you longer than you ever wanted to stay and cost you more than you ever thought you would pay.” 

But there is a remedy. Come back to the Lord. Confess your sins and seek His forgiveness. He stands ready to do just that. If you are a believer who has strayed, come home. You will be safe in His arms. If you have never received Christ as Savior, ask Him now. He is there, waiting for you to respond. 

Above all, stop your own hissing sound as you look at others. Instead, seek a way in which you can help bring them to Jesus. It may be hard, and they may refuse your offer, but don’t give up. Jesus did not give up on you.  

I am thankful, Lord, that the hissing sounds of others as they looked at me have ceased due to the blood of Your Son. 

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Accountability, Battles, Bible, Cleansing, Confession, Deception, Devil, Eternity, Forgiveness, God's Will, Heaven, Holy Spirit, Mercy, Scripture

SELF-JUSTIFICATION

MICAH 6:2

“Listen, you mountains, to the indictment by the LORD, and you enduring foundations of the earth, because the LORD has a case against His people; and He will dispute with Israel.”

Boy, we love to justify our sins, don’t we? We can blame everyone and everything for sinning. I know I have done that. I sin against God by being unkind to my wife, but I blame her. I get angry or upset in traffic, but it is the other driver’s fault. We just cannot take the blame ourselves, can we?

This “case” God has against His people is exactly that. He is basically asking them what He has done to cause their sinful behavior. They see His goodness yet respond with rebellion. I am reminded of Jesus’ response in John 10:32. “Jesus answered them, ‘I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?’”

APPLICATION

What excuses are you giving God right now for your sins. You say, What sins, Carl? I am not a bad person. Well, we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). You cannot blame God or anyone else for your sin. Well, the devil made me do it. Nope, not true. He may have offered up that morsel, but you gobbled it down.

We have no one to blame for our sins but ourselves. Our flesh is so wicked. If it is left unchecked, it will wreck our world before and after we are saved. When you come to Christ and accept Him, He cleanses you of all your sins. But He does not take away that propensity in our flesh to sin. That has to be dealt with by our submission to the Holy Spirit daily.

Until we reach glory, sin will be an issue. I attended a funeral of a dear friend recently. His life was put on display at the service. His son spoke and shared what a godly influence his dad had on his life. But that man was prone to sin even up to the point of death. When his spirit was taken to glory, he began his sinless perfection in Christ. Glory, hallelujah! Praise be to Jesus. One day we will have the same. Until then, live holy lives.

Father, help me live each day abhorring what is evil and clinging to what is holy.

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Accountability, Accused, Bible, Confession, Destruction, God's Will, Guilt, Integrity, Judgment, Modeling, Rebuke, Scripture

IT IS YOUR FAULT 

MICAH 3:12 

“Therefore, on account of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the temple will become high places of a forest.” 

No one likes to be accused of something, especially if you are innocent. But what if you are guilty? You know you did it. You deserve the blame. Perhaps you have gotten “away with it” for a while, maybe even years. But now it is out. Your sin has been discovered and has cost others. 

This is exactly where the leaders of Israel and Judah find themselves. Their guilt has been exposed. God knew all the time but is just now bringing forth the charges. The judgment is falling. It cost not only them but the entire nation because the people had followed them right into destruction. 

APPLICATION 

I see two lessons here for us today. One, be careful who you follow. Too many of us are tunnel-visioned. As long as the church looks good on the outside and has all the latest and greatest programs and technology, we think they are on top of it. After all, can’t we trust someone in ministry? Just check your paper or internet stories, and you will find that not to be true. 

Secondly, we must have someone in our lives who can and will hold us accountable. When no one is watching over us, we can resort to all kinds of fleshly decisions. We make our decisions on what “feels” right instead of what God says. Oh, the danger in that. 

I am so glad I am part of a few accountability groups. I meet weekly with two groups and another once per month. I help lead a group of men through our Every Man A Warrior study which demands accountability. If you are not aware of this study, check it out at www.everymanawarrior.com. There is no better way to get a man to go deep with God and be a responsible disciple maker.  

Lord, I am so thankful for the men You have put in my life who will hold me accountable. 

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Accountability, Accused, Advocate, Bible, Cleansing, Confession, God's Will, Holiness, Idols, Judgment, Listening, Repentance, Scripture

NO ANSWER

MICAH 3:7

“The seers will be put to shame, and the diviners will be ashamed. Indeed, they will all cover their lips because there is no answer from God.”

You may not remember the days when you called someone on their phone and did not get an answer. This was the days before voicemail or answering machines. You could not leave a message. You just had to keep calling back until you reached them. I wish sometimes that was still the case. Lol

The false prophets (called seers and diviners here) could not hear God speak to them. Why? Because they were not seeking Him. They were living lives that were displeasing to God, so He had shut His mouth. He was not delivering any messages to them. They cried out only because He was delivering His judgment. How sad that they could not have surrendered to His Will, which would have opened up that line of communication again.

APPLICATION

Oh, brothers and sisters, before we cast too many stones at these false prophets, don’t we do the same? We live our lives as we wish and then when we get into trouble and call on God, He is quiet. We get perturbed with Him because He did not answer us. How dare He?

Well…God demands holiness from us. That’s right. He expects us to live according to His laws and commands. He does not expect perfection, but He does want us to strive to be more like Him and less like the world. If we want God to speak, we must stop, repent and listen.

This week there has been a verse on my mind a lot. Psalm 84:11 says, “The Lord God is a sun and a shield; the Lord gives grace and glory; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” Did you get that? No good thing does He withhold. But there is a condition – from those who walk uprightly. So, my question to you is – are you walking uprightly today?

O Lord, I do not want to be like one of those false prophets who could not hear Your voice. Speak to me Lord!

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Accountability, Advocate, Belief, Bible, Brokenness, Confession, Encouragement, Forgiveness, God's Will, Hearing, Heaven, Listening, Prayer, Scripture

UNANSWERED PRAYERS 

MICAH 3:4 

“Then they will cry out to the LORD, but He will not answer them. Instead, He will hide His face from them at that time because they have practiced evil deeds.” 

I have heard this so much during my ministry years. God just doesn’t hear me or answer my prayers. Why doesn’t He answer? Our God is always listening to our prayers. However, before He can answer us, we must submit to His authority. We must come to Him in confession. Oh, how He wants to answer. 

The people Micah was talking to were asking the same question. They kept crying out to God to rescue them. They had not taken the most critical step towards answered prayers. They had not repented of their sins. Their sins were serving as a roadblock to heaven. Their sins were bouncing off the gates up there. God heard them, but He could not answer them until they came to Him in repentance. 

APPLICATION 

Now, hear me! I am NOT saying that all unanswered prayers are because of sin in your life. In fact, I believe that a believer’s prayers are ALWAYS answered. Sometimes God says Yes. Other times He says No. Then often He says Not now My child. But He is always listening. He hears our cries. 

If you have lost friends who are blaming God for their unanswered prayers, ask them if they have surrendered their lives to Him first. They may not even know how to go about asking Jesus to be their Savior and Lord. What a privilege it is for us to lead them to the throne of grace. 

I have a couple of prayers that I pray daily. I pray other prayers weekly or monthly. Then finally I have prayers that I pray on occasion for those special requests of friends. But I pray. I love to pray. I love to know that my Lord is interceding at the right hand of His Father each time I pray. I know when I open my mouth to voice my prayers, my Father in heaven bends His ear and listens. Call on Him today. 

Father, thank You for listening to all my feeble attempts of prayer. I know You are careful to do Your perfect Will in each and every requests I make. 

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Abuse, Accused, Bible, Confession, Forgiveness, Greed, Stealing

ROBE STEALER 

MICAH 2:8 

“‘Recently My people have arisen as an enemy—you strip the robe off the garment from unsuspecting passers-by, from those returned from war.’” 

Some people do not care about others at all. They will steal from them without any concern. When I worked at a children’s home once, we had a problem with people coming onto our campus on Sundays while we were all gone to church and stealing stuff from us. Stealing from a ministry caring for children is pretty low. 

Micah is telling them the Lord’s words about their thievery. They were even stealing the outer garments (which were used also at night for covering) from peaceable people. These people who were the victims were trying to walk with God and please Him. These thieves didn’t care. They saw the garment and took it. That’s why God is leveling His judgment against them. 

APPLICATION 

I am sure you have never done anything like that. If you have, I pray you will ask for forgiveness right now. That’s right – stop reading and get on your knees. God has not forgotten that sin, which was really against Him. You may have forgotten, but He has not. 

In fact, we read about this in Psalm 51. Verse 2 through 4a says, “2 Wash me thoroughly from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my wrongdoings, and my sin is constantly before me. 4 Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight,” 

If those verses describe you, spend some extended time in prayer asking the God of the universe, who gave His only Son to die for you, to forgive you and cleanse you. I always feel better physically after a bath. A spiritual bath also makes us feel better. Try it. 

Thank You, Lord, for protecting me from those who would take from me from a callous heart. 

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Accountability, Accused, Altars, Belief, Bible, Confession, Destruction, Disciplemaking, Idols, Judgment, Rescue, Salvation, Scripture

WHERE DOES SIN BEGIN?

MICAH 1:13

“Harness the chariot to the team of horses, you inhabitant of Lachish—she was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion — because in you were found the rebellious acts of Israel.”

Do you remember your first introduction to sin? Do you remember when you committed your first sin? Probably not. Most of us were too small to remember our terrible twos, snatching a toy from someone else. Since the fall of Adam, we are born with that sin nature. No one has to teach us to sin. We, however, do have to be taught how not to sin.

Lachish was known as the initiator of idol worship to Judah. It had already begun in Israel (the Northern kingdom). Perhaps because of their trade in chariots and horses they were introduced to them by pagan nations. Lachish was known for its fast horses and chariots. Micah tells them they had better get in those chariots and harness their fastest horses if they hope to escape.

APPLICATION

Listen, brothers and sisters. I don’t care how fast you run; you cannot escape the wrath of God. There is not a plane, train or automobile fast enough. You could travel to another planet and still not escape it. There is only one way – that is through the blood of Jesus.

Assyria came in and defeated all of Israel and Judah. God used them as His instrument of wrath to judge His people. God will use whatever necessary to judge us if we are not under the blood of His Son, Jesus. But, oh the power of that blood. It can wash away our vilest sins and make us new again. Because of that blood, God forgives us of all our sins.

Praise God for His eternal blessings. I do not deserve so great a salvation. But thanks be to God, He had a plan to give me that way of escape. I pray you have made that decision to turn your life over to Him. You cannot outrun God. Stop running and allow the transforming power of the blood make you whiter than snow.

O Father, thank You for saving me. Thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, to rescue me.

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Bible, Bitterness, Blessing, Confession, Destruction, Encouragement, Forgiveness, Goodness, Submission

BITTERNESS

MICAH 1:12 

“For the inhabitant of Maroth waits for something good, because a disaster has come down from the LORD to the gate of Jerusalem.” 

Some people are just plain bitter. They don’t like anyone or anything. They seem to revel in their bitterness. When someone asks them about it, they say, “Well, that’s just the way I am.” God made me that way.” I don’t think so.  

Why do I mention bitterness? Because “Maroth” which is mentioned in today’s verse, means bitterness. So, you have bitter people expecting something good from God. They didn’t want the God who is good. They only wanted the good things. What happens? Disaster falls upon them. 

Oh, what a lesson for us today. If we walk around bitter all the time because life didn’t turn out like we thought, we cannot expect to receive God’s blessings. God is not in the business of blessing those who are not walking with Him. If we complain about not receiving God’s blessings, we can expect not to receive them. 

APPLICATION 

God is watching us and just waiting to bless us. He wants to bless us. Look around you today at the parents who are constantly giving their kids stuff regardless of their behavior. What do those kids act like? Little hellions! That’s right, I said it.  

God will not allow us to turn out that way because of His actions. Everything He does is perfect and good. He will bless you, but only as you submit to His will and His leadership. Then the blessings flow. Oh, what joy fills the heart of the Father when He blesses His children. Let go of the bitterness. 

Lord, wipe away all bitterness in my life. I want to please You and not just to get the blessings. I do it because I love you. 

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Bible, Brokenness, Confession, Disciplemaking, Following, Humility, Modeling, Scripture

WALLOW

MICAH 1:10 

“Do not tell it in Gath, do not weep at all. At Beth-le-aphrah roll yourself in the dust in mourning.” 

You have probably seen animals rolling in the dust. They seem to be having such a good time. I’ve seen horses do it. I have even seen elephants in Kenya do it. My uncle was a pig farmer. Let me tell you – pigs are really good at wallowing.  

Micah uses a word for “roll” that is only used twice by Jeremiah and once by Ezekial. In those three other times this word is used, it is used to wallow in ashes. In that culture, throwing dust in the air or putting ashes on your head was a sign of mourning or humility. So, rolling in the dust, covering your whole body in dust would be extreme.  

APPLICATION 

How low can you go? I don’t mean in limbo, lol. I mean, how low can you submit yourself to the Lord. Humility and mourning over our sins are sure signs of our desire to repent and turn to the Lord. Our actions speak louder than words. We can say we repent, but when we take steps to change our behavior, that really speaks. 

The Lord does not expect you to go outside and wallow in the dust. But He does expect you to humble yourself before Him. What can you do to humble yourself? What steps can you take to exhibit humility? How will your life change as a result of this action? 

I know when I humble myself before the Lord, I feel so much safer. I do not feel “less than.” I actually feel “more than.” I feel comforted by my Lord. It seems He holds me closer. I can just picture Him taking me in His arms and giving me a “daddy hug.” I can wallow in His love. 

Thank You, Lord, for holding me close. I want to feel that closeness every day. 

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