Category Archives: Encouragement

Advocate, Affection, Belief, Bible, Darkness, Despair, Encouragement, Scripture, Tears

WHY DO YOU CRY?

MICAH 4:9

“‘Now, why do you cry out loudly? Is there no king among you, or has your counselor perished, that agony has gripped you like a woman in childbirth?’”

Nothing is more disturbing for a parent than to see their child cry and not know the reason. We want to soothe them. We want to stop the tears, but they keep coming. This is especially true when they are very young and cannot communicate the reason. We usually figure it out after much trial and error.

Micah is asking the same question for the Lord. “Why do you cry out loudly?” He tells them there is no reason to cry. Even in their deepest valleys, their king is still there. He has not left them. Their counselor is not dead. He is very much alive. And even though the pain is real, this too shall end with much joy, just like a woman’s pain in childbirth ends with the joy of seeing that child for the first time.

APPLICATION

We do the same thing. When we go through a trial or a tough time, we often wonder where God is. We want to blame Him for our suffering. We even think He is trying to hurt us or cause us harm. Nothing could be further from the truth. God has not gone anywhere. He is still right there on His throne.

God allows us to go through trials to build our faith. It is never to tear us down. Some trials are harder than others – the loss of a loved one, a terminal disease. But no matter how hard the trial, God is still there. Our King still reigns. Nothing nor nobody has knocked Him off His throne.

Going through trials time after time allows us to build that faith that can move mountains. We begin to believe that God can sustain us through the darkest moments of our life. And then we can use that knowledge that we have gained to help others when they go through them. Paul tells us this in 2 Corinthians 1:3-5. Take a look at that today.

Thank You, Lord, for always being right there. In the moments of my deepest woes, You are there.

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Belief, Bible, Blessing, Christ's Return, Confidence, Contentment, Encouragement, Eternity, Fear, Promises, Rest

I AM NOT AFRAID

MICAH 4:4

“Instead, each of them will sit under his vine and under his fig tree, with no one to make them afraid, because the mouth of the LORD of armies has spoken.”

When I was growing up, my friends and I would often dare each other to do something. Sometimes it was approaching a scary looking house and knocking on the door. We had a few houses like that in my hometown. Other times it was to do some stupid physical challenge. We always said, “I’m not afraid.” Of course, inside we were trembling.

Finally, one day we can all say with confidence that we are not afraid. Just like Micah describes here in today’s verse, we can sit under our vine or fig tree (I don’t have either of these, lol) and rest. The LORD of armies has spoken. When God speaks, all is settled.

APPLICATION

Won’t that be great? No more worries. No more problems. All is at rest. That is hard to imagine, isn’t it? We live with issues and problems every day. Some of those are big, like dealing with cancer or the loss of a loved one. Other things are small, like paying that bill or a challenging child. We all have to deal with these kinds of things now.

But one day soon we will have perfect rest. I love to fish (as you who read my blogs regularly or who know me personally can attest). I love to be on the lake or at a pond early in the morning when the water is calm. It is like glass. That kind of peaceful scene will be forever. No more disturbances.

I choose to live in that peace today. I choose to believe my heavenly Father wants me to live that way. He does not desire troubles for me. Just the opposite, He desires peace. Only His peace can provide this for me. His peace gives me peace. Are you living in His peace today?

Thank You for giving me peace today, Lord. I choose to live in it.

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Abiding, Bible, Commands, Darkness, Devil, Encouragement, Forgiveness, Light, Modeling, Satan, Scripture

LIGHTS OUT

MICAH 3:6

“Therefore it will be night for you—without vision, and darkness for you—without divination. The sun will go down on the prophets, and the day will become dark over them.”

Several times in my life I have had to deal with the loss of electrical power. We are spoiled in the U.S. with electricity that we take for granted. Everything we do seems to depend on it – how we cook, wash our clothes, heat our water and entertain ourselves. So, when the lights go out, it gets out attention.

This was the case with these false prophets. The light had been removed by God because of their ceaseless wanderings. They had pretended to represent the Lord in their prophecies, but now the truth is being revealed by God in His judgment. It was as if they were in a dark room with no light, no hope, no future.

APPLICATION

We are meant to be lights to the world. Jesus tells us so. Just look at Matthew 5:14-16. “14 ‘You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor 15 do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.’”

Do not let your light go dark. Satan loves to throw us into a funk or depression that causes the light of Christ in us to be dimmed. Turn up the flame. Let all see what Christ can do in them. Be the example of a changed life they need to see. When they see the miracle of salvation in you, perhaps the Holy Spirit will tug at their heart to come to Jesus.

I rarely get in a funk, but I was recently. I had some dental work done and was not feeling well. I must admit I wasn’t letting my light shine as it should. I confessed that as sin to the Father and am praying that I will not let future dental work put me in the same mood (I hate going to dentist. Nothing personal against my dentist friends out there). Let your light shine today.

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. This little light of mine. I’m gonna let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

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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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Abiding, Advocate, Affection, Battles, Belief, Bible, Compassion, Encouragement, Following, God's Will, Righteousness, Scripture

WOULD GOD DO THIS? 

MICAH 2:7 

“‘Is it being said, house of Jacob: “Is the Spirit of the LORD impatient? Are these His works?” Do My words not do good for the one walking rightly?’” 

As a pastor and a minister of the Gospel, I have been asked many times why God would allow the death of a loved one or a mass killing. I have also been asked by others why God would allow them to get cancer. I do not have answers to all these questions. I can only point them to Christ. I know He has all the answers. 

The Israelites were asking these questions. Would God really do this? Is God really behind this? God answers through Micah with the last phrase of this verse. “Do My words not do good for the one walking rightly?” That is a punch in the mouth, isn’t it? The Hebrew word for “rightly” could be translated uprightly or straight. 

APPLICATION 

You may be one of those people who have questioned God. You may not understand why He has allowed something horrible in your life. Let me tell you something. I understand that. My wife and I lost a little girl, Cathleen, back in 1987. She only lived about six hours. That was hard. There were questions, but God healed our hearts. 

I have also gone through two, count them, two stem cell transplants for treatment of a disease I have. That was not easy either. I prayed to die a couple of times, but God healed me. I am healthier today than I have been in probably a dozen years. As I said earlier, I do not have all the answers, but I do know the One who does. 

I want to encourage you today to lean into Jesus during those hard times. Do not worry about leaning too heavily on Him. He can carry the load. 1 Peter 5:7 says “Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” Do you believe that? Then trust Him. 

O Father, I do not understand all You are doing in my life. I understand You are in control, so I will allow You to lead. 

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Abiding, Accountability, Advice, Bible, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Gospel, Listening, Obedience, Prophesy, Scripture

La la la la la

MICAH 2:6

“‘“Do not prophesy,” so they prophesy. But if they do not prophesy about these things, insults will not be turned back.’”

When we were children and we did not want to hear what someone was saying, we would stick our fingers in our ears and say, “La la la la la.” We just did not want to hear it. What would the person do who was telling us what we did not want to hear? One of two things – they would say it louder or stop talking.

The people of Israel did not want to hear what Micah (or any other prophet) was saying. They may have stuck their fingers in their ears. We do not know. It says here there that they said, “Do not prophesy.” In the Hebrew this was a very blunt statement. Kind of like “Shut your mouth.” Hmmm. Does that still happen today?

APPLICATION

Today, people get mad at the preacher if he starts stepping on their toes during a sermon. How dare that preacher say those things to me. Who does he think he is? There is a passage in Malachi 2:6-7 that says, “6 True instruction was in his mouth and injustice was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and justice, and he turned many back from wrongdoing. 7 For the lips of a priest should maintain knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the LORD of armies.”

Look at the last part of that verse – “for he is the messenger of the LORD of armies.” That is who is speaking here in Micah – a messenger of the LORD of armies. Today’s preachers/teachers have the same responsibility. And if they are preaching God’s Word correctly, we need to listen. We need to stop putting our fingers in our ears and saying, “La la la la la.” We should do what it says in Malachi – “seek instruction from his mouth.”

I have preached hundreds of sermons in my ministry career. Perhaps thousands – I have not kept count. I know some of those sermons were preached out of my flesh and not from the Lord. That is why I am so careful now to only preach what the Lord gives me. I stick to His Word. Check out whoever you are listening to. Make sure what they say aligns with what God says. And if it does – follow.

O Father, I want to hear Your message from Your spokesman. I want to hear the truth of Your Word.

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Abuse, Accused, Bible, Blameless, Devil, Encouragement, Eternity, Evil, Humility, Mockery, Relationships, Satan, Scripture

MOCKING

MICAH 2:4

“‘On that day they will take up against you a song of mocking and utter a song of mourning and say, “We are completely destroyed! He exchanges the share of my people; how He removes it from me! To the apostate He apportions our fields.”’”

Being mocked is not fun, is it? Remember as a child someone repeating every word you said. Little brothers and little sisters were really bad about that. “Leave me alone” and the echo would come back, “Leave me alone.” “Mom, tell her to leave me alone.” Again, “Mom, tell her to leave me alone.”

Today’s verse shows that happening to God’s people by the pagan enemies who would defeat them. They would actually mock their mourning and cries out to God. Defeated and demoralized. Defeated and publicly humiliated. How low could they go. Pretty low it seemed.

APPLICATION

Has this happened to you? Have your enemies mocked you? Probably not, but it could happen. So, what is worse than that? I will tell you. Standing before a holy God and answering not for your sins. If our sins aren’t under the blood, if we are saved by the blood of the Lamb, we will not only be humiliated, but we will also be eternally separated from God.

You cannot get much lower than that. Listen to me, if you are a believer today, Satan will mock you when you are down. He will whisper those accusations against you. Remember that your sins were paid for at Calvary. That does not give you a free reign to sin. Not in the least. But it does give you the answer to Satan’s mocking.

We can literally tell Satan to flee. James 4:7 says, “Submit therefore to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.” It does not get much better than that. You have the power through the Holy Spirit to put Satan in his place – hell. That is not where you belong and that is not where you are going. You have an eternal home guaranteed for you in heaven. Doesn’t that excite you today?

Father, it does not matter what the devil says. I know I am yours and forever will be.

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Bible, Blessing, Contentment, Coveting, Disciplemaking, Discipline, Encouragement, Gifts, God's Will, Greed, Inheritance, Jealousy, Modeling, Scripture, Seeking

COVETING

MICAH 2:2

“They covet fields, so they seize them; and houses, so they take them. They exploit a man and his house, a person and his inheritance.

I was sitting with my wife the other night in our family room. I looked around at our home. It’s a nice two-story townhouse with plenty of room, more than we need now. I turned to her and said, “We are so blessed, you know? Just look where we live. God has given us so many blessings.”

These people Micah is confronting with God’s message are coveters. What does that mean? It means they desired these things greatly, so much so that they stole them. They even lied and devised ways to steal a man’s inheritance, thus robbing his children as well. These were unscrupulous people.

APPLICATION

I did not tell you where I live to make you covetous, but I am sure some people would look at where I live and covet it. To be honest, I do not deserve it. God provided this home for us. As I drive around my city of Chattanooga, TN, there are many far beautiful homes than mine. I do not have a covetous bone in my body for those homes. I am content where I am and so grateful.

That is what I want you to see in today’s verse. These people were not grateful at all for what they had. They wanted more and more. Are you that way? Are you not content? Paul tells us in Philippians 4:12, “I know how to get along with little, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.” That should be our heart each and every day.

O Lord, thank You for all the blessings in my life. I am content with what I have and forever grateful. 

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Affliction, Battles, Bible, Brokenness, Darkness, Death, Despair, Devil, Encouragement, Enemies, Grief, Heaven, Mourning, Satan, Scripture

THE ENEMY APPROACHES

MICAH 1:15

“Moreover, I will bring on you the one who takes possession, you inhabitant of Mareshah. The glory of Israel will enter Adullam.”

In times of distress the enemy will attack. I just woke up to discover a dear brother in the ministry lost his sweet, precious wife last night. She died suddenly, leaving a gapping hole in my brother’s chest. We are praying for him, but most especially praying protection over him from the enemy’s attack. We know Satan loves to attack us when we are down.

Assyria was attacking Israel and Judah. “The one who takes possession” refers to the enemy invader. God was allowing the enemy to attack in order to judge His chosen people. He was striving to bring them back to Him, even if it meant severe judgment. But God had not broken His covenant with them. Israel (all 12 tribes) was still His child.

APPLICATION

Our spiritual enemy is powerful and very well armed. He loves to catch us unawares and unprotected. Sudden losses in our lives can shatter us emotionally. When we are in these places, the devil will whisper in our ears that God does not love us, that He does not care about us. Do not believe those lies.

That is why it is so important to cover yourself in God’s Word. Only His Word can get you through those times. This morning, the first passage that came to my mind was 2 Corinthians 1:3-5.

“3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.”

My dear brother will be okay. He will get through this. Why? Because I know he loves Jesus and loves His Word which is filled with the promises of God. He knows the Father loves him dearly. He may not understand why He took his bride home now, but he will – eventually. Be on guard my brothers and sisters.

Lord, thank You for Your promises. I know they never fail.

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Abiding, Accountability, Bible, Commitment, Deceit, Devil, Encouragement, Following, Fruit, God's Will, Judgment, Loyalty

PARTING GIFTS

MICAH 1:14

“Therefore you will give parting gifts in behalf of Moresheth-gath; the houses of Achzib will become a deception to the kings of Israel.”

When my wife and I got married over 36 years ago, we were given wedding gifts by friends and family. Some gave money (something a new couple can always use) and others bought things we would need for our home. Wedding gifts are pretty customary in most countries. Some actual require a dowry.

The phrase “parting gifts” can have that meaning – a dowry. You see Judah had so broken their covenant with God that He was giving them over to the pagan invaders. He said to even give them the dowry. He was parting company with them. The deception of idolatry had penetrated the very heart of Judah.

APPLICATION

We need to be very careful what we allow to enter our lives. Satan is sneaky. He loves to slither into our lives and get us to do things we never thought we would do. 2 Corinthians 11:3 says, “But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”

It can happen so quickly. Before you know it, we are participating in things that God frowns on. God will not allow His children to live in sin. Rebuke will come. Correction will happen, sooner or later.

So, what do we do to protect ourselves? We wrap ourselves in Jesus. If you have not read John 15 lately, do that. John explains it so well. We have to abide in the vine. If we do that, if we cling to Him, we will be doing His will and not ours. Abide in Him.

Father, I would never want to hear You tell me to depart Your presence. I know I am secure in Christ. Help me walk closer each day.

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