Devotionals

“The LORD [is] slow to anger and great in power, And will not at all acquit [the wicked]. The LORD has His way In the whirlwind and in the storm, And the clouds [are] the dust of His feet. (Nahum 1:3 NKJV).”

Bros aren’t you glad the Lord does not fly off the handle and go on a rampage in an angry fit…

With His great power I would not want to know what that was like… So grateful He is slow to anger and great in power. God’s wrath has been declared toNineveh and He is going to take them down. In their rebellion they are past the time of turning away from their sins and responding to His great mercy. God is so slow to anger and oh so merciful and bros we all know that to be true in our own lives… It only takes a moment to reflect back on our lives before coming to Christ and realizing what a sinful rat we were and if we were God we might not have put up with someone like ourselves for as long as God did with us. I am always so amazed at God how He can be so merciful and longsuffering with us and slow to anger and as we read this verse in Nahum that there can be an end of His mercy and no more relenting of anger and the point where he gives them over to their rebelliousness, in other words what that wicked rebelliousness has earned them permanently. They rebelled against God and would not turn and now are going to be overthrown with vengeance. The Lord previously came into their lives in great mercy and witnessed them now go through their past rebellion again and was slow to anger wanting them to turn back to Him, now reluctant and not relenting His great power to bring them down not giving them mercy… God was with them in the whirlwind of life how fast it seems to fly by, that time of repenting, that window of opportunity, lost-forever gone! And every situation even the storms that life can bring and now they are in the shadow of the clouds of His judgment, His feet has stirred up clouds like dust that covers them and they are left to live forever in that filth of deadly rebellion. When God walks into your life you know He is there and feel and sense His presence it’s obvious but they are feeling and knowing and seeing God stomp out of their lives they have stirred up His anger. He gave them every chance and more mercy then we could ever fathom yet they thought they could continue on in their sin and get away with their sin. They must have thought like we do sometimes that Gods mercy is never ending. Bros I know His mercies are great but I never want to know or get to the end of His mercy. It is so important that if we find ourselves in sin or rebellion against God that we turn away from our sins right now this very second. Turn back to God while there is still hope, still time and His mercy is still available- don’t wait bro do it now! Take advantage of his loving patience, slowness to anger, mercy, & grace that only our Father can have on us but also we know He won’t acquit the wicked or rebellious who have turned away from Him to evil and wickedness and stay in that place, but He has mercy on those who turn back to Him and repent-amen!

“God [is] jealous, and the LORD avenges; The LORD avenges and [is] furious. The LORD will take vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves [wrath] for His enemies; (Nahum 1:2 NKJV).”

Bros Nahum speaks of the divine judgment onNineveh, Gods retribution on the sinfulness ofNineveh. After Jonah proclaimed his famous message and they respond by repenting. That revival took place about 760 B.C. and by 722 B.C. they had returned to their evil ways…Then God calls Nahum about a century later 660 B.C. to announce His coming judgment and total destruction ofNineveh. God gave them chance after chance, mercy upon mercy, the hope of repentance is gone God has said enough, they have reached the end, they would not heed the call of Gods messenger when He sent Jonah and they have come to the end because they would not repent. God is loving and longsuffering with those who repent and turn from their sin. But those who continue on in their sin in rebellion against God after He has mercy and relents on their destruction from times past and now their number is up there will be no tapout seeking Gods mercy and forgiveness.

Bros our God is all merciful and a loving forgiving God, He forgives our sins; He is longsuffering with us and cleanses us from our sins. And it seems like God sent revival for the land of Nineveh through the message that Jonah preached and delivered and it was short lived and they went back to the wickedness God had called them away from, so now as Nahum declares they are going to experience His full wrath with vengeance; the wrath that is reserved for His enemies…

Sin separates all from God, when in sin we are at enmity with God- meaning an enemy of God…

The very character of God, His righteousness, He is going to take vengeance, God is jealous and He will no longer stay His anger to those who are His enemies… Because of on going sin, the revival that took place was not very deep, apparently it was not heart deep…they turned from their sins once- but went back. “As a dog returns to his own vomit, [So] a fool repeats his folly (Proverbs 26:11 NKJV).” Bros we don’t know how many times God will be merciful to us if we have fallen back into un repented sin, we don’t know when He might say enough is enough. When we are in sin we are at enmity with God and there is only one way to change that- it is to tapout and surrender our will for His will to give up our sin for repentance. We do know He is very merciful and long suffering, and forgiving and I pray we never get to the end of His mercy for each of us in our lives. It is not too late to turn back before you get to the end of His mercy to get right if you are like that dog in Proverbs. Turn to God, repent, abide in Him and don’t turn your back on Him and He won’t turn His back on you, draw near Him and He will draw near you- amen!

“Who [is] a God like You, Pardoning iniquity And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights [in] mercy. 19He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:18-19NKJV).”

Bros who is a God that can pardon sins and pass over deliberate sins for a remnant of His heritage? "Who [is] like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who [is] like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders (Exodus 15:11 NKJV)?”

There is no other God but the God of the Bible, our Father in heaven who forgives our sins through the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior that shed His blood for the remission of sins on Calvary, died on the cross and rose again after three days to have victory over sin and death. No false gods ever died for us or our sins or require confession of sins and repentance because they are not able to forgive our sins or cleanse us from sin and they are not able to promise eternal life. Only the One who is the One true and living God can because He rose from the dead to defeat sin and death- no other false god can make that claim or has done what our Lord Jesus Christ said He would do before it happened, and He did do what He said He would do, He raised from the dead. He overcame death because He is God- the Creator of life and death.

As Micah continues with awe inspiring promises that the Lord will pardon their sins and renew them in agreement with His covenant. That He will not be angry forever because our God loves mercy, He enjoys and delights in mercy. He is a God of mercy and His loves endures forever. “6And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin… (Exodus 34:6-7 NKJV),"

Bros this part of the scripture struck me in Micah 7:19 “And will subdue our iniquities.” When you look at that word “subdue” and realize that God will take by force, bring under bondage, He will dominate their iniquities. Bros when we realize what is being said here if we are struggling in sin, if we are in bondage to anything in our life God will subdues our sins- He will annihilate our sins. He has power over our sins, no matter how much power they have over us- Gods power is greater, and he will subdue them and cast our sins into the deepest depths of the sea, to be remembered no more. Great to know that God will do this for us when we confess our sins and ask Him to take away whatever has power over us, whatever we might be in bondage to, when we realize we are powerless and He is all powerful over everything, including sin. His power is greater He is able to Subdue our sins- amen!

“As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show them wonders (Micah 7:15NKJV).”

Bros has God ever shown you wonders? Micah reminds them how merciful the Lord was with them in the past times and now even more so in this Final Promise of Salvation. God is unbelievable how He can & did bless them and do miraculous things in spite of their failings, their corruptness, their cruelty, their covetousness ways, and outright rebellious sinful ways against God the lover of their souls. In His mercy God will re-gather His remnant as He lets them know that when as in the days when they came out of Egypt-it will be like those times. God will show them great wonders; pardoning their iniquities and bringing His nation back anew according to His covenant with them. In Psalms 68 we read where “The Lord said, "I will bring back from Bashan, I will bring [them] back from the depths of the sea (Psalms 68:22 NKJV),”” And some of those wonders we read about in Psalms 78 12Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, [in] the field of Zoan.13He divided the sea and caused them to pass through; And He made the waters stand up like a heap.14In the daytime also He led them with the cloud, And all the night with a light of fire.15He split the rocks in the wilderness, And gave [them] drink in abundance like the depths.16He also brought streams out of the rock, And caused waters to run down like rivers (Psalms 78:12-16 NKJV).” Wow it is a wonder how God is so wonderful and awesome. He reminds us daily through so many things of His creation and great wonders and His great mercies that we see and experience everyday in our lives. Bros all you have to do is take a moment and see if you can see or think of any of His great miraculous wonders in your life, in your walk with Him… His wonders are everywhere we can fathom to look or everywhere we let our mind think- especially in our own lives we see the beauty and wonder of His grace…

“And He said: "Behold, I make a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you [are] shall see the work of the LORD. For it [is] an awesome thing that I will do with you (Exodus 34:10 NKJV).” One of the greatest wonders- His Covenant, His promise with His chosen people was one of the greatest wonders to me! He keeps His Word, His commitment, His agreement in spite of how sinful they had become and how far they had fallen away from Him- He kept His Word bros! He is faithful even when we are faithless; He never goes back on His promises. “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself (2 Timothy 2:13 NKJV).” Oh how we can all learn from the Lords faithfulness and mercies which are new everyday! He will never let you down or release His hold on you bro- God is our Daddy, His love for you and me cannot be fully measured or diminished ever, even when we fail, He loves us and is always ready to reconcile us to Himself, now that is just one of His awesome “WONDERS”- amen bro!

“Therefore I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me (Micah 7:7 NKJV).”

Bros Micah after reminding Israel and Judah that everyone was evil, corrupt, wicked, and could not be trusted that the only One to look to was the Lord, they should have not ever stopped looking to Him. He was their answer, turn to God and turn away from your sins, which the Lord will forgive and renew their nation according to His covenant- His Word. Micah was telling them of Gods promise of Final Salvation, there was still hope for them even in the midst of their sin God wanted them to turn back to Him to restore the remnant. He was willing to take them back no matter what if they would just turn back from their wicked sinful ways and look to Him instead of looking only for what they could get and take from others through deceitfulness, wickedness, and corruption. God’s faithfulness, Gods mercy, and Gods grace in spite of what they had become and with so many chances to repent. I am sure there have been times even we in our lives when we might have strayed, that we might have looked elsewhere for help first, then looked to the Lord. Sure we never meant to do that intentionally on purpose but it does seem to be that way sometimes when all else fails then we turn to God for help after the fact… But why is the Lord the last resource to go to for help, forgiveness of sin, and in prayer, and seeking His Word for wisdom and counsel? Bros that ought not to be… Lord help us to get our priorities in order if they are out of whack. We need Your help and Your perfect Will, You God are the only One we want to be seeking and looking to, for Your forgiveness of our sins, Your desired will for our lives, Your blessing in our lives, and provision for all our needs. “Behold, as the eyes of servants [look] to the hand of their masters, As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes [look] to the LORD our God, Until He has mercy on us (Psalms 123:2 NKJV).” After we Look to the Lord and call on Him we Wait on Him for His answer in His perfect timing, His direction, His leading and this is always the hardest thing for us to do. There are many instances of folks waiting on the Lord in the Bible and saying how long Lord??? But who else do we need to trust and wait on but our mighty and awesome God. He knows what is best in our situation and He knows the purpose for which he allowed our situation… and He knows and He is waiting for us to Look to Him, to return to Him if we have strayed to receive His forgiveness, mercy, and grace abundantly in our lives. We look to Lord and we wait on the Lord! “Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD (Psalms 27:14 NKJV)!” “But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew [their] strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:31 NKJV).” He will hear you! The Lord knows we have need and when we turn to Him, repent from our sins & obey Him and walk in obedience He hears our prayers. “I have called upon You, for You will hear me, O God; Incline Your ear to me, [and] hear my speech (Psalms 17:6 NKJV). “ …The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much (James 5:16 NKJV).” Bros Look to the Lord, Wait for God & and He will hear us- amen!

“Do not trust in a friend; Do not put your confidence in a companion; Guard the doors of your mouth From her who lies in your bosom. 6For son dishonors father, Daughter rises against her mother, Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; A man's enemies [are] the men of his own household. (Micah 7:5-6NKJV).”

Bros the folks of Israel and Judah that Micah was speaking of were so wicked, evil and caught up in sin that they could not even trust their friends; there were not any that were upright or trustworthy left. They could not rely on them because they had become so evil and corrupt. They had to watch every word they spoke even to those closest to their heart- lest even family members used their words against them in deceit… There was so much sin, pure evilness they could not trust their own families. This is what sin does, it separates from God, hardens the heart towards God and those family members closest to us, it destroys our walk, our witness, and also; our relationships with those close to us, with those we love, our families. This is often a tactic satan can and will use to take down a family. The enemy tries to take out the leader-us men, the husband, the dad, by lies, deceit and then the rest will most likely follow…Bros we are called to be the spiritual leaders of our homes, wife and children in the things of the Lord. If we are caught up in sin how can we lead them in the things of the Lord? If we don’t lead them who will…? The enemy is a deceiver and will take out the main tent post to bring down the entire whole tent to wreak his havoc and destruction. When the enemy takes you as far away from the Lord as possible through deceit. Jeremiah says in his lament for Judah“Your dwelling place [is] in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me," says the LORD (Jeremiah 9:6 NKJV).” When you are caught up in sin and living in the midst of sin it affects your whole family and can lead them away from the Lord. The enemy is a deceiver; “the more deception from the lies of the enemy” “the more there is a desire to refuse to acknowledge the Lord in our lives…”Put your trust, hope, and faith in the Lord He will never let you down and He will be with you always. “…teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, [even] to the end of the age. Amen (Matthew 28:20 NKJV).” Men ...It starts at home with us men- amen!

“The best of them [is] like a brier; The most upright [is sharper] than a thorn hedge; … (Micah 7:4NKJV).”

Bros imagine the evilness going on to cause Micah to describe the best of them as a brier and the most upright of those as sharper than a thorn hedge. They were sticklers for evil you couldn’t be around them without getting pricked by their schemes. It seems everyone is out for themselves to do evil, Micah even refers to princes asking for gifts and says the judge seeks a bribe “That they may successfully do evil with both hands--The prince asks [for gifts], The judge [seeks] a bribe, And the great [man] utters his evil desire; So they scheme together(Micah 7:3 NKJV).” How sinful they must have been to have Micah say this, their hearts must have become very evil for this type of sin to exist as a normal commonplace existence everyday. It was nothing for them all to be like this even the best of them- the most upright folks; those that were even in positions of higher accountability were so evil… Taking advantage for their own advancement, promoting themselves. There was none faithful among them all the first fruits were gone and this was what was left, those that were out for themselves. Lord please help us to check our motives, each one to look to You, and seek Your will for our lives that we would not be out for ourselves; that we would be set apart as you have called us to be, “But know that the LORD has set apart for Himself him who is godly; The LORD will hear when I call to Him (Psalm 4:3 NKJV).”, to be holy “Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I [am] the LORD your God (Leviticus 20:7 NKJV).”, that we would learn from what Micah is saying and apply it to our lives today and live for You Lord and bear fruit that honors You and not us, nor for our advancement or promotion in the eyes of others. Help us not to be a brier or even a thorn in someone’s side but to bear fruit for You and be the first fruit in Your hands Lord and the apple of Your eye- amen! “Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings (Psalm 17:8 NKJV),”

“Woe is me! For I am like those who gather summer fruits, Like those who glean vintage grapes; [There is no] cluster to eat Of the first-ripe fruit [which] my soul desires.2The faithful [man] has perished from the earth, And [there is] no one upright among men… (Micah 7:1-2NKJV).”

Bros it sure seems like Micah is speaking to our generation. Sure we have lots of folks filling the churches but where is the faithful man? We all can relate to this in one way or another as many of us are faithful in one thing or another. But are we truly a faithful man in the things of God; can we say one hundred percent across the board that we are faithful to our Lord??? Micah replies to the people of Israel and Judah in complete anguish after giving them Gods plea for them, he likens it to gathering summer fruit after the harvest- gleaning a few here and there. All of the choice fruit is gone there is none left, the large clusters or quantity is lacking or missing as his soul desires the sweetness of the first fruits- the best, the most powerful in taste & flavorful, the biggest, the sweetest are all gone picked over none are left. Like the vintage grapes that are not the choice fruit but the leftovers, likewise Micah address’s all that is left or that can be found among the people of Israel and likens it to that which was unpick-able, the stuff no one really wants but might be settling for: corruption, those looking only for themselves, seeking what they can get or take from their brothers or neighbors, taking bribes, the lies, the deceiving wicked scales, judges that judge for a bribe, priests that teach for pay and prophets that divine for money…And lean on the Lord and say is not the Lord among us? God desires the best fruit- the first fruit! We read back earlier in the book of Micah about this kind of man “Now hear this, You heads of the house of Jacob And rulers of the house of Israel, Who abhor justice And pervert all equity, 10Who build up Zion with bloodshed And Jerusalem with iniquity: 11Her heads judge for a bribe, Her priests teach for pay, And her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the LORD, and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No harm can come upon us (Micah 3:9-11 NKJV)." Bros what are we doing at church- filling the place, taking up space, sitting there like unpicked left over fruit? Are we even matured in the things of God to the sweetest, most favorable, most pick able, and most desirable first fruit for the Lord? Have we asked the Lord to grow us, teach us, mature us, pick us, and use us? Because we desire to be His first fruits and not someone who is just taking what he can get and looking out purely for ourselves…? And being vintage fruit that just sets on the vine in the back ground and never really has a purpose set for God’s direction or use or is used to their God given potential or are using the gifts He has given them or allows themselves to be used other than sitting on the vine…soaking up all the nutrients and nourishment from the vine, taking all you can get but never growing an allowing yourself to be used by God… I know Micah is referring those who were evil and corrupt men of Israel and most all of us are not that way but maybe we are complacent right now and for a long while and maybe this plea from Micah can and will spur each of us on to step up & out in boldness to seek God and serve God and not be satisfied sitting on the vine waiting to get picked but will step forth and ask God to equip them, train them and use them as His first fruits and step in into action-amen!

“He has shown you, O man, what [is] good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8 NKJV).”

Bros what can we give the Lord? Micah in the previous verse of this chapter lists many offerings that could be made to the Lord by Israelbut says will it be enough or with what shall I come before the Lord…? Burnt offerings, yearlings, thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil, give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul. And before this God pleads with Israeland asks what has He done to them, how has He wearied them? Testify against Me He says. He brought them up from the landof Egypt, redeemed them from bondage, and sent before them Moses, Aaron, & Miriam. And reminded them of the counsel that Balak king of Moabgave them and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him… You see God told Balaam you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed, God is reminding them of His blessings, mercy and faithfulness… That you may know the righteousness of the Lord. Israeldid not have a leg to stand on at this point, God had given them everything, and He sent Micah to deliver a harsh verdict, an unanswerable announcement against the princes and the people of Jerusalem. Some of the causes for judgment are premeditated schemes, covetousness, and cruelty. But they blew off Gods grace and continued in wickedness… Bros you see God told them “what to do” always so simple if we listen to God and just turn to Him or turn back to Him. “He has shown you, O man, what [is] good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8 NKJV).”

Here is what is good, this is what to do”And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul (Deuteronomy 10:12 NKJV),.” And what does the Lord require? What to do… “But to do justly”  “For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him (Genesis 18:19 NKJV)."

Bros all we ever need to do is what God wants us to do, so simple…, yet we make it so hard, learn what to do- that is what He wants you to do-amen!

“And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day's walk. Then he cried out and said, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown (Jonah 3:4NKJV)!”

Bros after Jonah finally obeyed God on the second call and delivered a one sentence sermon-  "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown” then the next verse says “So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them (Jonah 3:5 NKJV).” Amazing how that one sentence God used Jonah to speak was so powerful, so moving in folks lives, it had an amazing life saving impact and results on the folks of Nineveh, eight words of God it took to turn a town around to God,  it was the most responsive evangelistic effort in history and if we look at verse eleven in Chapter four of Jonah God tells Jonah “there were over one hundred twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left”… so with that said we know there were well over that amount saved. Has God ever put a verse on your heart to share with someone and maybe you might think no way that verse is not powerful enough or does not fit their situation to have an impact in their life. Bros we never know what God will do when we speak His written Word to someone. In my personal life- God used a Christian next door neighbor to tell me “you reap what you sow”… “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap (Galatians 6:7NKJV).” Bros for two years those words kept me from sleeping until my heart was so convicted I gave in to the Lord, I fought Him hook and nail but His word was too powerful for me and I gave up and surrendered to Him because He is God and because of His great love for me and I received the Greatest gift to all mankind Jesus Christ Lord and Savior of all- amen!