Walk humbly with your God.

Humility comes with walking hand in hand with God. It is humbling to be correctly related to God. It is when we rely on the self-righteousness of our beliefs and works that we exalt ourselves above the Holy.

Our conceit and rebellion cannot be redeemed with our sacrifice.

Micah 6:6,7 With what shall I come before the LORD
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?

Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

Especially contrasted with the awesome power of God to deliver the people from Egypt. The Holy God acts ferociously in his mercy. In addition to his holy transcendence, this also shows his grace. He wants to lead us out of captivity. He wants to walk with us! It is possible to be Holy as He is, if we walk humbly with him.

Do I love Justice? Do I love mercy? My self-exulted heart cannot, it is hard and blind. When I revel instead in the light of his Glory and Grace, my heart melts. The things God requires are internal, heart maters. O Lord! Tear through the shield I have put around my heart and humble me! Batter My Heart Three Personed God!

Cliff said that the gospel is there, it is wonderful knowing exactly what God requires.

Tribulation

MT 5:3

"Blessed are the poor in spirit… those who mourn… the meek… those who hunger
and thirst for righteousness… the merciful… the pure in heart… the peacemakers…
those who are persecuted because of righteousness. Blessed are you when
people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you
because of me.”

Imagine those words coming from Jesus who with heart heavy sees the persecution of the future church.
“Honored are those who go through the fire to come.”

Ray said today that it took him forty years to realize this truth unifying the beatitudes.As I meditate on this, tears come to my eyes, how bout you?

Righteousness, Mercy, and Humility (Epiphany A4)

You mortals, the LORD has told you what is good. This is what the LORD requires from you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to live humbly with your God*

These statements are radical to us. As a whole the statements of Micah, the ethics of the psalmist and the blessings of Jesus are all counter intuitive. Righteousness is foreign. Our sinful nature cannot really accept perfection as a real possibility. Human wisdom while searching for Good still cautions, "Nice guys finish last."

But Jesus at the end of the chapter sums it up: "Be holy as your father in heaven is holy."

Righteousness and holiness are the order of the day.

Paul brings two important truths into focus: this is not the wisdom of the world, nor is it the work of man that any should boast.

It is our weakness and destitution that reveal the glory of Christ in perfection.

Righteousness. Mercy. Humility. They stand as a quaint hermitage in our lives. Do we really believe them attainable? Put together they go beyond the list of external don'ts common to my holiness roots. This is a tender and merciful and heart perfected through discipline and most of all grace.

Lord break me open and let your grace make a perfect heart, humble and compassionate.