Tag Archives: change

Follow Three Simple Rules and Change the World

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There is a tremendous amount of conflict in this world today about almost everything, it seems. With any issue that is reported, the are three or four sides, whether left/right/center, or liberal/progressive/moderate/conservative. People who have been marginalized want their voices to be heard. Our society is fragmented and divided. That division hinders any possibility for meaningful change. If only we had some universal rules and guidelines! Then, we could all apply them and find peace instead of conflict.

What Kind of World Do We Live In? What Kind of World Do We Want?

Micah lived in a similar climate, full of corruption and division. His ministry took place in the Southern Kingdom under Ahaziah, one of the corrupt kings of Judah, and Hezekiah, who initiated some reforms. But Micah’s prophecy was directed primarily against Israel (the Northern Kingdom). They were enjoying a brief interlude of prosperity before the Assyrians came in to destroy, despoil, and deport, so it makes sense that Micah’s preaching was not well received. The average person didn’t see it coming, but Micah predicted doom and gloom. In the midst of his harsh revelation from God’s spirit he also offered some advice:

“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) In the midst of his lament about the judgment of Israel, Micah provides three simple rules about how to live.

He has prophesied against Israel’s corrupt rulers and priests, and he has listed their transgressions. Israel’s leaders were scheming manipulators bent on oppressing their own people. (Wow, things don’t change much in government over the years, do they?)The priests abandoned true worship and were participating in pagan idolatry. Israel’s culture was corrupt and materialistic (sound familiar?). Because they were enjoying a brief time of financial prosperity, people lived with a false sense of security about their future. Wealth will do that to you…

Three Simple Rules

Micah predicts a time of Messianic restoration, but warns first of Israel’s fall, the deportation of its people, and the devastation of their way of life. How to avoid such a fate? Micah said it was possible, and offered three ways to avoid judgment and live:

1) Do justly. The Bible is full of warnings to those who abuse their power or oppress the downtrodden. Anyone who marginalizes, ignores, or ridicules others for being different must be reading a different Bible than the one I read. God’s character demands fairness, so treat others with love and respect. Our daily news is still filled with examples of injustice, and while it is an easy thing to say, eliminating injustice is a very hard thing for a society to DO. But as the slogan says, just do it.

2) Love mercy. Do you? Do you, really?? This means desiring mercy not just for ourselves, but for everybody else as well. This means not just requesting mercy, but dispensing it. Can you be merciful to those with whom you disagree, to those who are selfish and wrong, to those who don’t deserve it? God can—after all, He’s been merciful to me. He’s been merciful to you.

If God only dispensed mercy to perfect people, none of us would get ANY. What if ALL of us Christians gave mercy the way it has been extended to us? Would the world be a different kind of place if EVERYONE loved mercy? If you love someone or something, you will make it a priority. You will put it ahead of your own interests. Maybe we could all extoll and extend mercy today. Oh yeah, and every day.

The Rule that Rankles Most, Perhaps

3) Walk humbly with your God. Wow, this one actually covers a lot of ground, because I think we are prideful in so many subtle ways that we don’t even realize all of them. I’m so sure of that I’ll say it: right now, sitting there reading this, you have pride issues in your life. Yes, you do! (And so do I) Suffice it to say that we are not naturally humble, and we pretty much operate from a “me-first” point of view.

If you took inventory of things in your life that make you proud, or things that make you satisfied, how many of those things are self-centered? Do you love your stuff? Are you proud of being humble? At family gatherings, do you serve, or help wash the dishes?

Walking humbly with God would require first that we actually WALK with God, spending time with Him daily, moving at His pace, staying connected with Him much like Enoch did. And being humble requires that we remember who God is, and who we are: Who God is. Who you are. Take a moment to think about that, and start the day with three simple things. Be just. Love mercy. Be humble. I think we could agree that if everybody did that today it would change the world; but here’s the real point: if YOU do it, it might just change yours.

Change the World, Three Things at a Time

Three things that God requires of man, three very simple rules
To help the leaders and the priests all keep from being fools:
Do justly. Offer justice every single time you can;
Love mercy. Always be forgiving with your fellow-man.
Walk humbly with your God! O man, His perfect love inspires
Your grateful heart to give him everything that He requires.

To buy my latest book, Walking Through the Bible: Daily Devotionals From Every Book, go to https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HH1T72PB?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

For Real People, Real Christmas: Thirty-one Days Discovering the Hidden Treasures of the Christmas Story, go here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1729034918/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
For Slaying Giants: Thirty Days with David, go here: https://www.amazon.com/Slaying-Giants-Thirty-Devotions-Ordinary/dp/172568327X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1535814431&sr=8-1&keywords=Slaying+Giants%3A+Thirty+Days+With+David
To buy my book, Beggar’s Bread, go here: https://www.amazon.com/Beggars-Bread-Devotions-Ordinary-Guy/dp/1535457392/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473336800&sr=8-1&keywords=Beggar%27s+Bread
For the Kindle Edition, go here: https://www.amazon.com/Beggars-Bread-Bo-Jackson-ebook/dp/B01K5Z0NLA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1473336800&sr=8-2&keywords=Beggar%27s+Bread

The World Changes Fast, But Consider This: Grace Doesn’t

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As we cruise into the Christmas season, stop and think for a moment about all the changes you’ve seen over the last several Christmases… From a post pandemic environment, we have moved on to natural disasters, wars, and terrorist attacks. Twitter changed to X, and bitcoin was in, then out, and now in again. Trump was in, then out, and now in again. AI is just coming on board, but we know it does things faster (and phonier). Woke was in, now maybe not so much? Today’s version of the “Roaring Twenties” seems to have escalated what was already a dizzying rate change into supersonic speed. If you back up and take an even longer view of the changes that have happened in the last forty years, just remember when the world had no cell phones or personal computers. Everything changes so rapidly it is hard to keep up!

Well, the Bible has a take on change: “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.” (Isaiah 54:10, NIV)

You Think it’s Fast Now, Just Wait…

The world is changing all around us at a pace unequalled in human history. Each generation likes to talk about “the good old days”, when things were simpler and life was less stressful and less complex. But no generation has ever witnessed the changes and the rate of change that we have experienced over the last 50 years. That rate shows no sign of slowing down, either: if anything, it seems to be accelerating.

Via streaming, podcasts, social and commercial media, our flow of information has accelerated exponentially, and you are exposed to more messages (both good and bad, true and false) in a WEEK than the average person 50 years ago received in a lifetime. Today there is an average of 416 billion Google searches every month. In 2006, there were only 2.7 billion. In 1992 there were a million internet devices. Today there are more than EIGHTEEN billion (and growing). To put it in Isaiah’s words, changes are “shaking the mountains”.

More Than the Amount That You Can Count

Opinions, discoveries, and facts are flying at us at a rate faster than we have the ability to process. The amount of new technical data is said to be doubling every two years, which means that a 4-year technical college student will find that what she learned her freshman year is out of date by the time she is a junior. The amount of new information generated in 2015 alone (and this is ancient history by now) surpassed the total amount of annual new information generated (combined) over the last FIVE THOUSAND years. Paul Simon’s song, The Boy in the Bubble ( Paul Simon – The Boy In The Bubble Lyrics | AZLyrics.com) describes these days as “miracle and wonders”, while at the same time observing that there is much that’s broken in this world…

Change for the Better?

We are a generation immersed in changes, forced to do things in new ways while leaving traditional values behind. Between ten and FIFTY percent of couples in America today met on the internet. Gender is now considered a choice (or not? I can’t keep up). The average employee will have held 10 jobs by the time they are 38. Our world has been shaken by continuous, rapid change. Social gatherings consist of people getting together to sit separately and look at their phones. Electronic connection has overtaken the personal touch in our world, and it makes you wonder if the best things in life are still free.

The Comfort of Constancy

Isaiah says that there is a constant in the midst of a changing world. “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed.” Love and peace are still the two things everybody wants, and the two things sometimes hardest to find. Psalm 136:1 says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.” While the mountains are shaken and the hills are removed, God’s unfailing love surrounds and supports us. “The Lord”, Isaiah says, “has compassion on you.” As John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosever believes on him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” God’s love offers us peace in the midst of turmoil and consistency in the midst of change.

Today’s message is simple and it is clear: The world changes. Grace doesn’t.

Unchanging

In cities, or on the open range
The only constant thing is change.
People, Data, growth, disaster
Fly around us ever faster,
Causing things to rearrange:
But don’t worry, that will change.
You can’t run, and you can’t hide,
No matter what you’ve done, or tried
The changes come at us so fast
It seems like nothing good will last!
Blast these changes! So infernal,
Is there nothing that’s eternal?
In a world of speed and sham,
There’s always him: the Great I AM.
Change will fly through time and space,
Moving at a faster pace,
And mountain tops will be replaced,
But this abides: Amazing Grace.

To buy my latest book, Real People, Real Christmas: Thirty-one Days Discovering the Hidden Treasures of the Christmas Story, go here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1729034918/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
For Slaying Giants: Thirty Days with David, go here: https://www.amazon.com/Slaying-Giants-Thirty-Devotions-Ordinary/dp/172568327X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1535814431&sr=8-1&keywords=Slaying+Giants%3A+Thirty+Days+With+David
To buy my book, Beggar’s Bread, go here: https://www.amazon.com/Beggars-Bread-Devotions-Ordinary-Guy/dp/1535457392/ref=sr_1_1?ie=