Discovering the Bible – Page 3

Micah 6:1-8 💛 Be Courageous

people kneeling at the cross in repentance with a sunset behind them

You will recall, Micah was used by God to warn the people about the coming judgment and the pardon available to all who repented. In today’s sermon at church, the pastor used a word in Spanish (arrepentimiento.) I hadn’t heard before. I thought it must be “repent,” and according to google translate it is “repentance!” The message was very timely for our theme of “Living as God Desires.”

Micah would have been a contemporary with Isaiah and Hosea, other men used by God to help the people see the errors of their ways. People might wonder if we have prophets today, walking around like these brave men, giving us some clarity. Whether we do or not, I believe these timeless Bible truths ring out to us as well!

Amos 5:21-24 💗 Don’t Miss What’s Important

Read Amos 5:21-24

blue circle with a white dove sitting on a white judges gavel

Amos’ words to the people came after he had called them to repent. God had given Amos a vision of what was going to happen to the nation of Israel. This section is warning them of the coming judgment. Now, it speaks wisdom to us to as our new theme is “Living as God Desires.”

What speaks to you in today’s reading? While we’re not using burnt offerings and sacrifices much these days, there are plenty of examples of putting on a show with our worship. Anything from fog machines to high church ritualistic dirges can cloud our true allegiance.

Psalm 15:1-5 💜 Am I Good Enough?

Read Psalm 15:1-5

How does God desire us to live? That’s the theme we’re investigating now. It seems our psalmist is asking the question, “who is good enough to worship God?” In other words, he’s asking God to set some standards or expectations.

God calls his people to be obedient. When we accept Jesus into our lives, we can’t help but be transformed. When the Spirit is alive and well inside us, we will crave to please God. These verses give us a glimpse into sinful behaviors we should be aware of.

Exodus 19-20 💚 God’s Top Ten

Read Exodus 19-20

The Ten Commandments with bibles on a black background

Did you already guess our new theme? This week we’ll focus on “Living as God Desires.” How fitting that we would begin with the 10 commandments. We can really sum all of these up into two: Love God and Love Each Other. But there is so much richness in this passage I hope we don’t miss.

God appears as unapproachable, and the people were afraid. And yet, God makes himself available for the purpose of showing his love by setting some safe boundaries for his children. Many people today want to compartmentalize God and say he was a mean God in the Old Testament and a loving God in the New Testament. He’s the same God.

Philippians 4:4-7 💙 Don’t Worry, Pray!

Read Philippians 4:4-7

white coffee mug with the words: worry less, live more

Where do you look when you need a little encouragement? This portion of Paul’s letter to the Philippians gives them exactly that so they don’t lose heart. It takes work to be positive amidst struggle, ridicule, and, for the Philippian church, to be new Christians living among Jews who thought they were crazy.

We may take some of the same kind of heat for our own faith. I think that’s why we often keep our mouths shut when the opposite is more appropriate for the situation. We worry about what people will think of us. We worry we won’t have the right words to say. We certainly don’t want to ever do anything to bring shame to Jesus with our blunders.