Micah 6:8

He has shown you, O man, what is good. Or what does the Lord seek from you but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to be ready to walk with the Lord your God?

Personal Challenge

Through the history of man, God has shown us what is good in His sight. There is no reason for surprise. He has told us that to be in a relationship with Him, to become His children, we are to go through our lives doing three things. Do justly, or strive for righteousness in the eyes of God. Love mercy, or exhibit steadfast love for God and our neighbors in all that we do. To be ready to walk with the Lord our God, or humble ourselves before our God and our fellow human being. This is what He wants from us. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

1 Corinthians 1:10

Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

Personal Challenge

Paul challenges the church in Corinth to live in unity and to avoid divisions, splits, and arguments. Jesus prayed for this as well. We have become so familiar with thousands of denominations, all based on divisions and arguments, that we hear this challenge and ignore it. We cannot succumb to this behavior and be either a source of or participants in disunity. This is where the personal challenge is. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Amos 5:14

Seek good and not evil so that you may live, so that the Lord God Almighty will be with you.

Personal Challenge

God is all good! There is no evil in Him! So, how can we live a life that is evil and expect to know God? We can’t! We must also remember that living a life that is evil does not just mean that we are doing horrible things like killing people or robbing banks or anything else on a grand scale. Evil comes in many forms, so many of which are just ignored. Do we spurn the down-and-out acting as if they do not exist? Do we harbor anger or hatred against any fellow human being? Do we push others out of our way, even mentally, so that we can get ahead of them? Do we talk badly about others or put them down sarcastically? Do we have other god’s in our lives that take precedence over the one true God? Seeking good requires us to strive to eliminate these and every other form of evil in our lives. The result is truly living a life that is good and filled with the presence of the almighty God! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy, on me the sinner!

Romans 15:13

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Encouraging Words

Paul’s parting words to the Romans, as was Jesus’ parting prayer for His current at future followers, was that we might be filled with the joy, peace, and hope that can only come from God. As followers of Jesus Christ, the more we believe in Him, who He is, and what He has done for us, the more joy and peace God will fill us with. That joy and peace provide us with more hope in our Lord and through the power of the Holy Spirit, our belief gets stronger and deeper. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner and help me to let go of any disbelief.

Hosea 13:14

“I will deliver them out of the hand of Hades
And will redeem them from death.
Where is your penalty, O death?
O Hades, where is your sting?
Pity is hidden from My eyes.”

Encouraging Words

When Adam sinned, death entered into the world. Death was instituted so that mankind would not live eternally in the struggle with sin. When the second Adam, Jesus Christ, gave up His life on the cross, He entered into hell and fulfilled this prophecy. He put to death, death itself and freed all of those, past, present, and future, from the bondage of death. Death no longer has a hold on us for we are in God’s hands. Glory be to God!

Romans 15:4

For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

Encouraging Words

God has been taking care of His children since the beginning of time. Part of that care is the living and dynamic Scriptures that He has provided to us for guidance and comfort. Through these Scriptures we can learn His laws and precepts, we can observe those who have gone before us and learn from them, and we can know that God loves us and that we can put our hope in Him. Glory be to God!

Romans 15:1-3

We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.”

Personal Challenge

Christ gave us only two commandments to live by if we are to claim to be His followers. They are to love our God and to love our neighbor. Everything that we can do in our lives to glorify God falls into these two actions. Paul reminds us of this when he instructs the Christians of Rome to be strong for those around them who are weak and to bear with their weaknesses. This bearing is not just putting up with them, but lifting them up in their weaknesses and helping them to be stronger. This is what Jesus did for us when He died on the cross so that He could bear our sins for us. Clear commands and expectations, but a lifetime of struggle and humbling to live them out. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Romans 14:19

Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.

Personal Challenge

One mistake that we, the modern Christian, often make is to fall into the mindset that now that we are a Christian, God will do everything for us. This is not the truth. God calls us to be active in our own sanctification and to be a facilitator of sanctification in the lives of others. One area of this is peace and edification in our lives and the lives of those around us. We are charged here, by Paul, to pursue the things which make for peace and for the edification of one another. We cannot be idle in these things. We must be active and aggressive in the pursuit of peace as we love one another. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!