Like Jonah, Micah knows from whence salvation comes, “I will
look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.” He is confident like Job that God will come,
there will be a redeemer, He hears and responds. Unlike Jonah, Micah knows why he is in this
situation, “I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned
against him..” He knows, however, the
Lord is gracious and merciful and that this sin will not be held against the
nation, the Lord will execute justice for His repentant people. He sees from afar that the situation will be
redeemed and restored, God’s judgment will come against those who persecute the
nation, those who sin against the Lord. He
may use them as instruments of judgment in the short term but His purpose is
good, it is to bring His people to repentance that He might be gracious and
forgiving and show them mercy.
Jesus says that the key to life is to abide in Him as He
abides in the Father. How does He abide,
“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my
Father's commandments and abide in his love.”
Abiding is an active life of love for God and others. Love is extending and sacrificing yourself on
behalf of the kingdom to others created in the image of God. We love God and show our love for Him in part
by loving others. Worship is central to
abiding, private and corporate worship are important parts of this process of abiding
in Him. Abiding is for our safety and
salvation but it is also that we bear fruit.
Those who are in Him are pruned to bear more fruit, those who do not
abide are thrown onto the fire and burned.
Abiding is for those who know that the Lord is their salvation, their
refuge and their hope.
The man just wanted alms from those who were coming to
worship. Peter and John were going up to
the temple to worship the Lord. The meeting
of these men became an extraordinary thing.
The man expected to receive money but Peter knew that God was going to
do so much more and the result was glorious, a man, lame from birth, who had
been carried to this place, fully restored, walking and leaping and praising
God. Grace would have been giving alms,
mercy is healing. It was all a witness
to the Holy Spirit working in and through these men who had been with Jesus,
doing the same things He did by the same Spirit. They were going to worship the Lord and He
gave them an opportunity to work with Him in loving others to bring glory to
Himself. How many opportunities do we
miss when we fail to abide?
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