Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #143

Mountain of the Lord

Micah 4

I pray blessings on you as you read.

(v. 1-2) "In the last days the mountain of the LORD's house will be established as the highest of the mountains and raised above the hills. People will stream to it. Then many nations will come and say, 'Let's go to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways so that we may live by them.' The teachings will go out from Zion. The word of the LORD will go out from Jerusalem."

My Thoughts

I am going to be honest that I don't fully understand what the mountain of the LORD is all about. The start of Micah 4 says "In the last days..." so I am pretty sure that that is referring to after the rapture and the seven year tribulation takes place. Micah 4 doesn't say much specifically about the mountain, besides that it will be established and people will stream to it to learn His ways so they can live by them.

So I think that this chapter is more of a picture of the way things will be after those times. It tells of the kind of peace there will be. That weapons will be made into tools and that no one will train for war anymore, nor will there be any battles or conflict.

Okay, so if I titled this according to the mountain of the LORD, that's what I should be talking about, right? Well, it still is. God is peaceful and loving, so those are (some of) His ways. Which is said in Micah 4 that people will learn about. That's why weapons will be made into tools, because weapons are not used for anything but fighting.

Now, my question is this: why do we have to wait for all of this to take place before we start being peaceful? The answer is that we don't. When this all takes place, that will happen, because God has said so. Until then, small steps can be taken in smaller and even larger places to make peace. That's something that can be accomplished by individuals making a choice to be at peace with others.

Prayer Time

Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.

Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!

Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #132

Leadership

Micah 3

I pray blessings on you as you read.

(v. 1) "Then I said: Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the nation of Israel. You should know justice." (v. 9) "Listen to this, you leaders of the descendants of Jacob, you rulers of the nation of Israel. You despise justice and pervert everything that is right."

My Thoughts

The leaders, priests and prophets of Micah's day were not doing their jobs right. They were selfish and far from God and they were leading the people astray from God as well. They cared more about money and about themselves than doing what was right. These kinds of leaders are awful and do not deserve to be in that kind of position.

Leadership is a tough thing and requires actual effort. When people rely on you as a leader, you need to be sure that you are a good leader to them. If you are oppressive, those who follow you will either do the same, or they will come to resent you. That's really not the kind of thing you want, is it?

Being a leader is a huge responsibility, which is something I talked about a long time ago in post #17. Sometimes God puts in such positions, to be a leader of some sort. That's great! Since God put you there, it would be wise to talk to Him often about it all and ask Him for guidance. This is why the church, or at least the church I go to, I can't really speak for churches I know nothing about, prays often for our government and the leaders there.

Are you in some kind of leadership role somewhere? Even if you're 'just' a babysitter, that's still an important role. If you have any kind of leadership at all, make sure that you are leading those who are under you in the best way. Talk to God often and ask Him for guidance and wisdom. Involve those you lead as well, so that you make them a part of leading whatever the group is about. I think it's pretty awesome when a leader involves their followers in how things are led. That's what Jesus does with us through prayer, and it is amazing!

Prayer Time

Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.

Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!

Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #120

A Small Picture

Micah 7

I pray blessings on you as you read.

(v. 7) "But as for me, I watch in hope for he Lord, I wait for God my savior; my God will hear me." (v. 18-19) "Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea."

My Thoughts

Micah 7 gives us a small picture of who God is. He describes God just a little bit, especially in verses 18 and 19. When you get just a small bit of something, you usually want more, if it's good of course! Like when you taste the frosting on a cake, or when you have one freshly baked cookie. You want more of it after, right? That should be the same with God, when we get just a small amount of Him in our lives.

If you want to know God more and hear God more, you have to read His Word and pray to Him. Yeah, there are going to be things in the Bible that are really hard to understand. Look at me, I've said that with a few different posts of mine. I still have a post on Ezekiel 5 there that doesn't have anything to go with it because I couldn't understand it. I asked you guys for help with that and to tell me what you think Ezekiel 5 means. If you would like to do that, you can click here to go to that post.

Those parts in the Bible where you find it hard to understand? Don't worry about it. Maybe it's not important for you to know at the time. God may reveal it to you at a later time. You may know more about what it means when a pastor or a friend or even a complete stranger gives you their thoughts on it. Sometimes God uses others to help us, or us to help others, for a variety of things and reasons.

As you read your Bible more, God will speak to you from it's words. A lot of the verses that stand out to us do so because they mean something to us personally. God knows that, and that's why He speaks to us through them. Those verses are like a small picture of your own life. Maybe it's something very good. Maybe it's something that you need to work on.

Just keep reading your Bible. Keep praying and talking to God. Get to know more who God is and what He wants for you. God does hear you when you call.

Prayer Time

Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.

Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!

Daily Bible Reading with DragoNate #116

Expectations

Micah 6

I pray blessings on you as you read.

(v. 8) "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

My Thoughts

Expectations are a fact of life. In school, you're expected show up on time, follow all the rules and to do all your work, and do it well. At work, you're expected to be on time and do your job, also well. At home, you may or may not have chores that you are expected to do, and also rules to follow. Go to bed on time, be respectful to your siblings, not go over your time limit with the phone or computer or TV or games.

Everywhere you go, there are expectations put on you, whether by authority or society. Sometimes it's just too much! I mean, we are expected to be one thing, whether or not that is really, fully or only what we want to be. It's like the world has a box with a label on it for us and we're supposed to fit inside that box, no matter what. We're supposed to fit and belong there because of the label. If you don't, it's a problem. And everyone's out there walking around in boxes with labels on them. God expects small things from us that make a huge difference.

Of course, probably the biggest thing is that God expects us to follow His commands. Those aren't really difficult to follow because they take effort not to. Anything worth doing also takes effort, but at that point, it's an effortless effort. Make sense? I hope so. Anyway, Micah also tells us what God requires or expects of us.

     To act justly. To do good things and to be just and fair, like a judge would, or at least should. Not doing what is wrong.

     To love mercy. To be merciful toward others and forgiving. To hold a grudge and not be forgiving takes a huge amount of effort and causes massive stress eventually. You'll be hurting yourself more in the long run.

     To walk humbly with your God. It doesn't take any effort really, to talk talk to God. This is that effortless effort I was talking about. What I mean by that, specifically in this case, is that we do have to make an effort to actually talk to God, yes, but it does not take a toll on us. Rather, talking with God actually replenishes us.

If we do something in God, through God and/or for God, God will keep us going. Physically and mentally, we will still have to rest, but spiritually God will recharge us constantly the more we talk to Him. Doing God's work won't cause us stress or make us weary like a job sometimes can. Even if we need to take a break to spend time with God, one on one.

Focus on God and follow His ways and you will live up to who God expects you to be. As for everyone else's expectations, follow what needs to be followed, like the law, do what needs to be done, like your work, and the rest doesn't matter. The rest is all limitations that try to confine you to one thing. Know who you are and be that person.

Prayer Time

Now you talk to God about what you read, and you can even read this chapter of the Bible for yourself before you do.

Let me know your thoughts on this reading as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read, I pray that what you have read blesses and inspires you! Godbless!