THANKFUL

Chatting with Jesus

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Lord, You have never remained a stranger but have always communicated with people in various ways. Jesus, before You came to us, You often spoke to Old Testament people using Your audible voice. Today, You speak to our inner man via the Holy Spirit.  You also speak to us, sometime loudly, other times softly, through Your Word—the Bible. Some describe the Bible as the only book that reads back to us.

The prophet Micah prophesied to Your rebellious people, Israel, that unless they repented from doing evil and returned to You, You were left with no other choice than to remove Your blessings and allow Israel to be taken captive by a cruel enemy. Micah pleaded Your message with these stubborn people:

“Will the Lord’s Spirit have patience with such [evil] behavior? If you would [repent] do what is right, you would find my words [not condemning] comforting,”—Micah 2:7 (NLT). [emphasis added]

Israel rejected You as unnecessary. They foolishly thought they could live “godly” without You, Lord. They ignored Your repeated warnings, thinking they were too big to fail. Finally, with their conscience seared, their enemy destroyed their land, slaughtered thousands, and carried off the remnants into exile to a hostile country.

Lord, obviously, today, You are speaking to us today, through Your Word and through our inner man, warning us about our rebellious and evil ways. We have trespassed against You, ignoring Your principles, thinking we are too big to fail.  Forgive us, Lord. We need a spiritual renewal. Help us turn this ship around, repent individually, and as a people, and return to You. Otherwise, we are so sunk. Have mercy on us, oh, Lord. Amen.