25/11/2015 - Draw near to God

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He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?  Micah 6.8

The Bible teaches us that to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with the Lord is the summary of what God requires of men. Maybe, however, because it is so easy to meet what the Most High requires, many will not do it, and will not enjoy His presence. Those who pay attention to what is required of them, and work to walk in it, know how rewarding it is to heed the Creator. To obey is always better than sacrifice (1Samuel 15.22).

To do justly is to do the same Jesus did. It is to take God’s Word seriously and fight to see it fulfilled in your life and in other people’s lives. Now, just as the enemy tempts us at every waking moment, we also must fight him back whenever he comes towards us with his filth. After all, everything he has to offer us is part of his plan to drag us far from God’s protection, so that he can trap us.

The sons of the Most High must be fond of the art of doing justly, because it gives us a joy that will always bring a smile to our face. It is very rewarding to see a person understand the will of the Father, see that life being changed and, soon begin to minister to others. Those who do good are gathering beautiful rewards as treasures for the future. The Lord surely rewards all those who know how to use their faith in Christ.

To walk humbly in His presence is all the father wants to see in the behavior of those who do good. However, those who allow vanity, pride or arrogance to take over their lives will suffer in the hands of the powers of darkness. It is impossible for a person who belongs to God to allow arrogance or any other evil deed to inhabit his or her heart. One of the indicators that we belong to the Creator is that we have a spirit that yields to the Word.

As you can see, what God requires of us is not difficult, but simple to do. The three requisites described in the verse we are studying are paramount for a Christian to be free from the influence of the enemy. Every Christian should do a self-evaluation and, if there is something bad surrounding them and their decisions, they need to go in prayer to be delivered from it. However, if a believer will walk according to what is being taught, he or she will be free from the influence of the enemy.

Work diligently to follow God’s direction; when you do so, you will please him and will have the pleasure of the Lord at work in your life (Isaiah 53.10c). When you do these three acts of love, you will feel great joy inside of you, such joy that will have influence even over your physical life. Those who have the love of the Father reigning in their hearts will never be alone in their battle against the forces of darkness, because they are true servants of divine justice.

Do not try to create something to please the Lord or fail to do what He requires of you; otherwise you will work in vain. If anything else was required of us it would surely have been written in Scripture. Besides that, these three guidelines fully meet all the requirements God expects us to do for His glory.

In Christ, with love,

Dr. Soares