God of Justice

Micah 6:6-8
With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
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.

I just can't seem to get these words out of my head. To act justly. To love mercy. To walk humbly with your God. They seem so simple. Yet, when I truly look at them, I am humbled because I know that these three things summarize all that I am to do in my walk with Jesus.

Every year for a week during the summer we get as many of our 7th-12th graders to help out with an event we have dubbed "Teen Arts Project." They prepare all week long and then lead the weekend services. Each year we use this event to teach the kids that worship is more than just singing on a Sunday morning or playing an instrument in a praise band. We do our best to teach these students that worship is a lifestyle. Worship is forever.

This year our theme is "God of Justice" based off the verse above but also from the lyrics to a song with the same title. Our goal this year to is to help the students see that God does not want their goats; He does not want their firstborn; He wants them. And He wants them to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with Him.

What does that even mean, though? How can you teach someone something like that? How can you teach them to act justly or to love mercy or walk humbly? The only answer I can come up with is to teach them about the One with whom they are to walk. For He is the ultimate example of justice, mercy and humility.

So, God, I pray that you will fill us up and send us out so that we may go and live to feed the hungry and stand beside the broken. I pray that you will keep us from just singing words on a screen but instead, Father, I pray that you will move us into action. God, reveal yourself to us as leaders and as students, so that as we stand on stage and proclaim who You are, those in the seats will be moved into action as well. Fill us up and send us out, Lord.

I Really Want a Polk-A-Dot Umbrella

So, have you ever had those moments when you know that you have to make a decision, but no matter which option you look at you can see yourself doing it?

I always thought that God's will was like a path. There was one way to walk down that path with little side roads that looked appealing but were really just distractions away from the original path. However, when I was in college, I had a professor who explained it like it was more like an umbrella. Apparently, in this analogy, we all have an umbrella that represents all the things that we know are Truths from the Word. And all we have to do is walk under that umbrella.

For some reason, this does not make me feel better. I know that I should be relieved that there is no ONE thing for me to do in life. I know that I should be glad that I can do just about anything as long as I am following God's precepts, and He will bless it.

So if this is true, this means that we all have the same umbrella. I mean, I can understand that we all have our gifts and talents that lend us more toward one thing than another, but underneath, or in this case, overhead, we all have the same umbrella.

I guess something in me just wanted a special umbrella. The rule follower in me wants an umbrella that is just for me. I know that having an umbrella like everyone else's means that I have the freedom to do anything anywhere anytime. But I want to be able to pray and hear AN answer, not just any answer. I want to be able to talk to my friends and close council and receive council that will lead me to that same answer.

I just really want a polk-a-dot umbrella.

Jonah and me, we both agree....sort of

So before all of you grammar people start freaking out, yes I do know that the verbage should be "Jonah and I, we both agree," or perhaps "Jonah and I agree." But let's be honest, my way is catchier, and it rhymes!! :)

Anyway, so today in our staff meeting David gave a devo about the story of Jonah. He talked about how Jonah had such a bad attitude with what God was asking him to do. This is what I remember from the devo...of course these are my words, not David's! Jonah got frustrated when the people repented. He got even more frustrated when God had compassion on them. He became indignant and decided to pout out in the desert. Then when God was kind enough to give him some shade, he started to perk up. But God sent a worm to eat the the perty plant, and it withered and died, which merely caused Jonah to throw a hissy fit about how God took away his blankie. "It's hot, God! It's sunny, God! I just wanna die, God!" Waa, waa, waa.

God asks Jonah something very important that struck me today. "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?"

Wow. I mean, seriously. Do you hear the importance of this question? As David was giving his devo, all I could think about was that sometimes things happen around us that have nothing really to do with us. I wish I could explain this better, but suffice it to say that sometimes God sends us to spread His Word and share His Message, and our job is not to sit around and cast judgment on the people hearing the message, or even to be there to reap the harvest of that message. Sometimes our job is just to share and trust that the God of the universe and Creator of all things knows what He is doing.

"Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?"

There were more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who don't know their left hand from their right hand in the city of Nineveh. There were people who needed to hear God's message that had never heard it before. Had Jonah not gone to Nineveh, those people would have died without having ever heard of the Creator God. This just gets to me. How often have I said, "No," to God because I don't want to do something. It may not have even been an audible, "NO," maybe it was just my own non-action.

"Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?"