Micah 7:5 (KJV) When Friends Fail

Micah 7:5 (KJV)

Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.

It’s a good thing to have a friend. It’s even better to have one you can trust and depend on. I think there are two ways to think of this text.

First, the prophet speaks of an unusually difficult time, such as the Great Tribulation, when the wickedness of men is exceptional. The love between children and parents fails. While there have been cases like this, imagine a day when it is the norm rather than the exception.

Second, the prophet speaks in relative terms. We all enjoy friends and have people we trust, but we should never place our trust in them to the exclusion of Christ. Our faith in Christ ought to be so deep that, in comparison, it’s like we trust no one else. Even the best of friends are human and will fail us sometimes. Only Christ never fails.

And so the prophet writes, Micah 7:7 (KJV)

Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.

Wait upon the God of your salvation. He will hear you. 

#TrustInGod #FaithOverFriends #GodIsFaithful #ChristAlone #BiblicalWisdom

When Friends Fail: Trusting God Above All Else

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 6300 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

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Micah 7:5 (KJV) When Friends Fail

Micah 7:1 (KJV) Fruit, But Not The Sort God Wants

Micah 7:1 (KJV)

Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit.

The reference to the summer fruits and the first ripe is to fig trees which produce two fruits per season. The early one is the best quality. It is what we would typically think of as figs. The latter one is fruit. It is edible; it is a fig. But it is of poorer quality.

God’s preacher saw professing believers, the children of God, full and satisfied, but of poor spiritual quality. 

• They were confident in their relationship with God. 
• They were the children of God. 
• They were beloved of Him. 
• They would have said they loved the Lord. 

But they were not what they ought to have been. The preacher, and by extension the Lord,[1] desires that first ripe, sweet fruit.

How we long to see Christians who cannot be satisfied being full of a worldly sort of godliness. For too long, we have allowed ourselves a mixture of sweet and bitter water,[2] of new wine in old bottles.[3] 

• We’ve mixed the world’s philosophies with the Word of God. 
• We’ve mixed the world’s moralities with the righteousness of God. 
• We’ve mixed the world’s systems into the church of God.

It might produce fruit, but it’s not the first ripe sort.

My soul desires the first ripe fruit.

---

[1] Because God spoke through him

[2] James 3:11 (KJV)
Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?

[3] Matthew 9:17 (KJV)
Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

Donate to our cause of “Reaching a world of souls with the Word of God.”

For this and, more than 5600 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi provides a means for those who appreciate my content to leave me a “tip.” I would be thankful for it.

Micah 7:1 (KJV) Fruit, But Not The Sort God Wants

Micah 6:1 (KJV) The Need of This Hour

Micah 6:1 (KJV)

Hear ye now what the LORD saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.

I read the musings of Robert Hawker the other day in his Poor Man’s Commentary, where he considered whether the leaders of his world would ever read his words. Certainly, it is the desire of every writer to be read. There are, of course, some things put to pen more important than others.

Here we have the most urgent of matters. It is not a mere mortal who longs for an audience. It is God.

Hear now what the Lord saith,

• Not what men say about the Lord
• Not what men write about their knowledge
• Not the philosophy and opinions of thinkers

The great cry of our day, the need of this hour is men would stop and hear what the Lord saith.

• He has something to say about alternative lifestyle
• He has something to say about leadership
• He has something to say about government
• He has something to say about morality
• He has something to say about identity
• He has something to say about origins
• He has something to say about education
• He has something to say about economics
• He has something to say about pandemics

Hear ye now what the LORD saith.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

Donate to our cause of “Reaching a world of souls with the Word of God.”

For this and, more than 5600 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi provides a means for those who appreciate my content to leave me a “tip.” I would be thankful for it.

Micah 6:1 (KJV) The Need of This Hour

Micah 5:2 (KJV) He Is A King

Micah 5:2 (KJV)
But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

Sometimes a verse becomes its own text simply because we have come to see it in just one context. 

This passage has become a Christmas text. It is mentioned in connection with the birth of Christ and the wise men. Often we just leave it right there. 

Jesus is more than merely born in Bethlehem. This location connects Him with David and assumes His royal lineage. It establishes Christ as a king of an entirely different character than men have come to expect: 

• He is a king of God’s own choosing 
• He is a king of eternal origin yet
• He is a king of humble beginnings 
• He is a king who is ruler, deliverer, and also prophetic fulfillment. 
• He is a king. But, though His rule impacts the earth, His kingdom is not of this world

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and more than 5100 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Micah 5:2 (KJV) He Is A King

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Micah 4:12 (KJV) The Thoughts of the LORD

Micah 4:12 (KJV)
But they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor.

It seems to me that this prophecy is critically important as it reveals a person’s standing with prophecy. There is a growing trend among churches to embrace Reformed theology and with it, a Protestant view of eschatology. The relationships of God with: Israel, Gentile nations, and indeed church age Christians are tied up in our understanding of God’s thoughts concerning future things. 

Subjects like: 

• When the rapture takes place 
• What is the nature of the Tribulation and 
• Who will be in it 

are key to understanding the work of churches right now. 

A great disservice therefore is done when preachers choose to make little of eschatology in favor of making much of church growth. 

A person’s understanding of God’s thoughts on these future things profoundly impacts his view of salvation and of the doctrines of the church. It’s foundational. It’s basic. It’s even prerequisite to a right understanding of everything else that is Christian. 

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

For this and more than 5100 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Micah 4:12 (KJV) The Thoughts of the LORD

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Micah 7:8-9 (KJV) The Good Part

Micah 7:8-9 (KJV)
Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.
I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.

I sure understand the prophet’s heart when in Micah 7:1-5 he writes,
Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit.
The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.
That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.
The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.
Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.

As I read this passage, I thought to myself, “I can’t wait to get to the good part. I sure hope he ends with a good part.”[1]Praise the Lord Micah does end with a good part. 

• He said he would look unto the Lord
• He said he would wait for the God of his salvation 

And then he said,
Micah 7:8
Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me. 

He could bear the indignation of the Lord because he knew he had sinned. But he was confident that it was his enemy who would bear the final shame. 

---

[1]After all, Jeremiah didn’t.

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and more than 4500 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
My author spotlight at Lulu.com:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/marvinmckenzie

My author Page for Kindle/Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/author/marvinmckenzie

Micah 7:8-9 (KJV) The Good Part

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Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at http://www.dubli.com/M04VB. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free.

Micah 2:7 (KJV) Meddlin’

Micah 2:7 (KJV)
O thou that art named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the LORD straitened? are these his doings? do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly?

Last Sunday I joked with the people of the church I am blessed of the Lord to pastor that, if they weren’t in a good mood, they might want to stay home Sunday night. The message the Lord had given me to preach was not mean spirited by any means, but it would address issues that could be a bit “meddlin’”.  

I was reminded of a situation that happened with one of my boys when he was young. He had done something for which a discipline was necessary. In our house discipline was administered in this fashion: First, the boy would go to his room to await me. Then I would come in and we would talk about how loved he was. Next, I would explain the problem and why discipline was necessary. Finally, after the discipline, we would hug each other hard and tell each other we loved each other. We never left the room until complete fellowship had been restored. On this occasion, after the process was done, my son grabbed his back side and said, “It’s been awhile Dad. The callouses are gone!” There were smiles and levity even after such a serious moment.

Believers, whose hearts are right with the Lord, understand that even hard messages are meant for good. We do not run from them. We rather thank God for them.

Indeed, God’s words do good to him that walketh uprightly.

To my readers:
First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. Secondly, I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and more than 4500 earlier Daily Visits with God visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books are available at:
My author spotlight at Lulu.com:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/marvinmckenzie

My author Page for Kindle/Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/author/marvinmckenzie

Micah 2:7 (KJV) Meddlin’

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Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at http://www.dubli.com/M04VB. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free.