“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?” (NKJV)

Understanding – Interpretation -Truth – True Transformation

I don’t recall ever hearing the message of Micah 6 during my early years as a believer, nor did it come up in later years. And I attended several churches through the years. My first church experience was under a man deeply knowledgeable in the Scriptures, but his personal life left much to be desired. Don’t get me wrong, I looked up to this man. As my pastor he was a great teacher. Nevertheless, the details surrounding his abusive nature were extremely disturbing. He and his ex-wife—who was a dear friend of mine—have both passed away. God alone will judge every believer. I learned about his true nature from his ex-wife, my friend. In 2011 she had asked me to help document her story. That summer she had been recovering from a fall. I was unemployed with time on my hands so I spent time helping her around the house. At first, I was helping as a friend. When she was able to get a home health provider, she asked me if I would be willing to take on the job. She was hesitant to allow a stranger in her home. I was unemployed at the time, so this was a tremendous blessing for me. During this time, she shared that her desire was to write a book about her experiences as a pastor’s wife and victim of domestic violence. I agreed to help her.

I knew she had divorced her first husband due to domestic violence; their separation and divorce happened while my ex and I were overseas. When we returned stateside, she was living in the same town where we relocated, so we reconnected. The abuse she endured—emotional, psychological, and physical—was unimaginable, yet by God’s grace, she survived.

When she began to share her story with me, I was stunned by what I was hearing. While we had shared experiences with domestic violence, what she endured went far beyond what my ex put me through, and anything I could imagine. I wanted to empathize, but I was too numb to respond. The expression on my face must have given me away. Next thing she said was that she had assumed I already knew about her past with her ex-husband. I explained that I’d only heard vague rumors, nothing close to the reality she described. None of the church folk, that I kept contact with ever spoke of what happened. A couple of former members did not mind sharing the anger they felt towards this man for other things he did. She apologized for assuming otherwise. The goal was not to shock me. After hearing her story, I told her how badly I felt that I did not see much less recognize any red flags. Her gracious self comforts me by saying she had seen those same red flags with me and my ex-husband that’s why she could understand my plight.

The year 2011 was an eye opener in my Christian walk. My friend knew scripture better than most. She was my sounding board. I miss her. The most precious thing that came out of that summer was grace. I had not met grace until that summer. She was God’s grace. My friend had forgiven this man, for everything he put her and her children through. He asked for her forgiveness, and she gave it to him. Another thing that she lived through was the knowledge of his infidelity with a church member, a friend of hers, she admitted. They had two children while married to other people. The news was shocking. I did ask her, if the adulterous woman ever asked for forgiveness. She said, never. Grace once again was upon her. She forgave the woman and they remained friends. 

Ultimately, it’s the Lord who helps us understand the message of Micah 6. If we truly seek Him with a whole heart, the Lord will be gracious, forgiving and merciful. He is faithful. While Google or AI can quickly summarize the chapter for me, I keep handy several different versions of the Bible, both in print and digital form.

Any bible scholar, or well versed friend can help us understand the scriptures, but it remains their interpretation. Various sources can help us in our understanding, but the One who dictated the scripture reveals the truth of the scripture.

Scripture can be difficult to understand, but this is where the Holy Spirit helps us. The mind of God is such that no one can fathom what is on His mind. But the Lord is so gracious, so loving and revealing to those who seek Him with a whole heart. And the Lord, as the Creator of man and all things, knows our heart better than we do. He knows where we have stored all the junk in our lives that has hindered us from choosing justice, mercy and walking humbly with our God. When God cleans out all the junk in our heart and mind, then and only then will a believer be truly transformed into the image of Jesus Christ, and able to live for Christ, no longer satisfying the desires of this wretched flesh, no longer concerned with personal achievements, personal gain, or seeking the accolades of others, or puffing oneself up. Until then we all are just faking it. Look around. Self-affirmations, positive thinking and reinventing oneself does not produce the righteousness of God.

I think of it like this. Have you ever gotten a bad batch of gasoline in your car? It’s awful. I did once and it was my mechanic that had to do the dirty job. I could not have done it. So anyway, to get rid of the bad gasoline you have to empty the gas tank out, completely, then clean out the residue as best you can. My husband says they make a product to help clean it but it doesn’t work any better, but the tank must still be emptied. After you do all that then you must fill it with good gasoline. Well, that is something, as believers, we must go through. We must allow the Lord to clean us out and fill us with His goodness

More later…

Be blessed.

“We were given the Scriptures to humble us into realizing that God is right, and the rest of us are just guessing.”
― Rich Mullins

Philippians 3 NKJV

But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ…

Matthew 16:25 NKJV

For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.