Hello My Friend/Guest,

Today is Friday September 25, 2009 and we are studying the book of Micah, please read chapters 1-7

in your Bible or Click Here to read them. http://www.readytofollow.com/bible-september-25

Today's Message: Longing to Prosper
While we all want to be prosperous, many Christian's are longing to prosper from the things that are in the world instead of from God.

The book of Micah is the thirty-third book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains seven chapters. The author of the book is Micah and it was written to the people of Judah and Israel. The purpose of the book is a call to repentance to avoid judgment, what we are to learn from the book is that God judges the oppressors of His people.

Micah was raised up to support Isaiah, and to confirm his predictions, he encouraged the northern kingdom of Samaria and the southern kingdom of Judah (Jerusalem) to repent. “The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the LORD from his holy temple. For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place. For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem? Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof. And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot.” - Micah 1:1-7. God is addressing everyone that is on the earth and warning them that He is going to come down to earth and destroy all the high places. The high places were where the Israelite's were forbidden to set up altars, but they did just that in order to worship other gods. Jerusalem is actually on a hill and the reason it is referred to as a high place is because it had ceased to be the place where they worshiped only God. He is telling everyone that is found worshiping idols that destruction will come their way. Their idols will never prosper nor do them any good because what they got by one lust is laid in waste by another. God is addressing all of us today as well, He is trying to tell us that nothing we do will satisfy us because once we get what we want we get bored with it and want more. All the money or possessions in the world can not satisfy those whom seek only to please themselves.

700 years before Jesus was born, Micah was led to prophesy about it, “Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. 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. Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders. And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.” - Micah 5:1-7. Having showed how low the house of David would be brought, a prediction of the Messiah and his kingdom is added to encourage the faith of God's people. His existence from eternity as God, and his office as Mediator, are noticed. Here is foretold that Bethlehem should be his birthplace. As a descendant of King David, Joseph had to go to David's hometown of Bethlehem to register. In issuing his command from Rome, Caesar could only have thought of his own kingdom. However, he had no idea that God used the heathen emperor's authority to fulfill Micah's prophecy. The most significant statement of Micah's prophecy is, “Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting”. This proclaims the deity and eternal existence of the Redeemer who will be King, Jesus. He could not have been the Savior of mankind and suffer for the sins of the world if He had a sinful nature like everyone else. Because of this, Jesus the Son of God, was born of the Virgin Mary without a human father.

I have seen many people over the years, including myself, search endlessly for something to give meaning to their lives, yet never satisfied with anything once they get it. The truth is that No possession on earth can give meaning to our lives like Jesus Christ can, He gives our lives meaning and a purpose. When we receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of our lives, we no longer long for the things that we want, but long for the things God wants. This in turn not only helps us to prosper, it also helps us to keep our relationship with God in tact.

Today's Prayer:

Dear God,
Lord, so many of us live in a state of discontent when we find ourselves long for things of the world. It distorts our priorities and while it gives temporary thrills, it always leaves us with long term dissatisfaction within ourselves and our relationships. Lord, help us learn to place You above all material things for you promise that You will never leave us nor forsake us and that You will provide us all the desires of our hearts as we put our trust and faith in Jesus Christ, Your Son, who died to save us all and give us the most important and wonderful gift of eternal life, which no possession here on earth can compare. In Jesus' Name..........Amen.

Have a wonderful and blessed day/night and
God Bless You,
Christina

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