Known by Their Fruits

God's Prophets Demand Justice
Amos Rails against Injustice

Micah Calls for Justice among Unjust People


No Tolerance for Corrupt Leaders and People

Psalm 15 The Message

A David Psalm

15 God, who gets invited
    to dinner at your place?
How do we get on your guest list?

² “Walk straight,
    act right,
        tell the truth.

^3-4 “Don’t hurt your friend,
    don’t blame your neighbor;
        despise the despicable.

⁵ “Keep your word even when it costs you,
    make an honest living,
        never take a bribe.

“You’ll never get
blacklisted
if you live like this.”

For Reflection 

Have you ever wondered how you are perceived by others?   By what are you known?  How can you control your reputation?

Well, you can't control your reputation.  You can't control what another thinks of you.  All you can control is yourself.  If you have lived a righteous life, you can feel satisfied that you have been an obedient servant of God.  God's judgment is merciful.  God's judgment is all that really matters.

Pray

that you will live the righteous path God has chosen for you.  Pray that you will be disciplined in God's grace.

Act in the Fear of the Lord

God's Prophets Demand Justice
Amos Rails against Injustice

Micah Calls for Justice among Unjust People


No Tolerance for Corrupt Leaders and People

2 Chronicles 19:4-10The Message (MSG)

⁴ Jehoshaphat kept his residence in Jerusalem but made a regular round of visits among the people, from Beersheba in the south to Mount Ephraim in the north, urging them to return to God, the God of their ancestors.
^5-7 And he was diligent in appointing judges in the land—each of the fortress cities had its judge. He charged the judges: “This is serious work; do it carefully. You are not merely judging between men and women; these are God’s judgments that you are passing on. Live in the fear of God—be most careful, for God hates dishonesty, partiality, and bribery.”
^8-10 In Jerusalem Jehoshaphat also appointed Levites, priests, and family heads to decide on matters that had to do with worship and mediating local differences. He charged them: “Do your work in the fear of God; be dependable and honest in your duties. When a case comes before you involving any of your fellow citizens, whether it seems large (like murder) or small (like matters of interpretation of the law), you are responsible for warning them that they are dealing with God. Make that explicit, otherwise both you and they are going to be dealing with God’s wrath. Do your work well or you’ll end up being as guilty as they are.

 

For Reflection 

Be diligent in electing congress persons, appointing leaders and selecting role models.  Whom you chose is serious work and must be done carefully.  Be honest with yourself and examine your basis for choice.  God has given us a responsibility to select those who will be most just, fair, compassionate, humble and selfless.

Pray

for those that lead.  Pray that they will find just and compassionate solutions and work for the good of the community.  Pray that you will choose wisely

False Prophecies of Peace

God's Prophets Demand Justice
Amos Rails against Injustice

Micah Calls for Justice among Unjust People


No Tolerance for Corrupt Leaders and People

Ezekiel 13:15-21  The Message

^15-16 “‘I’ll dump my wrath on that wall, all of it, and on those who plastered it with whitewash. I will say to them, There is no wall, and those who did such a good job of whitewashing it wasted their time, those prophets of Israel who preached to Jerusalem and announced all their visions telling us things were just fine when they weren’t at all fine. Decree of God, the Master.’
^17-19 “And the women prophets—son of man, take your stand against the women prophets who make up stuff out of their own minds. Oppose them. Say ‘Doom’ to the women who sew magic bracelets and head scarves to suit every taste, devices to trap souls. Say, ‘Will you kill the souls of my people, use living souls to make yourselves rich and popular? You have profaned me among my people just to get ahead yourselves, used me to make yourselves look good—killing souls who should never have died and coddling souls who shouldn’t live. You’ve lied to people who love listening to lies.’
^20-21 “Therefore God says, ‘I am against all the devices and techniques you use to hunt down souls. I’ll rip them out of your hands. I’ll free the souls you’re trying to catch. I’ll rip your magic bracelets and scarves to shreds and deliver my people from your influence so they’ll no longer be victimized by you. That’s how you’ll come to realize that I am God.

For Reflection 

We know what God thinks about those who profane God's name by distorting the catastrophic outcome of ignoring God's recommendations or minimizing the harm of disobedience.  Yet, many are willing to play down the consequences to bolster a selfish deviation from God's will.  Ezekiel advocates that we uncover the sham of whitewashing the false prophets.  Can we tolerate the perversion of God's promise or must we confront it and call it out for the damage such false promises and deception can generate?

Pray

that you will recognize false teaching for what it is.  Pray for the courage to speak against the trivialization of the consequence of sin.  Pray that those whose selfish attempts to seduce us into embracing that which will lead us away from God and God's intentions for our lives will fail and their deception will be revealed for the profane perversion that it is.

Do Not Pervert Justice

God's Prophets Demand Justice
Amos Rails against Injustice

Micah Calls for Justice among Unjust People


No Tolerance for Corrupt Leaders and People

Exodus 23:1-8  The Message

23 ^1-3 “Don’t pass on malicious gossip.

“Don’t link up with a wicked person and give corrupt testimony. Don’t go along with the crowd in doing evil and don’t fudge your testimony in a case just to please the crowd. And just because someone is poor, don’t show favoritism in a dispute.
^4-5 “If you find your enemy’s ox or donkey loose, take it back to him. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you lying helpless under its load, don’t walk off and leave it. Help it up.
⁶ “When there is a dispute concerning your poor, don’t tamper with the justice due them.
⁷ “Stay clear of false accusations. Don’t contribute to the death of innocent and good people. I don’t let the wicked off the hook.
⁸ “Don’t take bribes. Bribes blind perfectly good eyes and twist the speech of good people.

 

For Reflection 

"Go along to get along." Peer pressure or the pressure to conform to our cultural norms is a monumental force to regulate our behavior.  However, a problem arises when that pressure influences one's relationship with God and results in action contrary to God's intentions.    Take the admonishment of corruption to heart.  Help others when they need help.  Champion justice to those most venerable to injustices.  Avoid false accusations and turning away from the challenge of confrontation.  Ask yourself, "What might it take to bribe me?  Evaluate the desires or weaknesses that make you vulnerable to bribes of all kinds.

Pray

that you know yourself and trust your relationship to God.  Pray that you will not be seduced to turn from God's will by your desire to avoid cultural confrontation.

The Righteous and the Wicked

God's Prophets Demand Justice
Amos Rails against Injustice

Micah Calls for Justice among Unjust People


No Rest for the Wicked

Proverbs 11:1-10  The Message

Without Good Direction, People Lose Their Way

11 God hates cheating in the marketplace;
    he loves it when business is aboveboard.

² The stuck-up fall flat on their faces,
    but down-to-earth people stand firm.

³ The integrity of the honest keeps them on track;
    the deviousness of crooks brings them to ruin.

⁴ A thick bankroll is no help when life falls apart,
    but a principled life can stand up to the worst.

⁵ Moral character makes for smooth traveling;
    an evil life is a hard life.

⁶ Good character is the best insurance;
    crooks get trapped in their sinful lust.

⁷ When the wicked die, that’s it—
    the story’s over, end of hope.

⁸ A good person is saved from much trouble;
    a bad person runs straight into it.

⁹ The loose tongue of the godless spreads destruction;
    the common sense of the godly preserves them.

¹⁰ When it goes well for good people, the whole town cheers;
    when it goes badly for bad people, the town celebrates.

 

For Reflection 

I want my epitaph to read, "He was a good man."  What do you want yours to say?

Pray

that you will lead a righteous life.  Pray that you will never abandon the Holy imperative to live a life filled with the grace of God.  Pray that you will immerse yourself in the Holy Spirit.  Pray for healing.

The Lord Executes Judgment

God's Prophets Demand Justice
Amos Rails against Injustice

Micah Calls for Justice among Unjust People


No Rest for the Wicked

Psalm 9:15-20  The Message

^15-16 They’re trapped, those godless countries,
    in the very snares they set,
Their feet all tangled
    in the net they spread.
They have no excuse;
    the way God works is well-known.
The cunning machinery made by the wicked
    has maimed their own hands.

^17-20 The wicked bought a one-way
    ticket to hell.
No longer will the poor be nameless—
    no more humiliation for the humble.
Up, God! Aren’t you fed up with their empty strutting?
    Expose these grand pretensions!
Shake them up, God!
    Show them how silly they look.

For Reflection 

The wicked are maimed by their own hands.  What folly it is to think that we can tell God how to conduct God's business.  We know that judgment is God's prerogative.  So why, I ask, are we so hell bent on declaring judgment and assigning blame; or more arrogantly, taking punishment into our own hands and assuming rewards from God for doing so?  Is our fight for justice only about assigning responsibility and extracting retribution?

Pray

that you look for sin in your own heart.  Pray that you will repent for your transgressions.  Pray for the grace of God to heal you when you are faced with human dilemmas, where possible action may lead to sin.  Pray for mercy and forgiveness.  Pray for those who choose to separate themselves from God.  Pray that all people will find their way to peace.

Test My Mind and Heart

God's Prophets Demand Justice
Amos Rails against Injustice

Micah Calls for Justice among Unjust People


No Rest for the Wicked

Psalm 7:9-17  The Message

^9-11 Close the book on Evil, God,
    but publish your mandate for us.
You get us ready for life:
    you probe for our soft spots,
    you knock off our rough edges.
And I’m feeling so fit, so safe:
    made right, kept right.
God in solemn honor does things right,
    but his nerves are sandpapered raw.

^11-13 Nobody gets by with anything.
    God is already in action—
Sword honed on his whetstone,
    bow strung, arrow on the string,
Lethal weapons in hand,
    each arrow a flaming missile.

¹⁴ Look at that guy!
    He had sex with sin,
    he’s pregnant with evil.
Oh, look! He’s having
    the baby—a Lie-Baby!

^15-16 See that man shoveling day after day,
    digging, then concealing, his man-trap
    down that lonely stretch of road?
Go back and look again—you’ll see him in it headfirst,
    legs waving in the breeze.
That’s what happens:
    mischief backfires;
    violence boomerangs.

¹⁷ I’m thanking God, who makes things right.
I’m singing the fame of heaven-high God.

 

For Reflection 

The result of sin is the Lie Baby!  Evil begets evil. Mischief backfires.  Violence boomerangs.  NOBODY GETS AWAY WITH ANYTHING!  God sees to it.  Are you a flaming missile, a lethal arrow, filled with the fire of justice, compassion, and forgiveness? Are you an active angel of God or merely a silent witness? 

Pray

that you will arm yourself with humility.  Pray that you will wear the armor of justice.  Pray that you will carry flaming missiles of truth and lethal arrows of compassion and forgiveness.