They do not understand His Plan

Micah 4:6-13

Micah is seeing a day in which you and I refer to as the future, it’s a day when the Lord will rescue Zion.  Listen in on what this prophet is sharing with the Judean people: “In that day, declares the LORD, I will assemble the lame and gather those who have been driven away and those whom I have afflicted; and the lame I will make the remnant, and those who were cast off, a strong nation; and the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion from this time forth and forevermore.” (Micah 4:6-7 ESV)  Now that does not hold up to the message being promoted at many of the seeker friendly churches of our time, or by the name it and claim it preachers with their large following.  Now, let that thought go deep into your soul, for it is the Spirit of God who is saying that He has afflicted.  Listen also to the fact that it is the lame and those who were driven out, the poor and the homeless that our Lord will be gathering; are not those the ones we often look down on?

Now the Spirit speaking through Micah’s lips tells them to quit crying as if they did not have a king, or a protector, and to quit acting like a woman in labor.  In fact, He is telling them they will be dispersed, in fact you will go to Babylon and there the Lord will rescue you from your enemies.  Now you may be at a stage in life where you are the lame, or the homeless, and it seems that hope has vanished, in fact you may identify with the feelings of these people Micah is talking to, all you see is the enemy looking to destroy you.

If you find yourself identifying with the lame and the ones driven out, then listen to these words that are so encouraging: “But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD; they do not understand his plan, that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.

Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs bronze; you shall beat in pieces many peoples; and shall devote their gain to the LORD, their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.”  (Micah 4:12-13 ESV) Your Father in heaven has not forgotten you, in fact, He may have afflicted you so that you will look up and be part of His plan to prosper you, not to harm you.  Do you recall Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles; “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)  And never forget what Jesus said to us in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

My dear fellow believers in Jesus Christ, we often are like a man watching sports on TV, who only hear what they want to hear from their wife.  But Jesus has spoken by the prophet Micah and others and He has also stated these words to us while in His earthsuit on planet earth; “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”  So if you are going through a time of tribulation, take heart, your Father is well aware of it, and He may have allowed it for your good, though at the moment it seems as if your cries are not being answered.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Our fathers have told Us

Psalm 44:1-8

Having returned home from Prague, a beautiful and historical city in the Czech Republic,  but a city that was under the control of Communism from 1948 to 1989; it becomes apparent that something has gone wrong.  (The Communist Party seized complete power after the coup d’état on February 25, 1948. This event marked the start of the Communist totalitarian regime that lasted until the Velvet Revolution of 1989. A second wave of nationalization took place and 95% of all privately owned companies became the property of the state. There were a number of political trials and executions in the following several years. The economy went steadily down under the socialist regime. Basic human rights were suppressed.)

What happens to a people who have been under the total control of the State that tells them there is no God, and that the State is to whom they should look for all that is good? The Prague Post published this headline on April 6, 2011, Study: Religion is dying out among Czechs, Religion will be 'nearly extinct' in Czech Republic by 2050.  The article went on to give this information: “It seems especially cold that religion's extinction would be predicted not by an impassioned atheist or a humanist weary of the aggression perpetrated in God's name, but by a trio of physicists and mathematicians who are altogether neutral about what their study suggests.”  In todays Prague 60% are atheist and 33% are Catholic, and 7% have no opinion on what they are.

If you have been noticing and I’m sure that most have, we are going the way of Prague, we as a people have chosen to elect a party that is socialist, and socialism has failed on all fronts and it matters not what name you give it.  The President of the United States of America ran for a second term and in one of his speeches’ he stated the following: “You didn’t build that” and he was referring to a person success.  He made that statement in an election campaign speech delivered on July 13, 2012 in Roanoke, Virginia. He went on to say the following: (“If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business—you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen.”)  He said much more, but the theme was that without government it could not have happened.  That was and is the message of all Communist totalitarian regimes, and it seems to be President Barack Obama’s message.

Now this may come as a shock, but the President got close to telling the truth on this point.  Now do not burn your computers or send me hate mail until you read on down the page.  He was 100% correct that you needed help in building whatever, but he was totally 100% wrong on the source of your needs.  Now have I got you back?  It is God who has blessed you with the mental, the physical, the monetary, the desires, the drive and the knowledge to build your family, your business, your life an it is your choice on whether you acknowledge His hand or not.  When God is given the glory a nation prospers and when He is not they go into the hands of evil people who take freedom from them.

Look at what the Psalmist has said in Psalm 44:1-8, “O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old: you with your own hand drove out the nations, but them you planted; you afflicted the peoples, but them you set free; for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm save them, but your right hand and your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them. You are my King, O God; ordain salvation for Jacob! Through you we push down our foes; through your name we tread down those who rise up against us. For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me. But you have saved us from our foes and have put to shame those who hate us. In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to your name forever.” Selah

If you are one of the ones offended by the President’s remarks on July 13, 2012 in Roanoke, Virginia, was it because you believed it was by your ability, your energy, your mental abilities, your financial resources; who blessed you with those?   Whom are you acknowledging as your source?  My prayer is that you will give all praise and glory to the only God and His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.  And my prayer is that you will teach your children and grandchildren these very profound truths.

Jan and I came back from this trip understanding that the world is looking for someone to step on the scene and rescue them, and all over there is unrest, wars and rumors of wars, if you are interested in what is coming, dust off your Bible and read Matthew 24 and II Timothy 3:1-5, it’s coming to America, and the world.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice 

Future: Time regarded as sill to Come

Micah 4:2-5

Future: the time or a period of time following the moment of speaking or writing, time regarded as still to come, and often we look to an event that’s impending.  At the time of this paper Jan and I are in Prague and it was a holiday we looked forward to, and we had put time into the planning and were looking forward to the day we would experience our river cruise down the Danube from Budapest to Nuremberg and then to Prague.  Now it has been a great time and our time spent planning has made the trip a fun time with our friends Barb and Joe Whitehouse, but it does not compare to what God has shown Micah about the return trip to planet earth of His Son, His one and only Son, Jesus Christ.

As we planned, we had a date and time in our minds about when the trip would happen, and guess what, so does the Father of our Lord, it’s going to be much different than when He came to the planet in the virgin Mary.  Jesus is telling His disciples about the Father’s plan for His return trip.  “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the heavens, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  And he will send out angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”  (Matthew 24:29-31)

When we arrived in Budapest, the people at the Hilton West End were expecting us, and they had a nice room waiting for us, but there was no one going before us making an announcement.  Now, when it comes to the Son’s return the Father has been diligent in His preparation and has made sure that the return trip was reported to the people He loves on planet earth.  The Father has spoken about this day often through His prophets, men like Ezekiel, Daniel, and later through men like Matthew and John, just to list a few. 

The day of the Lord, the day of His coming, and the apostle John gave this account of what the Spirit showed him about Christ’s coming; “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse!  The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.” (Revelation 19:11)  The apostle goes on in verse 13 to tell us what he is called, “The Word of God” Do you recall the first verse in chapter one in the book of John; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” 

But this is not what Micah is reporting, all of that happens first, and what Micah is seeing is the reign of Jesus Christ on the earth, and the apostle John tells us in the Revelation it will be for a thousand years.  It will be a thousand years without the influence of Satan, but mankind will still have a desire to live independently of Christ’s authority.  These are the latter days, and should not be confused with the last days, as I stated we have been living in the last days since the death of Christ on the cross.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

An Objective look at Self

Micah 4:1,2

We have began our first full day in Prague at an early hour and after praying for sometime, I began to read both in the Psalms and Proverbs and it was the same theme, the wicked will be punished and anyone who puts his trust in anything other than God will find that it was God only that they needed.  Then I read about the latter days in Micah 4:1&2, “It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and the people will flow to it, and many nations shall come, and say: “Come, let us go to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.”  For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

Have you heard this statement; the way someone sees something is the way it is.  When I was reading in the Psalms and the Proverbs about the wicked, I often see myself in the same way many do, as a good person.  But how do we arrive at such foolishness, is it not by comparing ourselves to others, and becoming judges based on our righteousness and not on the righteousness of Christ?  And is self-righteousness anything but pride and arrogance?  So coming back to the reality that independent living is evil in the sight of God, and that often I put my focus on people and things for my hope and that makes me no different than the one who is putting their trust in anything other than God.

How does that tie to Micah 4:1&2, in this way, a mind set on need will search the Scriptures, and ask the Holy Spirit to show them how to handle the word of God, but a mind set of those who are good in their own minds eye, will find little in these verses.  So this morning, I’ve once more looked in the mirror and found myself poor and needy and needing the wisdom and insights of the Spirit.

Micah 4:1, begins in this manner, “It shall come to pass in the latter days” and for many that is a problem.   Are we in the latter days and are the prophecies of Micah soon to take place?  It is my belief that from the time of the cross we have been living in the last days, the days before the return of Jesus Christ.  It is also so important that we time critters never forget that our Lord came to save the lost and that the Father desires for none to perish; if you have any doubt of this read John 3:16-19.  That’s what Micah has seen and is telling us about are after the events of Matthew 24:1-31, Jesus has returned to planet earth and the tribulation has taken place and the people of the earth have experienced the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  My dear reader, it is of much importance to not allow unbelief or even doubt to fill your mind, for God has told us His ways are higher than ours and His thoughts are higher than ours.  So when Micah saw the following; days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills,” earth critter your job is to remember that this is a very small thing for our God.

From the Back Porch in Prague,

Bob Rice

Are you listening to Micah?

Micah 3

Many a ruler and numerous preachers have failed to hear the words of God’s prophets, could it be that we who are in agreement that the Scriptures are living and active have not learned to listen to the prophet Micah?  Listen and take to heart these words; “And I said: Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel.”  (And we might add the teachers and preachers, the leaders and politicians of the U.S.A.)  “Is it not for you to know justice? —You who hate the good and love the evil.”  (Thoughts added)

Look at Micah’s warning to these leaders and teachers/preachers, “Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry “Peace” when they have something to eat, but declare war against him who put nothing into their mouths.  Therefore it shall be night to you without vision; and darkness to you, without divination.  The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be black over them; the seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame; they shall cover their lips, for there is no answer from God.”

 It is time to look into the mirror of our hearts, examine ourselves and ask the Holy Spirit to expose our unbelief, to expose the lies of some teacher or preacher who wanted followers, but had no words from God.  It is time to ask the Spirit to give your ears to hear the words of Micah, for these are mighty words.  Is the man standing before you on Sunday a “Micah”?  This is what the Spirit of God is telling us from Micah’s lips; “But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.  Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who detest justice and make crooked all that is straight, who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity.  Its heads give judgment for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money; yet they lean on the Lord and say, “Is not the Lord in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us.” Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height.”

Will we follow this path, will once more the history of a nation who looked to other gods, gods without power to do good, gods from the minds and hearers of deceived leaders, teachers, and preachers, or will we listen to Micah and the Micah’s of our day who speak with authority from the Scriptures?  It is a choice, and these are the choices, blessing or curses; it sounds simple, we all want blessings, but is that truly the case? 

Many of you claim you believe in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, but have you searched the Scriptures to see if your ladder is on the right wall?  “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith.  Test yourselves.  Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? –Unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”

2 Cor. 13:5

From the Back Porch,

Judgement begins with the Church

Micah Chapter 1 & 2

Is the story of Micah going to be once more replayed, will it be the story of the United States of America, a great nation who did as the nation of Judah and Israel, who gave claim to being the people of God, but their hearts were far from Him?  Are we exchanging the favor of God, like men who chase after prostitutes, who leave the arms of the wife of their youth for a moment of pleasure, only to fall under the wrath of a holy God?  For that was the sin of Judah and Israel, and I am fearful that is the sin of the church in America.  And God allowed them to be defeated in battle, and to become subject to foreigners.

But it also seems as if the oppressors were their own neighbors, they were the ones who coveted and then took, because their mind and heart was set on self and not on the things of God.  And this was not done in a hidden manner, borders and lands given to families were being removed and yet some were preaching that all was well, and they assumed that God was not watching.  It seems that the people were attacking the righteous and that they had little regard for mothers and their children, and Micah tells us that some were foolish enough to preach saying, “I will preach to you wine and strong drink,” he would be the preacher for this people.” 

What a sad account of people who are the chosen of God, but what about the Church, are we not the bride of Christ, are we not the wild branch that was grafted into the good fig tree, and have we forgotten that it was by grace and through faith in the blood of our Lord that washed away our sin, that it was not our doing, but of God’s love and favor?  And if we go the way of Judah and Israel, will not our Lord still be in charge of the affairs of men, and though we may not believe what He has promised, and though those who hate us may take us captive, once more all the promises of Christ will stand.

And this is the promise to the people of Micah’s time: “I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob; I will gather the remnant of Israel; I will set them together like sheep in a fold, like a flock in its pasture, a noisy multitude of men.” (Micah 2:12)  Has God made a promise to you and if so, do you doubt His faithfulness?  Has He not said; “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

All of Us

Micah 1:2-3

“Hear, you people, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it and let the Lord God be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.”

Many of us hear the prophet, the teacher, the pastor, the priest, the preacher, but do we pay attention?  It is a simple answer, no we do not, we hear the words but often we are hoping someone else is taking the message to heart.  If that describes you, you’re in great company, for the Christian churches are full of self-righteous people who do not understand when the prophet says, “all of you”, he had all of us in mind.  If you are not a follower of Jesus Christ, has he not also included you when he states “O earth, and all that is in it and let the Lord God be a witness against you?”

I do not believe many of us who go by the label Christian or non-Christian would volunteer for the Lord to be a witness against us.  Give some thought to that statement, if the Lord is the chief witness in your life and He a witness against you, whom do you run to, to whom will you turn for a defense?

The people of Micah’s time are much like the people who call themselves Christian in our time they not only do not stand against evil but have entered into agreement with evil.  When we look at the church today it is often quiet on what we might call social sins, like divorce, the church is now taking the lead on a higher average than the ones outside the church.  Where is the voice of today’s prophet, preacher, pastor, or teacher on the killing of life inside of the mother?  Why is the church so quiet with some exception on the sin of homosexuality?  And what is going on with the market place, with its strong stands against family, and for marriage between the same gender, and it boldness to take a stand for sin, and the church is quiet?  “Hear, you people, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it and let the Lord God be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.” 

Could it be stated that once again the world’s system has so invaded the church, the body of Christ, that we need Jesus to come into our temples and turn over the tables that are full of evil in our hearts and minds, in our thinking, and to repent before He witnesses against us.  Compliance is agreement, when we know what is right and do nothing to oppose it, or we not by our actions taking the side of evil, or we not standing on sinking ground?  “But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

(2 Timothy 2:19)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice