Welcome to another podcast of Struggling Well. It is podcast number 152. That blows my mind, babe, that we've had 152 things to say.
I know. It is pretty amazing. And you know, for those of you who listen, we appreciate it. We don't take that for granted. Susan and I are humbled by the fact that we're still doing this and that people are still listening and at least to the level that it makes it worth our time, Tim's time, everybody's time, and we just share what life is like for us.
We wish you could be with us in our little studio here at the kitchen. table. but it is a it's often times it becomes a holy place because afterwards or before, it depends on what the rhythm of our morning is. We get to talk with Tim and the three of us share things on our heart. So, we have grown in our love for one another and it's just a cool time to be able to pray for each other and then to be able to share with you what God has placed on our hearts.
Yeah. So, maybe we'll start selling tickets to God.
Oh my gosh.
And then we'll sell an extra ticket if you want to pet Gus.
Yeah, there you go. No, probably not. You know, so many of these podcasts have been what you what God has been laying on both of our hearts and I have been captivated for the last I don't know weeks, months by an Old Testament passage and it's a familiar passage, but it's the verses that precede it that really have gotten me thinking. It's from the book of Micah and everybody or a lot of people know Micah 6:8. you know, what does God ask? What does he require of you, oh man? to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. But it's in the verses that precede it that I think I needed for a little bit of the context. Micah says in verse six of that chapter, with what shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before the God before God on high? And so it's that sense of he's coming to God in worship and he wants to know what's acceptable in the eyes of God. And then he asks a series of questions. Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with 10, 00ands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? And those are pretty significant things that all point to Micah in this case and for all of us of coming before God thinking that we have to do something. We have to bring something other than our own hearts. And so that's when God respond responds through Micah. He has told you, oh man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. And those three things stand to me in direct contrast to what Micah has asked when he's asked, "What should I come when I bring worship before God?" It's the difference between doing the things that we do to bring acceptable worship to God in who we are to be as our form of acceptable worship.
That's such a great passage and so convicting. And I know in the church that I was brought up in, there were a lot of things that you had to do in order to please God, in order to get even into heaven. There were a lot of works that we needed to do. But as Jimmy and I were talking about this morning, it's like we go, I don't know. I'm going to sound like I'm talking out of both sides of my mouth, but sometimes I feel like we go into church and we are, you know, chatty, chatty, chatty, then we do a little worship. We hear a little worship music, then we hear the message, then we're dismissed, and we're chatty again. And so sometimes our worship is just so wrote, it becomes so just like, oh, no big deal. I went to church. It was good. The music was good. The message was good. but then there are times, I think, in our heart of heart where we wrestle with coming before a holy God when we're honest and allow ourselves to see our depravity and our sinfulness in through his eyes, then it's hard to come to God sometimes because I think I'm a mess, Lord. I can't come before you. You're a holy God and I am a mess. How can you look on me? But because of Jesus, he looks at Jesus righteousness and not my unrighteousness.
Yeah. And it is clear that it is easier sometimes to focus in on the things that I can do for God to where I can build up a sense in my own heart that wow I'm really God must be really pleased because look at all the things I've done for him as opposed to going no who does he long for me to be
and that's harder because that requires me to take a good look at what's going on inside my heart and what comes on in my motivation for why I'm doing what I'm doing. But it is who he longs for me to be. He wants me to walk humbly before him. I think of how many times I am proud of what I've done.
Yeah.
the things that Micah talks about were things that would have been seen in Israel in that time as wow that's a really good guy. Look at the way he's look at the offerings he's bringing before the Lord. But Micah is going that's not what's important. What's important is your heart to love kindness. I think of that when I think of h how many how many times do I show the kindness of God to people? people
and not just the people that it's easy to show the kindness of God to, but to everybody I come in contact with and to do justice to see the world in its unjust ways and long to see justice lived out. I it's a powerful verse that has stayed with me as I thought about God really wants me to focus on who I am, not on what I do.
I'm going to make a segue and I don't know if this is going to fit or not. So, I'm giving Tim the power of cut. and I haven't even shared this with you yet, Jimmy. I told you I would share it with you tonight.
Yeah, you do.
But I'm going to go ahead and share it now because I think it might fit. All right.
So,
you know, the whole idea of coming before God and being humble and being kind. And, yesterday in my quiet time, somehow I got led to revelation. And I'm not I you know, I can't even tell you how the pathway as to how I got to Revelation, but I got to the book of Revelation when John is speaking to the church at Ephesus
and I have been praying, pondering and really being kind of oh just in my gut just this horrible stirring, not horrible stirring, but a stirring of something's not quite right. And in this process, God has led me to repentance over various things. But as I ended up in revelation. this is where he took me and it kind of blew me out of the water cuz I'd been asking, but I thought that he would maybe I don't know what I thought God was going to say. but this is where he brought me. He's talking to the church at Ephesus and he's saying just what you were saying to babe about all these things that we think we need to bring and be and everything. And he says to them, reading from NLT, Revelation 2, I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patience and endurance. I know you don't tolerate evil people. You have exclaimed the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. You have patiently suffered for me without quitting. I don't know if I've suffered like John is speaking of here, but I can tell you that those things really ring true for me. Yes, you know, I don't tolerate evil people, etc. But then he goes on to say this. This is what God told John to write. But I have this complaint against you. You don't love me or each other as you did at first. Look how far you've fallen. Repent and come back to me. And yesterday in my time of being with the Lord alone, I thought, Lord, that's it. That's what has been stirring in a hard ways in my heart is that I have I say this carefully. have I lost my first love? Have there been times in my day in my life right now where I have been living this Christian life because that's what I know. I've been doing it for a long time. But have I lost my for my first love for him and for others? And all the events that have happened in the recent weeks certainly has stirred that up for me. But what I want you to know are a couple of things. I want you to know first of all that God's word is alive. The book of Micah is alive. It's not an old book. that we look at and go, "Well, that's, you know, those are great principles. They're are lifewords and can show us how we are to worship God and how we're to live." The book of Revelation, which is so hard to understand. God used that book, those verses yesterday, just yesterday morning in my life to say, "Suzi, you've gotten off track." Now, you might say, "Oh, but you're such a nice person, and people always tell me how nice I am, and I'm really not nice. I'm just me. But what hit me yesterday was Lord, I have lost my first love. There are times when I comfort myself or do things that I think are right and good, but am I loving you or am I just loving the Christian life the way it goes, the way it is, the way I don't know how to explain it any better. It's so fresh for me, you guys, that I'm probably bumbling through this, but when he says, "But I have this complaint against you. You don't love me as you did at first." And I think back to when I first accepted Christ and my love for him was I had no boundaries on it. I had I was bold about his love and I relished in that love. But it's easy to get complacent and it's easy to think you love something. one without I don't even know how to put this. Help me. I feel like I'm
Well, I think what you're saying, babe, is what we want to leave people with and encourage them with this week is to do the hard work of taking a inner look at what's going on inside your heart. and like you said, you get in this Christian subculture, it's easy to find the ways to fit in and do the things that you fit in. The hard work is looking inwardly and examining your own heart. And that's what God led you to do. as he led you to the book of Revelation. And what we want to encourage the listeners for you, each of you to do is do the hard work of looking inwardly,
seeing where your heart is before the Lord. He his love never fails. We're told that. And so, what is it that we could do to renew our love for him in our everyday life as we walk through this life together? Have a great week.