DEVOTIONAL
How wonderful it would be for every believer to come to an understanding that The Lord’s promises will always come true. The scriptures tell us in the first chapter of Titus, that God, Who is eternal, cannot lie. Saints of God let us come to a place of maturity resting upon the assurance of God’s living word, for that which is written in sacred scripture will be fulfilled. Micah was a prophet of God who was sent to call the nation of Israel back to repentance. God’s terrifying judgment was kindling on the nation like a violent storm brewing in the far distance. The people of God had hardened their hearts to His perfect law and would soon reap the harvest of their own sinful actions.
The Lord would prove to be faithful to the promise He made when Adam fell captive to the subtle serpent in the Garden of Eden saying, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” So, many years later in the midst of His fiery judgement, The Lord spoke a promise through Micah saying, “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.” Isaiah, prophesying in the same time frame as Micah, affirmed the same message by saying, “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.” These promises were fulfilled by the Lord over 700 years later in Jesus Christ.
Praise be to The Lord Who formed the mountains by His power and holds the wind in the hollow of His hands, for in the fullness of the time, He sent forth His Only begotten Son into a fallen world to redeem a people for Himself. Luke left us a recording of this marvelous mystery, “For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” In His great love, Jesus Christ didn’t exert His power as being fully God, but laid down His life. He bore the task masters whip until blood poured out of His broken body, was nailed to a tree, and then took the fury of God’s divine wrath upon Himself. Such love has never been displayed before for fallen humanity, than that of a crucified Savior hanging between heaven and earth, bearing the sins of the world.