A Reflection of Micah 6

[Speaker 1] Churches and fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God greatly desires a godly home for you. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tent Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Speaker 2] We were able to consider last Monday what and what, or what are the practical steps to take in order to know the Lord better, in order to encounter the invisible, in order to grow in our knowledge of Him. We took time to look at a lot of practical things last week, and I believe that the Lord would have one way or the other instructed His people as to how to carry on and how to move on in their walk with the Lord. Today we want to look, we want to reflect on a particular scripture in the Old Testament. We want to reflect on the book of Micah chapter 6. We want to reflect on a fundamental matter the Spirit of the Lord raised while speaking through Prophet Micah. In the beginning of that chapter, it was like the Lord raising a matter with His people Israel between verse 1 and verse 5. Our focus is verse 6 to verse 8. That's our actual focus for today. But we just want to take the reading from verse 1. [Speaker 3] Hear now what the Lord says: "Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Hear, O you mountains, the Lord's complaint, and you strong foundations of the earth; for the Lord has a complaint against His people, and He will contend with Israel. O My people, what have I done to you? And how have I wearied you? Testify against Me. For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, I redeemed you from the house of bondage; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab counseled, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, from Acacia Grove to Gilgal, that you may know the righteousness of the Lord." [Speaker 2] The Lord was raising issues with His people, and the matter here was that Israel abandoned the worship of God. Israel followed after other gods. Israel seemed to be attracted to the gods of other nations. And the Lord was raising a matter with them in that respect and asking vital questions as to what is the basis of their backsliding? What was the basis of their leaving the Lord? And calling their attention to the goodness of the Lord that they have enjoyed, to the mercies of the Lord that they have enjoyed, to the deliverances that God gave them, and particularly to divine guidance that they received. God sending Moses, Aaron, and Miriam ahead of them. And then a reminder of how God defended them in the verse 5. How God did not allow Balaam to be able to curse them when Balak the king of Moab wanted Balaam to curse them. Three times he tried to do so, but in the contrary, the Lord made him to bless the people of Israel. So the Lord was reminding the people that look backward, reflect and see, and explain why God should not be the object of your worship. What the Lord was raising with the people here may look something that how does it relate to us? But the way it relates to us has to do with ask yourself, why are some things today distracting you from God? Why are some things today more important to you than God? Why are some things taking the first place in your life than God? That was what God was asking them. That is there any way to justify it? That look, let us explain it. I brought you out of bondage. I took you out of slavery. I brought you into liberty. I was there to protect, to guide, to provide for you. I was there to keep you. I was there to defend you. So why is it that you still follow after some other things? Why can't you seek Me? Why can't you make Me the object of your worship? The same way today you need to ask yourself some very important questions. Why are some things more important to you than God? Why are some things more valuable to you than God? Why are some things so crucial? Why is it that the way you will contend for this thing you cannot contend for Me like that? You cannot contend for Me like that. Why is God not more important to you than those things? Those are the kind of questions that Micah was raising, and it is something that we need to reflect on also in our own life. Tell Me what is it that I have done wrong? Tell Me what did I do wrong? Tell Me why some things should be more important to you than the Creator. What is the wisdom in your decision? And honestly, you need to examine yourself as an individual. How does this rhetorical question, how do they apply to you as an individual today? Are there things that you follow after and you are so passionate about than your passion for God? What I'm trying to make you see from this discussion is that God desires to be the center person in our life. God desires to be the center person. What should be central to your life is God. If God is not central to your life, then something is wrong with your sense of judgment. That is what God was telling them. That Israel, don't you see that some things are wrong with your sense of judgment? If I am not the center thing, if I'm not the center person to your life, if I'm not the most important thing I cannot compare, if I am not that thing, don't you realize that there is something wrong with the way you think? There is something wrong with the way you reason? As a Jew, if God is not central to your life, something is wrong with the way you think. Something is wrong with your value system. Something is wrong. And that was what the Lord was telling them. My people, think straight. And honestly, the Lord is telling us the same thing. The need for us to examine ourselves to see whether we are still in the faith. What is the center thing in your life today? What is the primary focus of your heart today? And also one thing I want you to know from this place was that the Lord knew that He was not central to the heart of these people. Let me tell you, the Lord knows your thoughts. The Lord knows your heart. The Lord knows if He's not the center person to your life. The Lord knows. The Lord knows if there are certain things you place priority on than on the things of God. The Lord knows. And the same thing the Lord is telling us today He was telling to the people of Israel. Why are your thoughts like this? Why are your thoughts like this? Let us examine ourselves in that respect. And then haven't raised the matter in Micah 6:1 to 5, haven't raised the matter that there is no reason why God should not be your God. There is no reason why God should not be the object of your worship. There is no reason. If we are to count today, we will count more than what He did for them. If we look at the redemption we have in Christ, if we look at the protection, the deliverance, if we look at the provision, the support, if we look at preservation, if we look at divine providence, if we look at God's tender mercies, if we look at what God have done for you, you need to ask yourself a question. Are you reasonable at all if God is not central to your life? Are you a reasonable person? And that was what God was telling the people of Israel. That My people, you are not reasonable. My people, you are not reasoning correctly. May our reasoning not be absurd in the name of Jesus Christ. May our thinking not be confused in the name of Jesus. May our understanding not be darkened. Because you see, brethren, what value is in the gods of wood, of chariot, the Baal that they are following? What have they been able to do for them compared to what God has done? If not that their understanding was darkened. And you too need to ask yourself, what is it that money can do for us that God can do for us? What is it that pleasure can do for us that God can do for us? What is it that party can do for us that God can do for us? I want you, let us look at the things that are taking our priority today. What can those things do for us to what God can do for us? What can riches do for us? Can riches guide us? Can riches deliver us? Can riches defend us? Let us think. What is it? Look at those things that are taking your priority today. Ask yourself, if you are to put those things beside God, can they do for you what God can do? That was what happened to the people of Israel. Their thinking became confused. Their reasoning became bastardized. And God was calling their attention. And I think we too need to examine ourselves. What is competing with the love of God? What is competing with it? Haven't said that, He now came to verse 6. [Speaker 4] "With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." [Speaker 2] Haven't spoken about the reason for them, the need for them to be reasonable in their reasoning. The need for us to be sure nothing is distracting us from God. The need for us to know that nothing can replace God in your life. The need for us to know that. Nothing can replace God. May the fear of God come upon the heart of this generation so that we realize that nothing can replace God. Nothing. If there is something replacing God, it is because your understanding is confused. How should they return? What it means to return to God. What it means to say somebody is on the Lord's side. What it means to say somebody knows the Lord. What it means. That is what we are trying to look at. What it means. He was now raising this question. "With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?" Micah 6, we were through with verse 1 to 5. We are now in verse 6. "Will I come before Him with burnt offerings, a calf a year old? Will He be pleased with thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" So the Lord began to raise with these people what it takes to be on the Lord's side. If I want to return to God, the first thing was that they went away because their thought was foolish. Some things became more important to them than God. Some things became crucial to their life than God was crucial. Some things took more priority in their life. They felt some things could replace God. They saw what could replace God. And I'm telling you, any time a man comes to that point where something can compete with the love for God, the man's understanding has been darkened. Now, he was now discussing the return. How will they return? How will they return, and what it means to be on the Lord's side. And the first thing he was trying to make them see was the matter of sacrifice. And you know, this matter of sacrifice is something today that people normally think that labor and sacrifice is the first thing that God seeks in the life of a man. And that is what he was raising with them here. He was asking them look, how will you return to Me? Will you need to offer a thousand calves? Will you need to offer your firstborn? Will you need to do... we normally think there are some kind of things we do, some kind of sacrifice we make that when we offer those things to the Lord, they are important to God than some things. But the Lord was trying to show them the way to return to the Lord. If a man truly wants to have a walk with God. If a man truly wants to be on the Lord's side because they deviated. Now, verse 6 to 8 is about returning. It is about returning. Now this matter of returning, the issue that the Lord raised with them particularly, returning to the Lord is not about a matter of services and sacrifices. Returning to the Lord, he said, "Will He be pleased with thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of the body for my sin?" He says, "He has shown you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you." And a scripture is coming to my heart, 1 Samuel chapter 15. That very popular scripture. I want us to read 1 Samuel chapter 15 from verse 10. [Speaker 3] Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel saying, "I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments." And it grieved Samuel, and he cried to the Lord all night. Saul went to Carmel, and indeed, he has set up a monument for himself; and he has gone around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal. Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, "Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord." But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears, and the lowing of oxen which I hear?" And Saul said, "They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed." Then Samuel said to Saul, "Be quiet, and I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night." And he said to him, "Speak on." So Samuel said, "When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed you king over Israel. Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lord?" And Saul said to Samuel, "But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal." And so Samuel said: "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice." [Speaker 2] Now, this practical statement that Samuel is making here is what we are checking in Micah. It's what we are checking in Micah. People normally think that because of certain things they do, because of certain things they appear like making sacrifice to God, it can take the place of obeying the instructions of the Lord. But as far as the Lord is concerned, His instructions are more important to Him than whatever sacrifice you want to make to God. It is more important to the Lord that you follow His counsel than you make sacrifice to God. What I'm trying to say is that let me just give a practical example. It is more important to God for instance that you don't tell lies than you go to church. It is useless you go to church and you are still telling lies. Are you understanding it? Sacrifice to the Lord is not as important as obeying the Lord. Correcting your life for the Lord. That whatever things you are doing, you follow first obey the Lord than making sacrifice to God. Returning to the Lord is not first by sacrifices. It is by obedience to His command and to His counsel. I am trusting the Lord that when we come to the conclusion of this matter, we'll be raising a matter, we'll be coming to the commandment of the Lord and the ways of the Lord. Things today that have been abandoned by our generation but we don't understand that that is the basis. It is more important to God that I live peacefully with my wife than I'm handling discipleship class. Coming here to come and teach, handle discipleship class is nothing to God compared to "Husband, love your wife". Are you understanding what I'm trying to say now? Obedience to God's counsel is more important to God than sacrifice to Him, than services we render. God have more interest in people following His command and His counsel. It is only after you have followed His command and His counsel that whatever level of sacrifices you are bringing to the Lord, it is only after that that those things have meaning. So the Lord, haven't dealt with... we are reflecting on Micah chapter 6. Haven't dealt with the fact that Israel left God. Some things became more valuable to them than God. They followed after those things instead of following God. So God was now discussing how they return. And He knows when they want to return, they will be thinking that that return will come by some sacrifices they will offer. You understand? So He was trying to make a correction. No. That it is not going to come by that. And that's why I came to this particular statement Samuel was telling. He says "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to heed." That is to listen. Can we see that in another translation, that "to heed"? Can we read that in NLT? "To listen to Him is much more better than offering a fat ram." It is much more better to Him than offering a fast ram. That is what the Lord was raising with the people in that Micah. Let's go back to the Micah that we are expanding. Micah chapter 6. So he was trying to let them see the matter in that Micah 6. We have through with 1 to 5. He says, we are now looking at 6 and 7. "Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams? Of course not. Ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" No, that's not what God is looking for. He now said, "He has shown you, O man, what is good." Now, we are coming... you see, as believers, certain things must be clear to us. If the Lord says something is good, I want you to have an understanding that the thing is good. If the Lord says something is not good, you see, what was I saying? Was it on Saturday? I can't remember when I was making this statement again. Everybody is looking for the truth. Is that not? Nobody want to be deceived. Am I correct? Everybody wants truth, truth, truth. But what is truth? Truth is that which God said about a matter. If you want to know the truth about money, you need to know what God said about money. Every other thing apart from what God said is deception. If you want to know the truth about sex, truth about sex is that which God said. If you want to know the truth about certificate, the truth about it is to know what God said about it. Truth is that which God said. Truth is not something if you are looking for truth, then you are looking for what God said on a matter. If you don't know what God has said on a matter, you still don't know the truth. You may have the facts about a matter but you may not have the truth. Now you see, what I'm trying to make you understand as believers is that if you want to understand our walk with God, serving God and walking acceptably before God has nothing to do with what you think or what you feel. It has to do with what God said. Let me give you a good example. God said only the priest, those who are the Levites among them, can touch the Ark. Is that not what God said? At a point in history, the people were bringing the Ark of God into the city. As they were bringing it into the city, the oxen that were carrying the Ark were almost stumbling and the Ark was about to fall. Please, what is the correct thing to do ordinarily in that place? What is the correct thing to do if you are by that place? The Ark of God want to fall. What is the correct thing to do? Is it not to hey, let it not fall? But as correct as that thing looks, it is not acceptable to God because God had said only the Levites can touch the Ark. So when the man, when Uzzah saw that it was falling and he tried to let it not fall, what did God do? God killed him. I'm trying to make you see that it's not about what you feel. Are you understanding what I'm trying to bring out? It's not about what you think. To live acceptably before the Lord is to know what the Lord said. It's so crucial that if there is anything we must be laboring for in this life is the light of God's counsel so that we can walk in His ways and in His counsel. Because some things they look good. They look ordinarily appropriate. They look what you can ordinarily justify. But the question is acceptability with who? With who? With God. And that is why you notice that when Apostle Paul was speaking to us, he raised a very crucial matter. I'll be back to this place in a moment. Look at something in New Testament. Look at what the Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians chapter 7. Are you there? 2 Corinthians chapter 7 was flowing from the last verse in chapter 6. What's the last verse in chapter 6? "I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters." If we have done something. He was saying do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. So when we are not unequally yoked with them, if we separate ourselves from them, then He will be a Father to us and then we'll be His people. Now when he enters chapter 7 verse 1, look at what the Bible says. It says "Because of that promise," it says "Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit." There are filthiness of the flesh, there are filthiness of the spirit. That's not our focus today. What are filthiness of the flesh and filthiness of the spirit? But let's just say that God want us to separate ourselves from all kinds of filthiness for now. But look at what follows. "Perfecting holiness in the fear of God." So do you see that until we can relate holiness to God's fear, that holiness cannot be perfect? That's what I'm saying about Uzzah. You know, there was already what God had said. Nobody should touch this thing. So even if the thing want to stumble and scatter, what does it mean to fear God? God has said we should not touch it. Ah, this thing is scatter. Why don't you touch it? God has said only the Levites can touch it. You understand what I'm trying to bring out? He was perfecting holiness, but not according to the fear of God. To fear the Lord is to walk in His command and in His counsel. That's what God have commanded and that's what God have counseled. So you notice that if we want to perfect holiness, we can only perfect holiness in the fear of God or else the holiness can never be perfect. The holiness will face a direction that is not correct. That can never be correct. So if we go back to that Micah that we are considering, Micah chapter 6. So he was trying to let them see the matter. In that Micah, we are now in the verse 8. He says, "He has shown you, O man, what is good." As believers, certain things must be clear to us. If the Lord says something is good, I want you to have an understanding that the thing is good. If the Lord says something is not good, you see, what was I saying? Truth is that which God said. Truth is that which God said about a matter. If you want to know the truth about money, you need to know what God said about money. Every other thing apart from what God said is deception. If you want to know the truth about sex, truth about sex is that which God said. If you want to know the truth about certificate, the truth about it, if you want to know what the truth is, is to know what God said about it. You see, truth is that which God said. Truth is not something if you are looking for truth, then you are looking for what God said on a matter. If you don't know what God has said on a matter, you still don't know the truth. You may have the facts about a matter but you may not have the truth. Now, you see, what I'm trying to make you understand as believers is that if you want to understand our walk with God, serving God and walking acceptably before God has nothing to do with what you think or what you feel. It has to do with what God said. If the Lord actually comes first in your life, one thing that will naturally flow from your life is justice. When you see a man who is not doing justly, you know where the problem is? God is not the first thing in his life. God is not. God is not. These are the things that by the time we come to the New Testament, you will see how they consolidate in the New Testament. These things they consolidated in the New Testament, they came out very, very clear. That is why you notice that the Lord said "I do not give any other commandment. I give you only just one commandment. What is the one commandment? That you should love one another." When Paul was explaining that commandment, what did he say in Romans chapter 13? Romans 13, I'm just trying to get some things very clear. Romans chapter 13 quickly. Are you there? I want to show you sense of justice. Romans chapter 13, are you there? I begin from verse 7. Please follow the reading. "Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs are due, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor." Is that not sense of justice? Let's read on. What did he say next? Verse 8. "Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law." Now let's now see what it is. Verse 9. "For the commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not murder,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not covet,' and if there is any other commandment at all that God has given, they are summed up in this saying, namely, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" Can we read that in something like NLT? Maybe it will bring it out clearer. Yes, verse 9. "For the commandment against adultery, and murder, and stealing, and coveting, and any other commandment, are all summed up in this one commandment: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" Are you following something? I'm trying to make you see. He said, "He has shown you, O man." You see, after you have made God the first thing in your life, if God is truly first, then you begin to check. How will you begin to know that God is number one in your life? What will flow out of you is that you will owe no man nothing. I remember this very sad incident of a brother. Do you know that even having unresolved matter, unresolved fight, malice, you understand me? Grudge. Ordinarily that with your wife at home does not qualify you to even preach, to go and minister. But this sad case was that the brother finished beating the wife. Not malice. Beat the wife. Left her at home. Not just small bit, a bit that the wife was bleeding by the mouth. Left her and then was standing before the people of God and was ministering. That man does not know God. He does not understand God. You see, God is not interested in sacrifices. There are sacrifices. Oh. I'm showing you God's heart for us people of God. The thing for us is that number one, nothing comes before Him in our life. Nothing. We should not be passionate about anything, we should not be ready to defend anything than more than we are ready to defend God. We should not be more concerned about an example than about pleasing God. You are an idol worshiper. Nothing should take our passion, nothing should replace our passion for God. That is what it means to return to God. And then, when that comes in, the demonstration of that that God have become number one in your life, the manifestation of that thing in your life is that you do justly. When you see a man who does not do justly, you know where the problem is? God is not the first thing in his life. God is not. God is not. When a man truly returns to God, that's what we are looking at in Micah. When a man truly returns to God, because that was His first argument with them. "Return to Me. I ought to be the first thing in your life. If something else becomes more important than Me, your understanding is darkened. If there is something that you can pursue, if there is something that you are so desperate about more than you are desperate for Me, then your judgment about life is not correct. If something weighs so much in your heart and is so important to you, and you are seeing that thing as something you cherish so much, and the way you cherish that thing in relation to God, that thing is more cherished than God in your attitude and in your outlook to life, then you are somebody who have left the Lord." You know one thing about the Lord? If He does not come first, He does not come at all. That's one thing you must understand about the Lord. If He doesn't come first, then He doesn't come at all. Go and check scriptures, you will find that consistently. When He was speaking to them in Exodus chapter 20, what did He first say? "Israel, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other god before Me." He must come first. Nothing must come before Him. You can find that making it is a consistent pattern with God. If you check it again with the commandment we just read, the greatest commandment: Love the Lord your God. Jesus was speaking in Matthew chapter 6: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then..." If you check it again with the cost for discipleship, the cost of discipleship. Remember the matter of the three people that wanted to follow the Lord? The first one said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid farewell to my people." Is there anything wrong with going to tell your people I'm going? There's nothing wrong. But what was wrong in that statement? He said "Let me first go and tell them." No. You are supposed to first be with Me, I will now tell you when to go and tell them. Another one said "Let me first go and bury..." You see, the matter of "first". That's the matter. There's nothing wrong, some people have come that it is wrong to bury your parents, those are not... that's not what the Lord was addressing. The matter was He said "Let me first". It was this matter of "first". Go and check all of those statements. Their requirement was "Let me first", "Let me first", "Let me first", "Let me first". When it looked like Isaac was becoming something so important to Abraham because that was the only line, you understand? What did God tell him? "Go and sacrifice Isaac, whom you love, on Mount Moriah." And when the boy, when the man carried him and wanted to kill him, God said "No, no, no, no. I just wanted to check who comes first." That is one thing with the Lord. Check it again with the three Hebrew boys. When they were to, when they were heating the fire and they were carrying them to the fire, did God intervene? Did God do anything? No. He was watching. Why was He watching? Wanting to see where they would prefer their life to the Lord. Because you must hate your life also. Because what was at stake was not their job, you remember. Was not their certificate, but that they would throw them into the fire. And the Lord was watching. And when the Lord saw that yes, they carried them and they threw them into the fire, God now showed up. He said no, the fire should not burn them. But a point was proved that they did not love their life unto death. So for the Lord, the matter of the Lord coming first is important. Now what we are saying to us as believers, get something clear. If the Lord actually comes first in your life, one thing that will naturally flow from your life is justice. When you see a man who is not doing justly, you know where the problem is? God is not the first thing in his life. God is not. God is not. You will notice something a people who are zealous of good works. Good works. See as we look at our life as believers, let us check. Is God first? If God is truly first, then begin to check. How many people are you owing something? Who is the brother that you are still owing forgiveness that you have not forgiven? Who is the person you are owing respect that you are not respecting? Who is the person you take from that you have not returned? He said, "Can you do justly?" Can you be just in your relationship to people? Can you check your life and check for justice? Can you check your life and check that you are just? Can you look inward? Because that's the first thing. But you will notice something a people who are zealous of good works. Good works. See as we look at our life as believers, let us check. Is God first? If God is truly first, then begin to check. How many people are you owing something? Who is the brother that you are still owing forgiveness that you have not forgiven? Who is the person you are owing respect that you are not respecting? Who is the person you take from that you have not returned? He said, "Can you do justly?" Can you be just in your relationship to people? Can you check your life and check for justice? Can you check your life and check that you are just? Can you look inward? Because that's the first thing. We'll pick up the matter there next week. Please let us pray this evening. What we are checking this evening is what is first in your life? The call for examination. You know when I was a student, let me give you a good example, the way the Lord helped me with this thing. Do you know that the Lord was opening my eyes to see that, "Look Wole, you can read five hours, five hours because you want to pass SOC 101. You are so passionate about passing. If you love Me more than this, then it means you can read six hours. You can do more for Me than for this thing." He said, "If for this thing that perish, sometimes we'll be feeling sleepy. You know what we will do? Some of our brethren, they'll put their leg inside ice water so that they will not sleep because they want to pass exam." The Lord will say, "Do you see what you are doing for things that can perish? If you can do this, why can't you do it for meditation? When you are feeling sleepy and you are meditating, why don't you put your leg too in this water so that you can be awake?" The Lord was trying to make us see what it means to love the Lord. And He was using physical things to teach us. Check, do you really love the Lord? Return to Me. Is there something that comes before the Lord? Is there something you are more passionate about than the Lord? You need to repent. That was what the Lord was first arguing with them. Micah 6:1 to 5. He said, "What is your problem you people of Israel? Tell Me My unrighteousness. Tell Me what I did wrong." And can you tell God what He had done wrong? Can you tell God why He is not the first thing in your life? What is it? Even that thing you are given to replace God, who gave it to you? Is it not God? That thing that is taking the place of God in your life, who gave it to you? If God have made you to die by the time you were born, would you be talking of education? If God did not give you money to buy handset or phone, will you be talking of Facebook or WhatsApp? If you are just struggling to live in life, will you be talking of Facebooking, of Whatsapping in the place of God? Why is it that the goodness of God is being taken for granted by the people of God? That is the matter God was raising with the people of Israel. Why are you taking My goodness for granted? Why are you using the good things I did for you against Me? I did a lot of things for you and you are using it against Me. Don't you see that your thinking is not correct? That's the first matter to address this evening. Address your heart. Brethren, address your heart. Check inward. Check inside. Look inward. In your secret heart, no rival throne must survive. Dethrone that thing now. Dethrone whatever is, dethrone whatever other throne apart from the throne of Jesus. What is competing with His love? What is competing with the love for God? Bring God back to His place. Can you say "Jesus I enthrone You. I proclaim You are King." Jesus I enthrone You. I enthrone You again in my life. I enthrone You again in my passion. I enthrone You again in my priority. I enthrone You again in my desires. Jesus You come first. Jesus You are first. Jesus I enthrone You. I love You with all my heart. That is the first and the greatest commandment. That I will love You with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind. I will love You with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind. Thank You, blessed Father. Blessed be Your name our God. Blessed be Your name. And the second is like unto it. Are there people you are owing something? Are you giving respect to who you should give respect to? Are you giving honor to who you should give honor to? Are you giving love to who you should give love to? Are you giving every man their due? Are you sure you are owing no man nothing? Are you sure you are giving everybody their due? That is the first way to walk before the Lord. The second is like unto it. You cannot separate it from it. It is truth, it follows after it. Can you search inward that I am owing no man nothing? I respect who I should respect. I love where I should love. I forgive men. I let go. These are things you must check to do justly. Thank You, eternal Father. Please come and close this meeting for us this evening. [Speaker 5] Jesus, we enthrone You. We proclaim You are King. Standing here in the midst of us. We lift You up with our praise. And as we worship build Your throne. And as we worship build Your throne. And as we worship build Your throne. Come Lord Jesus and take Your place. Father we are grateful unto Thee. Thank You Lord for Your word that You have spoken to us again. Thank You for revealing Yourself unto us. Establish us in this truth, O Lord, in the name of Jesus. Lord, we enthrone You in our heart again. We declare again that You take Your place. You be the first in our life. And help us O Lord to live in Your fear, to do all things O Lord in honor of You in the name of Jesus. Help us to know that there is no sacrifice, no service, no gift O Lord that is acceptable when it is outside obedience. Cause us O Lord to prioritize obeying You, Your command, Your counsel, and doing what You want us to do in Jesus name. Help us Lord to do justly. Let our life be full of good works. Help us in our everyday living to prioritize You Lord, to love You first and love our neighbor as ourselves. And to prioritize things O Lord that bring glory to You in everything we do. Even the things You have given us in all the things You have surrounded our lives with. Even with things that are legitimate, things that we can touch, we can feel, we can have, we have to do with. Please let them not take Your place in our heart in Jesus name. Help us to be deliberate and intentional about it that we will carefully watch over our lives and our ways in the mighty name of Jesus. Help us Father to be sober and thoughtful so that we will put the right thing in the right place in the mighty name of Jesus. Thank You Father for hearing us. Thank You for Your son that You have used. We pray O Lord that Lord Jehovah God forever and continually You will call fountain of living water to ever flow through him in the name of Jesus. Make both the speaker and us the hearer, doers of Your word Lord, in the mighty name of Jesus. Thank You Father for answer to our prayer. As we declare Your presence, go with us. In Jesus name we pray. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forever more. Amen. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever and ever. Amen. Praise the Lord! Hallelujah. [Speaker 1] This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in enriching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development and mission aid. Our regular activities are: Discipleship class every Monday 5:00 PM, Adolescent and Singles Club every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM, Marriage Forum second Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM, Family Life Seminars, regular school outreaches and everyday counseling. For further counseling you can reach us at our location Life Camp by the first bridge, Inere community opposite Rejoice filling station along Ije road, Akure, Ondo State Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are 08033861136, 07033613848. God bless you all.