Whenever I update my Bible affirmations things never go as planned. In the case of my Monday affirmations, I thought I’d only be making minor changes but it ended up being a major overhaul. I ended up going from twelve affirmations down to seven affirmations. My new affirmations are now more substantial and comprehensive than before and they tend to focus more on one aspect of my service to God, which is obedience. When you’re a “hammer” every problem winds up being a nail. When your number one priority in life is “witnessing for Christ” then most Bible scriptures are seen as commandments from God to share the gospel message of Jesus Christ. If you look at the fourteen verses that make up my Monday Bible affirmations they all either directly or indirectly command believers to witness for Christ. I have all these verses posted above my desk (plus the Lord’s Prayer) so obviously I’m consumed by them. I love these Bible verses because they exhort me to save lost souls for the kingdom of heaven. I read them all every morning for spiritual energy as I drink my pot of coffee, and before speaking to God in prayer.
We are God’s masterpiece of creation and the Bible is God’s love letter to us. The entire Bible from start to finish is the revelation of Jesus Christ, the son of God, coming off his throne in heaven to take on flesh and die on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. God loves us that much. The Old Testament is Jesus prophesied and the New Testament is Jesus fulfilled. There are over sixty prophecies about Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and they were all fulfilled while Jesus walked the earth. The Old Testament is good because it helps us understand who God is and the history of God’s relationship with man. But as believers, we’re under the blood covenant of Jesus Christ and we need to live in the New Testament (the epistles). If we live in the Epistles, we live in victory! I try to read the entire Bible every year and I don’t always succeed. However, I do read the New Testament every year without fail. Bible affirmations are prayers and confessing the word of God and our obedience to it creates the reality of salvation in our hearts, our minds, and our spirits. When we align with God and his word we’re saying yes to Almighty God; we will be obedient and witness for Christ.
MONDAY AFFIRMATIONS (continued):
Micah 6:8 – 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?
Ecclesiastes 12:13 – Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.
MY AFFIRMATION:
I will emulate Jesus Christ in all my actions through obedience to the commandments of God. I will read the Bible daily and pray to the Lord often to maintain my fear of God. I will witness for Christ all the days of my life. I rejoice in my ministry received from the Holy Spirit and my salvation from God!
My NKJV Bible (large print) is 1,678 pages long. It takes me all year to read it and then I just start all over again. Only 10% of Christians who attend church regularly have read the Holy Bible in its entirety. Make sure you’re not one of them. As believers, we’re commanded to read God’s word every day to stay in fellowship with the Lord. God talks to us through the pages of the Bible and we talk to God in prayer. We’re commanded to study God’s word for knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. It’s the only way we can find out who God is and what he requires of us. I’m old school. I love to read and study and I’m always reading multiple books at the same time. However, a lot of people aren’t like that. Many people today aren’t very patient. Everyone is in a hurry and they have places to go. Many people today also don’t like to read very much, and everyone wants the answers to life’s questions without having to search for them. You’re in luck. I’ve studied God’s word for twenty years and I’ve included in this Bible affirmation two Bible verses where God very succinctly tells us exactly what he requires of us. I read Micah 6:8 and Ecclesiastes 12:13 every morning over coffee so I’m crystal clear what God expects of me as I begin my day.
MICAH 6:8:
The prophet Micah wrote his Old Testament book around 700 BC. Micah spoke of a Messianic ruler over Israel coming for Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) and as far as I’m concerned Micah 6:8 is also a prophetic verse about Jesus Christ. Let’s look a the first statement of this verse:
“He has shown you, O man, what is good;”
The word “He” in this verse refers to the Messiah (i.e., Jesus). “O man” means God is addressing mankind in general. The word “shown” is the act of showing, and show means to make someone understand something by explaining it or doing it oneself (in person). “Good” means morally right or of a high standard. Jesus said only God is good. If we apply all our definitions to the first statement in Micah 6:8 it can be restated as follows:
“Jesus Christ has come down to earth from heaven, in person, to show or demonstrate to man what is morally right.”
God has demonstrated what is good by providing us with his written word, the Holy Bible, which is full of stories that show God doing what is morally right as an example for us to follow. God has shown us what is good through the 3 1/2 year ministry of his son Jesus Christ. Jesus is God in the flesh. All we have to do as believers is study God’s word and apply the wisdom God shares with us. As believers all we have to do is study the life of Jesus, where he went, what he said, and what he did. We need to absorb the teachings of Jesus: Life is not futile; failure is not fatal; and death is not final. Jesus Christ led a sinless life and we need to emulate what Jesus did in his life to the best of our ability. We can’t come close to duplicating Jesus’ sinless life but if we try our best to obey God we’ll live a life that will be pleasing in his sight on the last day.
“And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”
The second statement of Micah 6:8 gets down to the nitty gritty by telling us what God expects from us in this life he’s given us. Just is defined as, “morally right and fair” so justly is acting in a manner that is morally right and fair. God created us with an inbuilt sense of knowing the difference between right and wrong. If we lose our way we can always fall back on God’s word as our guide to determine right from wrong. The Bible is God’s wisdom so use it. To love mercy means to show compassion to those less fortunate than ourselves. The Bible says God is love and one of God’s greatest commandments is that we love one another. God often uses the words, “humble” and “walking with God”, to describe someone who is obeying his commandments. “To walk humbly with your God” means we are to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and obey the commandments of God. You can’t walk with God in fellowship if you’re not obeying the number one commandment of God which is to witness for Christ; sharing the gospel message of Jesus Christ with all nations and all people. In summary, God says we’re to emulate Christ by saving nonbelievers by our witness, we’re to love our fellow man, and we’re to obey God.
ECCLESIASTES 12:13:
The other Bible verse where God tells us what he expects is from the Old Testament book of Ecclestiastes, written by King Solomon around 935 BC. King Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived and probably the richest. After a long life, King Solomon came to the conclusion that everything in life is meaningless apart from a right relationship with God. A right relationship with God is where man lives in fear of God just like it says in this verse and where man also obeys the commandments of God. The word “fear” in the biblical context means to look upon God with awe, reverence, and deep respect. If we pray to God and read our Bible every day we maintain our “fear” of God. There are 129 direct commandments from God in the Bible (many are redundant). The only commandment from God that matters is sharing the gospel message of Jesus Christ with all nations and all people. That’s why it’s called the Great Commission. Saving nonbelievers to heaven through our witness for Christ is how we receive honor, glory, and riches from God on the last day. It’s worth noting that in both Micah 6:8 and Ecclesiastes 12:12 God stresses that we are to be obedient to the commandments of God; primarily witnessing for Christ to save souls to heaven.
As I wrap up the blog series on Bible affirmations I can’t stress enough how important it is to confess with our lips God’s word, and our obedience to the commandments of God. That’s what Bible affirmations are all about. It’s what we confess with our lips over and over that dominates our inner man. In the Bible, God says we can have whatever we ask for if we believe God will grant our prayers and we keep praying until God answers us. Our confession is the spiritual battleground where we meet God and also where we fight the devil. We saw that with the temptations of Jesus in the New Testament. We’ll never achieve the salvation plan God has for us unless we confess it before the throne of grace. So confess greatly and largely, to do “good works” before the Lord by persistently witnessing for Christ. Our Bible affirmations are how we confess largely and do great things for God. Our Bible affirmations are how we say yes to God. Our Bible affirmations are how we say “yes” to God. Our Bible affirmations are prayers of rejoicing!