PASSIONATE PURSUIT...WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT

Micah 3:1-7

And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?
Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from their bones;
Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the cauldron.
Then shall they cry unto the LOrd, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings. 
Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not in their mouths, they even prepare war against him.
Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.
Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.
The Lord God speaks through His prophet Micah to address His chosen. He says hear what the spirit of the Lord has to say O heads of Jacob. He addresses Jacob as the natural tribe before the promise has come. He has not yet been endowed with the spirit of God. Then he calls upon the princes to signify the royal priesthood and the chosen with promise. The Lord asks the question, Is it not for you to know judgment? He has given His chosen the ability to judge righteously with no respect of people/person.
2 Chronicles 19:6-10
And said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the LOrd, who is with you in the judgment.
Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.
Moreover in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set of the Levites, and of the priests, and of the chief of the fathers of Israel, for the judgment of the Lord, and for controversies, when they returned to Jerusalem.
And he charged them, saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear of the Lord, faithfully, and with a perfect heart.
And what cause soever shall come to you of your brethren that dwell in your cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and judgments, ye shall even warm them that they trespass not against the LOrd, and so wrath come upon you, and upon your brethren: this do, and ye shall not trespass.

We have been privileged with access to the living Word. The word He has dispensed that we rightly divide the word of truth. Yet our actions show that we hate good and love evil. These things ought not be so. We cause our own selves to perish by not taking heed to the truth and walking therein. Judgment starts at the household of faith. He is addressing corrupt leadership who have refused to execute righteous judgment. 
Jeremiah 5:1-3
Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.
And though they say, The Lord liveth; surely they swear falsely.
O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
The Lord has said woe unto them who call good evil and evil good. Woe unto them who call sweet bitter and take bitterness for sweet. There are those who are attempting to take advantage of a people who appear outwardly to be in a position of weakness. However, the Lord has simply allowed certain circumstances to occur so that His people, who are called by His name, will repent and return! He addresses corrupt leadership to say His people will not be placed in their cauldron where they can eat of their flesh. The Lord, their God, is looking past their faults to meet their needs for His love and truth and faithfulness. Those in positions of authority, who are utilizing their authority with wicked intent, the Lord is saying, there will come a day when they will cry to Him, and He will not hear them. He will reign judgment upon them, and He will have them call upon the living God, and though they call upon Him, Hee will not hear them. There is an accountability for those prophets who cause the people to err. There are those who speak judgments as the mouth of God, but it is not righteous judgment. There are those who operate in hypocrisy, and they do not righteously judge by the spirit of truth. The Lord states that the Spirit searches the deep things and discerns the mind of the Lord. 

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The true prophets will move in the spirit of wisdom, understanding, and fear of the Lord. However, the prophets that bite with their teeth and take judgment into their own hands will the Lord render judgment. Woe unto them that cry peace, peace to the people of God but do not put into their mouths, meaning they don’t speak the true Word with fear and with the fruits of the spirit. Therefore, the Lord will stop using them as His mouthpiece. They will not have a light to know the mind of the spirit. I have seen so many in leadership abuse their authority towards their flock. They have expectations that even Jesus doesn’t have. People get saved and surrender their lives to Christ, and then the leaders expect change overnight. They beat the people with the Word without teaching the way of truth and holiness. They operate in the character of man, denying the power of God, and the Lord from such, turn away. They will be ashamed for the misuse of the gift of God. Know the Lord that He is to be feared, reverenced, yet he is gentle and tender and full of mercies saying come boldly to the throne of grace.
#STAYTHECOURSE #FINISHTHERACE #ENDURE