My favorite verse for answering that question is in Micah 6:8. It is somewhat of a reiteration of I Samuel 15:22 in that they both speak to God's desire for obedience over a multitude of sacrifices to cover transgressions.

Micah lists three things that he says are not only good, but required of us by the Lord. They aren't really all that difficult. There are no stringent rules to follow or ceremonies to conduct in order to please Him, and every one of them is within the power of each of us to do. Whether or not we choose to is up to us, and the consequences, for good or for bad, will ours to endure.

The first is to do justly. No matter what you're doing you need to weigh your actions in the light of what is right in the sight of God. Much as a judge in a court room is charged with the duty of listening to the arguments and making a proper decision, so we all face the same process many, many times a day. Some of these quandries are solved rather quickly, within a split second, others we agonize over for weeks, or even months.

The clerk accidentally gives you five dollars extra change - do you keep it or give it back? An old woman falls in the street - do you stop to help her up or continue on your way as though you never saw her? You open your car door and the winds sweeps it out of your hand and puts a sizeable ding in the fender of the car next to yours in the parking lot - do you leave a note or just drive off?

Those are examples of decisions made in a mere instant with virtually no consideration. There really isn't any thought process that happens, no conversations or discussions with yourself. You do one thing or the other. Arguably these are the types of decisions that will reveal your true, base personality. Is your mind is focused more on yourself and what you have to do to accomplish your goals without interruption, distraction, or inconvenience? Or are you always looking outward and upward? You don't have to be like Superman, scouring the city for some good deed to perform for someone. I'm just talking about everyday situations you find yourself in. When faced with a choice where you don't have time to think about your options. These are the times when you're going to fall back on who you really are, what your world-view is, what your your values truly are.

My wife is probably the greatest example of this. If she sees someone with a problem or in need, she prays feverishly over it and approaches the situation from every possible angle to come up with some way to help. To do something. To do the right thing. It's second nature to her. She doesn't even think about it. A homeless man is rummaging through our recycle bins and she drags six trash bags full of cans and plastic bottles out of the garage and overloads his bicycle. A woman who sells tamales, tacos, taquitos, and (my favorite) chimichangas door to door comes back a little more frequently that she used to. She never sends the woman away, but always buys something of what she has to sell, then frequently gives her a ride to the bus stop or her next destination. She buys virutally nothing for herself, but more than doubles her grocery bill to help people who have a greater need rather than buying a Coach purse or expensive clothes and shoes.

People in the military, law enforcement, fire and rescue, and medical professions, just to name a few, train constantly. They do that because it's been born out in some very tragic circumstances that when someone is faced with a stressful situation requiring split-second decisions, they will fall back on their training. At first it starts as a positive effort, a proactive act of will. Professionals repeat the same scenarios over and over again so that when faced with a crisis, or a live-or-death situation, they'll know what to do and instinctively do it, hopefully flawlessly.

Your everyday life is really not so different. You have to start by consciously thinking before you speak or act. Down inside even the most wicked people know the difference between rightn and wrong. Thieves, murderes, vandals, robbers, thugs all run from the police because they know they've done something wrong and don't want to face the penalty for it. A person who has an affair on his or her spouse hides it because it's wrong and the consequences will likely. When confronted a person will lie because telling the truth could cost them.

When it comes to making a choice about what your are going to do in any given situation must be an active, conscious act of will that you will do the right thing. That you will give back extra change or help an old lady get up from the ground. Eventually, after a period of time, it will form into a habit and you won't have to think about doing it.

You need to train. Daily. Hourly. Every opportunity that comes before you. Do what's right and just. You're going to face pressure from your friends, family, co-workers, peers, and strangers that it's not the smart thing to do. Sometimes it doesn't appear to be. But if it's the right thing to do, then stand on your convictions and stand up to the nay-sayers.

The second thing Micah tells us to do is to love mercy. This one can be a bit harder to accomplish. I thought that this was an original thought, but it turned out that it's been said many times before I thought of it. "Grace is getting something you don't deserve, Mercy is not getting what you do deserve."

Mercy starts at the top, with God and Christ Jesus. We are all worthy of death and everlasting torment in the fiery pits. But in His infinite mercy, Jesus paid the price for our transgressions. Our sins against God, no matter how small you may think yours might be, are far greater than any wrong anyone else has committed against you. The mercy shown to us is forgiveness and a promise of eternal life with Him, free of the worries, cares, illness, and misery that permeates this mortal life.

When I'm standing in a church listening to one person tell me how wonderful it is, how eloquent the preacher speaks, and beautifully the choir sings, then an instant later someone else points to a person and comments that he still owes her two thousand dollars, I sense the resentment and bitterness, and wonder where is the empathy, the sympathy, the forgiveness, or mercy.

John 9 is rich with lessons to be learned, but what I want to focus on is the disciples' reaction to the man who was born blind. (John 9:1-2). There was no compassion show for the man. They didn't asked Jesus to heal his blindness or offer the many and comfort. The disciples were nosing about the man's business, wondering why he was born blind.

We pray, even beg, for mercy for ourselves and our own good, but for too many of us that's as far as it goes. We neglect to extend that to others.

When we do harm to someone and ask to be forgiven, we expect that it will be so. When we're having financial difficulty and ask our creditors to make some adjustment to the payment schedule that will make it easier to weather the storm we want them to be cooperative and give us what we need to have. We screw something up at work and want the boss to give us a second chance. We ask God to spare the life of a loved one. We ask for so much and feel like we have the right to have our expectations me, yet we are unwilling to be forgiving, understanding, kind . . . merciful to others.

When you hold a grudge for some real or perceived crime against you, you're doing more harm to yourself than to the other person. You may hurt that person's feelings, but you're being poisoned by your unforgiveness, becoming more and more bitter as the resentment builds. All the while you're asking God to forgive you on a daily basis. How can you expect God to grant you forgiveness if you are unwilling to forgive others? Because He's God? Because he said, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighterousness."? (1 John 1:9) Because Christ died that our sins may be forgiven? (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

Like Sesame Street's Big Bird used to say, "One of these things just doesn't belong here!"

God ties his own forgiveness according to how we extend to others. (Matthew 6:14-15, Matthew 18:35, Mark 11:25-26) When you say the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) do you really mean "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors"? Do you want God to forgive you, show you the same measure of mercy, that you are willing to show anyone else? I would have to say that the vast majority of the people expect more from God than we are willing to practice ourselves.

If you bother to read what he said immediately following (Matthew 6:14-15) you'll see your duty concerning forgiving others.

Mercy comes in other forms, not just forgiveness, but it seems to me to be the most commonly neglected.

We're supposed to love mercy, embrace it, make it a part of our being. Like doing justly, it starts as an act if intentional will. Truly forgiving someone who has wronged you means never mentioning it again. You may not forget it, and it may take time to rebuild trust, but it means not harboring it in your heart. Mercy is also seeing a person in need, who we deem undeserving because he's a homeless drunk, and having the means and ability to help him, render aid and comfort. Mercy is withholding punishment or discipline to one who is deserving. Mercy is returning good for evil. Mercy is returning love for hate. Mercy is praying for those who seek to do you harm.

Mercy is closely tied to doing justly. 1 John 1:9 says that God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins. His forgiveness is His mercy. It is salvation from everlasting torment. Salvation we don't deserve because our own sin condemns us. It is mercy because it is freely given; it cannot be purchased at any price and he requires no recompense for it.That He is just means that it is right and proper for Him to do. He made a promise and He is faithful to keep it. Salvation through the death, burrial, and resurrection of Christ. If He were to deny it He would not be faithful and would do an injustice to His Son who suffered and died in our stead.

There is no conflict in our lead verse, which says in part, " . . . what doth the Lord require of thee . . .", and the statement that God does not require compensation for his mercy. While He expects a standard of behavior, your salvation is not dependent on it. There may be consequences, but your salvation is secure.

Philippians 2:3 is another of my favorite verses, and dovetails with the last part, which tells us to "walk humbly with your God."

That simple phrase is absolutely loaded. First of all we're told to walk with God. Not run ahead of Him, not lag behind Him, walk with Him.

There is a very important distinction made in the use of the word "with". You can find yourself lost deep in the darkest caves by anticipating what God has planned and moving ahead of Him. When you get so far ahead of God that you can no longer see Him, you won't know if He's taken another fork in the road. The same is true if you lag behind Him, put off tasks He would have you do. You won't know which road to turn on becuase you are no longer following Him. As you bumble along your way, trying to find that path that leads to the unknown goal, He may be merciful and allow you to stumble across the right path and resume your walk with Him.

Walking with God rather than apart from God keeps you close to Him. The closer you are the more likely you are to communicate with Him. You're going to talk to Him, God is going to talk back to you, and you're going to be more apt to listen to what He has to say. You're going to recognize His voice and trust him more and more. You're going to learn that listening to Him will help you guide your through the rough times, especially when desperation seeps in and you don't see any hope or way out. Those are the times when God really comes through and you know it's Him because there's no other way that you could have reached the end of the tunnel. It will also give you experience that you can use to praise God and help other people who are in a similar situation. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

When doing the right thing, the just thing, or the merciful thing is unpopular and turns your friends against you, walking with God will give you strength and courage. God already knows you. Walking with Him gives you the chance to get to know Him, and the deeper you know Him the greater your trust in Him will grow, which will result in a closer walk with your Father.

Walking with God will also make the prosperous times more rewarding as you give Him thanks and praise and share your gifts with those who need them. You won't have to go looking for them, the opportunities will come to you.

God doesn't generally drop what you need out of the sky, which is one of the reasons people don't see Him at work. They credit their good fortune to luck, being in the right place at the right time, being born under the right sign, or having the cards dealt just right. But God generally uses people to accomplish His works. (Luke 6:38) This includes you. He will use you. He has been gracious to you through others, and you should, in kind, be gracious to others. (Proverbs 19:17, Proverbs 22:9, Proverbs 28:27) When you give of the substance that God has given to you to those in need, God considers it a loan to Him, and He is faithful in His promise to repay that loan. Don't mistake His word for a formula to get rich. God promises that you will no lack what you need, not give you everything that you want.

There are rewards beyond your imagination that could be waiting for you in the simplest act of kindness. You could meet someone who could absolutely transform your life in ways you can't possibly imagine. Perhaps it's someone with incredible wisdom with sage advice about something going on in your own life that's troubling you. It could be someone with a business opportunity just when you need it most. You may have just met your best friend and someone you can count on when the chips are down. It could even be an angel. (Hebrews 13:2)

All this isn't to say that God doesn't perform miracles. I know that He does. He is at work. His angels are at work. We, my wife and I, have experienced both. These things I may expound upon at a later time. The point is to recognize God's mercy and grace in whatever form it comes in and grateful to Him, give Him praise. Read the gospels. Even when Jesus told people He healed or helped not to tell anyone, they couldn't contain it and had to tell everyone. That doesn't mean necessarily standing on the street and shouting at the top of your lungs at the corner Wall & Broad in New York, unless you feel the urge to do it. But you can use it to encourage, uplift, console, and bless other people. When those opportunies come to you, and they will, you need to learn to recognize them and act on them.

In Acts 8:29-30 the Spirit of God command Philip to to and speak to the Enthiopian who was reading from the scripture. Philip didn't just saunter over to the guy, he ran to join him. He was eager to be about God's business. That's someone who was walking with God, heard and recognized His voice, was obedient, and led someone to the saving knowledge of Christ, the greatest of rewards.

Walk with God. Don't separate yourself from him. God will not be ignored and His works will not go unaccomplished. Should you lose your way because you think you know a better route, a shortcut, a smoother, easier road, He may choose another person to take your place, likely someone less capable than you, to achieve His goals and make His power manifest through that person. (Judges 4:4-9 & 17-21)

Next time we'll talk about my opening paragraph, regarding churches, Bibles, Bible studies, and personal devotionals.