Here’s a bit of a excerpt from a paper I’m finishing right now. I would love your comments.
-lisa
The Rich Language of “walk humbly”
In verse eight, it is fascinating how God uses the term (we read in English) “walk right” or “walk humbly.” In this apex verse, God asks his people to act as he does, and “live carefully” (Barker, 114). To walk with God implies constant prayer and watchfulness, and possession of a familiar yet “humble” communion with God. It includes both passive and active obedience towards God, their Sovereign (Fausset). While actions show the condition of the heart, worship is the outward expression of humility. One must love God and neighbor thoroughly in word and deed. For God, this renders sacrifices as secondary, or even unnecessary (Smith, 51). This Just God takes his people into kind consideration through protective laws, and in honoring them (among many other Just things). In that fashion, he expects that Israel’s “living carefully” includes Social Justice and true religion (113). Like the command of Deuteronomy 10:12-13, the people should act out of justice, not just talk about justice (115). Through the method of God’s prophetic message, God reveals the history of his Just and Merciful actions toward Israel. God asks of them that which stem from Justice–the attribute–that applies directly to God himself.
Bibliography:
Barker, Kenneth L. and Waylon Bailey. Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah. The American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman, 1999.
Fausset, A.R. Robert Jamieson, and David Brown. The Book of Micah: Commentary: Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871. Public domain. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/jamieson/jfb.i.html. Accessed 2/20/10.
Smith, Ralph L. Micah-Malachi. Word Biblical Commentary 32. Waco: Word, 1984.
When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.
Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.
Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.
My favorite book for learning how to understand God’s Word “How to Read the Bible for all it’s Worth”. This book changed how I read the Bible and understood it, as well as gave me a better appreciation for it, and the God of it.
Here’s an edited review of the book, by Terry Akers:
How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth guides readers toward a better handling of Scripture by teaching them how to avoid misinterpretations through the proper use of context. Throughout the book, the importance of reading a passage holistically, according to the overall content of Scripture, is emphasized. Bad exegesis and quirky doctrines often result when a particular biblical statement or passage is taken out of cultural, historical or theological context and emphasized apart from the whole of revelation.
The book’s introduction explains: “The aim of good interpretation is not uniqueness; one is not trying to discover what no one else has ever seen before. Interpretation that aims at, or thrives on, uniqueness can usually be attributed to pride (an attempt to ‘out clever’ the rest of the world), a false understanding of spirituality (wherein the Bible is full of deeply buried truths waiting to be mined by the spiritually sensitive person with special insight), or vested interests (the need to support a theological bias, especially dealing with texts that seem to go against that bias).”
How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth demonstrates how the Bible must be read theologically—through the lens of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ—rather than in overly literalistic or idealistic ways. By remaining safely within the “middle swath of orthodoxy” and learning to listen in humility to God’s revelation, Bible reading is shown to be not merely informative, but transformative.
One of the most helpful writers for me in understanding God’s heart, and healing from wounds inflicted by other Christians, has been Philip Yancey.
I’m offering a wonderful book by him about seeing God through the life and ministry of Jesus called, The Jesus I Never Knew. This is a great giveaway!
What an eye-opening book this was for me, and a great blessing. To win a (new) copy, and the other goodies shown, guess the number of pretzels in the ziplock shown in the photo below. The first one to guess correctly wins, or the one to come the closest first.
Prize: Yancey book, coffee, and disposable tooth cleaners!
I’ve been enjoying Chad’s blog, and social media shout outs for a while now; so I was quite excited, when this busy guy agreed to guest post here. It’s a joy for me to share things with readers here, including people.
Chad Estes
Chad is a legend. Even “Biblical Learning Blog” (at http://www.biblecollege.org) included his blog, Captain’s Blog, in their list of Top 50 Ecumenical Blogs. So, it’s really an honor to have him here.
When I asked if he would be a guest blogger, Chad mentioned that wanted to share his heart, and I hope you soak in his contribution.
Leave your comments, afterwards, and show him what a polite readership I am fortunate enough to have by visiting his site, and to say “thank you.”
Chad, Thank you!
I Want You to Want Me
-Chad Estes
What we learned on the schoolyard playground seems to hold true in life. Those with the mad skills are the ones in demand. Those who can’t keep their eye on the ball, or catch an easy pop fly are picked to play right field and bat at the end of the order. This peer rejection is like the sting of a wasp, and unless you get off the field, you will probably get hurt by the same stinger, over and over again.
Adults play this same game. We want to team up with those people who benefit us, and help us win. We do this in business and in social circles. We even do this in church. Those on the outside of our margins–because of divorce, financial status, education levels, or addictive behavior issues, maynot be the first ones invited to our home fellowships. It isn’t their children that we invite to spend the night with our children.
But actually my thoughts about rejection aren’t about being picked last; it is the rejection that comes from being picked first.
What?
Yes, there is also a rejection issue with being picked first on a team because, more often than not, you are being picked for what you can do instead of who you are.
This is acceptable as long as you can keep up with the performance levels, but if your stats ever start to stumble, so will your value to the team.
It would be nice if this didn’t happen in Christian circles but unfortunately, it does.
Many churches and ministries recruit to a position based on a person’s perceived contribution value (Do they have good speaking skills? Can they lead a team? Do they agree with my direction? Will they serve this vision?) like it was written on stone tablets. But, when recruiting is all based on performance there will be a day when those skills will slip, or someone, even more qualified will come along. And when our positions are challenged, we may resort to some sort of spiritual steroids to help keep us on the field of play. The bad thing is these unnatural growth hormones actually stunt spiritual development It’s a cheap trick.
Today, I had a meeting where I was being recruited because of my ministry skills. But, as I drove home, I realized I was actually feeling the sting of rejection even though I’d been offered a position. The recruiter wasn’t really interested in me as much as she was interested in what I could do for her. She doesn’t really know me, nor does she know my heart. And unfortunately with her priorities all about her vision, she never will take the time to know what my heart is about. And so though it is a heady offer, it is a path that leads to performing, pretending, and pain.
My real value is my heart, not my skills. The skills are deteriorating with age. My heart is in the process of being renewed.
What I really want out of this life is to be picked by someone to be on their team, or be their friend not, because I’m a good player, or that I fit a niche, but simply because they want to be with me.
How about you?
Which rejection hurts you more—the kind from not being included, or the kind from being selected for performance-based reasons?
What do you suggest are ways to build relationships outside of these judgments and expectations?
