Micah 5:4-5a He will stand and shepherd his flock
in the strength of the LORD,
in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness
will reach to the ends of the earth.
And he will be their peace.

This passage really makes me want to study Hebrew, because in English the first line of verse 5 is generally rendered as the very moving, “And He will be their peace,” while this Japanese translation, that is usually quite reliable, has the very pedestrian, “Peace will come in the following way.” It is interesting to run across familiar Scriptures that turn out to have been mistranslations. There aren’t so many, but they do crop up from time to time. That’s why it is important to approach the Bible with good scholarship, certainly, but especially with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. After all, He’s the Author! That said, this clearly Messianic passage has a lot to tell us. It is one of the most unquestionably Messianic passages in the whole Old Testament, since verse 2 was quoted by the scribes in Jerusalem when King Herod inquired where the Messiah was to be born. (Matthew 2:3-6) To me the most significant thing about this verse is that it says that Christ would operate, not in His own strength, but in the strength of the Lord, that is, Father God. We often lose sight of the fact that Jesus operated on this earth as a human being filled with the Holy Spirit. He indeed laid aside all of His own power and accepted our condition, utilizing only that which the Father makes available to us. That is what Paul was talking about in Philippians 2:6-11. Until we grasp that, we will limit by unbelief what we allow God to do through us. Many people have choked on what Jesus said in John 14:12: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” We can’t believe He really meant it! However, Jesus, though fully God, indeed became fully man, not only to take the penalty for all of man’s sins, but to demonstrate the relationship that God wants to have with every one of His children. When we really grasp that revelation we will stop holding back from what God wants to do in and through us.

This is something the Lord has been saying to me with increasing strength over the years, though I can’t say I have operated in it very fully at all. Right now I’m reading Hosting the Presence, by Bill Johnson, and it’s a strong and clear encouragement in this truth. I’ve got a lot of room to grow in my own compliance, but I don’t want to limit this to me; I want all the believers to live this way! This is a truth that if misunderstood can lead to major train wrecks, so I’ve got to rely on the Holy Spirit every step. This is NOT saying that we are to run around like Christian Harry Potters, working miracles right and left on our own whim. It IS saying that we are to come to such a level of intimacy with God that He is completely unhindered in operating through us. When that happens, His Name is indeed hallowed and His kingdom comes, because His will is done in and through us for His glory.

Father, You know how much I hunger for this, and You also know I don’t hunger enough. I ask You to rearrange my priorities so that I will get rid of everything that comes between me and full intimacy with You. Help me be the person, the child, that You want me to be, for Your purposes to be accomplished on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!