Today we are challenged to walk humbly with God as we follow the ultimate example of our Ultimate Example.

Access PDF notes to teachings from: bit.ly/PDFNotes

Watch FB Live & see teaching notes on our FB page: facebook.com/fellowshipofmadison 

Check out our webpage: FOM.life (including over 400 teachings - audio & video).

Bible Translation: NIV (New International Version) & LEB (Lexham English Bible)

Micah 3:9–12 (LEB)

Hear this, O rulers of the house of Jacob and leaders of the house of Israel, those detesting justice and perverting all that is right, he who builds Zion with blood and Jerusalem with wickedness. Its rulers judge for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money. But they lean on Yahweh, saying, “Is not Yahweh in our midst? Disaster will not come upon us.” Therefore on account of you Zion will be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem will be a heap of rubble, and the temple mount as a high place in a forest.

Arrogance, disobedience, and insincerity is going to bring total destruction to Jerusalem. God communicated the same warnings through Isaiah around the same time, BUT…look at this word of hope.

Isaiah 66:2b (NIV) These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.

Zephaniah encourages those facing judgment with these words.

Zephaniah 2:3 (NIV) Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD's anger.

James 4:6–10 (NIV)

“God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” [Prov 3:34] Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Those who humble themselves TURN from sin and change their ways.

Walking humbly with God means: Living in Obedience & Seeking God’s Presence

Jesus was FULLY GOD and Jesus was also FULLY MAN (1 Person with 2 Natures)

Jesus - Fully God and Fully Man

John 5:21–29 (NIV)

For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.

Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 

For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And He has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.

Jesus is the righteous judge of all people, the One who now raises the spiritually dead and Who will one day raise the physically dead. 

What if the MOTIVE behind what everything we do and say was to please God? 

Prayer was the regular practice of Jesus.

Luke 5:16 (NIV) But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

 The example of Jesus impacted His disciples.

Luke 11:1 (NIV) One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When He finished, one of His disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

Do you take time to pray throughout the day? Do YOU make time to get alone and pray? 

Praying is thanking God for who He is & what He does; asking God to meet our needs & the needs of others.

John and Jesus meditated on the truths of Scripture (which tell us who God is and what He expects of us). So too, this was the practice of the unnamed author of PSALM 119.

Psalm 119:97–105 (NIV) Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts. I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey Your word. I have not departed from your laws, for You Yourself have taught me. How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

Does that sound like your appreciation of God’s Scriptures? Do you make a regular practice of meditating on and obeying God’s words found in the Scriptures? 

IF walking humbly with God means: Living in Obedience & Seeking God’s Presence...

Are WE walking humbly with our God…or are we more focused on other people, places, or things?

Write down your prayers THANKING GOD and ASKING GOD.

Read 1 chapter a day. Write down insights you gain and questions you have. SHARE with another Christian. 

Go to bed on time. Set an alarm. Make it happen!

Commit your day to God & keep your eyes open for opportunities to obey God!

Be an example to others & quit waiting on someone else to lead.

Jonathan Edwards (American preacher and theologian in 18th century) “Resolved: That every man should live to the glory of God. Resolved second: That whether others do this or not, I will.”