The more we can shut down our vain defenses and open up to God's words, the more we can benefit from the leadership of God's Spirit.

There is a certain earthiness and directness present in the Hebrew Scriptures that is often missing in the New Testament. The New Testament was written in Greek and heavily influenced by the refinements of Greek culture. The patriarchs and kings of Israel, in contrast, are never "prettied up." Indeed, their foibles and faults supply numerous reasons for God to intervene human history.

In keeping with the Hebraic tradition of calling it like it is, Karin Bacon offers the following paraphrase of this Ephesians text:

"God's in charge, so shut up!"

Is there anyone who hasn't suffered through terrible cases of "foot in mouth" disease? Whether we've asked after…