Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

 Ephesians 6:12 ESV For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.  The Christian life isn't a walk in the park. It's a battle with demonic forces. Alone, we're helpless against the devil's schemes. Thankfully, we don't need to battle in our own strength. In Christ, we have the victory. He equips us with all we need to overcome. We need to put on the whole armour of God to be able to take a stand in the evil hour. God provides everything necessary to be victorious. We just need to trust him. Even though God is sovereign, he has ordained that satan has real power. If we're not in Christ, we're in thrall to the devil. We must break free in the power of Jesus. 'Sovereign God, please help us in the battle, to fully rely on you. Please give us the victory, in Christ's name, amen'.

 Jeremiah 31:25 ESV For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.” I'm sure almost all of us long for satisfaction. I'm reminded of the famous CS Lewis quote where he says that if we have a longing this world can't satisfy, we can reckon we were made for another world. Saint Augustine similarly said our hearts are restless until they find their rest in God. Many people assume that to follow God is burdensome. Yet he doesn't want to weight us down with rules and regulations. He wants to set us free from the condemnation we deserve for breaking his laws. As Jesus said, 'come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest'. This doesn't mean to say we can be lazy. Spiritually though we don't have to strive for God's acceptance. Instead of seeking to earn God's acceptance, we can rest in his love. This life may be hard, but spiritually, we can relax. In eternity, we will enter into glorious re...

 Romans 8:18 ESV  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.  This present age in which we live is characterised by suffering. Some of it is self inflicted, others aren't deserved. All have our sinful rebellion against God at its root. The Apostle Peter tells us that suffering is inevitable. However, may we suffer for what is right rather than to suffer for our wrongdoing. If we get what we deserve, we have no rights to complain. If we get what we don't deserve we can be thankful we're counted worthy to suffer for the sake of our Saviour. Thankfully, suffering isn't the end of the story. There is glory to come. If we didn't have faith in God and his grace, we could only anticipate suffering. Because of his goodness to us in Christ, we can anticipate a glorious eternity with him. The Christian life rarely seems glorious. To deny ourselves, take up our crosses and to follow Christ isn...

 Mark 16:15 ESV And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Jesus had defeated death. What he said here wasn't to be taken lightly. This is a command to be obeyed. We may well ask whether we shouldn't throw our pearls to swine or what's sacred to dogs. Yet we don't know where people are at spiritually until we proclaim the good news to them. If people violently react to the Gospel, at least we've done our job of telling them the truth. Saint Francis of Assisi famously echoed this verse when he said 'preach the gospel to all creation; where necessary use words'. Of course, our lives need to match our words. Yet words are always necessary. We can only receive the good news of salvation through Christ crucified through hearing the words of the gospel. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. He is Truth personified. 'Heavenly Father, may we obey Christ's call to proclaim the good news to all creation. Forbid t...

 Isaiah 1:17 ESV learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. That we're told to learn to do good shows that goodness doesn't come naturally to us. If we have to seek justice that means it isn't always immediately apparent. If oppression needs correcting, it is sadly all too prevalent. In the context, Isaiah was rebuking the Jewish people for being unjust. Orphans and widows were being oppressed. Sadly, every culture has plenty of examples of injustice. There was no welfare state as such in ancient Judah. Families were meant to look out for each other. If people lost parents or spouses, their wider families/communities were meant to step in. Isaiah wasn't just telling his hearers to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. In the very next verse God promises to wash away his people's sins. All we need to do is to trust in him. 'God of justice, may we be godly and seek to do good to those in need. Fo...

 Psalm 119:114 ESV You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word. What do we hope in? Family, friends, work? They'll all let us down, but God never will. God's word is trustworthy. He is faithful. We can take him at his word. For much of his young adulthood, David was on the run from murderous king Saul. Even as a fugitive, he had a testimony of God's faithfulness. The Lord was his hiding place. Sometimes, David got found out by Saul. Even in those instances, God protected him. The Lord was his shield. ''Sovereign Lord, may David's testimony be our own. For the honour of your name, amen'. 

 Matthew 11:28 ESV  Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  We might assume that if something is laborious and burdensome it's a bad thing. Yet God can bring good out of bad. Jesus himself will have laboured for much of his life as a carpenter, and was heavy laden with the cross on which he was crucified.  For the joy set before him, Jesus endured the cross, scorning its shame, and is now at the right hand of God the Father. When we find work hard and life gets heavy, we are to come to Jesus. If we do so, he promises to give us rest. Jesus isn't just on about physical labour. He's hinting at being burdened by our sins. He doesn't want us dragging around our guilt and shame at our wrongdoing. He wants us to leave them at the foot of the cross. When people think of religion, they think of laborious, burdensome rules. When we think of Jesus, we can consider the one through whom we can have a relationship with God. He didn't come to pu...

 Luke 9:23-24 ESV  And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.  These are counterintuitive words. Jesus is calling his followers to a life of self denial and self sacrifice. He's telling us we're to be prepared to die for him.  Many of Christ's followers down the ages have literally been martyred for their faith in him. All of us must die to self every day. We need to crucify our flesh with its desires. Jesus seems to state the opposite of what we might expect. We might think self preservation is a prudent thing. He calls it spiritual suicide. On the other hand, if we do die to self for Jesus's sake, we will be saved. We're not saved by our obedience. Yet if we are truly saved, we will be obedient to our Lord and Saviour. 'Almighty Lord, may we obey you as we ought. Help us to deny ourselves an...

 John 20:21 ESV Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”  To see someone come back from the dead must be pretty terrifying. You'd be excused for thinking he was a ghost. Thankfully, Jesus gave peace to his fearful followers. Even us today can know peace, because Christ has conquered death. The peace he gives us isn't passive though. It's not about us sitting in the lotus position and emptying our minds. As the Father sent Christ, so he sends us to the  world to make him known. As Jesus laid down his life for us, so we ought to be willing to lay down our lives for him. To stand up for Jesus might invite conflict, but we can still know peace with God in the midst of it. Our purpose in life is to make Christ known. As he has saved us, so we are to call others to repentance and faith in him. This is our calling and meaning. 'Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Christ for our salvation. May we ever live to make hi...