Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

 2 Corinthians 4:18 ESV as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. We might assume the opposite of this verse. 'Seeing is believing', people often say. Things seen seem concrete; things unseen seem uncertain. 'Believing is seeing' that this life is passing away. There's an eternity to come. By his resurrection, Jesus offers us eternal life. The world says to 'eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die'. Jesus commands us to come to him and live. Even as his people, we can easily get distracted. We're to fix our eyes on Jesus. He didn't let pleasures or pain distract him from his mission. Neither should we. 'Everlasting God, please help us to get our priorities right. May we look to you, not this fading world. For your honour we pray, amen'.

 Matthew 6:3 ESV But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,  In Jesus's days, just like nowadays, people liked fanfare when they were charitable. They liked getting recognition for their generosity. The reward for people like that is that others are impressed by them.  On the contrary, Jesus commands a 'cloak and dagger' approach to giving. If we want reward in heaven, we shouldn't be looking for accolades on earth. We're not even to be all self congratulatory. I'm reminded of the widow and her mite. The rich people put their sizeable tithes in the offering boxes, but the widow only had two small copper coins. God had more regard for her giving everything than the rich giving the bare minimum. As the song goes, 'not what you give, but what you keep, is what the King is counting'. We're to be prepared to give everything for the One who gave everything for us. Jesus died for us; we're to sacrificia...

 Psalm 143:8 ESV   Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. We don't trust in God in some stoical sense. We don't just grit our teeth and hope for the best. We want to hear in the morning of God's unfailing love. A great way of starting each day well is to be in God's word and prayer. That way we will hear in the morning of God's loving-kindness. It will set us up for our days. A great prayer to pray is for guidance. We can ask God to 'point us in the right direction' as it were. Not only so, but he leads us every step of the way. Every day it's good practice to lift up our souls to God. We're to ask him to help us be mindful of his love. We can seek his leading in whatever we're going through. 'Dear Father God, please lead us in the way we should go. We praise you for you unfailing love for us in Jesus, in his name, amen'.

 Joshua 1:9 ESV Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” When we think of God's commands, we might think of not murdering or committing adultery for example. This isn't just a negative prohibition here though. It is a positive call to action. God doesn't want us weak and cowardly. He wants us strong and courageous. The new testament goes as far as to say that the cowardly won't inherit eternal life. There's no need to be frightened and dismayed if we're mindful of God's presence with us. Joshua was going to take over Canaan. Israel was punching above its weight; yet with God they were invincible. We are called to make Christ known to an unbelieving and hostile world. God's charge to Joshua is ours too. 'With Christ in the vessel' we don't have to fear the storms of life. 'Awesome God, thank you that we don't need to be weak, co...

 Romans 12:21 ESV  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Our gut reaction when someone does evil to us is to do evil back to them- with interest! The problem is that when we do so, we're allowing ourselves to be overcome by evil. We should leave revenge to God. Nowadays, a common response to perceived evils is to 'ghost' or to 'cancel' someone. The Apostle Paul seems to suggest that that's probably not the best reaction. Instead, we should strive to do good to those who do evil to us. Elsewhere we're told to feed and water our enemies. In so doing well metaphorically 'heap burning coals' on them. We make them feel guilty about their evils towards us. Jesus is the ultimate example of this verse. He seemed to be overcome by evil at the cross. Yet at the resurrection he overcame evil with hope for all who trust in him. 'God, please help us to overcome evil with good. Thank you that you have, in Christ crucified, in whose name we a...

 2 Peter 3:9 ESV The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.  Many people scoff at the idea that Jesus will return. It's been 2,000 years and he still hasn't. Yet with God a thousand years is like a day: he's everlasting. The Apostle Peter gives one of the main reasons Jesus doesn't return yet. Once Jesus returns there'll be no opportunity for salvation. So God is waiting for everyone to be saved who he has appointed for such a blessing. This fact means that we as God's people should be busy about working for Jesus in making him known. Then others can come to faith in him. It's amazing that God would choose to use us to fulfil his purposes. God isn't some sadistic, vindictive person who wants us all to burn in hell. He doesn't want anyone to perish. Yet he respects our decisions if we reject him. 'God, we're glad of you...

 Proverbs 18:24 ESV A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Having several hundred Facebook 'friends' is meaningless if only a few dozen bother to turn up to your own funeral! Fair weather friends are as common as muck. You get to know your true friends when you go through storms in life. Rich people are popular, because people want to get a taste of their riches. Yet if they came to ruin, their companions would disappear. We need a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Jesus is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. He is a friend of sinners. He didn't come for self-righteous people but to call sinners to repentance. If we repent, confess and renounce our sins, we make friends with Jesus as our Saviour and Lord. He will never let us down. He's more faithful than the closest brother. 'Dear Lord, please befriend us with your love. We're grateful for your friendship through all the changing scenes o...

 Ephesians 5:1 ESV Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.  'Imitation is the highest form of flattery.' Children tend to imitate their parents, for better or worse. We are to imitate our heavenly Father. What would it look like for us to imitate God? God is love personified. So we would be defined by love. Love isn't just a mushy feeling, some indefinable 'love is love'. Love isn't just whatever we want it to be. 1 Corinthians 13 is one of the greatest definitions of love. One of the several aspects of love in 1 Corinthians 13 is that it never fails. So if it fails, it wasn't love. We often fail, but ultimately we will prevail if we trust in the love of God for us in Christ crucified on our behalf. 'Father God, may we imitate you, and so be defined by love. We praise you for your love for us in Christ crucified, in whose name we pray, amen'.

 Psalm 37:4 ESV Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. This verse isn't a lottery ticket. We don't delight in the Lord as the means to an end of getting a private jet or something! God isn't the means to an end: he is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. If we delight ourselves in the Lord, he himself will be the desire of our heart. So God will give us of himself. By his Spirit he will come to dwell within us. I like that the Psalmist says God will give us the desires in the plural of our hearts. So if we desire for people to delight themselves in the Lord, God will answer that. We're to seek first God's kingdom, and he'll provide everything we need. We may be the answer to our own desires. If we desire for people to delight in the Lord, then let us call for them to do so. Let's encourage people to put their trust in Jesus. 'Dear God, please prove the truth of this verse in our lives. May we delight in y...