Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

 1 Corinthians 3:7 ESV  So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.  The Corinthian church was tempted to idolise Christian leaders. Christians to this day struggle with the same tendency. Some favoured Paul, or Apollos, or Peter. The Apostle Paul rebuked the Corinthian church for their 'cult of personality' tendencies. More than sexual immorality, this divisiveness was the primary issue in that church. It's the first issue Paul addressed. Paul sought to realign the Corinthians' priorities. He had planted God's word in their hearts; Apollos had watered it. Yet it was God who gave the increase. A farmer doesn't pat himself on the back for the harvest. He's not passive- he still plants and waters. Yet he gives the Lord thanksgiving for the growth. 'God our Lord, we praise you for those who plant and water your word in our lives. We give you the glory for your work through them. Please forgive any idolatrous te...

 Romans 10:13 ESV  For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” The Lord Jesus Christ is the means of salvation for us. Nonetheless, unless we call upon him, we will not be saved. Of course, we can't just call out his name in vain and expect to be saved. True worshippers do so in spirit and in truth. Jesus isn't just a mantra, a 'get out of hell free card'. He is our Lord and worthy of our worship. A common question is 'what about those who've never heard of Jesus'? That's why it's so important for us as his people to make him known. Before his first advent people looked forward to his arrival; now we look back, and forward to his return. When the Lord returns it will be too late to call upon him for salvation. Today is the day of salvation. Tomorrow isn't guaranteed. 'O Lord God, we call upon you for salvation, in sincere faith that you will answer us. We praise you for your sacrifice on our behalf. For the honour of your ...

 Acts 2:38 ESV And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  We all need forgiveness. However moral we may be, we've all sinned. We all fall short of God's glory. Repentance is the key that unlocks the door of forgiveness. We need to do a 180° turn from our selfishness/self-righteousness. We must trust in God to save us. I don't think Peter's talking about water baptism here. Water baptism is a sign that we've been spiritually baptised in the blood of Jesus. When we do so, we receive his Holy Spirit. Salvation and the Spirit go hand in hand. This verse helps to debunk the idea that there's a 'second blessing' of 'first class' Christians who are 'baptised in the Holy Spirit'. Every one of us who repents gets baptised in the Holy Spirit the moment we believe in Jesus Christ. We mustn't let the gift 'gat...

 John 8:12 ESV  Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Note what Jesus didn't say. He didn't say 'I am a light in the world'. This humble Carpenter turned Teacher said 'I am the Light of the world'. Even to say 'I am' was a hint at his Divinity. When he appeared to Moses, he revealed his name to be 'I am who I am'. He is the Eternal Light who always has been and always will be. Saint Augustine famously said that he previously had his back to the Light and his focus on what the Light reflected on. Finally, he turned to the Light and walked in the darkness of selfish hedonism no more. Jesus is the Source of all that is good. We face an eternity in outer darkness if we don't come into the Light. If we do turn to Christ however, we will enjoy the light of everlasting life. He can turn our lives around. 'Dear Lord God, please turn our liv...

 Matthew 9:37-38 ESV  Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.” Be careful what you pray for! Immediately after these verses, Jesus sent his followers out to fulfil this prayer. If we ask God to bring in a harvest of souls into his Kingdom, we're probably going to be the answer to our own prayers. One of the main reasons God doesn't translate us immediately to glory the moment we come to faith in him is because he wants us to call others to put their trust in him. The one good thing we won't do in glory that we can do now is to witness to unbelievers of the goodness of God. God doesn't want anyone to perish, neither should we. I'm not a Greek scholar, but I'm sure it's not coincidental that Jesus calls for labourers, not just workers. Evangelism is laborious. It's not easy work. God wants earnest prayer. He doesn't j...

 Romans 1:16 ESV  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Shame is a powerful emotion that can cripple us. Crucifixion was a shameful thing. Yet the cross of Christ can powerfully liberate us from guilt and shame. The Gospel has always been counterintuitive. That a Man dying as a common criminal can be good news doesn't seem to make sense. Yet that's the means God has chosen to set us free. Crucifixion seems the epitome of weakness: dying naked and alone on a Roman cross. Yet God could turn it into the immeasurably powerful means of our salvation. God turned something hateful- execution on a cross- into the ultimate demonstration of love. The Apostle Paul wasn't being racist by saying salvation came to the Jews first. He's just stating a fact. Jesus is Jewish, and came initially to the Jewish people, before sending his people out to the world to make him known. 'G...

 Ezekiel 36:26 ESV And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  The Bible doesn't flatter us. It doesn't tell us to 'follow our hearts'. It teaches that our hearts are deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can understand them? Thankfully the Bible offers hope. God can perform a spiritual heart transplant upon us. He can transform our hearts from stone to flesh. True spirituality wouldn't have us squirrelled away in some monk's cell or some ivory tower. God giving us new hearts of flesh means that we become truly alive and most genuinely human when he does his work in us. He can make spiritually dead people alive in him. As an aside, being 'woke' is a dangerous thing to be. When Jesus healed the blind man, he rebuked the religious people for claiming to have spiritual insight but being blind to him. Christ crucified is a stumb...

 Galatians 5:25 ESV If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.  Lots of people claim to be spiritual. Fewer people live by the Spirit of God. We know if we're doing so if we keep in step with him. If we've received God's Holy Spirit, walking with him should come (super)naturally to us. We should notice if we start to get out of step with him. I think there's two main dangers in that regard. The first danger is that we lag behind the Holy Spirit. This I would describe as hedonism/pleasure seeking/selfishness. This is where we might become complacent and apathetic about bearing the fruit of the Spirit. The second danger is that we might try and run on ahead of the Holy Spirit. This could be described as religion/self-righteousness/pride. An example would be king Saul jumping the gun and offering unauthorised sacrifices to God instead of waiting for Samuel. To obey is better than sacrifice. 'Dear Lord, may we keep in step with you, even as you ...

 Acts 10:43 ESV To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” This is a bold claim. We can put it to the test by reading the prophets and looking for Jesus in them. If we want forgiveness, we must come through Christ. The prophets weren't telling people to simply 'pull themselves up by their bootstraps'. They were calling upon them to trust in the coming Messiah for salvation. He is the only way. Biblical faith isn't just moralism. It's realistic about our immorality. Thankfully, it also tells us how we can be forgiven, by the blood of Jesus. The old testament says that all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. The new testament reveals the Lord to be Christ Jesus. He isn't just a mantra, but the means of our salvation. 'Dear Lord God, we thank you for your word and how it all points to your Son and the salvation we can enjoy in him. May we believe in him and so receive forg...