Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

 “But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. ” Ruth 1:16 ESV Ruth had no earthly reason to follow Naomi back to Israel. Ruth was a Moabite, from an enemy people. It's not like Naomi seems to have given much reason to follow the God of Israel either. Naomi's husband and sons (one of whom was married to Ruth) had died in Moab. It seemed like God had cursed them. It seemed like Naomi had nothing to offer Ruth. Yet in the midst of all that, Ruth made one of the most powerful declarations of faith in all of Scripture. She clearly loved Naomi deeply. She was even willing to pin her hopes to Naomi's God. By Naomi's own assessment, God had dealt bitterly with her. Yet Ruth was willing to put her hope in him. It's as though Ruth had more faith than Naomi, but thankfully God was gracious to both. 'God, be our God. May your pe...

 “ The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,” Psalm 24:1 ESV God is sovereign. He's in control. He has dominion over all. This is a reassuring truth because God is good. He can and does even bring good out of bad. The supreme example is the murder of his Son on our behalf. Because the Lord is King, we can be reassured that all will be well in the end. We may be going through severe turmoil in this life. Yet we can trust in Jesus to bring us through it. This life isn't all there is. There's an eternity to come. We are to live for eternity, not just to seek instant gratification in the present. 'Lord, we rejoice that you are King. We trust in Christ crucified and ask you to bring us safely through to glory. In Jesus' name, amen'.

  “For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. ” Hebrews 6:10 ESV This is such a comforting and timely verse for me right now. In the context, the writer to the Hebrews seems to be suggesting they could lose their salvation. Yet in the context of this verse and others, we can be encouraged that God won't give up on us. Taken in isolation, this verse might seem to teach salvation by our works. In context, if we're hateful, God sees that. If we're loving in response to God's love, God sees that too. If we're unrepentantly hateful, God will judge us as we deserve. If we're falteringly loving towards our fellow saints, God will judge us to be being transformed into the likeness of our crucified Lord and Saviour. Let us persevere in doing good. The Hebrew Christians were persecuted and tempted to go back to Judaism. Judaism was more acceptable to the Roman overlords than Chris...

 “For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. ” Hebrews 6:10 ESV This is such a comforting and timely verse for me right now. In the context, the writer to the Hebrews seems to be suggesting they could lose their salvation. Yet in the context of this verse and others, we can be encouraged that God won't give up on us. Taken in isolation, this verse might seem to teach salvation by our works. In context, if we're hateful, God sees that. If we're loving in response to God's love, God sees that too. If we're unrepentantly hateful, God will judge us as we deserve. If we're falteringly loving towards our fellow saints, God will judge us to be being transformed into the likeness of our crucified Lord and Saviour. Let us persevere in doing good. The Hebrew Christians were persecuted and tempted to go back to Judaism. Judaism was more acceptable to the Roman overlords than Christ...

 “it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. ” 1 Corinthians 13:6 ESV Love doesn't rejoice at vigilantism. Love doesn't rejoice when people seek revenge. Love doesn't rejoice when people take the law into their own hands. Love does rejoice when justice runs its course. Love rejoices when what is hateful is punished. Love rejoices when hateful people get their just desserts. Having said the above, love also rejoices with the truth that hateful people can be forgiven and enjoy eternal life. Jesus is the Truth personified. He gave his life so that unloving people like us can be reconciled to God. I heard about a murderer in American who could have got out of jail for good behaviour. He had become a Christian and turned his life around. He turned down the opportunity to be released because he knew he was guilty and should pay the penalty, even as he looked forward to eternal life with his Lord and Saviour. 'Loving Lord God, please help us to be defined ...

 “Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Selah” Psalm 68:19 ESV Sometimes, if someone is going through a tough time, we might ask them how they're bearing up. This verse gives us the answer. We bear up because God bears us up. In God, we live, and move, and have our being, whether we believe in him our not. There's an even greater truth though. God can be our salvation. We deserve God's condemnation for our rebellion against him. We don't love him as we ought, or love one another as we love ourselves. Yet the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Selah is an ambiguous word. It's not 100% certain what it means. Many take it to mean to pause, maybe an instrumental break from the lyrics of this praise song. Hebrew doesn't have bold, italics or underline, so selah could well be a way of emphasising what has just been said, like an exclamation mark! 'Blessed Lord God, we praise you for bearing us up and saving us. In Chris...

 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. ” Romans 8:28 ESV Providence is an obscure, old fashioned word. Yet it sums up this verse perfectly. God is working all things together for good. We might struggle to believe this verse. We might think it's too good to be true. Yet because God brought good out of the death of his Son, we can know he can bring good out of anything. We don't deserve good. We deserve condemnation. Yet there's no condemnation for us who are in Christ Jesus. We have been called according to God's purpose to love him. That's the least we can do for him who loved us and gave his beloved Son for us. May we respond in grateful adoration. 'Gracious Father God, thank you for being good even out of bad circumstances. Please do so in our lives, for we ask in the name of our crucified Lord, amen'.

 “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. ” John 6:35 ESV Bread isn't very trendy nowadays. People are often on diets that frown upon carbohydrate rich foods like bread. Nevertheless, Jesus wasn't shy to describe himself as the bread of life. Of course, Jesus wasn't being literal here. He wasn't advocating cannibalism. He wasn't saying we have to literally eat his body and drink his blood. Still, if we belong to Jesus, we should break bread and drink the fruit of the vine in remembrance of him, until he returns. Christ makes a powerful promise here. If we metaphorically eat and drink of him, we will find spiritual satisfaction. Faith is the key that unlocks the door to spiritual satisfaction. Faith isn't passive. Faith moves us to come to Christ for satisfaction, and he'll never let us down. 'Father God, we thank you for the sustenance we find in your Son. May we co...

 “bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. ” Colossians 3:13 ESV We all test one anothers' patience. We all need to bear with one another. Interestingly, although he bore with his followers, even the Son of God got frustrated with them. The Lord Jesus had legitimate complaints against his people being so slow to follow him. Thankfully, as he was abandoned by them and crucified, he said 'Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing'. We are to follow his example. Complaining and moaning are similar but different. It's always wrong to moan behind someone's back. Yet to complain to their face can be legitimate. Even if we complain to someone, we should still forgive them. It's okay to tell someone if we disagree with them. We ought to agree to disagree though. 'Gracious God, please forgive us for what you could legitimately complain...