Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

 Luke 6:36 ESV Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. If we're not merciful towards others, why would we expect God to be merciful towards us? Our mercy doesn't earn God's mercy. Yet if he has been merciful to us, we should be merciful to others. I'm reminded of Jesus's parable of the debtors. One has his epic, unpayable debt cancelled. Yet instead of being merciful to his relatively modest debtor, he insists that the poor guy coughs up, and ends up jailed indefinitely himself by the King he was indebted to in the first place. God doesn't show us mercy in order for us to continue in our sins. He shows us mercy so that he can transform us into Christlikeness. We are to be holy, as God is holy. Too often, we make excuses for our unrighteousness. It's true that God mercifully meets us where we're at. It's also true that he graciously doesn't leave us in the pig sty as it were.  'Merciful Father, please have mercy upon us, and empower us t...

 Proverbs 11:25 ESV Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered. We might assume this verse to be untrue. Surely if I bless you with cash for example, I'll be out of pocket. If I give you my lunch, surely I'll go hungry. In the words of Beyonce, 'what goes around comes back around'. It's not just true negatively in the sense of reaping weeds when we sow them. If we sow the wind we reap the whirlwind. If we sow generosity, we'll gain a harvest in kind. If we die to self, ourselves will be blessed. People tend to return the favour: if we're good to them, they're likely to respond with kindness. We can see generosity as an investment. The shrewd manager sacrificed his commission to encourage people to be generous to him when he was made redundant. We're to be wise, not stingy with our resources. 'God, we're grateful for the countless ways you bless us. May we respond likewise. In Jesus' name we ask, a...

 Mark 11:24 ESV Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.  This verse sounds like a blank cheque. So if we believe for a private jet we get it? Not necessarily! The Bible is a spiritual book, not a get rich manual. In the context, Jesus is talking about forgiveness. If we believe God will forgive us, he will (but we must also be forgiving).  People sometimes mistake forgiveness with trust. Just because we are to forgive those who wrong us doesn't mean to say we should necessarily trust them anymore. A similar promise elsewhere adds the caveat that we must ask according to God's will. Does God want us filthy rich? Probably not: it isn't wrong to make money, but it is wrong to stingily horde it. 'Dear Lord God, we ask not necessarily that you would make us rich, but that you would forgive us. Help us prioritise what matters and to be generous with what we have. For the honour of Christ we pray, amen'.

 1 John 4:16 ESV  So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.  How do we know that God is love, and that he loves us? Because he sent his Son Jesus who is love personified. He gave his life for us, to enable us to abide in love and in himself. If we claim to abide in God but don't abide in love, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we find ourselves to be unloving at times, we can cry out to God our Judge to forgive us, through Christ our Advocate. He won't condemn us if we come to him in sincere faith, which is itself a gift from him. Amazingly, we can know God abiding with us. The Holy Spirit can set up residence in our hearts. It's all through faith in Christ crucified on our behalf.  Having believed in the love of God as manifested in Jesus, we are to follow in his footsteps. We are to live lives defined by love. By his Holy Spirit we can do this....

 Isaiah 60:3 ESV  And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Isaiah prophesied in encroaching darkness for Israel, who faces exile in Babylon. Nevertheless, he also looked forward to a brighter dawn for God's people. Isaiah anticipated the advent of the Jewish Messiah and Saviour of the world. Christ Jesus is the Light of the world. His people are the light of the world, a city on a hill who reflect his light. God's people are a spiritual entity, not an ethno-political demographic. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ might be multifaceted in many denominations, but that is partly because we're not a cult. There's freedom of expression within God's family. We reflect our Lord and Saviour in different aspects. Even kings like to co-opt the brightness of Christianity. King Charles III assumes the title of the head of the Anglican Church of England. Of course, the Lord Jesus is the head of the true Church, whatever title each indiv...

 Luke 16:10 ESV One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.  We like to think that if push came to shove, we'd do the right thing when it mattered. As Jesus says here though, good intentions aren't enough. We must start where we are.  I'm reminded of the parable of the talents. If we don't work with what we're got, why would we expect God to entrust us with more? We mustn't bury our talents. We often make excuses for our infidelities. We call bearing false witness 'being economical with the truth' or 'alternative facts'. We call heart adultery 'checking someone out'. If God can't trust us in the small things, why would we expect him to entrust us with greater responsibilities? We must walk before we can run. We need to prove ourselves. 'Righteous Father God, please help us to test ourselves whether we're in the faith. May we pass the test. ...

 James 3:13 NIV  Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.  It's interesting that James marries wisdom and humility here. They seem like strange bedfellows. We might assume that if someone is wise they're arrogant and big headed. Wisdom isn't necessarily about having a high I.Q.. Having a big ego doesn't necessarily go hand in hand with being understanding. In fact, the wiser we are, the more limited we realise our knowledge is. Biblical wisdom isn't even just about knowing the right things. It's about choosing to do the right things. Even then, we're not to be proud about making the right choices, but grateful to God for his work in our lives. Stereotypically in the world, clever people tend to be like evil geniuses. We can be too intelligent for our own good. If we have the humility to admit our own limitations, that's a healthy place to be. 'Most Wise God, pl...

 Psalm 34:19 ESV Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. I'm reminded of the Apostle Paul's statement that no temptation has seized us except what is common to mankind. We all have many trials and temptations. The righteous are arguably even more in the devil's sights to try and destroy.  Not only do the righteous have afflictions common to mankind, but they also get persecuted for righteousness's sake. It's one thing to be persecuted for ethnicity or political preference or whatever else. It's even worse to be persecuted because you're trying to honour God and live rightly. As Jesus said, 'blessed are the persecuted, because great is their reward in heaven'. Even if someone is martyred, this Psalm is still true. God eternally delivers those who are martyred for him. The Lord doesn't just give us temporary respite from affliction. He promises everlasting deliverance. Eternal glory is the destiny of th...

 Luke 12:15 ESV And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”  Someone famously asked the richest man of his day how much money is enough. He infamously replied, 'just a little bit more'. In other words, money and possessions will never be enough. In light of that famous quote, covetousness is a foolish thing. Why desire what others have when it will never satisfy? Stuff will never fulfil us like God can. C.S. Lewis famously said that desires are meant to be met: hunger with food, thirst with water etc. He went on to say that if we have a desire this world can't fulfil, we can reckon that we were made for another world. Covetousness for stuff we have no right to is wrong; desire for eternity with God through Jesus's sacrifice is right. We might have no divine right for eternity with God. Nonetheless, Jesus has earned it for us by his death and resurrection. We can ent...