Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

 1 Peter 5:8 ESV  Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  The Apostle Peter isn't saying we can't have a sense of humour. He is saying we need to take spiritual conflict seriously. The Christian life isn't a walk in the park. We're to be watchful. It's worth noting that the devil isn't just like a roaring lion. He often masquerades as an angel of light. It's important to note that the devil isn't actually a roaring lion. He's only like one- he's a coward really. He's scared of the true Lion: Jesus- the Lion of the tribe of Judah. The devil wants to devour us. If we're truly saved we won't be devoured by him. Our salvation depends on Jesus, not upon our performance, thankfully. 'O Lord, thank you for this warning. Please help us look to you to help us overcome the devil. In Jesus' name, amen'.

 2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. This verse seems too good to be true. It almost seems blasphemous. If we know ourselves to be sinners, we must be astounded that we can become the righteousness of God. Even the way God has made us good in his sight is astounding. The Father made the Son to be sin for us. So all our greed, lust, hatefulness, pride etc. was placed upon Jesus on the cross who was killed as the worst of criminals. Jesus was treated as worthy of hell so that we can be treated by God as worthy of glory. It doesn't really seem fair if we're honest. Yet God in his justice has made a way for us to be saved, through Christ crucified. I think a lot of our problems stem from having too small a view of both our sinfulness and God's righteousness. If we know how bad we are, it will make us all the more grateful at God's goodness. Praise the Lord for his immeasurable lo...

 Mark 13:33 ESV Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.  Jesus will assuredly return. Many Jews are still waiting for the first advent of their Messiah, but he's already been and gone. When he returns, it will be as Judge. Even Muslims believe Jesus will return, even though their understanding of Jesus is wrong. They deny his divinity. Biblically, an antichrist is someone who denies God as Father and Son, so every practicing Muslim is an antichrist. The worst 'sin' in Islam is to say that God has a Son. Christians know that Jesus is the eternal Son of God who was born of the virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit for our salvation. He is the only hope for mankind. We need to be our guard and alert for the return of the King. We mustn't get distracted from living for his glory or complacent about our offences against him. One of the best ways we can glorify him in this life is to tell others about him. 'Father in heaven, we praise you for sendin...

 Isaiah 53:6 ESV   All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. I'm sure most of us would want to compare ourselves to such an animal as a lion. As far as God's concerned though we're all like sheep. We've all gone astray from his way. As Solomon said twice: there's a way that seems right to man, but in the end it leads to death. Whether it's religion or hedonism, if we don't go God's way we'll end up banished from his love. Jesus is the Way! Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Only because of his intervention are we not already being destroyed as we deserve. If we trust in him we'll be saved. Did Jesus die for every soul? Perhaps in the sense that he gave us a stay of execution. Yet I believe that Jesus didn't fail- dying for people who ultimately reject him- I think Isaiah is writing to believers here. 'Father, thank you for se...

 John 3:16 ESV For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  This verse is rightfully one of the most famous in the Bible. It has been described as the Good News in a nutshell. It is a surprising verse. Your average Joe will bemoan the evil in the world and question what God's doing about it. We all deserve to perish for our personal evils, never mind evil 'out there'. That God loves the world we should never take for granted. It's amazing that God loves unlovely us. We can't earn his love. The Gospel is all about God and what he has done for us; manmade religion is about us attempting to earn God's acceptance. If we trust in ourselves, we will perish. If we trust in the Son of God, we gain eternal life. It's not just pie in the sky when we die; it's steak on a plate while we wait! 'Dear Father in heaven, we're eternally grateful that you sent your Son for our salvati...

 Matthew 5:16 ESV In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Elsewhere, Jesus made the revolutionary comment that we his people are the light of the world. It almost sounds blasphemous! After all, he himself described himself as the Light of the world. While he was in the world, Jesus was the Light of the world. Now he has ascended to glory, we his people reflect his light to the world. We're not to be self congratulatory about our good works, but to glorify God for them. Some people have a form of godliness, but deny its power. In other words, they're moral people but they don't give God the glory for the fact they're relatively well behaved. Jesus wants us to glorify God for any goodness we may display. If people know us as Christians, hopefully they will glorify God for making us better people. We aren't perfect of course. But we seek to glorify God for any righteousnes...

 Genesis 15:5 ESV And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”     What God told Abraham was unbelievable humanly speaking. He was an old, childless man. God told him his descendants would be innumerable. No wonder Abraham and his wife Sarah tried to take matters into their own hands by him impregnating her servant Hagar, who bore Ishmael. Yet he wasn't the child of promise. Even Sarah's eventual son Isaac wasn't the ultimate fulfilment of this verse. Abraham believed God that his descendants would be innumerable, and God credited that belief to him as righteousness. God promised Abraham a Descendant through whom the world would be blessed. That Descendant is Jesus. Abraham's descendants aren't just Jews and Arabs/Ishmaelites. Anyone who has faith in Abraham's Descendant Jesus is a child of the 'father of faith'. Abraham's faith wasn...

 Genesis 14:19 ESV  And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;    Abram could have been arrogant. He was rich and militarily successful. Melchizedek grounded him though. Melchizedek reminded Abram that his success was because God Most High had blessed him. 'God Most High' suggests there are other gods. The other 'gods' though are demonic. Satan might be the god of this world. Yet God Most High possesses all things. Any power the devil has is only permitted him by God. Why does God allow the evil one so much licence in this world? May we remember that it's only temporary. Eternity is coming when the accuser of the brethren will burn forever with all who follow him. 'God Most High, we worship you and praise you for blessing us. Thank you for that amazing truth that the meek will inherit the earth. For the honour of your name we pray, amen'.  

 1 Corinthians 3:16 ESV Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?  In this new covenant age we don't need specifically religious buildings like temples, churches and mosques. The Apostle Paul says that every believer is a temple of God. This doesn't mean to say we can just worship God in the garden though! We should still physically meet up with other believers to worship God. Yet that was also the function of a temple: to meet with God. So when people meet us we should introduce them to our Lord. No man is an island. Paul isn't saying we don't need each other. I haven't dug into the Greek but I suspect he's writing to the Corinthian church as a whole, not just an individual believer. This is an astounding verse when we think about it. The Corinthian church with their divisions and licentiousness etc. weren't just a bunch of sinners. Paul insisted they were the temple of God who hosted the Holy Spirit of God. 'God, as...