Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

 James 5:8 ESV  You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.  We are to be patient like farmers. They plant their crops and water them. Yet it's God who gives the increase. We're to establish our hearts. We're to remind ourselves of the imminent return of King Jesus. We're not to get complacent.  These words were penned two thousand years ago. We might think the Lord is dragging his feet. Yet a thousand years is like a day to the Everlasting One.  God doesn't work to our timescales. He marches to the beat of his own drum as it were. He won't return a day late. 'Sovereign Lord, may we be ready for the awesome day of your return. Please help us to develop patience in the meantime. For your honour we pray, amen'.

 1 Corinthians 16:13 ESV Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.  Being watchful daily at Wisdom's gates as it were isn't just about having a 'quiet time'. It's not even just about looking out for devilish attacks against us. Watchfulness is also about looking forward to the return of King Jesus. We're to stand firm in the faith. We don't want Christ to catch us slacking when he returns. As he himself said, 'those who endure to the end will be saved'.  Being manly means to look after those who are weaker than us. True manliness is to be otherish rather than selfish. We're to be protective, not bullying. The Apostle Paul encourages us to be strong. As he said elsewhere, our strength is in the Lord and in his mighty power. Because Jesus rose again, we can live in his resurrection power. 'Glorious Lord, may we live in your resurrection power. We long for your return. May we prove faithful in the meantime. For your glory we...

 Matthew 5:43-44 ESV  But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  Jesus commands the impossible of us. Our gut reaction is to hate our enemies. Yet elsewhere he even commands us to turn the other cheek. This might seem like weakness to the world. Yet it requires supernatural strength. Only by the grace of God can we do this. If a Roman soldier struck a Jew on the cheek and he retaliated, he would be killed. Jesus isn't giving a blanket prohibition on self defence, or defence of family or nation. He's encouraging self preservation in that scenario. Jesus wasn't a Zealot; he wasn't a freedom fighter seeking to overthrow the Romans oppressors. It's hard to hate someone you're praying for. 'Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing', he cried from the cross. 'Father, forgive our persecutors, and help us to love our enemies, in Christ's powerful name we pray, amen'.

 1 John 1:7 ESV But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.  I love this verse because it tells us what we should do, but it's also honest that we fail. We should walk in the light. When we don't, the blood of Jesus covers us. I'm reminded of what Augustine said that I've mentioned before. He said that before he was saved he had his back to the Light and was looking at things the Light reflected on (beautiful women were his main stumbling block). When he trusted in the blood of Jesus shed on his behalf, he came into the Light. Even our own self righteousness can be something God's Light reflects upon. We need to repent of turning good things into God things, and to trust in God alone for salvation. Only the blood of Jesus can bring us out of the darkness and into the Light. Coming into the Light isn't some one off event when we pray some mantra of a sinners'...

 Galatians 6:9 ESV And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.  It's not necessarily easy to do good. Doing good doesn't come naturally to us. We need to persevere in it. If a farmer grows weary of his work, he won't get to see the harvest. If he gives up, he'll have nothing to show for his labours. Similarly, if we throw in the towel, we can't expect to inherit eternal life. As Jesus said, 'those who endure to the end will be saved'. I want to emphasise that our endurance isn't dependant on us pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps as it were. We simply need to remind ourselves that we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do. All we need to do is to walk in obedience to our Lord and Saviour. We are to keep in step with his Holy Spirit. We're not to rush on ahead or to lag behind. 'Dear Lord, thank you for the promise of ...

 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....