Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

 Ephesians 2:10 ESV For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. It is by grace we are saved, through faith. Nevertheless, that grace is accompanied by works as evidence that we truly are saved. If we claim to have faith but have no works to prove it, we betray the fact we're frauds. God created us to do good works. Like men create robots to work for them, God has created us to glorify him in our lives. We do so by loving him and one another. Our works don't earn our salvation. They simply show that we are genuinely saved. Even the dying thief rebuked the other criminal for cursing Jesus in their dying moments. God has already prepared our good works beforehand. All we need to do is to walk in them. So there's no room for boasting. 'Father God, please help us to walk in the works you have prepared in advance for us to do. For the honour of Jesus we pray, amen'.

 Young people, enjoy your youth. Be happy while you are still young. Do what you want to do, and follow your heart's desire. But remember that God is going to judge you for whatever you do. Ecclesiastes 11:9 GNT This is a surprising verse. We might expect the wisest man apart from Jesus to call us to self denial. Instead, he appears to condone and even recommend self-indulgence! To be honest, the first half of this verse has to be tempered by the second half. Solomon isn't simply being licentious. He's calling us to have mindfulness.  I'm reminded of Jesus saying that he came to give us abundant life to the full. God isn't a killjoy. He is however, the Judge of humanity. As an illustration, we're free to learn to drive. If we drive dangerously however, we will be judged. If earthly authorities judge inappropriate behaviour, how much more does Almighty God?! 'Sovereign Lord, thank you for the freedom you give us to enjoy life. Help us though to consider the i...

 Psalm 86:1 ESV  Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. David was the lion, giant and enemy slaying warrior king of Israel. Yet for much of his young adult life he was chased around the wilderness by murderous, incumbent king Saul like a partridge in the mountains. He knew what it was to feel poor and needy. Even as king, David's son sought to usurp his throne and he had to flee for his life. Understandably he will have felt helpless. Even unbelievers sometimes resort to prayer when in trouble, how much more the 'man after God's own heart'?! God needs to incline to us. As the Most High God, he has to condescend to look out for us. For us to be condescending is arrogant. For God to condescend to answer our prayers is merciful and gracious. We know from David's life story that God answered David's prayer. Even though David was guilty of murder and adultery, God didn't give up on him. David repented and ultimately never gave up on God...

 James 4:7 ESV  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Submission seems like a dirty word to today's society. Yet it simply means to defer to another. If we refuse to submit to God that's infinitely more foolish than an ant having deference towards an anteater! If we're struggling spiritually, and even if we think we're doing well, we should submit to God. Without him, we can do nothing. With him is victory. The devil is a coward. Jesus's half brother James promises us that if we resist him, he will flee from us. We're not to be cowardly towards him. Sinning isn't inevitable for the believer. If we consider who we are in Christ and that the devil is under our feet, we will be more victorious. We can and must say no to satan's temptations. 'God Almighty, may we submit to you, resist the devil, and be victorious in Christ our Lord, in whose name we pray, amen'.

 Matthew 13:24-30 ESV Jesus put another parable before them, saying,  “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.  So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.  And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him,  ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’  He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’  So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’  But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’” Today, I heard an application of this parable that I'd never heard before. When Jesus talked about ...

 Galatians 6:14 ESV But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.  Lots of people boast about lots of things. These include money, sex and power. The Apostle Paul was an intelligent man, but he didn't boast in his intellect.  The Apostle Paul determined not to boast except in the cross of Jesus. It's only by God's grace that we succeed. God's grace is supremely demonstrated at the cross. To boast in self is arrogant. We can't do anything outside of the grace of God. Only by Christ's death for us can we thrive. Paul wasn't allowed self congratulatory about his ministry. It was all for the glory of God. Because Jesus died for us, we should live to make him famous.  'Father God, may we only boast in Christ crucified, in whose name we pray, amen'.

 Philippians 2:4 ESV Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.  If we went with our gut feelings we would be selfish. The Apostle Paul calls us to a better way. Instead of being self seeking, we're to be 'otherish'. Moses tells us to love others as we love ourselves. Jesus goes even further. He tells us to love others as he has loved us, even unto death. We're to die to self and love for God's glory and the blessing of others. Paul isn't saying we can't consider ourselves. He's just saying that we should consider others first. This verse, as pastor John Piper says, is an antidote to marital breakdown. If we're more Christlikely concerned for others we wouldn't be so entitled. Thankfully there is mercy for us in Jesus.  'Lord our God, please have mercy upon us when we don't consider others before ourselves. In the name of Jesus we ask this, amen'.

 Colossians 3:2 ESV Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  We have some unhelpful sayings in English that say the opposite of this verse. 'Seeing is believing', people often say. The Bible teaches that believing is seeing, that faith gives us spiritual insight. We sometimes say 'out of sight and out of mind'. That's an animalistic, inhumane, unspiritual attitude. The Apostle Paul commands the opposite, to set our minds on heavenly things. The world might say that the Apostle Paul was 'too heavenly minded to have any earthy use'. He would reply that heavenliness includes love, joy and peace. The world needs a whole lot more of such things. It's easy to be distracted by earthly things like money, sex and power. If we have such things in the right context, they're like fire in a fireplace. Everything in moderation though: too much of such things is like a wildfire. 'Heavenly Father, please help us to fix our minds...

 Psalm 34:18 ESV The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. When we're brokenhearted we probably feel isolated and lonely. Yet the Psalmist assures us that the Lord is near to the brokenhearted. That's true whether we feel it or not. God knows what it is to be brokenhearted. Jesus cried out asking his Father why he forsook him to the cross. God did that for our sakes. We might feel that being crushed in spirit is the end of the story. Yet the Psalmist encourages us that the Lord saves the crushed in spirit. He can restore us to wholeness. As Jesus said, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God. We need to acknowledge our spiritual poverty outside of Christ to come to him for spiritual riches. If we think we don't need him we're lost. 'Dear Lord, may we feel you close in tough times. Please save us we pray for your name's sake, amen'.