Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

  Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." Genesis 2:18 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/gen.2.18.ESV God isn't just one mathematical being. He is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three persons united in love. That being so, it is no surprise that God said that man shouldn't be alone. For mankind to be made in the image and likeness of God, we cannot just be man, we have to be woman too. Mankind is not complete without women. It reminds me of the old song that goes through all the things men have invented, but they wouldn't mean anything without women. As they say, 'behind every great man is a woman'. I'm not saying that every man needs a wife. Jesus Himself didn't have a wife. Jeremiah certainly didn't either, and there's no mention of wives for many old testament prophets. Even if we're not all called to marry, we are all called to community. 'No man is an island&

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/1ti.6.12.ESV We are often tempted to shy away from militaristic sounding illustrations. 'Fight the Good Fight' and 'Onward Christian Soldiers' aren't the most popular of hymns nowadays. Bear in mind though that Paul was probably chained to a Roman soldier on death row at the time of writing. This verse is dynamite, it wouldn't have helped him with the possibility of acquittal by Caesar! Of course, Paul isn't Spartacus, he wasn't advocating rebellion against the Roman Empire. He's got an eternal perspective, he's not preoccupied with the temporal. We would do well to look forward to the end ourselves. I think Paul is referring to Timothy's commissioning as an elder in this verse, but we could heark back to our baptisms if we&#

And the Lord said, "Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God." Hosea 1:9 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/hos.1.9.ESV What shocking words for a man with a shocking calling in life! Hosea was called by God to marry an unfaithful wife who he'd eventually have to buy off her pimp! God didn't have it in for Hosea, He used his love for his wife Gomer as an illustration for His love for His unfaithful people. Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse for poor Hosea, just look at the name he had to give the child in this verse: Notmypeople. That poor boy was bound to be bullied in the playground, and probably would have preferred to introduce himself as Bob! But that child was yet another illustration for wayward Israel. Notmypeople, bless him, prophetically warned Israel that they were going to be conquered by Assyria and assimilated into oblivion. He who has ears, let him hear what the Spirit is saying: today is the day of

And Elisha said to her, "What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?" And she said, "Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil." 2 Kings 4:2 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/2ki.4.2.ESV I love Elisha's questions of the widow. They remind me of Jesus's blank cheque to blind Bartimaeus: 'What do you want me to do for you?' It seems obvious. But Jesus was stirring up faith in Bartimaeus to follow Him within a hostile environment (on the road to the cross). I love Elisha encouraging the widow that her little jar of oil was enough to miraculously get her through famine, and it did! Maybe at the start of the lockdowns, you wondered how God would provide, but if you're reading this, He has done. The only appropriate response is joyfully thankful worship. As we long for God to miraculously feed spiritually starving people, what do we have within the 'houses' of our hearts? A little oil, symbolizing the Holy Sp

  Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. Colossians 4:2 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/col.4.2.ESV Why should we pray? Firstly, because we're commanded to in God's word. Secondly, it teaches us perseverence; it encourages us to become steadfast in it. This is because God often says 'wait' in response to our prayers, which should spur us on to persevere rather than to give up. How can we become steadfast in prayer? No excuses nowadays! There are great apps like PrayerMate which remind us to pray and tell us what to pray for daily. One thing we can often forget to do with prayer is to be watchful in it. There's no use in asking God for stuff if we're not going to watch for His answers! Again, apps like PrayerMate can help us to look back upon past prayers and trace God's answers through it all. Another important thing to remember in prayer is to be thankful. We're not just to present God with shopping lists of request

  He said, "The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, 2 Samuel 22:2 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/2sa.22.2.ESV Who is God to you? A distant and impersonal force way out there in the universe? A strict schoolmaster? A kindly grandfather? To David, the Lord was his rock. Rocks are solid, they're dependable, they provide shade and security. David was used to hiding in rocky crags from murderous king Saul, so the analogy was particularly meaningful to him. God was David's fortress, his safe place. The Lord is our shield and our defender. We don't go forth alone against the foe. The Lord was David's deliverer. Ultimately it wasn't literal rocks and fortresses that delivered David from Saul. At the end of the day, God Himself delivered David from all his foes, and He'll deliver us too if we trust Him. 'O Lord our God, may You prove to be our rock, fortress and deliverer, as You were to David, for Jesus' sake, amen'

  And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 2 Corinthians 4:3 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/2co.4.3.ESV The gospel isn't complicated. The good news is that we can turn from our hell bound ways and become part of God's Kingdom of light, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Sadly, that truth is veiled to many. The truth is veiled partly because those of us who know it are apathetic and/or fearful to proclaim it to others. Also however, people don't like being told they're hell bound if they don't repent. Satan likes to deceive people that they're doing alright, thank you very much. The scary thing for unbelievers is that if the gospel is veiled to them, that is because they are perishing. ''Aren't we all heading for the grave?' you might ask. Those who trust in Christ don't have death as their destination. Instead, we are delivered to eternal life. So if you don't believe me, take the veil off! Tr

You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. 2 Corinthians 3:2 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/2co.3.2.ESV I love this from Paul. I've been in a church where I needed an actual letter of recommendation to be able to take communion. But Paul says the people he ministered to in the Corinthian church were themselves his letter of recommendation. I didn't get official 'Qualified Teacher Status' after a year. What I did get after a few weeks of teaching was a 'petition' from a class of 11 and 12 year olds asking me to be the head of year 8 (the next year of school). To have these and other students come and say they wished I was teaching them this year means more to me than an official piece of paper would have. Teachers claim to be teaching for the students. But it can be tempting to teach to impress other teachers/inspectors. Paul wasn't interested in impressing others. He was serving the Lord Jesus Ch

If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. 1 Corinthians 12:15 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/1co.12.15.ESV Every part of the body is important. The foot and the hand are equally part of the body. We might associate hands with work, but without feet to go to work, work would be difficult. If the whole body was just some epic hand, that would be no good. It would have very few senses for a start. Every member of the body is important. Of course, Paul isn't just talking about body parts. He's saying that everyone has equal importance within the body of Christ, the church. We can't discount any one of our members, we're equitably diverse. There's no use bemoaning the fact we're not hands in the body of Christ, if that's not what we metaphorically are. We just need to know our role within the organism of the church, and to gladly fulfil it. 'Heavenly Fat

So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. John 10:7 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/jhn.10.7.ESV It's a simple, humble image: a door or gate for sheep. But the Son of God isn't too proud to be a source of security and boundary for His sheep. Being sheep might be a humble image of ourselves, but if we're honest, it's apt! A door, or gate for sheep provides security for sheep. If any predator or thief wants to get to us, they need to go through the Lord Jesus Christ. We're safe as long as we stick with Him. Not only does Jesus provide security but also discipline for us. There's no excuses for going astray when Jesus is the door. We need to stick with Him. When He calls us to rest, we should, and when He sends us out to pasture, we should go. Jesus is our safe place. He looks after us. He is our good Shepherd. He'll never let us down. 'Lord God, thank You for Jesus looking after us. Please continue wit

Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?" John 8:5 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/jhn.8.5.ESV It was a trick question by the religious people, seemingly lose lose for Jesus. If He agreed with Moses, He would fall foul of the Roman overlords who reserved the right to exercise capital punishment. If He disagreed with Moses, He would appear to disagree with the very Law of God. Many have speculated where the male guilty party was in the adultery that the woman was caught in. Was he one of the religious people himself, who was set up to catch the woman out? Whatever the situation, it seems highly unfair that only she is dragged before Jesus and not the man. Jesus's response skilfully sidesteps the religious people's snare. He says the one without sin can throw the first stone. Of course, even religious people have to admit they're sinners. So the woman was safe. Of course, Jesus is the sinless Son of God. So technically He could hav

So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. John 6:53 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/jhn.6.53.ESV Understandably, Jesus's hearers were bemused by His talk of eating flesh and drinking blood. That sounds like cannibalism. Thankfully, we don't have to take the Bible literally! We do however have to submit to Jesus's meaning in His words. So what does Jesus mean? If He's not advocating cannibalism, or transubstantiation, what does He mean? Of course, 2,000 years after His death, burial, resurrection and ascension, we can't literally eat His flesh and drink His blood. Neither does His literal flesh and blood appear in bread and wine in some kind of magical hocus pocus. The Roman Catholic teaching of transubstantiation isn't Jesus's teaching. So what does Jesus mean? As always, context is key. Jesus says belief leads to eternal life. We eat bread and wine i

For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." John 6:33 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/jhn.6.33.ESV When I read this verse, I couldn't help but think of William Williams Pancelyn's rousing Welsh hymn, 'Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah' and the lines 'Bread of heaven (x2)/ Feed me til I want no more (×2)'. Then I can't help but ponder, is it possible to have too much of Jesus? If I remember the saying correctly, 'you can't have too much of a good thing'. Of course, if you have too much literal bread, you'll be sick (or maybe you'll open a bakery!). But the heavenly food that Jesus is as we meet Him in His word is not to be greedily devoured or miserly squirreled away. Instead, we should generously share the Bread of life with others. When we eat bread, of course we get hungry again. But when we feed upon Christ and His word, we are spiritually satisfied. God's Word isn't to be kept to ou

and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. John 5:38 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/jhn.5.38.ESV These are the kind of words I would hate to hear Jesus say to me. Like the religious people He addressed, I am often reading the Scriptures. But Jesus says great Bible knowledge is worthless if it doesn't lead to faith in Him. How do we know we have God's word abiding in us? Not because we pass a quiz, but because we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. All of Scripture points to Him. If we miss Christ in Scripture, we miss the point of the Bible. Remember Jesus on the road to Emmaus. He took the disciples on a whistle stop tour of the old testament, and how it all pointed to Him. We study the Bible not to study religion, or sociology, or anything else other than to know God personally. We can know our Creator and Judge as our Loving Heavenly Father. And it's all through the Lord Jesus Christ. 'Loving Heavenly Father, th