Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

  Psalm 139:23 ESV Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! This is a brave prayer to pray. If we know anything of our hearts, we ought to know that they’re deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can understand them? That was what God revealed to Jeremiah. God is omniscient. He knows what metaphorical skeletons we may have lurking in the closets of our hearts. We should try and clean up our acts, to be holy as He is holy. We sin not just in words and deeds; in things we don’t say and do. We also sin in our thought lives. What starts as a seed of a thought can become a mutant poison plant that does a lot of damage in the things we say and do, or even fail to say or do. Because God is omniscient, we may as well be honest with Him about where we’re at. If we’re struggling to trust in Him, we can ask Him for faith, because it’s ultimately a gift from Him. We just need to believe in Him, and to become like Him more each day. ‘O God, You

  Daniel 12:3 ESV And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. Daniel helps to define what wisdom is. It isn’t necessarily having a high IQ. It is turning many to righteousness. Biblical wisdom isn’t just about being knowledgeable. It’s also about making good decisions with the knowledge we have. It’s not enough for us to be individualistically righteous; we should be encouraging others to live right too. I know I personally, and I’m sure many others, find it hard to turn people to righteousness. People would rather do whatever makes them feel good in the moment, selfishly. Even personally, righteousness doesn’t come naturally, never mind to encourage others to be righteous. The promise in this verse is beautiful. If we are wise, we’ll reflect something of the glory of God, like a star out there in the universe. Unlike the stars, if we are wise, we will have everlasting life

  ‭Zechariah 14:9 ESV‬ And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one. https://bible.com/bible/59/zec.14.9.ESV The Lord Jesus Christ is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. The Lamb of God who was slain for the sins of the world is on the throne of heaven. The head that once was crowned with thorns is crowned with glory now. There's only one Lord ultimately. There might be bosses, rulers, and false demonic gods. Yet Jesus is Lord over all. There's only one Lord Jesus Christ. Different languages might have variations in how they say His name. Yet they're all referring to the Sovereign Saviour of God who's anointed with His Holy Spirit. Whether we acknowledge Him or not, Jesus is Lord. It's a bit like Charles III is king of the UK whether people say 'not my king' or not. It's objectively true: He's even defeated death by His resurrection. 'Heavenly Father, please help us to acknowledge Chr

  ‭1 John 3:1 ESV‬ See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. https://bible.com/bible/59/1jn.3.1.ESV By nature, we're children of the devil. He's the father of lies and we deceive ourselves if we think that we don't need God. We're naturally slaves of sin. Thankfully, God wants to adopt us into His family. All we have to do is to say yes to Him. He had bought us from sin and the devil by the blood of Jesus. God could rightfully condemn us all to hell as we deserve. Yet He loves us so much that He wants to adopt us into His family. He doesn't just want to acquit us, but to become our Father in heaven. The world at large is clueless spiritually. Only by the grace of God can we become alive to spiritual truths. 'Know God, know love; no God, no love'. 'Loving heavenly Father, we praise You for Your great grace to us in

  ‭‭Romans 8:31 ESV‬‬ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? https://bible.com/bible/59/rom.8.31.ESV The opposite is true as well. If God is against us, who can be for us? We need to turn from our sins and to trust in God to make us godly. Having turned from our sins, and being made holy by God, we can rejoice that God is for us. If God is for us, He's not going to give up on us halfway to glory. He who began a good work in us will carry it through to completion upon the day of Christ Jesus. Nothing that life throws at us can separate us from the love of God for us in Christ Jesus our Lord. Not even death or all the spiritual forces of evil can harm us spiritually. Even though we go through hardships in this life, God still loves us. God's love doesn't require Him to give us an easy life. It does give us the hope of glory however. That's not dependant on our performance but upon the blood of Jesus. 'Our Heavenly Fath

  ‭John 1:29 ESV‬ The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! https://bible.com/bible/59/jhn.1.29.ESV The Jews will have understood the meaning of the saying of John the Baptist. Countless millions of lambs and other animals had been sacrificed for the sins of the Jewish people. The blood of animals can't wash away our sins. Only the blood of Jesus can wash away our sins. He is the spotless Lamb of God. He's not just for the Jewish people, but for all who trust in Him. John the Baptist was Jesus's forerunner. He was like the best man at a wedding, whose job is to make the bridegroom look good. He didn't mind that his followers started following Jesus from this point. John would eventually be beheaded by king Herod. Before then he seems to have been understandably disillusioned in jail. Yet Jesus reassured him that He was working His purposes out. 'Father God, we praise You for sending

  ‭1 Peter 3:18 ESV‬ For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, https://bible.com/bible/59/1pe.3.18.ESV Jesus is righteous. He didn't deserve to suffer, unlike the rest of us. Yet He did so for the sakes of unrighteous people like us. Jesus suffered for all our evils. He did so to reconcile us to God. He physically died for us, but rose in His Spirit before His physical resurrection. Because Jesus defeated death, we can too. Through faith in Him, we can have everlasting life. All our sins can be forgiven by His sacrifice on our behalf. Only Christ can deliver us from our sins. Our own efforts are like filthy rags. We must trust in Him alone for our salvation. 'Father God, please clothe us in the righteousness of Christ, and forgive us our sins, in His name we pray, amen'

 *The Luddites were people who reacted badly to the Industrial Revolution and went around smashing up machines! First of all, let me get something clear: I don’t go around smashing up technology! The closest I’ve come is to throw away old phones I’ve had. Yet I do have a conflicted relationship with technology. I’m old enough to remember the days before the technological revolution in which we live. My family growing up were slow to catch up as technology rapidly advanced. Our first family mobile phone was a brick. I didn’t get my first mobile until I was 16, a Nokia 3310. The smartest thing about it was the game Snake. Our first family computer was a hand-me-down BBC computer, that would warm up while we ate our dinner. Finally, we could play pixilated games like ‘Granny’s Garden’ and the fox, chicken and grain crossing the river. As our friends enjoyed games consoles like Nintendo 64 and PS1, we happily played with Lego. We never had a games console, and the only second-hand PC

  ‭Romans 12:10 ESV‬ Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honour. https://bible.com/bible/59/rom.12.10.ESV If we belong to Jesus, we're adopted into the family of God. Out of love, God can convert us from His enemies to His children. Our right response is to deeply love one another. As my mum always says to my siblings and I, 'you can pick and choose your friends, but you're stuck with each other, so you'd better get on!' In general, siblings are often closer than friends, who can easily fall out of friendship. It's harder to disown a relative, especially one bought with the blood of Jesus. In the world, people often seek to outdo each other in shaming each other, in putting each other down, in making a mockery of one another. 'All in the name of banter', they might claim. God's people are to be the opposite. Paul almost seems to be calling the Roman Christians to be competitive with one another in seeking to

  ‭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. https://bible.com/bible/59/2co.5.21.ESV We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory. We all deserve God's condemnation. Yet God made His Righteous Son sin personified for us. A great exchange takes place. Our sin was put on Christ. His righteousness is put on us. Faith is the key that unlocks the door to us becoming the righteousness of God. As Habakkuk heard, the righteous live by faith. It's the same for us as for Abraham, who believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. This truth is the great mystery of the good news revealed. Sceptics question why bad things happen to good people. Believers ask why good things happen to bad people, which is what we all are spiritually. 'God our Father, please make us righteous through faith in Christ, in whose name we pray, amen'

  ‭Matthew‬ ‭5:43‭-‬44‬ ‭ESV‬ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.5.43.ESV Jesus was quoting the Bible, but also what must have been a common Jewish saying of the time 'hate your enemy'. To be honest, most people would say 'amen' to that. Jesus commanded otherwise however. Jesus commands us to love our enemies. If we all did that there would be no enemies to be had. If we respond to hate with hate we're as bad as our haters. We need to be the change we want to see in the world. If we want there to be no hatred in the world, we need to make sure we're not harbouring any hatred in our hearts. We need to pray for our persecutors. Of course, Jesus practiced what He preached. Even on the cross, He prayed 'Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing'. He is the ultimate examp

  ‭Romans‬ ‭8:26‬ ‭NLT‬ And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.8.26.NLT Often, when I don't know what to pray for (I'm not the most Jacobean in prayer!), I simply pray for the Lord's will to be done. I don't necessarily know what God's will is in a certain situation, but God does. Paul goes one step further here. There's times when we're so much in anguish that words cannot express how upset we're feeling. We can't even verbalise our torment of soul. Maybe it's persecution or the fiery arrows of the evil one that are raining down upon us on trials and temptations. In those kind of speechless moments, the Holy Spirit comes through for us. God indwelling within us intercedes with Father God with groans that words cannot express. Even the Lord Jesus cried out from the

  ‭Hebrews‬ ‭12:14‬ ‭ESV‬ Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. https://bible.com/bible/59/heb.12.14.ESV Peace doesn't come easily. It doesn't necessarily come by sitting cross-legged in a lotus position. The Bible says we have to strive for peace with everyone. 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God' said Jesus. By implication, 'cursed are the troublemakers, for they shall be called children of the devil'. A peaceable spirit isn't optional for the believer in Jesus. 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God', says Jesus as well. By implication, 'cursed are the corrupt in heart, for they shall not see God'. If we don't let God cleanse our hearts by Christ's blood, He'll banish us to hell as we deserve. We might think all we need is faith in Jesus, and we can live as we like. Yet the writer to the Hebrews insists that we should

  ‭Luke‬ ‭18:1‬ ‭ESV‬ And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. https://bible.com/bible/59/luk.18.1.ESV If we're praying for something, and it doesn't happen, we might easily get discouraged and want to give up. Maybe we want a breakthrough against a besetting sin, or want to get promoted in our work. Jesus encourages us not to give up. If a widow can persistently insist on justice from an unjust judge, we can persist in asking God for whatever it is we're seeking. Clearly we have to ask according to His will. It's no use asking for a private jet! Ultimately, we will experience justice when Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead. That's a scary thought when we think of our injustices. If we trust in Him however, He'll justify us. Jesus ends His story with a rhetorical question: when He returns, will He find faith on the earth? Or, by implication, will we all have given up waiting for Him to return?

  ‭Matthew‬ ‭7:1‭-‬2‬ ‭ESV‬   “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.7.1.ESV People take verse one out of context, but in the very next verses Jesus calls us to judge rightly. People judge people for perceived judgementalism, but their own judgement of those perceived judgemental people is hypocritical. We all judge, and we will all be judged. Even if we were to get away with murder in this life, we would have to give an account of ourselves in the next. We will all appear before the judgement seat of Christ. If we're merciful, God will be merciful to us. In response to God's mercy to us, we should be merciful. If we're judgemental, we can expect God to judge us. We all deserve God's condemnation for our sinful rebellion against Him. Thankfully He delights to show mercy to those who cry out to Him for it. The right response t

  1 Corinthians 12:25-27 NIVUK so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.   The image of a body for the church of the Lord Jesus Christ demonstrates that we’re united, but also that we’re diverse. We’re not just one giant tongue. Neither should the eye despise the foot. If we stub our toe, we feel pain coursing through our bodies. If we get complimented for our fine facial features, we feel good! When Christians are slaughtered in Nigeria, the rest of us should mourn. When there’s revival we ought to rejoice. We shouldn’t be divisive and critical of one another. We shouldn’t ‘kick a man when he’s down’. Instead, we ought to aim for restoration. We wouldn’t amputate a hand lightly. So, we ought to do all we can to keep ourselves wholeso

  ‭Mark‬ ‭13:33‬ ‭ESV‬ Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. https://bible.com/bible/59/mrk.13.33.ESV Jesus isn't commanding us to become insomniacs. He is telling us to always be wakeful and ready for His return. In the context He is telling us what the signs are of the end of the age. Two of the signs of the end of the age are wars and rumours of war. When we think of Ukraine and Israel for example, we might feel like the end is nigh. Yet Jesus also said that the good news of His Kingdom has to be preached to all nations, and then the end will come. We have a tendency to focus on the negative. Yet positively, we can be sharing the gospel of Jesus to hasten the day of His return. He delays because there's still people to be saved. We can't get complacent. We always have to be ready. Jesus could return at any time. 'God, we pray that Christ would return soon to call us home. In the meantime, help us be faithful to Him, for His glor

  ‭Hebrews‬ ‭6:10‬ ‭ESV‬ For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. https://bible.com/bible/59/heb.6.10.ESV We might not be saved by works. Yet having been saved, we are to do good works. The Hebrew believers were wavering in their faith as persecution hotted up. The writer to them was seeking to encourage them. If we give up on the faith, we never truly had faith in the first place. Faith is a gift of God. God forbid that we would spurn His gift. Heaven isn't just us getting what we don't deserve. We also get rewarded for the work we do for God. There's no room for boasting though, for we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. We're saved by faith alone. Yet saving faith is always accompanied by works as the evidence that we are saved. If we don't have good works to evidence our salvation, chanc

  ‭Micah‬ ‭7:18‬ ‭ESV‬ Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. https://bible.com/bible/59/mic.7.18.ESV There is no God like the Lord. Every other religion requires people to earn their salvation. The Bible is clear that salvation is of the Lord. We can't clean up our acts. Our iniquities are only washable in the blood of Jesus. God can only pass over our transgressions because of Christ crucified. God is rightfully angry at sin. Thankfully He doesn't retain His anger towards His people forever. He may discipline us, but His discipline is only to get us back on the straight and narrow. God delights in lovingkindness. He loves to display His mercy and grace to us. Because Christ died for us and defeated death on our behalf, we can enter into God's love for us. 'Lord our God, we praise You for Your lovingkindness. Please w

  ‭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.” https://bible.com/bible/59/luk.12.15.ESV We could covet any manner of things. It could be relationships, money, possessions, work or whatever else. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with such things, but they're not to be idolised. The world sells us the lie that our lives consist in the abundance of our possessions. Yet we came into this world with nothing, and we'll leave with nothing. We aren't just machines or animals, we're made in the image and likeness of God. Jesus warns us to take care. We are to watch and pray that we don't fall into materialistic temptation. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. The devil would tell us that a little covetousness is okay. 'No one needs to know', he would reason. Yet covetousness eats us up like a cancer and makes us miserable

  Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day 2 Corinthians 4:16 NIV We have the treasure of the gospel in ‘jars of clay’, our feeble, ageing bodies. Even in my mid-thirties, my hair is starting to go grey, wrinkles are forming on my face, and I often feel tired (having three young children might have something to do with that!). It’s all part and parcel of being mere mortals.   Even Jesus, the Immortal God become Man, got tired. He was so weary one time that He was sleeping through a storm (until His disciples panickingly woke Him up!). If we belong to Him however, our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit of God!   We might feel like our temples need renovating! They will be, in eternity. Even now though, God is working in us to make us more like Jesus every day.   Often, we might be tempted to focus on our physical selves. Maybe we have health concerns that we can’t seem to shake. These aren’t un

  Mark 3:25 NIV If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.   This famous quote is sometimes erroneously attributed to Abraham Lincoln, as a warning to the United States of America around the time of the civil war in that country. America couldn’t tolerate slavery any longer, and it took the civil war to bring it to an end. Lincoln was quoting Jesus, who spoke these words in a different context.   The envious religious leaders accused Jesus of banishing demons by the power of the devil. Of course, that doesn’t make sense. If the devil was fighting his own forces, there’d be civil war amongst the powers of evil, and the end would be nigh for him. Sadly, 2000 years later, he’s still going around like a roaring lion, looking for whom he might devour.   Thankfully, the household of God is not divided. There are plenty of counterfeit Christians, plenty of professing believers who muddy the waters of churches. Yet essentially, God knows those who are His,

  2 Peter 3:9 NIV The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.   Some people scoff at the idea that Jesus’s promised return will ever come. It’s been 2,000 years since His first advent, so many of us are getting impatient. Yet with the Everlasting God, a thousand years is like a day; He doesn’t work to our timescales. Peter gives the main reason Jesus hasn’t returned yet. Today is a day of salvation, and God is patiently calling more people to repentance and faith in Him. God doesn’t want us to perish as we deserve, He wants us to change our minds about Him and to trust in Him for eternal life. If God doesn’t want anyone to perish, why do people perish? He’s given us free will, and most people choose to reject Him. We need to repent and believe in Jesus. If we come to repentance, we only have God to thank for working in our hearts. If we refuse

  ‭Matthew‬ ‭18:12‬ ‭ESV‬ What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.18.12.ESV Most of us aren't shepherds, or from an agricultural society, so maybe we struggle to relate to this story. Wouldn't the shepherd just count his blessings and entrust the lost sheep to God's care? Thankfully, God isn't like we might be tempted to be. It might not seem to make sound economic sense for the shepherd to pursue the lost sheep, but that's what God does with us. He could rightfully consign us all to hell for going astray from Him. Yet the Lord had laid on Christ the sinful stains of us all. Biblically, the Lord our Shepherd doesn't just seek after us, He dies for us. We deserve hell, and satan knows it. Yet by His death Jesus has sealed our redemption. Jesus didn't come to call the righteous. He didn&

  ‭Mark‬ ‭4:9‬ ‭ESV‬ And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” https://bible.com/bible/59/mrk.4.9.ESV In the context, Jesus was telling stories. 'What's the point of that?' We might ask, 'we need statistics, not stories!' We're not robots though, we're people made in the image and likeness of a creative God to enjoy the stories He tells. Almost everyone has ears to hear. Many of those who don't have eyes to read Jesus's story in Scripture. He's able to open blind eyes and deaf ears, not just literally, but spiritually too. When Jesus talks about sowing seeds, He's not just making an observation about the agricultural society in which He lived. He's making a spiritual point. If we have ears, if we can listen, if we're able to communicate; we need to hear what God has to say to us. We need to receive the word of God. It needs to bear spiritual fruit in our lives. 'Lord, may we hear what You're saying to us, an

  ‭Matthew‬ ‭5:14‬ ‭ESV‬ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.5.14.ESV This is a powerful statement by Jesus. It almost sounds blasphemous. Isn't He Himself the Light of the world? Jesus is the Light of the world, but His Light is reflected by His people. He's like the sun of the spiritual universe; and we're like the moon. We might feel more like sheep for the slaughter or the scum of the earth: two other Biblical illustrations for us. Jesus had just said that we're blessed when we're persecuted, because great is our reward in heaven. We might not feel blessed, and our maltreatment might not even get a mention in the mainstream media, but our neighbours take note. By the grace of God we can suffer well. We are the only Bibles many people will read. We are to be Light, not darkness. We can't profess to reflect God's light if we don't actually do so. 'God of Light, may we reflect

  ‭Psalm‬ ‭121:2‬ ‭ESV‬ My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. https://bible.com/bible/59/psa.121.2.ESV I had a local political candidate come round today. How apt this verse is in the light of that! Our help is not in politicians, but in the Creator of the universe. Politicians promise the earth and deliver precious little. Even if they could deliver us the earth, 'what does it profit a man to gain the world and lose his soul'? The Lord promises to help us get a place in the new creation, and He can deliver us. On the night before He died, Jesus said He was going to prepare a place for us in His Father's house. His blood has bought us a place in glory, and now He's fitting it out for us. Precious few politicians might die for us. Yet Jesus gave His life for our deliverance, and our Spirit to help us become fitted for glory. He has done all that is necessary for us to be helped with all we need for eternity. 'God our Helper, we're so grat