Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her. John 20:18 (NIV) Mary Magdalene didn't need a PhD in theology to know what she had witnessed: the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only had He delivered her from seven demons, but He defeated death on her behalf and upon the behalf of everyone who trusts in Him. It was a pope hundreds of years later who claimed Mary Magdalene had been a prostitute: the Bible makes no such claim. It does however say that Jesus drove out seven demons from her. She won't have been regarded as a reliable witness. Not only had Mary been a demoniac, but she was also a woman, which in that culture of the time wasn't regarded as very significant, especially when it came to evidence in court. So if the disciples were to have made up Christ's resurrection, they wouldn't have called upon Mary to be their star witness. God doesn't ask His people to b...

 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:9 (ESV) I love the Apostle Paul's integrity. He could write these words without any dishonesty. He was a WYSIWYG kind of person: 'what you see is what you get'. Not only did Paul wear his heart on his sleeve, but he had a good heart. This wasn't natural to him. It was thanks to his Damascene conversion. Because Paul encountered the risen Lord Jesus, his life was turned right side up. He went from being a blasphemer, a persecutor and a hypocrite to becoming a godly man. Jesus made the difference: he knew he couldn't claim any credit for his turnaround. If we live lives of integrity, the God of peace will be with us. He will give us His peace. We'll have the peace of a good conscience. 'God of peace, please presence Yourself amongst us as we seek to live lives of integrity for Your glory, and in Christ's name we pray, ame...

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:25 (NIV) We are naturally spiritually dead. If we trust in Christ crucified on our behalf, we become spiritually alive. Just as He defeated death on the third day, we can rise again as well. If we live by the Spirit, we're to keep in step with Him. We're not to run ahead or lag behind, but simply to keep in step with Him. He's like a pace setter in a race. How do we know whether we are keeping in step with the Spirit? If we are keeping in step with Him, we will increasingly bear His fruit. Aspects of this fruitfulness include love, patience, gentleness and self-control. If we're not sure how we're doing spiritually, we can ask God to help us. We can ask others too if they can see progress in us. Sometimes the Spirit might want us to stop in our tracks and to consider where we're at. 'Heavenly Father, we praise You for the gift of Your Holy Spirit, received through faith in Your Son...

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Romans 3:23-24 (NIV) If we were to just read Romans 3:23, we might feel obliged to admit its truth, but it would be pretty depressing. Most people would admit they're not perfect. That makes us all sinners before the glorious God. The 'and' in verse 24 is a great thing, because it shows how we can be accepted by God. It's not by us pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. It's by the grace of God. How does God reveal His grace to us? By sending His Son for our redemption. Redemption basically means that He sets us free from the condemnation we deserve. How does Jesus set us free from the condemnation we deserve? By the fact He bore our condemnation upon Himself upon the cross. Through faith in Him we can be accepted by God, there's no other way. 'God, we admit we fall short of Your glory. Please accept us as we tru...

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8 (NIV) If I remember correctly, the posh theological term for this verse is about the 'immutability' of Jesus Christ as the eternal Son of God. In layman's terms, He's eternally consistent. Jesus who walked the earth and who we encounter in the Biblical Gospels is the same God today.  Jesus Christ is as merciful, gracious and loving as He's ever been. He hasn't become a grumpy old man two millennia after He walked the earth. He's everlastingly faithful to save repentant sinners. This truth is a great comfort to God's people. He's not going to give up on us. He'll refuse to abandon us. This truth is a fearsome thing to God's enemies. If we don't trust Jesus for salvation we're lost for eternity. He's our only hope. 'Heavenly Dad, we're grateful that Your Son is eternally consistent, we can fully rely on Him. Please help us to do so for all of our days and...

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV) Didn't Jesus say His yoke is easy and His burden is light? Why does He say that the way of life is hard? We can rest from our spiritual striving in Christ, but that doesn't mean to say life will be easy. There are only two ways to live. There's the easy, wide highway to hell. Then there's the narrow, hard stairway to heaven. By default, we set off on the highway to hell. It has two lanes: hedonism and religion. Whether we're eating, drinking and being merry; or trying to earn God's acceptance, we're on our way to destruct. Jesus is the gate. Jesus is the way to eternal life. Without Him we're lost eternally. We're to find pleasure and acceptance with God in Him. 'Lord God, please help us to enter the way...

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 (ESV) Whatever God calls us to, He will empower us to do so. For Joshua, that was the conquest of the evil Canaanites, who deserved what they got. Understandably, he will have been tempted to feel afraid. The Israelites were a ragtag bunch of freed slaves, refugees to the promised land. The Canaanites were well established. The difference was though that the Lord God was with Israel, and against the Canaanites. If God is for us, who can be against us? If God is against us, who can be for us? Even if Canaan seemed unbeatable, God made sure they were overthrown. Nowadays, we're not called to kill evil people. Instead we're to call them to turn from their evil and to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. If we have received His mercy, we should call others to do so too. 'Lord our God, please help us to be strong and courageo...

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Matthew 28:19 (ESV) Christianity isn't about sitting on a cloud strumming a harp. It's about telling everyone the good news of salvation through Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God doesn't save us to become hermits, but to publicise His gospel. The new creation isn't some kind of disembodied, boring existence. It will be a physical realm where we worship and serve God for all eternity. We're to call people from all around the world to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. We're to learn from Jesus. How do we do so? Not by sitting in a lotus position and emptying our minds. Instead, we're to fill our minds with God's word the Bible as applied by His Holy Spirit. Baptism isn't just a physical act, getting dunked in water. Water baptism is a picture of baptism in the Holy Spirit. Baptism in the Holy Spirit isn't some wacky thing where...

 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” Revelation 7:9-10 (NIV) There's going to be people from all around the world in God's everlasting kingdom. We're all going to bow before the throne of God above. We won't all be able to stand before Him. We can only stand before God's throne if we have received His salvation. We need to trust in the Lamb who was slain for our sins. If we do so, we will be clothed in the white robes of His righteousness. We can't trust in ourselves. We can't come before God in the filthy rags of our own self righteousness. We must be washed in the blood of the Lamb. Salvation is 100% of the Lord. If it depended i...

 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” Revelation 4:11 (NIV) Biblical faith isn't about us. It's about God. He is worthy, we aren't. God is glorious, honourable and powerful. He created all things. He's infinitely greater than us. It is God's will that we exist. It's for us to discover what His will is for our lives. We weren't made to fritter away our days, but to make the most of them. God wants us to worship Him. This isn't because He's egotistical. It's because He's worthy. 'Creator God, we worship You, for You are worthy of all glory, honour and power, both now and forevermore. In Christ's name, amen'.

 Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. Psalm 34:14 (ESV) Jesus described His own followers as evil. He didn't leave it at that though: He called them to turn away from evil and to do good. It's not enough to just not do evil, we need to positively do good. Turning has two elements to it. We need to turn from something to something. In this case, we need to turn from evil to do good. We're to seek peace. It doesn't come naturally. We have to find it. Once we've found peace, we have to pursue it. Peace is shy and doesn't put itself forward. Conflict is inevitable, peace needs to be pursued. 'Righteous Father, please help us to turn away from evil and to do good. May we seek peace, pursue it, and find it, for Your honour and praise we pray, amen'.

 But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. Psalm 59:16 (ESV) Singing is an expression of joy. If we have strength in our lungs, we should be grateful to God. We ought to sing praises to Him. If we're recipients of God's love, the overflow of our hearts will be a joyful noise. Even if we're tone deaf we can make a joyful noise to God. We don't have to be a genius lyricist like king David. We can just be mindful of God's goodness and grateful for it. David was specific about how God had helped him. The Lord was a fortress and a refuge to him in the day of his distress. He certainly had more than one of those days in his life. Even when David was a shepherd boy, he had to fight off lions and bears to defend his flock. As a servant to Saul, he faced the king's murderous jealousy and had to flee for his life. The God who never failed David will ...

 Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed. Proverbs 19:17 (ESV) If we're generous, we might assume we're losing out. After all, if I buy someone a coffee and a sandwich I'll be a few pounds poorer. One of the wisest men who ever lived advises us that God rewards generosity to the poor. Even if God doesn't repay us for generosity in this life, He assuredly will in the next. Life's often not fair. In eternity though, God will right all wrongs, and reward all rights. We should be generous not just to get a reward from God. We should be generous because God is. It's the right thing to do. If we're recipients of God's generosity, we should be generous. If we have food, clothing, shelter and a little bit to spare, we should spare it for others. We're to store up treasures in heaven, not treasures on earth, where things decay and people steal. 'Generous God, please help us to be godly, and to be rewarded for ...

 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” Galatians 5:14 (ESV) People think of law and love as incompatible. If someone's legalistic, we tend to think of them as cantankerous and difficult. If someone's loving, we assume they'll turn a blind eye to lawbreaking. Biblically, God's law is in summary to love- firstly Himself, but also to love one another. If it's not loving, we're breaking God's law. If we want to know who our neighbour is, Jesus explained that. Our neighbours aren't just the people in our neighbourhood. According to Jesus, our neighbour is whoever we come across in life. It could be the bloke next door, but it could just as easily be someone we cross paths with on life's journey. How should we love? As Jesus loved. He loved us so much that He laid down His life for us, we should be self-sacrificial in our love for others. 'Loving heavenly Father, please help us to be defined by love as...

 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27 (ESV) Jesus's peace that He gives us isn't circumstantial. We can be at peace even in the midst of a war. Peace is a state of body, soul and spirit; not just an external thing. I heard about an art competition where people had to paint a peaceful picture. One person did a sunny, blue skied scene with birds flying overhead. The winner painted a stormy scene but with a bird nestling its young to keep them safe. Jesus is like a mother hen that gathers her chicks under her wings to protect them from danger. He doesn't want us troubled, even in the midst of trouble. He doesn't want us afraid, even in the midst of fearful circumstances. If we fear the Lord, we don't need to fear anyone or anything else. He is Sovereign. In His care we're invincible until He calls us home. 'Dear Lord, we trust You to give ...