Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

 Psalm 100:5 ESV For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. People question the goodness of the Lord. They point out all the suffering. Yet if it wasn't for God, suffering is meaningless. Because God is good, he can even bring good out of suffering. The supreme example is the cross of Christ, where God's unfailing love was most clearly displayed. Because he gave his life for us, we can be forgiven of our badness. Jesus loved us to the uttermost. He gave his life for us. He rose again victorious and ever lives to demonstrate his love for us in intercession, and ultimately in his return to call us home. God is faithful. He doesn't give up on us half way to glory. He perseveres with us to eternity. Lord, we're so grateful for your goodness. We're so thankful for your love. May we ever trust your faithfulness, in Jesus's name, amen'

 2 Corinthians 9:7 ESV Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  The Apostle Paul was encouraging the Corinthian church to be generous. Yet he didn't compel them to give. Instead, he encouraged them to do so out of the goodness of their hearts. When we consider what God has done for us, it should inspire generosity. He didn't spare his own Son, but gave him up for our salvation. Our response should be defined by thankfulness and gratitude. Generosity doesn't just happen by osmosis. We have to decide what we are going to give. As the saying goes, 'those who fail to plan, plan to fail'. God loves it when we're happy to give. He isn't impressed with some begrudging tither. He'd rather we gave out of the kindness of our hearts than under a sense of compulsion. 'Generous God, we're so grateful for your kindness to us. Please help us to prove our thankfulness by our giving. ...

 Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Solomon calls us to trust in the Lord wholeheartedly. We're not to 'hedge our bets'. God is completely trustworthy. Even though he was the world's wisest man, Solomon knew not to lean on his own understanding. People sometimes describe Christianity as a crutch. In a sense it is, we all need to consciously lean on Christ. We're not simply to muddle through life, hoping for the best, crossing our fingers. We're to acknowledge the Lord in all our ways. He'll never let us down. We know the destination is a home in glory with the Lord. To be honest, we don't know every single step to get there. Yet we know our Guide, and we know that he is good. 'Sovereign God, may we trust you with our lives, as you lead us home to glory. For your honour and praise we pray, amen'

 Matthew 25:40 ESV And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Of course, we can never fully repay the Lord for what he has done for us. He has gained eternal life for us. Anything we do for him pales in comparison. Having said that, we can and should do good for Jesus' sake. If we do good to one another as God's people, we're doing good to the spiritual body of Christ on earth. We don't just have to try and impress his impressive people either. I love that Jesus encourages us to do good even to 'the least of these'. Most Christians aren't particularly impressive. Most of us are pretty ordinary. The old lady at the back of church may well be a prayer warrior. Even if she isn't, we should seek to bless her. If we do, the Lord will reward us. 'Dear Lord, please help us to bless one another, and in so doing to bless you, for the honour of your name we pray, amen'.

 Philippians 1:9-10 ESV  And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,  If we want to know how to pray for people, we could do worse than to study the prayers of Paul in his letters. He prayed that the Philippian church would increasingly be defined by love. It's not that they weren't already loving, it's just that we should be abounding more and more in love. Paul wasn't just on about some warm fuzzy feeling. He was referring to people knowing God personally, not just intellectually. He wanted his readers to be able to discern what is right. With discernment, often the choice isn't between right and wrong. Often it is a case of what is good, and what is best. If we're offered two different jobs for example, we have to take our pick between them. God doesn't want us agonising about the decisions we take. He wants u...

 1 Timothy 4:8 ESV for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.  Note that the Apostle Paul doesn't say that bodily training is of no value. He wasn't necessarily telling Timothy to give up his gym membership necessarily. We should look after ourselves physically. Paul wasn't belittling working out. He was just emphasising that working out spiritually is more important. Being Christlike is of value in every way. We can say that if we're godly, we will look after ourselves physically as well. After all, Jesus himself isn't just a ghost, but an embodied person who looks after himself. Godliness is foundational to everything else in life. It's not enough to be physically fit if our characters aren't good. We need to develop godly character, not just to live good lives, but to be sure that we're heading for eternal life. Our godliness doesn't save u...

 Galatians 4:7 ESV So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. By default, were slaves of sin. Children don't need to be taught to sin, it comes naturally to them. Anyone who sins is a slave to sin. God doesn't want us as slaves to sin. He wants to set us free. Not only so, but he wants to bring us into his family. It might sound sexist that God makes us sons. What about daughters? The thing is though, in the ancient Roman world, daughters had no inheritance rights, so to make us sons is a good thing. Nowadays of course we can happily say that God makes us sons and daughters. The point is that all of us, whether men or women, get to inherit eternal life through faith in the Lord Jesus. 'Abba Father, we're so grateful you've brought us into your family. Help us not to sin, but to honour you, for your glory, amen'.

 Matthew 25:35-36 ESV For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. Salvation is 100% of the Lord. This doesn't mean to say however that we simply pray the sinner's prayer and carry on business as usual. If we belong to Jesus, our lives will transform. As the family of God, we're to look out for one another. There's no lone rangers in the kingdom of heaven. Even the Apostle Paul had a great team around him, he wasn't just a maverick. If we belong to Jesus, we will help look after our brethren. By doing so, we will honour our Lord. If we see one of our brethren in need, we should do something about it. Of course, Jesus is referring to physical, embodied ministry. He's not saying we have to be gullible and get scammed online. We're to bless those physically around us, primarily. 'Sovereign Lo...

 Matthew 25:34 ESV  Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  How is it that we can be blessed by God? If we read the immediate context we might assume that we have to earn God's blessing. Thankfully, that isn't the case, because that's impossible. We do good, not to earn God's acceptance. Instead, we do good out of thankfulness for his goodness. An inheritance isn't something we work for. Note that God prepared his kingdom for us from the foundation of the world. He wasn't waiting to see if we'd be worthy. It's all of his grace. I'm reminded of when Jesus told his disciples that he was going to prepare a place for them in glory. We don't deserve a home in God's house. Yet he graciously promises us one anyway. 'Dear Lord, we acknowledge our unworthiness but we pray that you would help us to walk worthy of you. For the honou...

 Psalm 100:4 ESV Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! How is it that we can enter the 'pearly gates' of the  heavenly city? Only by the grace of God. There's no room for patting ourselves on the back. Instead of being all self congratulatory, we are to be filled with thanksgiving to the God of our salvation. It's by the cross of Christ that we can enter his presence with great joy. Eternity isn't long enough to give God the praise he deserves! This verse gives a hint as to why Jesus so angrily drove out the moneychangers and market traders in what was meant to be the Gentile court of God's temple. The house of God was meant to be a house of prayer for all nations. It had been turned into a den of thieves. That even Gentiles like me can enter into the presence of the God of Israel is a great mercy. There's no room for any entitlement in the kingdom of God. Even Christ's Jewish followers are to ...

 Matthew 25:31-32 NLT  “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  The Son of Man is the Lord Jesus Christ. He has promised to return. He assuredly will. We need to be ready for the return of the King. It will be too late to sort out lives out when he returns. We need to make our peace with him before it's too late. There's no escaping God's justice. We either trust in the Good Shepherd to bring us into his sheepfold, or we're lost. Salvation is of the Lord. Having been saved, there will be evidence that we are. We will look out for the needy amongst us. Our works don't save us; they're simply the evidence that we have been saved. 'Almighty God, please accept us into your holy presence through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, amen...

 Romans 8:38-39 ESV For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Not even death itself can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Even anything we might face in this life can't exhaust his love. The devil and his forces are powerless to stop God from loving us. We might be going through difficult circumstances. We might have a bleak future in this life, if Jesus doesn't return first. Yet we can be assured of God's love, we needn't fear. Jesus's nail scarred hands prove that he loves us. He gave his life for us. Now not even death can divorce us from his love. Persecution and crime against us can't separate us from God's love in Jesus. Just to make himself clear, the Apostle Paul clarifies that nothing else in all creation can tear us from...

 Mark 12:10 ESV Have you not read this Scripture: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; Jesus was largely rejected by the Jewish people. They largely spurned their own Messiah. Nevertheless, he still established something wonderful, the church of Jews and Gentiles alike united in worship of God. Just because the Jews have largely rejected Jesus doesn't mean to say there's any room for antisemitism at all. Jesus himself is Jewish! Even Gentile believers should long for a revival amongst the Jewish people. Jesus is the cornerstone of his church. Without him, it all comes tumbling down. The Roman Catholic 'church' is a bastardised church. Jesus isn't the cornerstone of the Roman Catholic church; Robert is! Why are there so many denominations? It's a valid question, but it's like asking why there's so many rooms in a house. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ is diverse; it isn't a cult. 'Sovereign Lord, may we have unity...

 Romans 10:14 ESV  How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?  Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Yet we have to believe in him. It's not enough to simply chant the name of Jesus as a mantra. Of course, we can't believe in someone we've never heard of. That's why it's so important for those who believe to tell others the good news of salvation in Christ crucified. We can't just leave it to the professionals. I think I vaguely remember a statistic that the vast majority of people come to faith through ordinary Christians. We don't need to be full time Gospel workers to share the good news. We mustn't be miserly with the Gospel. We're all called to preach the good news. In the great commission, Jesus was calling all of his followers to make him known until he returns. We need to be faithful and...

 Ephesians 4:29 ESV  Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.  This verse starts off with a negative. We're not to corrupt people with our speech. This rules out flirtatious language. The Apostle Paul doesn't just tell us not to do something. He gives us a positive alternative. He commands us to seek to uplift and edify others. Instead of constantly knocking others down, even in the name of 'banter', we're to seek to encourage others. Often when people know each other well, we talk each other down. We should do the opposite. Of course, there are appropriate times for rebuke and correction. Yet even these should be done graciously. We're trying to do people good, not to put them down. 'Father God, we praise you for Christ as the ultimate example of edification. In his strength, may we too build others up. In his name we pray, amen'.

 John 16:13 ESV When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.  We aren't on the side of truth by default. Jesus told Roman governor Pilate that all who are on the side of truth listen to him. Normally, we'd rather do things our own way. Thankfully, we don't have to be deceived by the devil and live wrongly. God has poured out the gift of his Spirit of truth upon us, through faith in Christ. With him, we no longer have any excuses to be disingenuous. Just as the Son (though co-equal) submits to Father God, so it is with the Spirit of truth. Though he is equal with the Father and the Son, he doesn't 'go rogue'. Instead, he works in perfect harmony with Father and Son. If someone claims, 'the Spirit told me' something that doesn't align with God's word, we can dismiss that assertion as decei...

 Psalm 19:1 ESV  The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. As the Apostle Paul says in Romans 1, we're without excuse. Even if we haven't read the Bible, creation itself reveals enough about God for us to realise our need of him. Even the universe itself reflects the glory of its creator, God himself. If the cosmos itself is glorious, how much more the One who simply spoke it into being! God could have created all things in a second. He only took a week to provide a model for our days. Even the sky itself, the atmosphere, reflects something of the beautiful creativity of God. In the words of a song, 'every sunset is a stained glass window' that reflects the light of God's creative beauty. He has made all things well. Having said all this, it's worth reading Psalm 19 in context. Creation isn't enough for our deliverance. We need the word of God, the full revelation of Scripture for our salvation. 'Glorious God, we pr...

Genesis 21:14 ESV So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. Maybe I'm being a bit tenuous, but I see Abraham as symbolic of manmade religion in this verse. There's nothing wrong with being moral, but it only gets you so far, like bread and a skin of water in the wilderness. Hagar didn't need a handout, but divine intervention. Abraham, at Sarah's goading, had tried to religiously take matters into his own hands to get a son. He went about it in an illegitimate manner, getting Sarah's female servant pregnant. It was culturally acceptable at the time, but it's still wrong in the eyes of God. Thankfully, Hagar got a divine intervention. The Angel of the Lord/preincarnate Jesus provided for her and her son Ishmael in the wilderness. That's what he does for us spiritually too. Religi...

 Dear Keir, You recently said that Britain is an 'Island of Strangers'.  Maybe it's grim down south, but it ain't that bad up here. We might be strangers, but I'm inviting you up north to see for yourself that we're relatively friendly up here, compared to you posh southerners. Everywhere I go round here in West Yorkshire, blokes refer to each other as 'mate', even if they're technically strangers.  So maybe a more accurate soundbite would be 'island of mates'.  Traditionally, and even to this day, mainly among ladies of a certain age, people even refer to each other as 'love'. 'Island of loves' has a nicer ring to it than 'island of Strangers' I think I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to get the vote of the vocal racist minority. Yet by doing so, you're alienating the quiet friendly majority. Why are you trying to scare off all the foreign workers who prop up our NHS and care system for exampl...

 James 1:12 ESV  Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.  God doesn't tempt us. The devil tempts us. God allows us to be tempted because he's testing us to help develop faithfulness in us. This verse is counterintuitive. We wouldn't expect blessedness, or joy, to be associated with trials. Yet God would have us to see the big picture. Trials themselves aren't joyful. Yet if we pass the test, there's a happy outcome. We get to receive a crown of life. This verse could sound legalistic, like we earn our salvation. We must remember that it's all of grace. We love because God first loved us and gave Christ for our salvation. 'God Almighty, we praise you for blessing us even in our trials. May we receive the crown of life, by your grace, in Jesus' name, amen'.

 Philippians 4:6-7 ESV do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. The Bible doesn't flatter the anxious. Instead, it commands us not to be. Happily, it gives us a positive alternative. Instead of worrying, we're to pray and ask God thankfully what's on our hearts. We have every reason to be thankful. After all, we have no right to approach God, that we can is a great mercy. Instead of being anxious, God wants us at peace. Serenity is knowing peace with God through Christ crucified. We can be peaceful even in tumultuous circumstances. Our bodies could even be martyred for our faith in Jesus. Nevertheless, God's peace guards our hearts and minds. We just need to take all our worries to God in prayer. 'Lord, we leave our anxiety with you. We thank you for the peace w...

 Ephesians 2:10 NIV For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  We're saved by grace alone by faith alone in Christ alone, according to Scripture alone, to the glory of God alone. Having been saved though, we will do good works for God. There's no room for boasting for such works though. We are God's handiwork. We're like tools that he uses to achieve his purposes. Tools don't boast in themselves, but in the one who wields them. We're not saved by good works. Nevertheless, if we are genuinely saved, we will do good works. This isn't to earn our salvation, but simply because it's the right thing to do. God does good work in us. There's no room for boasting in ourselves, only in him. We can't just be spiritually lazy having been saved. 'Sovereign Lord, we acknowledge that salvation is 100% of you. We also recognise that we must work as you work in us, and not simply wilfully...

 Matthew 1:21 ESV  She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. Right when Adam and Eve first messed everything up for humanity, God promised his Son would be born of a virgin. He told the devil that the Seed of the woman (not of a man) would crush his head. Mary was that woman. A humble peasant from the sticks was honoured to bear the Son of God. She wasn't perfect, but she was blessed to have Christ as her firstborn Son. Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which means 'the Lord saves'. There is salvation in no one else. It's not 50/50 between God and us to earn our salvation. We've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We're all worthy of his condemnation. Yet through Jesus we can be forgiven. 'Heavenly Father, we praise you for your virgin born Son, miraculously incarnated to save us. May we trust in him all our days, until you call us home. In his name we pray, amen'.

 Matthew 16:18 ESV And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.  This verse is very topical at the moment with the new pope, because Roman Catholics misinterpret it to be about the papacy. In the context however, Jesus isn't talking about Peter apocryphally becoming the inaugural bishop of Rome and having papal successors. Jesus is referring to Peter's statement of faith. If the 'rock' that Jesus built his church on was Peter and his successors, we'd be on very shaky ground. Thankfully, Jesus was referring to Peter's previous comment. Peter had just declared that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. Jesus is the Saviour of the world. We're not saved by Peter or the flawed papacy, thankfully. If we were, we'd be hopeless. As we're told elsewhere, the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. There's no other way to everlasting life with God but Jes...

 Genesis 2:3 ESV So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.  God didn't need a week to create the universe. He could have taken billions of years or seconds, but he chose a week. In doing so, he killed two birds with one stone, setting us a pattern for our times. The Sabbath is probably one of the most misunderstood and disregarded of God's commandments. We might have thought we'd rush to obey a command to rest. Yet too often, we're constantly striving or hustling.  By default we want to earn our acceptance with God. It's as though he says, 'give it a rest'. Hebrews tells us that Jesus himself is our Sabbath rest from trying to earn God's favour. We're not machines. God didn't design us to work 24/7. We need to take a day of rest each week if we're going to thrive. 'Father God, we praise you for your Son, our Sabbath rest from works. Nevertheless, may we also t...

 John 13:14 ESV If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.  Pope Francis famously washed the feet of poor people (I believe it was prisoners or homeless people off the top of my head). Jesus wasn't going on about the false humility of some blasphemous person 'cosplaying' at Christianity for the cameras. I have more respect for the widow volunteering weekly at her local food bank without fanfare than some exhibitionist masquerading as meek. Jesus is Lord and Teacher, not the pope. Jesus is enough. We don't need the pope. He's redundant spiritually. To make out that Jesus isn't enough is blasphemy. To even make out that we need to top up his salvation of us is wrong. We don't need to wash people's feet, even metaphorically, to earn our salvation. Having said the above, if Jesus is our Lord and Teacher, we will seek to obey and to learn from him. We will wash one another's feet, probably metaphori...

 Isaiah 43:18-19 ESV “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. God isn't telling us to have amnesia. He's not telling us to forget his goodness to us in times past. He is in the context telling us to forget our rebellion against him, and the judgement that our sinfulness incurs. Isaiah's audience were rebellious and sinful, just as we are. As such, God would punish them with the rod of his wrath. Babylonia would sweep in to take them captive.  Graciously, God said captivity wasn't the end of the story. He was going to do a new thing. He was going to make a way in the wilderness. This life is a spiritual wilderness. Happily though, Jesus is the way through that wilderness to Father God in glory. He provides spiritual rivers in the desert to sustain us on the way to glory: primarily his word, his Spirit, and our...

 Acts 18:10 ESV For I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people. Paul suffered a lot of persecution during his ministry. He had stones thrown at him. He was flogged and imprisoned, etc. Here, in the city of Corinth, the Las Vegas or 'Sin City's of its day, Jesus told Paul to persevere. If God is with us, that should be enough for us. If God is for us, who can be against us? Not only was Jesus with Paul, by his Spirit, in Corinth. He was also going to keep him safe. Not only so, but there was a great awakening of faith in God in that city. 'Dear Lord, may we trust you to never leave or forsake us. Please protect us and help us to become effective witnesses for you. For your glory we pray, amen'.

 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. Clearly, this verse hasn't been fulfilled yet. Even as processing Christians, we must admit that even we don't always live like the Lord is king over our lives. Thankfully, a day is coming when he will establish his rule and reign on earth as it is in heaven. Zechariah was around before the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet he was looking forward to the arrival of king Jesus. What is Jesus's message in a nutshell? 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand'. Who is the king of heaven? It's the Lord Jesus. Having died, risen and ascended, he's at the right hand of the Father on the throne of heaven. When Jesus returns, he will call those who trust in him to be with him for eternity. The moment we believe in him, we get to become part of his kingdom. Today is the day of salvation. 'Our Lord and King, may we ever live for you. Please re...

 Psalm 42:11 ESV Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. The psalmist wasn't feeling good. He felt cast down. He felt tumultuous. Note that the psalmist didn't just listen to his feelings, he engaged with them. He didn't just passively accept the status quo. He considered how he could get out of his depressive rut. The Bible is realistic about how we sometimes might feel. It doesn't pretend that if we come to Jesus we'll be happy all the time. Thankfully, it also gives strategies to try and get out of a depressive state. The psalmist preached to himself. He commanded himself to hope in God. Even though he didn't feel like it at that time, he declared that he would again praise the Lord. We're to remind ourselves of who God is: he's our salvation. 'God our Saviour, please help us to hope in you, even when we feel depressed. For we come in the name of Je...

 Song of Solomon 8:6 ESV Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord. I'm reminded of the hymn 'Before the Throne of God Above' which says that 'my name is graven on his hands; my name is written on his heart'. At face value this verse is about romantic love, after all, that's what the Song of Songs is about. I'm also reminded of the wedding vows which declare we will love one another 'til death us so part'. Romantic love might be as strong as death. Yet in eternity, romantic love will be no more. Jealousy isn't necessarily a bad thing. If our spouses are flirted with, we shouldn't just shrug our shoulders. We should care and be angered if people disrespect us and our spouses. This verse is the only mention of God in the Song of Songs. Romantic love is good, but God's 'agape', sacrificial love is...

 1 John 4:4 ESV Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.  If we want to belong to Jesus and to overcome the world, we have to become little children spiritually. This doesn't mean to say we have to be naive. Instead, we're to be credulous of God rather than incredulous like some cynical older person. Jesus commands us to be childlike. There's a distinction between being childlike and childish. We're not to be jaded and doubtful. Doubt is trendy nowadays. Even the Apostle John could be argued to assume his original readers were doubting they were overcomers as persecution hotted up. Yet he insisted that they were. God is infinitely greater than the devil. God is the everlasting Lord of the universe. Satan is simply a created creature.  'Dear God our Father, we recognise that it is in you that we overcome all that would assail us. Please encourage us with this truth. In your Son's name, ...

 Ecclesiastes 9:15 ESV But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man.  Ecclesiastes is an unusual Bible book. The Bible is all about the meaning of life. Yet the book of Ecclesiastes is about the apparent meaninglessness of life! Thankfully, even within Ecclesiastes, the truth of the good news of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ shines through at times. One of the brightest occasions is in the kind of parable that this verse is part of. Let's dive in! Solomon tells of a small, insignificant city. We can take this to symbolise planet earth: a speck in the universe. Within that city was a seemingly small, insignificant man who we can take to be Christ himself. As Isaiah said, the Suffering Servant of God (who is Jesus) was despised by men and forsaken, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. Yet despite all that, he is worthy to be praised and worshipped with the entirety of our beings for deliver...

 Proverbs 8:11 ESV for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her. Solomon isn't denying that jewels are good. After all, he was one of the richest men of his generation, perhaps of all time. Anything he desired he could have. Solomon could write with expertise that nothing we could desire can compare with wisdom. He should have known: he tried everything. Conveniently, what Solomon desired can be alliterated as W- women, wine, work, wealth, even worldly wisdom. Solomon discovered that all the worldly things he might desire never truly satisfied. He came to understand that true spiritual wisdom is to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth. That is our reason d'etre. Spiritual wisdom can help us find a godly spouse, a proverbs 31 woman. It can teach us to enjoy wine, work and wealth in moderation, and to be generous. Especially, it calls us to worship God and to enjoy him forever. 'Dear Lord, please help us to get our priorities right....

 Ezra 10:2 ESV And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, addressed Ezra: “We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land, but even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this.  God's people were at a low ebb. Although they were restored to the promised land, they were still in thrall to their Persian occupiers. Instead of committing to God, they had adulterated themselves with the unbelieving people around them. We might wonder what this has to do with us. Even in the new covenant era, we're commanded not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. In other words, it's wrong for a Christian to marry a pagan. Ezra had led his people in a powerful prayer of repentance. It seemed to have had the desired effect. The people reacted well, as this verse begins to reveal. The people confessed their son, but they don't wallow in it. They don't nurse the hurt and indulge the misery. They were hopeful God would have merc...

 Isaiah 43:1 ESV But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When we see a 'but' in Scripture, it's asking us to contextualise. What's it there for? In this case we need to delve into the previous chapter to dig out the answer. In the context, God was saying that Israel was spiritually deaf and blind. As a result, he was going to give them over to judgement. A pagan nation would ravage them. Even when God allows us to go through awful circumstances, he never forgets that he created us, that he's our Maker. He wants to redeem us. He can deliver us from all that would assail us.  Christians are called by the name of our Saviour. We are his. He bought us with his precious blood, and no one can pluck us out of his hands that were nail scarred for us. 'God, forbid that we would fear, when you are looking after us and deliver us from evil we pray, in ...

 Psalm 118:19 ESV  Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. We know David the psalmist wasn't naturally righteous. He was a murderer and an adulterer. So how could he be so importunate as to ask for the gates of righteousness to be opened to him? David was a man after God's own heart. He knew that God delights to transform the unrighteous into righteousness. God did that for him, notwithstanding awful consequences for his sins. If God opens up the gates of righteousness for us, that isn't cause for us to be all self congratulatory. Instead, it calls for us to praise the Lord. This is what we're created for. Ingratitude is ugly. Thankfulness is beautiful and fitting for us. May God help us to be so. 'God, please help us to be thankful to you for opening up the gates of righteousness to us, in Christ our Lord, in whose name we pray, amen'.

Job 38:4 ESV Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Job is a book about suffering. Yet if we hope it will answer why God allows suffering, we'll be disappointed. Instead, God questions who we are to question him. Contrary to popular opinion, we don't have a divine right to know why we suffer. All we need to know is that God can bring good out of suffering. The cross of Christ is the ultimate example. If Job didn't deserve to suffer, Jesus definitely didn't. Yet he did so on our behalf, so that in him we might overcome our sinful natures that cause such suffering. Eternity sets suffering in context. God gave Job a lesson in putting him in his place. We have no divine right to know why we suffer. All that ultimately matters is that God can bring good out of it if we ask him. 'Almighty Father God, please help us to bear suffering as good soldiers of Christ. In his name we pray, amen'.  

For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Esther 4:14 ESV Esther is an unusual book within the Bible in that it doesn't explicitly mention God. Yet God's unseen handiwork is evident throughout the book, especially through the actions of courageous Queen Esther. God didn't use a miracle to save his people, he used a brave woman. This verse is Esther's guardian and cousin Mordecai urging her to act on behalf of her people. Implied in his appeal to her to act is an implicit trust in the providence of God to preserve his people. God has promised, and he's faithful, so we can be confident. Esther didn't feel confident. She knew she wasn't in husband king Xerxes' good books. She knew that genocidal Haman was Xerxes' favoured right hand man. Despite, or rather because of her...

 Matthew 6:25 ESV “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Jesus doesn't flatter worriers. He doesn't tiptoe around them. He commands the anxious not to be. If we're honest, we pretty much all struggle with worry from time to time. Is Jesus being insensitive with us? No, he's just being direct, and thankfully gives us reasons not to get chewed up about things. There's more to life than stuff, Jesus says. Of course, food and clothes are basic necessities. Yet Jesus insists there's more to life than them. We're not just physical beings. Our souls and spirits are clothed by our bodies. Yes, we have to look after our bodies, but we should also get our priorities right. 'Lord Almighty, may we seek first your kingdom and your righteousness, and see you meet all our needs as well. For the honour of y...

 Philippians 1:6 ESV And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.  It's part of our flawed human nature that even with the best of intentions, we often don't get to compete what we've started. We often find this in our working lives. We start something, but by the time we might have finished, we have to start all over again. Thankfully, spiritually, we can be less frustrated than in life in general. God's not going to give up on us half way to glory. This verse is a great encouragement. I'll never forget being severely mentally ill and lacking in assurance, and my brother sharing this verse with me. I'm not saying it was a magic pill that immediately healed me. Yet at that time it was like God flipped a switch in my heart and the light came on. Has God begun a work in you? Do you love him for sending his Son for your salvation? Don't give up, but persevere in the strength that he provides...

 Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. God isn't only 'gentle Jesus, meek and mild'. He's not helplessly wringing his hands at the evil in the world and in our hearts. He's sovereign. We might think God can't deal with the evil in the world and on our hearts. Yet the Apostle Paul assures us that he's able to do more than we ask or even imagine. He's not limited by our tentative prayers. Almighty God is at work in us, to transform us into the likeness of Christ. We mustn't rebel, but work in partnership with him. We mustn't put a roadblock to transformation by unbelief. God is glorious. That he takes sinners and makes us saints is a glorious thing. That Jesus gave his life for us and is now exalted forever is glorious too. 'Almighty Lord, ...