Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

 Matthew 5:10 ESV  “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Maybe we think we don't get persecuted in the West. Yet if we don't hide our light under a basket, people will react badly to it. If we try and speak out for life and heterosexual, monogamous marriage for life, we'll have people kick back against us. If we proclaim Jesus as Saviour and Lord, many people will react badly. Even the authorities are starting to try and shut down street preachers. Even in the UK, persecution is real. Persecution doesn't have to be state sponsored. It could simply be to be ostracised by work colleagues for taking a stand for righteousness. If we're going to be persecuted, let it be for righteousness' sake, not just politics or anything else. Jesus promises that if we're persecuted, the kingdom of heaven is ours. It's not that persecution earns us a place in his kingdom. It's just that once we've entere...

 Matthew 5:9 ESV “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. The world is plagued by wars and rumours of wars. Israel, Gaza, Sudan, Iran, Ukraine and Russia have all experienced war recently. Even the UK experiences riots and criminal violence on the streets. Jesus was speaking into a situation where the Roman Empire was occupying Israel and oppressing the Jewish people. One of his hearers was Simon the Zealot, who wanted to kick the Romans out. Jesus insisted that we should be peacemakers. It doesn't take much effort to start a fight. It requires resolve to make peace. As Solomon said, 'when a man's ways are pleasing to the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him'. The promise is that if we make peace, we will be called children of God. It's not that making peace earns us the right to be called children of God. It's that a characteristic of God's children is that we are peacemakers. 'Heavenly Father, please help u...

 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. This is one of the most astounding verses in the Bible. Jesus is the only perfect Man to have ever lived. He lived in our fallen world but knew no sin. Even though the Spirit conceived virgin born Son of God isn't tainted with our original sin, God treated him as such. God condemned his own beloved Son in our place. The sinless Saviour was treated like the worst of criminals deserve. Why did God the Father treat his Son like he did? For our undeserving selves. We deserve hell, but our heavenly Lord went through it for our sakes. We know about substitutes in football. That's a pale illustration of the supernatural substitution Jesus made for us sinners to become the righteousness of God. When God sees us his adopted children, he sees a reflection of his beloved Son. 'Abba, Father in heaven, please accept us in the well beloved. In his mighty n...

 Matthew 5:8 ESV Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. This verse seems to be addressing the impossible. Which of us can say we have a pure heart? If we think we do, we're lying to ourselves, which is impurity! Miraculously, our impure hearts can be purified. The blood of Jesus can cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We just need to confess and renounce our sinfulness. Who can see God and live? He dwells in unapproachable light. Yet Jesus is the image of the invisible God. In the end, we will see the Lord. If we trust in him, we won't see some disappointed face. We'll see someone beaming with acceptance between his outstretched, nail pierced hands for us. 'Almighty God, we're astounded that one day we will see you face to face. We're grateful that we can be purified. Please do so, in Christ's name, amen'.

 2 Corinthians 4:18 ESV  as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. We tend to assume the opposite of this verse. We think the things we can see, touch, taste, smell and hear are the definite things. We reckon unseen things are more ethereal and uncertain. In reality, the opposite of our assumptions are true. God, the Source of all reality, is Spirit, and his worshippers must worship him in spirit and truth. We're not just flesh and blood; we're souls and spirits. This world and its desires are passing away. We're not to get too comfortable here. This world isn't our home, we're just passing through. We either belong in our heavenly Father's house, through faith in his Son, or else we face eternal estrangement from him. The new creation or the lake of fire are both eternal. All that we take for granted in this life will fade away. 'Our h...

 Matthew 5:7 ESV Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. At first glance, this verse seems to suggest we can earn our salvation. If we're merciful to others, it seems, maybe God will feel obliged to be merciful to us. If we think that, we've got things the wrong way round. If we receive mercy from God, we will be merciful. If we claim to have received God's mercy but are unmerciful, we betray the fact we never received his mercy in the first place. The evidence of a recipient of God's mercy is that they're merciful. The world is a merciless place. If someone messes up, they're ostracised and turned into a pariah. Thankfully, God is merciful. Christ died to pay the price for our mess. Because he bore Father God's wrath at our sins, we can receive God's mercy. If we do, we will be merciful to others. 'Merciful Father God, please forgive us our sins and help us to forgive those who wrong us, for we ask in Christ's name, amen'.

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 Matthew 5:6 ESV Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. What we hunger and thirst for says a lot about us. Of course, as humans, we literally hunger and thirst. Yet there are many other things we could long for. Humanity is sociable, so we may long for company if we're lonely. Many of us are sexual, so we might long for sex (hopefully with our heterosexual, monogamous marriage partners for life). Here, Jesus refers to the greatest desire we can have. The greatest desire we can have is to long to be righteous. That sounds religious, but it's basically to be Christlike. To be like Christ is the greatest thing we could be. Jesus gives us a wonderful promise, that if we long for righteousness, we will be satisfied. As CS Lewis said, if we have a desire this world can't satisfy, we can infer that we were made for another world. We were made to know and to enjoy fellowship with Jesus for eternity. 'Dear Abba God, may we desire ...

 Matthew 5:5 ESV Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Meekness might rhyme with weakness, but they're not synonymous. Bullies are weak because they feel they have to put others down to feel good about themselves. Meekness is the opposite. To be meek means to not insist on our own rights. We live in a society where people say, 'I know my rights'. Just because we have a right to do something doesn't mean to say it's necessarily right in all circumstances. If we're meek, we won't mind even if we don't inherit the earth. We'd be happy to simply be in our Father's house. Yet he will entrust us with the new creation. If we treat ourselves as the bosses of the earth, we abuse it. If we know ourselves to be servants of our Creator, we will wisely steward our resources. Then God will graciously allow us to inherit the new creation. 'Dear heavenly Father, please humble us, and help us not to insist on our rights. May we be found to b...

 Matthew 5:4 ESV Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. This verse is completely counterintuitive. We would assume that those who mourn are cursed, not blessed! Jesus seems to declare the opposite of what we might expect. Blessedness is to be made joyful by God. To mourn is seemingly the opposite. It's as though Jesus is saying 'happy are the sad'! Jesus's teaching is spiritual. So when he refers to mourning, he's not on about how you feel when your dog dies. He's referring to our sorrow over our sinfulness. If we hate our sins that grieve Father God, he will comfort us with his forgiveness. God doesn't want to leave us miserable. He wants to bless us. 'Blessed God, please bless us even in spite of our sorrows. May we renounce our sins and live for you alone, for your glory, amen'.

'Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have an agreement, when the overwhelming whip passes through it will not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken shelter”; therefore thus says the Lord God , “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’ And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plumb line; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter.” Then your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be beaten down by it. ' Isaiah 28:15-18 ESV To be honest, in the context, Isaiah was talking about political alliances with the very people who would destroy Israel: the Assyrian Empire. Yet I'm sure it could be applied to the UK's cult...

 Matthew 5:3 ESV Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. We might assume that the spiritually rich would inherit the kingdom of heaven. Maybe they could buy themselves a passport into the kingdom of God. Jesus turns the tables on our assumptions. We need to realise our spiritual poverty. Only then will we come to Jesus for his spiritual riches. If we assume we're sorted spiritually, we'll never come to Christ for salvation. We wouldn't tend to equate poverty with happiness. Yet Jesus does. If we know ourselves to be spiritual beggars, we can receive the joy that our generous God bestows. If we think we can earn a place in the new creation, we're deluding ourselves. Like Christian in Pilgrim's Progress, we're refugees from this worldly City of Destruction to God's heavenly, Celestial City. Only by grace can we enter. 'God our Father, we praise you for the grace we receive through faith in the Lord Jesus, in whose name we pray,...

 1 Peter 5:6 ESV Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,  Humility isn't timidity. Humility certainly isn't anxiety. In the very next verse the Apostle Peter tells us to leave our anxieties with God. Pride is celebrated in the world today. Humility is equated with weakness. Yet it is pride that is moral weakness, whereas to be humble takes spiritual strength. Peter echoes the words of his Lord. Those who humble themselves will assuredly be exalted. When Peter denied his Lord, he humbled himself with bitter tears, and his Lord restored him gently to be an Apostle of the church. The opposite of this verse is true too. Pride goes before a fall. We're to humble ourselves before the Almighty. 'Sovereign God, we humble ourselves before your majesty. Please graciously exalt us in your time, in Christ's name we pray, amen'.

 Psalm 77:11-12 ESV I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. We're naturally forgetful. We tend to 'live in the moment'- to get preoccupied with present problems. The psalmist however determined to remember past mercies. God is active. He wasn't just working in the past. He continues to act for us to this day. It's good to remember what God's done for us in the past. The psalmist don't have just been thinking individualistically. He will have pondered the parting of the Red Sea for Israel's deliverance from Egypt. The supreme act of God that we can meditate on is the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead. Because he lives, we can face tomorrow. Because he lives, there's no need for any fear, whatever life throws at us. 'Lord, help us not to be 'chronological snobs'. Let us be grateful for all you have done for us in the past, and...

 Acts 20:24 ESV But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.  Paul had his priorities right. Maybe we're tempted to say, 'good for you, Apostle, but I'm just an ordinary believer'. Jesus didn't just commission the Apostles to serve him, but every believer. We all have a ministry to fulfil for the Lord Jesus. Even Paul often wasn't a 'full time minister'. He was often making tents to get by. Whatever our day job may be, we are to work as unto the Lord. We're not to be precious about 'bucket lists' and self gratification. Instead, we're to focus on serving our Saviour. To testify to the Gospel of the grace of God isn't just for the precious few 'career Christians'. Every one of us should make the good news known to those around us. We're to be thankful for those who shared...

 1 Corinthians 15:57 ESV But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. The cynic might question why we should give thanks to God. The Apostle Paul gives a reason even in this verse. God gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Because Jesus has defeated death, we can too. Death no longer has the victory. The grave no longer has a sting. Without Christ, there's a finality about death. Without him, we're hopeless. With him, death is simply falling asleep until he wakes us up again. Nothing can separate us from the love of God for us in Christ. Not even death can separate us from his love. He's removed the curse we deserve for our sins. 'Dear God, we're so grateful for the victory we enjoy in Christ. May we ever live to give you thanks, in his name we pray, amen'.

 Hebrews 5:7 ESV In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.  Muslims say this verse shows that Jesus isn't God because he needed saving. Yet what this verse is saying is that the Saviour himself was saved from death. He wouldn't be much of a Saviour if he didn't defeat death. As Jesus died, the religious leaders said 'he saved others, let him save himself'. Jesus refused to save himself from death so that he might save us. If he'd have left the cross prematurely, we wouldn't be saved. Jesus, though equal with Father God, was reverent towards him. How much more ought we to be sincere in our devotion to God! God forbid that we would only pay him lip service. God hears our cries and our tears. He isn't stoical. He isn't unmoved by our suffering. He will assuredly deliver those who reverently come to him. 'Heave...

 1 Corinthians 9:25 ESV Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.  The Apostle Paul uses sport as an illustration of how we should be as believers. We're to be like elite athletes. They're disciplined. They train for hours daily and eat and drink healthily. Athletes work hard to gain a medal. We should work hard to gain a reward in heaven. Heaven is earned for us by Jesus, but that doesn't mean to say we don't need to strive to be the best we can be. Self control isn't just something for the special few to exercise. It is something that we should all work on as God's people. We are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. As Solomon says, a man without self control is like a city without walls. That's not a good place to be in. As walls were security for a city, so self control protects us as people. 'Lord Almighty, please help us to develop self control, and to serve ...

 Exodus 4:24 ESV At a lodging place on the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death.  This is a mysterious episode in the life of Moses. God had recently commissioned Moses to lead his people out of Egypt. At this point however he sought to put him to death. When we come across a perplexing passage of Scripture, it's helpful to contextualise. In the context, Moses' wife Zipporah circumcised their sons, and by implication God no longer sought to put Moses to death. She said Moses was a 'bridegroom of blood' to her. A statement God would later inspire Moses to write sheds light on this incident. Moses said that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. I believe that's why this incident happened. Circumcision is just a sign. It illustrates our need for Christ's blood sacrifice. It also shows that we need God to cut away the badness in our lives. 'Almighty God, we praise you for the shedding of Christ's blood for the forgive...

 Luke 6:27 ESV But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you Some people call Jesus a revolutionary. He wasn't a political revolutionary. This statement of his however is revolutionary.  Our guy reaction to enmity is hatred. If someone hates us, we naturally want to hate them back.  Jesus doesn't just call us to ghost toxic people. He commands us to bless them. We're to do good to those who hate us. Jesus goes on to say that if we only do good to those who do good to us, we're just like pagans. God calls us to a higher calling. We're to be holy as he is holy. 'Father in heaven, thank you for loving us enough to send your Son for our salvation, even while we were your enemies. Please befriend us with your love, in Christ's name, amen'.

 Exodus 2:14 ESV He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.”  Moses was a murderer. Yet God called him to lead his people out of slavery in Egypt. Let no one say they are disqualified to serve the Lord. We are all unworthy servants at best. We don't deserve to serve the Lord. He qualifies those he calls and chooses. With Moses here, I'm reminded of Jesus's comment that everything hidden becomes revealed in the end. We might think we've got away with murder but even in the next life there's a day of reckoning. Moses may have been a murderer, but he was forgiven. No one is beyond God's grace- as long as there's breath in our lungs, there's hope. Only those who die rejecting Jesus are hopeless. 'Sovereign Lord, please forgive our iniquities and enable us to live for you. For the honour of your name, amen'.

 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 ESV  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  Affliction is inevitable. Thankfully for God's people, so is his comfort. Though suffering will come, God can and does sustain us through it. It's not like God can't empathise with us in our sufferings. The Lord Jesus Christ suffered more than anyone. We deserve to suffer in hell for our rebellion against him, but he didn't deserve to be afflicted. Why does God allow his people to suffer? So that he can comfort us. Why does he comfort us? So that we can comfort others. We're not to be stingy with the comfort God gives. We're to tell others of the comfort he gives. He for example has brought me through three bouts of severe mental illness over the years. 'Dear Father...

 1 Timothy 4:12 ESV Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.  The Apostle Paul hasn't just rattled off a list of nice things. We can't have one without the others. It's not enough to be a good speaker for example if we're impure. Our conduct is to be honourable and full of integrity. We aren't to have any skeletons in the closet. We can't use youth as an excuse if we're lacking in any of these areas. We're to be defined by love. We're to love God and one another. If we do so, we will be perfect. We need faith in God. We don't love perfectly. So we need him to forgive us through Christ crucified. 'Dear Abba God, please give us the qualities we need to be exemplary. In Jesus' name we pray, amen'.

 Romans 8:28 ESV  And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.  Many people believe in fortune or fate, that everything happens for a reason. Christians believe that everything happens for a reason because God is working everything out for good. Cynics would point to suffering to try and disprove this. The wonderful thing about Christianity is that it teaches that suffering isn't meaningless or hopeless. God can bring good even out of bad. He engineered our salvation by the crucifixion of Christ. We must love God for giving his Son for us. If we do, all things work together for our good. Understandably, this is a beloved promise that has sustained countless millions. We love God because he first loved us. God calls his people according to his purpose. He wants the best for us, and he makes sure it will ultimately happen in eternity. 'God, we love you, and trust that you are working things out...

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 Proverbs 29:25 ESV The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe. Fear isn't necessarily a negative thing. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The fear of people however lays a snare. If we fear God, we'll know that we don't need to fear people. Jesus tells us not to fear those who could kill us. Instead, we should fear the One who can cast us into hell. The fear of God doesn't have to cringe away from him in terror, but to come to him in reverent trust. It's like a child fearing to upset their Dad. They want to please him. We are to trust in the Lord. He is trustworthy. He'll never let us down. 'Almighty Lord, may we fear you rather than people, and please keep us safe, for we ask in Jesus' name, amen'.

 Colossians 1:13 ESV He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,  God is in the business of deliverance. He isn't passively waiting for us to earn our salvation. He's done it for us. The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. The Light of the world has dawned. We don't need to be in darkness anymore.  We are born into the kingdom of darkness. Through faith, we can be born again into God's kingdom of Light. The Son of God is the King of kings. We deserve God's condemnation for our rebellion again him. Yet through faith in his Son we can be forgiven and accepted by him. By his death Jesus made it possible. 'Heavenly Father, we praise you for the deliverance we can enjoy in your Son. Help us entrust ourselves fully to him, in whose name we pray, amen'.

 Psalm 30:5 ESV For his anger is but for a moment, and his favour is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. We might assume anger is a bad thing, but it isn't necessarily so. If God didn't get angry at sin, that would be horrible. If he simply shrugged his shoulders at our evil, he wouldn't be God. Although God gets angry, the Psalmist reassured us that his anger is momentary. He doesn't sulk or get grumpy. In fact, if he favours us, his favour is forever. I'm sure we've all known tearful nights. Maybe it was sorrow for our own sin, a bereavement, or some hurt someone did to us. Yet the Psalmist assures us that 'this too shall pass'. Joy comes with the morning. Even if the night is dark, the eternal dawn will break. God will wipe away every last year from our eyes. 'Dear Father God, we're so grateful for the joy we can enjoy in you. Please help us cling to you even through the hard nights, in the name of ...

 2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,  We're in spiritual warfare. The devil wants our guts for garters. This battle is primarily waged in our minds. The devil tempts us by planting bad thoughts in our minds. Instead of passively accepting such notions, we are to take every thought captive to obey Christ. We're not to take leave of our senses when we come to faith in Jesus. When the devil comes up with arguments to sin against God, we're to destroy such ideas. We're not to indulge them. Instead, we're to engage our minds to challenge them. One of satan's strategies is to try and flatter us, to deceive us into having lofty opinions of ourselves. Instead of massaging our egos, our preoccupation ought to be to get to know God. He's the One that ultimately matters, not so much us. 'God Almighty, thank you that you are knowable. Please help us to...

 Revelation 21:4 ESV He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Biblical truth is the only true answer to suffering. People cite suffering as a reason to disbelieve God. Yet only through him can suffering be redeemed. Without God, suffering is meaningless. God is able to bring good out of suffering. The ultimate example is the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. A day is coming for God's people when suffering will be no more. Our final tears will be wiped away. There'll be no more bereavement. We won't mourn any more, or cry, or be in pain. Such things will be consigned to the history books. It's through faith in Christ that such a destiny can be ours. 'Dear Lord, we're so grateful that suffering will soon be a thing of the past for your people. May we be adopted into your family forevermore. For the honour of your name, amen...

 Luke 18:14 ESV I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Jesus's story was counterintuitive. The religious man wasn't accepted by God. The tax collector was justified by God. We assume we have to be proud, dominant, assertive. Yet as far as God's concerned, we should be humble, meek, and even submissive. Ephesians 5 says that we should submit to one another out of reverence to Christ, who submits to his Father, even though equal with him. Pride was the original sin. We might belittle bigging ourselves up, but God hates arrogance. We must humble ourselves before the Lord to be justified by him. We have no legs to stand on before God. We all deserve hell for our rebellion against him. There's no room for any sense of entitlement before him. 'God, have mercy upon us, sinners that we are. In the name of Jesus, amen'.

 Acts 4:31 ESV  And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. Prayer doesn't change things by itself. God changes things. Yet he often does so in response to his people's prayers. This is a mysterious truth: that God is sovereign, and all powerful, yet he acts in response to his people's prayers. Note that Jesus has told his people to wait expectantly for the gift of his Holy Spirit, so they were acting in obedience to him. God wants his people filled with the Holy Spirit. This isn't so much so that we can do signs and wonders. By implication, he wants us to be holy as he is Holy. Someone filled with the Holy Spirit will speak the word of God with boldness. They won't speak their own words and pass them off as God's. They will proclaim to people the message of the Bible. 'Heavenly Father, please pour out your Holy Spirit ...

 1 Corinthians 16:13 ESV  Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.  What does it mean to be a man? Does it mean we have to be domineering and oppressive? This verse gives a better way. Men are to be watchful. We're to look out for the vulnerable, such as widows, orphans and refugees. We're not to prey upon them, but to pray for them. We're to stand firm in the faith. It's not manly to be doubtful. It's manly to trust in the Lord and in his mighty power.  We're to act like men. Men aren't to be weak, giving in to temptation. Instead we're to be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 'Lord Almighty, please help us to be watchful, faithful, manly and strong. For your glory we pray, amen'. 

 Mark 8:35 ESV  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.  This verse is counterintuitive. We come to Jesus for eternal life. Yet here he tells us to lose our lives for his sake and the gospel's. We're not to be all about self preservation. Instead, we're to be all about Christ exaltation. If we come to him for a get out of hell free card, our motives are selfish. We ought to come to Christ for his own sake. We shouldn't just see him as a means to an end to avoid hell. He calls us to take up our crosses and follow him, to be prepared to die for him. Dying for Jesus isn't just about being martyred. It's about denying ourselves the indulgement of the flesh. We're to die every day by saying no to our fleshly desires. 'Dear Lord, we are not worthy of you, but ask that you would empower us to deny ourselves for your sake and for your Gospel. For your honour we pray, amen'.

 1 Chronicles 16:11 ESV   Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually! The questioner might ask why we should seek the Lord. Even in this verse, David hints at a reason. The Lord is the Source of strength: in him we live, and move, and have our being. Without God we can do nothing. With him we're invincible. He delights to outpour his strength to those who seek him. We're to seek God's presence. In his presence there is fullness of joy. He's the Source of all good things, so if we trust in him, we will be fulfilled. We're to seek God's presence continually. It's not enough to seek his presence on a Sunday morning, or a midweek evening if we're keen. God doesn't want part time devotees. 'Lord, we seek you, mindful of your promise that those who seek will find. May we find our all sufficiency is in you, for your honour we pray, amen'.

 Psalm 23:5-6 ESV  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I imagine verse five for those imprisoned for their faith in the Lord as their Shepherd. As long as they have memorised God's word, they can sustain themselves in the midst of a dark situation. Oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit: with him upholding us, we can endure. Believers in Jesus aren't even just cup half full kind of people. Followers of Christ are cup overflowing kind of people. He blessed us with every spiritual blessing, we lack no good thing. God, in his goodness and mercy, doesn't give up on us half way to glory. His goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives. God doesn't take a day off from looking after us. If we trust in the Lord, we have a glorious eternity to look forward to. We will dwell in hi...

 1 Peter 5:7 ESV  casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.  I love how realistic and nuanced the Bible is. People think of it as being blunt 'thou shalt not worry' as Jesus said in my paraphrase. Yet even though Jesus commanded us not to be anxious, Scriptures are realistic that we will inevitably worry. Anxiety is inevitable, it's what we do with it that matters. The Apostle Peter commands us to cast all our anxieties on the Lord. We're not to nurse them. When we dwell on our worries, we feed them. We're to take them to Jesus to deal with. He defeated anxiety at the cross. This might sound controversial, but I see anxiety as a sin. It is to doubt that God is good and he's in control. He cares for us, so we needn't worry. 'Sovereign Father God, please help us to leave our worries with you, secure in the knowledge that you care for us. In Jesus' name, amen'

 Matthew 18:3-5 ESV and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me,  Of course, Jesus isn't saying that we should become childish and immature. Instead, he's telling us to become childlike and credulous. We don't need to be naïve, but neither do we need to be cynical and jaded. We associate childlikeness with innocence too. Children aren't perfect, but they're not as far gone as grownups. They tend to have more tender consciences. When we get older, we tend to get entitled. We tend to try and justify ourselves. Jesus wants us to simply come as we are and to allow him to transform us. Of course we need to count the cost of following Jesus. Yet we shouldn't use that as an excuse to not follow him. We should have childlike enthusiasm in living for our Lord and...

 Isaiah 53:5 ESV But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. Why was Jesus crucified? It's not like he was a criminal. Unlike the rest of us, he didn't deserve to die. Jesus was pierced for our transgressions. We overstep God's mark of love time and again. Christ was crushed for our iniquitous stains. Father God chastised the Son as though he had done wrong like us. He did so in order that he might bring us peace. By our Lord's sacrifice, we can be reconciled to God. 'By his wounds we are healed' doesn't mean to say we'll never get physically ill. It does mean to say that we can be restored to spiritual wholeness. Jesus is the Great Physician. 'Abba God, we praise you for sending your Son for our salvation. May we ever live for him, in his name we pray, amen'.