Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

 Galatians 6:9 ESV And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.  We reap what we sow. If we sow to the flesh, we reap spiritual thorns and thistles. If we sow to the spirit, we reap a harvest of righteousness. Reaping what we sow sounds like legalistic religiosity. Thankfully, there's also grace for when we fail, getting what we don't deserve. Salvation is of the Lord. If we are saved by the Lord, we will reap spiritual fruit. We will evidence by a changed life that God has saved us. We mustn't give up. I think it's ultimately in eternity that we reap what we sow. On the last day of judgement, all wrongs will be righted, and all rights will be rewarded. We don't deserve reward from God, but he delights to give us it anyway. 'Dear God, please help us not to give up, but to persevere in doing good. For your honour and praise, amen'.

 Matthew 4:4 ESV  But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Jesus had fasted for forty days, and he was hungry! The devil told him to turn stones into bread. This verse is his response. Satan's suggestion seems innocent enough, humanly. What if Jesus had obeyed him? He'd have been disobeying his Father. Basically, Jesus is saying that there's more to life than food. We're not to idolise food. We live because God says so, not because we eat. Physical food is important. Spiritual food is essential. We're not just animals. 'Father God, please sustain us by your word, and give us our daily bread. In Christ's name, amen'.

 Colossians 3:2 ESV Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  The earth isn't all bad. There isn't necessarily anything intrinsically wrong with things like money, sex and power. Yet we mustn't set our minds on them. This world is passing away. There won't be any money, sex, or worldly power in eternity. We need to get our priorities right. Jesus said we can't serve God and money. The love of money is an abomination to God, Dr. Luke tells us. We can't be worldly and godly at the same time. If we claim to belong to Jesus, we must change from worldly to godly. We're not to horde stuff in this life. Instead, we're to invest in the kingdom of heaven. 'Sovereign Father God, please help us to get our priorities right and to worship you. For we ask in our Saviour's name, amen'.

 Joshua 1:8 ESV  This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.  The world assumes that prosperity and success is about having lots of money in the bank. Biblically, Joseph was successful as a slave, and even a prisoner for example. The Bible is a spiritual book, not a get rich quick manual. The Bible's key to spiritual prosperity and success is to build our lives on Jesus and his word. In summary the law of God is to love him and to love other people. By his grace we can do this. Joshua was a great military leader. He led Israel to take over the promised land. Canaan was an evil nation ripe for judgement.  The secret of Joshua's prosperity and success was that he built his life on God's word. He wasn't perfect, but he sought to obey the Lord as best he could. Ulti...