Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

 Obadiah 1:17 ESV But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape, and it shall be holy, and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions. On the face of it, Obadiah was prophesying exclusively to 'the lost sheep of Israel'. Jesus famously said that he himself was only sent to them. Yet he went on to send his Apostles out to the world to make him known. Mount Zion isn't just a literal place in Jerusalem. It's symbolic of God's people. God's people aren't just Jews: they're anyone who trust in the Jewish Messiah Jesus. We are to be holy as God is holy. We can't profess faith in God and be defined by habitual sin. If we belong to Jesus we are holy in him, and increasingly sanctified by his Holy Spirit. Obadiah's prophecy will have seemed too good to be true at the time. God's people were at a low ebb, harried by their enemies. Yet as Jesus said, 'the meek will inherit the earth'. 'Holy God, please make us holy too throug...

 Psalm 31:24 ESV  Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord! We're naturally weak spiritually. God doesn't want to leave us that way however. He wants to strengthen us. There's much that could discourage us in the world. God wants to encourage us though. He doesn't want us to despair and die, but to hope and live. Waiting for the Lord requires strength and discipline. We want him to return now and to put us out of our misery. He wants to develop patient endurance in us though. Waiting for the Lord isn't passive, like waiting for the bus. We do so courageously, developing discipline and longsuffering. We're to call others to faith in him too. 'Dear Lord, we long for your return. Please help us be strong and encouraged as we wait for you. For the honour of your name we pray, amen'.

 Ephesians 6:11 ESV Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.  God has provided everything we need to be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. As we're told elsewhere, we're not ignorant against his devices. God's word warns us of his tricks and tells us how to resist. Much of the armour of God is defensive, and received at salvation. We mustn't cast it off and get complacent. The offensive element of God's armour needs to be exercised however: the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. If we don't know the Bible, the devil can run rings round us. He knows it by heart, and he attempts to twist it against us, to trip us up. We need to store up God's word in our hearts, so that we might not sin against him. When Jesus was tempted by the devil, he fought him off with Scripture. He has to correctly apply God's word by his Spirit. The devil attempted to twist it, but Jesus corrected him. ...

 John 14:6 ESV Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  Note what Jesus doesn't say. He doesn't say we can come to the Father through pilgrimage, prayer, fasting, or Sabbath observance for example. Jesus himself is the only way into Father God's presence. Maybe we can say that all roads will lead to God, in the sense that we'll all be judged by him. Yet only those of us who trust in Jesus will be ushered into our heavenly Father's house. Otherwise we'll be banished to the condemnation we deserve. It's not enough to 'live our truths' as though we get to define truth. Jesus is truth personified. We must follow and obey him. Jesus is the life. In him we live and move and have our being. He is the means by which we get to enjoy eternity with Father God. 'Lord, may we trust in you to reconcile us to yourself. Forgive us for often looking to false paths to try and shortcut to your acc...

 Amos 2:4 ESV Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have rejected the law of the Lord, and have not kept his statutes, but their lies have led them astray, those after which their fathers walked. If we think we have a divine right to God's acceptance, we're deluding ourselves. Religious people tend to think along these lines. Jews, professing Christians and Muslims might think that God owes it to them to accept them. God is holy. He cannot tolerate sin. If we reject his word, he will reject us. The law of the Lord in summary is to love him and to love others. If we fail to do so, as we all do, then we can't expect him to accept us, unless we trust in Christ for forgiveness. We mustn't lie to ourselves that we can 'pull the wool' over God's eyes and make him think we're naturally acceptable to him. Who are we following? Are we following our forefathers in their sinful ways? Or ...

 Joel 2:13 ESV and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. People tend to rip their clothes in extreme distress. It's not an everyday occurrence. It's a way of demonstrating severe anguish.  There are Biblical examples of people tearing their clothes, but Joel has a word from the Lord for us to break our hearts, not our wardrobes. God doesn't want outward shows of remorse. He wants an inner change of heart. God wants us to return to the Lord, and he will heal our broken hearts. He is loving. He isn't quick to anger. Elsewhere in Scripture we're told similarly  that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Here, Joel says that he relents over disaster. The main reason Jesus hasn't returned yet is because he's giving us the opportunity to repent and turn to him for forgiveness and reconciliation. 'Lord our Go...

 Matthew 9:37-38 ESV Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.” This is a dangerous verse to pray. In the very next verse Jesus sent his disciples out to preach the good news. We might just be the answers to our own prayers. Jesus didn't initiate a secret society that only his closest disciples were part of. He inaugurated the Kingdom of God on earth. We can become part of it too through faith in him. Our greatest needs aren't health, wealth or happiness. Our greatest need is to be reconciled to the Lord God. We do so by trusting in Jesus. We can pray this prayer today. We just need to be mindful that we may be the answers to our own prayers. So we need to be prepared and willing to obey. 'Lord of the harvest, please send out labourers into your harvest field. May we be ready to obey. For your glory, amen'.

 Psalm 34:18 ESV The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. God doesn't promise that our hearts won't get broken. He doesn't guarantee that we won't get crushed in spirit. The psalmist testifies however of God's nearness and salvation in the midst. For some reason I'm reminded of the hymn lyric 'saved to sin no more'. God doesn't save us so we can carry on business as usual. He can bind up those of us who are broken hearted at our sinfulness. Brokenheartedness over our sin is the turning point that leads to salvation. If we're spiritually crushed over our wrongdoing, God is able to restore us. 'Blessed are the poor in spirit', Jesus insists, 'for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.' God doesn't leave us in our brokenheartedness. He doesn't keep us crushed in spirit. He mends what is broken within us, and restores us to a right relationship with him. 'Dear Lord and Father, we're grateful for...

 Judges 6:12 ESV And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valour.”  This verse is prophetic. Gideon at this stage wasn't a particularly mighty man of valour: he was hiding out from his enemies. Yet the preincarnate Jesus called him what he would become. When the old testament mentions 'the angel of the Lord', most theologians agree that it refers to Jesus before his first advent in Bethlehem. 'Angel' simply means Messenger. The angel of the Lord accepted worship where an ordinary angel never would have. Maybe we think that if Jesus was to appear to us and to describe us as mighty men and women of valour, we'd be so much better than we are. Yet when we trust in him, he pours out his Holy Spirit upon us. God's Spirit is enough to empower us. Gideon was by no means a perfect man. Yet God didn't hold his flaws against him. The Lord focused on the positive aspects of his character. 'Almighty Father,...

 Hosea 3:1 ESV And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.”  This verse might seem shocking and far removed from us, but it encapsulates how we are spiritually before the Holy One. As Gomer treated Hosea, so we often treat God. Every time we sin against him, we're committing spiritual adultery. God calls us to love him and to love others as Christ loved us and gave himself for us. When we commit adultery, physically or spiritually, we're acting carefully towards our Saviour and Lord. God doesn't necessarily respond by fast-tracking us to hell.  When the religious people asked Jesus about divorce, he interestingly didn't point them to Hosea, or even to Malachi, who said that God hates divorce. His point was the same though. We have no right to cut off what God has joined together. If adulterers and even abusers sh...

 Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV  The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations was written in similar days for Judah as what Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan are going through nowadays for example. These were devastating, lamentable days. Yet in the midst of the lament comes this powerful statement of hope. God's love isn't temporary. He doesn't only love us when all is going well in our lives. He doesn't spoil his children. As someone who loves his people, God disciplines us. We deserve hell. Anything better than that is a mercy. Every day is a mercy of God. Every day is an opportunity to prove his faithfulness in our lives. He never lets his people down. 'Dear Lord, please give us a divine perspective on our suffering. Help us to see your goodness shining through the gloom of our troubles. In Christ's name, amen'.

 Daniel 2:22 ESV he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. I love the faith of Daniel in this verse. God had revealed to him the interpretation of king Nebuchadnezzar's dream. Yet this verse comes before Daniel could even confirm it with Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar was like Putin on steroids. He commanded his advisors to tell him his dream and it's interpretation. They were unable, so faced death. Thankfully, Daniel stepped into the breach and saved the day. He wasn't all self-congratulatory though. He gave God the glory for revealing the dream and it's interpretation to him. I love how unselfish Daniel was. He didn't just rejoice that God saved his skin. He worshipped God for who he is. 'Sovereign God, please help us to worship you for your infinite wisdom and revelation. For we ask in Christ's name, amen'.

 Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV  For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,  not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  Grace is God's Riches At Christ's Expense. It's an undeserved gift. It doesn't mean to say we can do what we like: we're God's workmanship- created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do. Faith is the key that unlocks the door of salvation. We can't unlock the gates of glory by our efforts. Only the free gift of God can get us into his good books. Our works are naturally like filthy rags, autumn leaves, or a gust of wind. God can sanctify them. Yet it's only by faith that we can enter into acceptance with him. There's no room for boasting. Even our good works are prepared in advance by God for us to do. He's the One who empowers us to do good, the glory is his. 'Lord our God, we're grateful that salvation is of you, because ...

 Psalm 51:10 ESV Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. David was nicknamed 'a man after God's own heart'. Yet even he asked God to create in him a clean heart. If he needed transformation, we certainly do. We may not have committed adultery and murder like David. Yet surely most of us are guilty of lust and hatred, or greed, covetousness, envy or whatever else. The sacrifice that God accepts us a broken heart over our sinfulness. Even though David messed up massively, it was the fact he sought God's forgiveness and reconciliation that made him a man after God's own heart. This is a prayer we all should echo. Even if we don't think we need to, that means we ought to pray this all the more. If we think we don't need to pray this prayer, we're probably proud, arrogant, and self righteous, which are all terrible sins. Having prayed this prayer David was restored to a right relationship with God. Nevertheless, the human conseq...

 Philippians 1:3 ESV   I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,  Are we mindful of each other? We should be. As we remember each other, we ought to be thankful. The Apostle Paul was thankful for the Philippian church. He was confident that God who began a good work in them would carry it through to completion on the day of Christ Jesus. God wasn't about to give up on them half way to glory. When people remember us, do we give them cause to be thankful? The Philippian church was a great encouragement to Paul. Are we encouragements to one another? We can even thank God for difficult people, who he uses to help refine us. Everyone is created in God's image and likeness, however much that likeness has been married. Everyone is either a blessing or a lesson. 'Dear Lord, please help us to be thankful in our remembrance of one another. Thank you for your thankfulness for us, and willingness to give yourself for us, for your glory, amen'.

 Ezekiel 1:28 ESV Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking. The glory of God is incomparably awesome. Ezekiel looked for a shadowy analogy. He describes God's glory as being like a rainbow on a rainy, cloudy day.  There's plenty in this life that makes it feel like a rainy, cloudy day: not least wars, famines, disease and death. Our glorious God is able to cut through all that. As an exiled captive in Babylon, Ezekiel might have been tempted to negativity towards God, but when he was confronted with God's glory, he was floored. God doesn't simply want to overawe us with his glory. He wants to speak to us of how we can enter into his glorious presence through faith in him. Ezekiel wasn't 'zapped' into oblivion by glorious God; instead he ...

 Proverbs 18:10 ESV   The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe. At the name of Jesus, demons flee. In the power of his name illnesses can be healed and the dead even raised. Most significantly, the spiritually dead can come alive by the Lord's strength. We're not righteous by default. We can become so by running to the Lord for refuge from the condemnation we deserve for our unrighteousness. By the blood of Jesus we can be cleansed. We can live in the transformation of Christ's resurrection power. We're safe and secure in him. Nothing can separate us from God's love for us on Jesus. Not even death can sever us from God's love. For the believer, death is simply falling asleep until Christ wakes us to be with him forevermore. We're invincible until God calls us home or Christ returns. 'Sovereign Lord, we're grateful for the security we find in you. Forbid that we would look to any other refuge, for you are the ...

 John 6:35 ESV  Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.  This is a strange, powerful, and compelling statement from the Carpenter turned Teacher. He wasn't even a Baker! Even if he was, it's a strange saying to describe yourself as Bread! Jesus is as essential to life as our staple diets. Apparently Chinese Bibles say he is the rice of life! The thing about Jesus as bread though is that his body was broken like a loaf of bread when he died for us. Christ went as far as to say that we must eat his flesh and drink his blood to be saved! Was he being some Roman Catholic transubstantiationist? Was he advocating cannibalism? Of course, Jesus often spoke in metaphors. They have real meanings though. Unless we trust in his body broken and his blood shed on our behalf, we don't have spiritual life. 'Dear Lord, please help us to find the satisfaction and fulfilment that is only found in you...

 Jeremiah 17:7 ESV Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. Disney, and society generally in the West, tells us to believe in ourselves. The Bible tells us the opposite. In this very chapter Jeremiah says that the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can understand it. Jeremiah would tell us not to follow our hearts, but to trust in the Lord. We shouldn't trust people, who will only let us down, even if it's just on death. Only God will never fail us. We're cursed if we trust in people. As Psalm 146 says, we're to put no confidence in princes, not for help on men depend. They shall die, to death returning, and their purposes shall end. Even though Jesus died, God turned such a tragedy into the means of our salvation. We can trust God to bring good out of bad. He will never let us down. 'Almighty Lord, may we trust in you, and so be blessed. Forgive our misplaced trust in people we pray, in Christ's name, ame...

 2 Peter 3:9 ESV  The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.  People often question why God doesn't end the suffering. The problem is, it's because of our rebellion against him that there's suffering. So if God ended it, he'd have to end us. Even Christians wonder when Christ will return, and long for the day. Yet he delays because he wants to save more people. Not until he's saved everyone who will be saved will Christ return. The first time Jesus came was as Saviour. When he returns, it will be as Judge. We need to be ready for that great day. We need to repent of trying to justify ourselves. If we don't repent, we'll perish as we deserve. If we do repent and trust in Jesus, we will be saved. 'Heavenly Father, may we repent and be saved before it's too late. In Jesus' name, amen'.

 John 1:14 ESV  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.  We have a song in Britain from our empire days, 'land of hope and glory'. The glory John writes of is far removed from such worldly glory. Worldly glory involved getting rich off the back of the oppression of others. A carpenter turned teacher mustn't have seemed pretty glorious. Yet John insisted he is the everlasting Word of God who became one of us. He 'pitched up tent' amongst us as it were. The Divine Son of God clothed himself with humanity. Yet his glory still shone through. The blind saw, the deaf heard, the demons fled, the dead were raised. We don't deserve God's grace. Yet he lavishes it upon us in Christ. He reveals what's loving and true to us. 'Father in heaven, thank you for sending your Son for our deliverance. May we enter into his grace and truth, and proclaim it to others. For...

 2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV  if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.  This verse isn't about any particular Christianised nation like the U.K. or the U.S.A. In its immediate context, it was about Israel, which means 'prince of God/ 'strives with God'. Spiritual Israel is the new covenant people of God, whether Jewish or Gentile, who trust in the Lord Jesus,the Jewish Messiah, the Saviour of the world. The new covenant people of God are Christians, named after Christ Jesus our Lord. It's not enough to profess faith in Jesus. We need to humble ourselves, pray, seek his face, and turn from our wicked ways. If we humble ourselves, pray, seek God's face and turn from our wicked ways, God will respond. He will hear from heaven, forgive our sins and heal our lands. We are to be salt and light to society, we're to add f...

  1 Kings 3:9 ESV Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people? God gave Solomon a blank check. Solomon didn't ask for riches, long life, or victory over his enemies. Instead, he asked for wisdom to rule God's people .  Some people criticise Solomon for not asking for a closer relationship with God. Yet God's word reveals that God was glad Solomon asked for wisdom. The Lord granted his request. Solomon wasn't his father David , the man after God's own heart. Yet by the grace of God he was the wisest son of a man who ever lived. Only the everlasting Son of God has surpassed him in wisdom. We would all do well to echo Solomon's prayer . We might not be responsible for all God's people. Yet we all need wisdom for our lives, and God graciously gives it to those who ask in faith. 'God, please make us ' wise unto salvation ' by diggi...

  1 Samuel 2:30 ESV Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,’ but now the Lord declares: ‘Far be it from me, for those who honour me I will honour, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.  The second half of this verse was famously given to the Scottish Olympian Eric Liddell , who refused to compete on the Lord's Day . God honoured him by enabling him to win gold in a race that wasn't even his speciality. The context was about the sons of Eli , who despised the Lord and were lightly esteemed. Eli's son's were meant to be priests of the Lord: intermediaries between God and mankind. They were evil though, and negligent in their duties. As a punishment, God allowed the Philistines to put them to death. As Hophni and Phineas died, one of their widows named her son who was born at that time ' Ichabod ', which means 'the glory has departed'. S...

  Romans 1:17 ESV For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” How do we get right with God? By trying our hardest to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps ? The Bible is clear that the righteous live by faith. Whether we're irreligious ( Romans 1 ) or religious ( Romans 2 ), we've all sinned and fall short of God's glory ( Romans 3 ). We can't do anything to earn God's acceptance. We must trust in Christ crucified . The Apostle Paul isn't contradicting Jesus. Christ responded to people who asked what godly work is. He replied that it is to believe in the One whom God has sent- himself! Manmade religion is about believing in yourself to justify yourself. True spirituality is about faith in God to make us righteous through Christ crucified. It's humbling that all we need to do is bring our faith, that is a gift of God, but God wants us humble. ' Most High God , may we have...

  Ezra 7:10 ESV For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord , and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel . We might read this and think that Ezra was a legalistic, 'holier than thou' kind of person. Yet the Law of the Lord is perfect and good. In summary it is to love God and to love others . It's not enough to study the Law of the Lord in theory. We need to put it into practice. We need to actively do it. The Law of God isn't some individualistic thing. It's not just JAM- Jesus And Me . It's JOY- Jesus, Others, You . The world would want to silence us about our faith . The world doesn't want to be convicted in regard to sin, righteousness and judgement . Yet the Holy Spirit wants to work through us living out his word to make him known. 'Lord, may we follow Ezra's example , and ultimately that of our Saviour Jesus , to live out your word in our lives. In his name, amen'.

  Judges 21:25 ESV   In those days there was no king in Israel . Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. There is officially a king in the U.K. today. Yet spiritually, everyone does what's right in their own eyes. We even have people who say ' Not My King ' and seek to disown our head of state . We have two ways to live. We can live with Jesus as the King of our hearts. Or we can deceive ourselves that we're our own kings, when in reality we're in thrall to the usurper satan . Jesus is our rightful King. He has defeated the devil , sin , death and hell . He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords   Because Jesus is King, we have no right to do what is right in our eyes. We must do what is right in his eyes. God 's opinion on right and wrong is the truth that matters, not 'living our own truth'. 'God, forbid that we would seek to dethrone you from your rightful place as the Lord of our lives. May we worship you as you deserve. For your glory...

  Ephesians 1:7 ESV In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,  By nature we are slaves of sin . We need redemption. We need to be freed from our hellbound destinies .  Redemption with God is only possible through the blood of Jesus . That is how all our missteps get forgiven. God doesn't hold our sins against us if we trust in him. God's grace is rich. Grace is an undeserved gift. We don't deserve for God to forgive us and to restore us to a right relationship with him. Yet in Christ these things can become reality.  It is in Christ that these blessings flow. He is the Source of all that is good. He is the One in whom we can know forgiveness. ' Abba Father God , may you forgive our trespasses through the blood of Jesus, in his name we pray, amen'.

  Isaiah 52:13 ESV Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. This verse is counterintuitive. We expect servants to be lowly and humble, not high and lifted up. Yet this Servant is enthroned in heaven. Jesus revealed himself not as someone to be served so much as a Servant, and the One who gave his life as a ransom for many. We might think of his exaltation in glory . Yet he was lifted up on a Roman cross in the ultimate shameful execution. The amazing truth of the gospel is that God can turn the most humiliating thing: the death of his Son, naked on a cross of wood into the most glorious thing. We preach Christ crucified : foolishness to the secular and a stumbling block to the religious . To us who are being saved however he is the power of God. Having given his life for us, Jesus is now on the throne of heaven , interceding for his own. He calls us to lives of service until he calls us home to glory. Amazingly, rebels like us ...

  Psalm 18:2 ESV The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God , my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Who is God to you? Some fairytale figure? Some old man in the sky? To David , the Lord was everything.  The Lord was a rock of refuge to David. As he hid out among the rocks from murderous king Saul , David knew that God was looking after him. Hiding in caves wasn't David's ultimate refuge: the Lord was. Time and again God literally delivered David from death. More importantly, he deserved death for adultery and murder, but God spared him and forgave his sins. God can deliver the worst of sinners. God was David's shield. He wasn't immune from troubles attacking him, but God shielded him from them. The Lord achieved salvation for him and was his strength; God can be such for us too. 'Lord, please prove the truth of this verse in our lives. Thank you for already doing so time and again: may you continu...

  1 Corinthians 13:4 ESV Love is patient and kind ; love does not envy or boast ; it is not arrogant   You could try and put your name in the place of love and see if it fits. Are we patient and kind, not envious, boastful or arrogant? I think most of us would find such an exercise uncomfortably convicting of our lack of love. A better way of reading this verse is to put the Lord in the place of love. After all, God is love personified . Jesus is patient and kind , he doesn't envy or boast, and isn't arrogant. The moral of the verse isn't just to be more like Jesus. We are to trust him to be patient and kind with us. We need him to be! We deserve for God to lose his patience with us and to condemn us as we deserve for our lack of love. Thankfully, he is abounding in lovingkindness towards us. It's not arrogant of him to say he personifies such virtues because it's true! 'Loving God, please help us to become godly. Thank you above all for your patient lovingkin...

  John 10:10 ESV The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy . I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.  The devil wants to steal our souls that are rightfully God's. He wants to drag us down to eternal torment with him. That's what we deserve for our rebellion against God, but it's not why Jesus came. If satan could cut our lives short, he would. Thankfully, we're invincible until God calls time on our earthly sojourns. The evil one is a creature with limited powers. Our enemy wants to destroy us. Thankfully, he has no power to do so without God's say so. We must trust in the Lord to deliver us. Abundant life doesn't necessarily mean a private jet. It could include an abundance of persecution, as well as our daily needs provided for. Jesus promises the persecuted that they're blessed, because great is their reward in heaven. 'Sovereign Father God, please give us life in Christ, and deliver us from the evil one we pray, in Jesus...

  1 John 1:9 ESV  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  This is the verse mum quoted to me when I was eight and first came to faith in the Lord. I confessed my sins to him, as a proud, self righteous, arrogant religious person. I asked him to forgive me because of Christ crucified . I have proved the truth of this verse in my life. God is faithful to me. He has been just to punish Christ in my place, for my forgiveness and cleansing. Note that we don't have to confess our sins to some religious person. We're to primarily confess our sins to God himself. If we renounce them in sincerity, he won't hold them against us. What's true for me can be true for you. This verse isn't just about getting a bit of religion in our lives. It's about having faith in God to save us, through Christ crucified. 'Lord God, we confess our sins to you and ask that you would prove the truth of this verse i...

 John 15:12 ESV This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  At first glance Jesus seems to be echoing Moses who said we're to love our neighbours. Note however that Christ sets the bar even higher. We're not just to love others as we love ourselves; we're to love as Christ has loved us. I'm reminded of Jesus's words in the sermon on the mount. It's not enough to not commit adultery: we mustn't lust. It's not enough to not murder: we mustn't hate. Far from lusting after and hating people, we should love them by respecting them as those made in God's image and likeness. We're not just animals to procreate, to kill and be killed. We're to be godly and Christlike. Love sets us apart from the animals. As Christ died for us, so we are to be prepared to die for one another. Love isn't just extravagant acts though, but small sacrifices every day for the sake of others. 'Loving heavenly Father, may we love other...

 Galatians 5:24 ESV  And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Who do we belong to? Our spouses? Our employers? Our ultimate allegiance should be to the One who loved us and gave himself for us. If we belong to Jesus, we have crucified our old sinful natures. We don't have to live according to the flesh any more. We aren't to be selfish, but other-ish. Our passion now is to be for the glory of our Lord and Saviour. No longer are we to seek to gratify the cravings of our old selves. Instead, we are to bear the fruit of the Spirit. Our overriding desire now should be for our God. If we delight ourselves in him, he will give us the desires of our hearts. He is to be our number one desire. 'Dear Lord, we long to be with you for eternity. Help us in the meantime to kill off any wrong thoughts, words, and deeds. For the honour of your name, amen'.

 Romans 8:11 ESV If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. The Holy Spirit of God raised the eternal Son of God from the dead. That same Spirit dwells in all who trust in Jesus. We must allow him to clean us up and make us Christlike. Because the Holy Spirit dwells within God's people, we don't need to fear death. We won't avoid it, unless Christ returns first. Yet we will defeat death through faith in the Lord God Almighty. Romans 8 doesn't sugarcoat the Christian life. It doesn't deceive us that all will be health, wealth and happiness for the faithful. It is packed with powerful promises nonetheless. The Apostle Paul goes on to say that nothing can separate us from God's love for us in Christ. Trouble, famine, disease, war, not even death itself can defeat us. We're victorious in Christ from all that the devil t...

 Psalm 4:8 ESV In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. This verse isn't guaranteeing that we won't get insomnia. It is saying however that we don't need to let anxiety keep us up at night. The root of anxiety is unbelief that God makes us dwell in safety. If we're trusting in money for safety, we're likely to be anxious. What if it gets stolen? God, unlike money, is everlastingly on our side if we trust in him. This verse has to be taken in context with one that says that if we have a managerial job, concern for our responsibilities is likely to keep us up at night. Chewing things over at night isn't likely to solve things. There's no point considering every eventuality when in all likelihood only one will come to pass.  God cares for us. If we live in safety, we can thank him. If not, we can ask him to look after us- David knew what it was to be unsafe, humanly speaking, but he still trusted in the Lord to ke...

 Matthew 7:8 ESV For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.  Many people read this verse as a blank cheque. Yet it has to be read in context. God gives good gifts to his children.  God knows what we need better than ourselves. Ultimately, our greatest need is himself. He is the Source of all that is good. We need to be careful what we ask for. The children of Israel craved meat. God gave them what they hankered after, but he gave them an accompanying 'leanness in their souls'. It's not enough to be fat with temporal blessings if we're spiritually anaemic. We ought to be hungry for God, and not just for stuff. We need to get our priorities right. 'Lord God, we ask that you would fill us with your Holy Spirit. Please provide what we need, not necessarily what we might want. In the powerful name of Christ we pray, amen'.

 1 John 3:16 ESV By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.  Jesus literally laid down his life for us. He was crucified for our deliverance. We may not have to die for our brothers and sisters in the faith, but we are to be prepared to. I'm reminded of the famous story of the prisoners of war of the Japanese who were all going to be killed for a missing shovel. The Christian claimed he was responsible and was killed instead of everyone. It turned out however that the guard had simply miscounted!  As the Christian laid down his life for his fellow prisoners, so we are to be prepared to die for our brethren. I don't think John is just saying we have to do extravagant acts of sacrifice. I'm sure he wants us to live for one another, as well as being willing to die for each others' sake. Laying down our lives might not just mean to be killed for others. It could mean smaller, day to day sacrifices. It's ...

 1 Chronicles 16:34 ESV  Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! We have every reason to give thanks to the Lord. Every good gift is from him. Interestingly, David's thanksgiving here wasn't selfish, it was because the ark of God had been placed inside the tabernacle. It seems strange to us that placing a golden box inside a giant tent should inspire David to exuberant praise. Yet that's how they worshipped God in those days. It was a picture of when the Son of David would 'tabernacle', or 'pitch up tent' amongst us. In this new covenant age, our Loving Heavenly Father has sent his Son for our salvation, and poured out his Holy Spirit to reside in us forever. God's love is boundless. We cannot fathom its depths. How can the good God dwell amongst us? Through faith in Christ crucified. The sinless Son of God bore our sins so that we can know the love of God. 'Abba, Father God, we praise you for sending your ...

 Isaiah 40:11 ESV He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. The Lord can be our shepherd. We all like sheep have gone astray, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquities of us all. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. God isn't a 'heavy shepherd'. He isn't harsh with us. He's gentle with us. Shepherding isn't glamorous. It's a smelly, hard, unpopular job. But as spiritual sheep, we need God as our shepherd. We easily wander. We're as silly as sheep spiritually. We need the Lord to get us and keep us on the straight and narrow. 'Good Shepherd of our souls, please look after us, until you lead us home. For the honour of your name we pray, amen'.