Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

 “ The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,” Psalm 24:1 ESV God is sovereign. He's in control. He has dominion over all. This is a reassuring truth because God is good. He can and does even bring good out of bad. The supreme example is the murder of his Son on our behalf. Because the Lord is King, we can be reassured that all will be well in the end. We may be going through severe turmoil in this life. Yet we can trust in Jesus to bring us through it. This life isn't all there is. There's an eternity to come. We are to live for eternity, not just to seek instant gratification in the present. 'Lord, we rejoice that you are King. We trust in Christ crucified and ask you to bring us safely through to glory. In Jesus' name, amen'.

  “For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. ” Hebrews 6:10 ESV This is such a comforting and timely verse for me right now. In the context, the writer to the Hebrews seems to be suggesting they could lose their salvation. Yet in the context of this verse and others, we can be encouraged that God won't give up on us. Taken in isolation, this verse might seem to teach salvation by our works. In context, if we're hateful, God sees that. If we're loving in response to God's love, God sees that too. If we're unrepentantly hateful, God will judge us as we deserve. If we're falteringly loving towards our fellow saints, God will judge us to be being transformed into the likeness of our crucified Lord and Saviour. Let us persevere in doing good. The Hebrew Christians were persecuted and tempted to go back to Judaism. Judaism was more acceptable to the Roman overlords than Chris...

 “For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. ” Hebrews 6:10 ESV This is such a comforting and timely verse for me right now. In the context, the writer to the Hebrews seems to be suggesting they could lose their salvation. Yet in the context of this verse and others, we can be encouraged that God won't give up on us. Taken in isolation, this verse might seem to teach salvation by our works. In context, if we're hateful, God sees that. If we're loving in response to God's love, God sees that too. If we're unrepentantly hateful, God will judge us as we deserve. If we're falteringly loving towards our fellow saints, God will judge us to be being transformed into the likeness of our crucified Lord and Saviour. Let us persevere in doing good. The Hebrew Christians were persecuted and tempted to go back to Judaism. Judaism was more acceptable to the Roman overlords than Christ...

 “it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. ” 1 Corinthians 13:6 ESV Love doesn't rejoice at vigilantism. Love doesn't rejoice when people seek revenge. Love doesn't rejoice when people take the law into their own hands. Love does rejoice when justice runs its course. Love rejoices when what is hateful is punished. Love rejoices when hateful people get their just desserts. Having said the above, love also rejoices with the truth that hateful people can be forgiven and enjoy eternal life. Jesus is the Truth personified. He gave his life so that unloving people like us can be reconciled to God. I heard about a murderer in American who could have got out of jail for good behaviour. He had become a Christian and turned his life around. He turned down the opportunity to be released because he knew he was guilty and should pay the penalty, even as he looked forward to eternal life with his Lord and Saviour. 'Loving Lord God, please help us to be defined ...

 “Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Selah” Psalm 68:19 ESV Sometimes, if someone is going through a tough time, we might ask them how they're bearing up. This verse gives us the answer. We bear up because God bears us up. In God, we live, and move, and have our being, whether we believe in him our not. There's an even greater truth though. God can be our salvation. We deserve God's condemnation for our rebellion against him. We don't love him as we ought, or love one another as we love ourselves. Yet the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Selah is an ambiguous word. It's not 100% certain what it means. Many take it to mean to pause, maybe an instrumental break from the lyrics of this praise song. Hebrew doesn't have bold, italics or underline, so selah could well be a way of emphasising what has just been said, like an exclamation mark! 'Blessed Lord God, we praise you for bearing us up and saving us. In Chris...

 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. ” Romans 8:28 ESV Providence is an obscure, old fashioned word. Yet it sums up this verse perfectly. God is working all things together for good. We might struggle to believe this verse. We might think it's too good to be true. Yet because God brought good out of the death of his Son, we can know he can bring good out of anything. We don't deserve good. We deserve condemnation. Yet there's no condemnation for us who are in Christ Jesus. We have been called according to God's purpose to love him. That's the least we can do for him who loved us and gave his beloved Son for us. May we respond in grateful adoration. 'Gracious Father God, thank you for being good even out of bad circumstances. Please do so in our lives, for we ask in the name of our crucified Lord, amen'.

 “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. ” John 6:35 ESV Bread isn't very trendy nowadays. People are often on diets that frown upon carbohydrate rich foods like bread. Nevertheless, Jesus wasn't shy to describe himself as the bread of life. Of course, Jesus wasn't being literal here. He wasn't advocating cannibalism. He wasn't saying we have to literally eat his body and drink his blood. Still, if we belong to Jesus, we should break bread and drink the fruit of the vine in remembrance of him, until he returns. Christ makes a powerful promise here. If we metaphorically eat and drink of him, we will find spiritual satisfaction. Faith is the key that unlocks the door to spiritual satisfaction. Faith isn't passive. Faith moves us to come to Christ for satisfaction, and he'll never let us down. 'Father God, we thank you for the sustenance we find in your Son. May we co...

 “bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. ” Colossians 3:13 ESV We all test one anothers' patience. We all need to bear with one another. Interestingly, although he bore with his followers, even the Son of God got frustrated with them. The Lord Jesus had legitimate complaints against his people being so slow to follow him. Thankfully, as he was abandoned by them and crucified, he said 'Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing'. We are to follow his example. Complaining and moaning are similar but different. It's always wrong to moan behind someone's back. Yet to complain to their face can be legitimate. Even if we complain to someone, we should still forgive them. It's okay to tell someone if we disagree with them. We ought to agree to disagree though. 'Gracious God, please forgive us for what you could legitimately complain...

 “ “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”” Psalm 46:10 ESV In the words of another Scripture, as famously sung in Handel's Messiah, 'why do the nations so furiously rage together?' When we watch the news of all the tumult in the world, we can be tempted to get worked up. God commands us to be still. Of course, it's not enough to simply be still, 'like a lemon' as it were! The Psalmist goes on to tell us to know that the Lord is God. He is sovereign over all the chaos in the world. God might not currently be exalted among the nations. Yet he insists that he will be. The main way he does that is through his people proclaiming him, and his Holy Spirit accompanying his proclamation with transformative power. The Lord will be exalted in the earth. Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. It's better to bow our knees willingly now rather...

 “ “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.” Jeremiah 17:7 ESV The Bible doesn't present faith as a leap in the dark. Trusting in the Lord is to step out of the darkness and into the Light. Even if we're a 'reluctant convert' like C.S. Lewis, we can be 'surprised by joy' and blessedness. Like Augustine, we might have our back to the Light. Maybe we're preoccupied by stuff that reflects the Light. 'From the best bliss this world imparts, we turn unfilled to You again'. We need to turn our back on the darkness and come into the Light. As Augustine did, we need to renounce our deeds of darkness and trust in the finished work of Christ. We're to trust in the Lord, not in our own religiosity. Sometimes people have a caricature of God as a cosmic killjoy. Jeremiah recognised the Lord as the Source of all joy and blessedness. When we trust in Jesus we're like an evergreen, fruitful tree by a stream in the wilderness of li...

 “ Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 ESV Proverbs provide general principles rather than guaranteed rules. It's possible to be a relatively good parent and to have a child not turn out so well. I'm sure Solomon wasn't the worst of dads but his son Rehoboam didn't turn out well. As a general rule though, if we parent well, our kids should turn out alright. All we can do as parents is to point our children in the right direction. Whether they follow our advice or not is up to them.  I think we should parent our children like God parents us. Father God isn't too prescriptive, he doesn't micromanage our lives. What he does is to give us general principles to live by and calls us to follow Jesus. Jesus is the Way to Father God personified. We as parents aren't simply to teach our children to be moral. We're to teach them to follow Christ for eternal life. 'Heavenly Father, please help ...

 “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Galatians 6:10 ESV We all have opportunities. Even if it's just to offer a prayer for someone, that is to do good for them. God has been so good to us, so it's only right that we do good to others in response. The Apostle Paul isn't telling us to do good to the household of faith to the exclusion of others. He's saying basically that 'charity starts at home'. Yet charity (or love) shouldn't end at home.  If we only love and do good to those who love and do good to us, that's not good enough. Even the pagans do that. We're to love our enemies, and pray for those who persecute us. The best thing we can do for anyone is to tell them the good news of salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Even if we're already in the household of faith, we need reminding. We forget all too easily. 'Good Father God, please help us t...

 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. ” John 10:10 ESV The devil wants us to waste our lives. He wants us to fritter them away in pointless and unhelpful pursuits. Jesus came to give us life to the full. Satan wants to steal our souls. He has no authority to do so thankfully. He wants us dead. If the evil one gets his way, we'll end up in everlasting destruction with him. God however wants to give us abundant life. The Lord provides everything we need. Jesus as our Good Shepherd doesn't necessarily give us everything we want. He does give us everything we need though. He empowers us to overcome all that would assail us. 'Gracious God, we're grateful for your shepherding of us through life. Please deliver us from the evil one, for the honour of your name, amen'.

 “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:9 ESV The Apostle Paul had great integrity. He didn't just talk the talk. He walked the walk. Paul called the Philippian church to do as he said. Yet he wasn't like the religious leaders of Jesus's day. He practiced what he preached. Insofar as the Pharisees preached Moses, Jesus called people to obey them. Yet he knew they didn't put Moses into practice. So he warned people not to do as they did. If we want to know God's peaceful presence, we do well to live godly lives. If we don't practice Christlikeness, we rightfully probably won't feel peaceful. There's peace in lives of integrity. 'God of peace, please give us your peace, even as we seek to live for you. In Christ's name we pray, amen'.

 “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. ” James 5:16 ESV I don't think James is so much talking about physical healing necessarily so much as spiritual and emotional healing. We all get hurt emotionally etc. We can be healed though. Even if hurt has been done to us, we all have sins we need to confess. Hurt people hurt. Even unforgiveness is sin. If God forgives, so should we. The Christian life isn't so much J.A.M. (Jesus And Me) as J.O.Y. (Jesus, Others, You). We're not to be self absorbed. Instead, we are to 'do life together' instead of in isolation. We might not feel righteous. We might feel sinful. Yet if we trust in Christ, his righteousness is credited to our bankrupt spiritual accounts. 'Gracious God, help us to prove the truth of this verse in our lives. For your honour and praise we ask this, amen'. 

 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. ” Jeremiah 29:11 ESV Note that God has plans for us in the plural. It's not that if we mess up plan A we're doomed. God doesn't plan to condemn his people. God wants good for his people. Jesus even blessed us when we're persecuted, because great is our reward in heaven. God can even bring good out of evil circumstances. We have a glorious future to look forward to if we belong to Jesus. We have eternal life guaranteed with him in glory. We just need to trust in him. Our hope is assured. Because Christ defeated death, we can too. We will rise to meet our Lord and Saviour, and to be forevermore with him. 'Lord our God, we're grateful for your good plans for us, in the midst of the evils in this life. Please lead us safely home to glory, in Christ's name, amen'.

 “ Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.” Psalm 55:22 ESV The Lord doesn't want us to go around burdened. He wants us to cast our burdens upon him. He promises to sustain us. Jesus's shoulders are broad enough to bear our burdens. He gave his life to liberate us from the burden of sin. By his blood he sets us free. We're not naturally righteous. Through faith in Christ however, we can be made righteous. If we are righteous in him, we're safe and secure. Spiritually, we're immoveable if we belong to Jesus. We can't be knocked off from our security in Christ. We're safe in him. 'Lord, we cast our burdens upon you and ask you to make us immoveable spiritually. In Jesus' name we pray, amen'.

 “And have mercy on those who doubt; ” Jude 1:22 ESV Mercy is to not treat someone as they deserve. If someone doubts the truth of the Gospel, they don't deserve to receive the Good News. Yet Jesus is our only hope. There's a difference between doubt and cynicism. Some people have genuine doubts, concerns and questions about their faith. Others just dismissively pour scorn upon the Bible. If in doubt, we should take our doubts to God in prayer. We can be honest with him about how we feel. He is omniscient/all knowing, after all! The father of the demon possessed boy is a good example to us. When Jesus asked if he believed that nothing is impossible for God, the man replied, 'Lord, I believe, help my unbelief'. Of course, Jesus mercifully delivered his son. 'Lord, have mercy upon us. Please help us to overcome our doubts and be merciful to doubters. For your glory, amen'.

 “ Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10 ESV David didn't deceive himself. He knew his heart was naturally dirty. He knew God needed to clean his heart. If we're honest, we're all in the same boat as David. We may not have committed adultery, but most of us have lusted. We may not have murdered, but most of us have hated. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. We need God to renew a right spirit within us. We can echo David's prayer here. Thankfully, God restored David. He can renew us too into the likeness of Christ. By his death on our behalf and his outpoured Spirit he can do this. 'O God, please create clean hearts in us, and renew right spirits in us. For the honour of your name, amen'.

 “ “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ” Exodus 20:8 ESV We are not machines. We can't run non stop 24/7. We need times of rest. God designed us to have a day of rest a week. He even took a day off when he created the world! He didn't need to, but did so as an example to us of the pattern our lives should take.  Jesus made clear that we don't need to be prescriptive about weekly Sabbath rest. Religious people do that. Yet the Sabbath was made for us, not us for the Sabbath. Hebrews makes clear that the Lord Jesus Christ himself is the Sabbath rest personified of his people. In him, we enjoy one everlasting holiday from trying to earn God's acceptance. We can rest in his finished work upon our behalf. 'God, please help us to remember to take the rest we need. Above all, may we rest in Christ crucified for our salvation. In his name we ask this, amen'.

 “We love because he first loved us. ” 1 John 4:19 ESV We as humans are not just animals. We're capable of love. We're made in the image and likeness of God who is love personified. Because God is love, he created us, to share in loving fellowship with him. Because we are hateful, we have broken that fellowship. Because God is love, he's made a way for that fellowship to be restored. Because the Father sent the Son to give his life for us, we can respond to his love. We can be capable of that same kind of heavenly, sacrificial love. All we need to do is to trust in Jesus. We mustn't put our faith in ourselves for being loving. As John clearly states here, the reason we do love is because God first loved us. So there's no room for boasting. 'Dear Father in heaven, please help us to love you and others as you have loved us and given your Son for us. In his name we ask this, amen'.

 “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, ” 2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV The devil can't be accused of being lazy. He's busy about trying to destroy us. We must destroy his satanic arguments. If we don't destroy devilish arguments, they will destroy us if they persuade us. When people offer us their lofty opinions, we shouldn't take their word for it. We are to destroy arrogant opinions that are raised against the knowledge of God. Most importantly, we need to know God. We're not just to know him intellectually, but relationally. We get to know him in his word the Bible, as applied by his Holy Spirit. We're to involve Christ the Lord in every flitting thought that passes through our minds. Some seed of a thought has the potential to choke the garden of our minds with weeds. We're to allow Christ to weed out anything that's untoward in our thinking. 'Dear Lord our God, ...