Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

 Philippians 4:4 ESV  Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.  Note what the Apostle Paul doesn't say. He doesn't tell us only to rejoice in the Lord when we feel like it. We're not just to rejoice in the Lord when the sun's shining. The Apostle Paul commands us to 'always' rejoice in the Lord. Whether we feel like it or not, we're to celebrate our Saviour. Even in dark times, we're to have joy in God. We're to rejoice 'in the Lord'. We don't necessarily have to be all self congratulatory and to rejoice in ourselves. God is worthy of our joy, he is the Source of our happiness. Paul had to reemphasise his call to rejoice. Happiness doesn't come naturally to us. We need all the encouragement we can get to be happy. 'Joyful God, may we always rejoice in you, for the honour of your name, amen'.

 2 Corinthians 3:17 ESV  Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  The Bible teaches that we're born spiritually dead. We don't get to enjoy the Spirit's freedom by osmosis. Even though God is omnipresent, it's only by faith that we get to enjoy his freedom. We must be born again by the Holy Spirit. We must come alive in Christ, by his death and resurrection on our behalf. If we lack faith we can ask God for it. Even having professed faith in Jesus, we must walk in freedom. We must keep in step with the Spirit. We mustn't lag behind or rush on ahead. Jesus must be Lord of every area of our lives. We need to set every last under the stairs cupboard free as it were. We need to unlock every area of our lives to God to enjoy the freedom he offers. God, forbid that we would only offer you lip service. May we live for you in spirit and in truth, for your honour we pray, amen'.

 1 John 2:6 ESV Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. God doesn't just want lip service. It's not enough to say that we abide in him if we don't. As Jesus said, 'not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of heaven.' This is a challenging verse. We can't just profess faith in God. We mustn't just 'talk the talk'; we must 'walk the walk'. How did Jesus walk? In love. He never once lost his temper for example, even though he was known to get rightfully angry at times. We must walk in love. We can't do so by 'pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps'. We need to Holy Spirit of God to help us. 'Dear Father God, please help us to walk in the footsteps of your Son, our Saviour and Lord, in whose name we ask this, amen'.

 John 15:12 ESV  This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  If we think the 10 commandments are onerous, Jesus raises the bar even higher. Moses tells us to love our neighbours as we love ourselves. Jesus commands us to love one another as he loves us. Jesus loved us to death, literally. He tells us that we're to be prepared to do the same for one another. It's not just about the ultimate sacrifice, but everyday, small acts of self denial for the sake of others. Of course, our relationship with God comes first. After that though comes our love for one another. God commands us to love one another as he loves us. It seems like Jesus is asking the impossible of us, sinners as we are by nature. Yet by the power of his Holy Spirit, we can do this. We are to rely on his strength, not our own. 'Heavenly Father, we praise you for sending your Son out of love for us. May we love as you have first loved us, with your Spirit's help and in your Son'...

 Micah 6:8 ESV He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? The call to walk humbly with God is counterintuitive to the world. The world celebrates pride. The world sees humility as weakness. Micah calls us to be just. We're to be equitable. We're not to show favouritism. We're then called to love kindness. We're not just to be kind out of a sense of duty. We're to delight in being kind. Humility means we don't pay ourselves on our backs for our fairness and mercifulness. We're just grateful for God's graciousness to us. That we can walk with him is a great honour and privilege. 'Dear Lord God, may we do what is good: being just, kind and humble as we walk with you. For your honour we ask this, amen'.

 1 Peter 4:8 ESV Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.  Love isn't just a feeling. It's a decision. Whether we feel like it or not, we are to love one another. If we endure a multitude of sins against us, we won't feel like loving the perpetrator. Yet that's exactly what the Apostle Peter calls us to do. After all, Jesus does that for us. Jesus proves the truth of this verse. By his love, our multitudes of sins are atoned for. Because of his love, we are empowered to love to. If we belong to Jesus, we will love others even when it's hard. Love isn't necessarily easy. It can be costly. 'Loving Lord God, may we emulate you in loving those who sin against us. By your gracious power we can do this, and in the name of Jesus, amen'.

 Romans 8:31 ESV What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?  This verse comes in the midst of what can be called the high point of the entire Bible, so packed this chapter is with powerful promises of God. 'These things' include the fact that there is now no condemnation for those of us who are in Christ Jesus. All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Often, even as Christians, we might assume that God is against us because of our sins. Yet God is for his people. In fact, he doesn't want anyone to perish, not just us. Nothing can prevail against us. Nothing can separate us from God's love. Not even death can part us from his loving kindness. Not trouble, famine, persecution, nakedness, danger, sword or anything else can separate us from God's love. Not even angels or demons can do that. There's nothing in all the universe that can stop God loving us. 'Dear God, tha...

 Isaiah 43:2 ESV   When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. There have been instances in history of God's people literally passing through the waters of the Red Sea and the Jordan River. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace but weren't touched by the flames. I think this verse is mostly metaphorical though. This verse might be comforting, but note that it says 'when' not 'if' you pass through the waters and fire. It's inevitable that we'll pass through the 'waters' of religiosity if I'm not being too fanciful. Religion would bash us about the head with the Law of God. It's inevitable that we'll pass through the 'fires' of hedonism as it were. The world would tell us to blinker ourselves to spiritual realities and live selfishly. God can deliver ...

 1 Corinthians 13:4 ESV Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant  Jesus is love personified. He is patient and kind. He doesn't envy or boast; he isn't arrogant. We fall far short of love's standards. Yet God's love isn't conditional upon our performance. God loves us even though we are unlovely. Just because we fall short doesn't mean to say we shouldn't seek to be loving. We do so not to earn our salvation though. We love because God first loved us. 1 Corinthians 13 is a great place to go if we want to know what love looks like. We do well to consider how we can demonstrate patience and kindness. We do well to avoid envy, boasting and arrogance. 'Loving heavenly Father, we praise you for you love and ask for your help in emulating you. For the honour of your name, amen'.