Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

 Luke 12:15 ESV And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”  Someone famously asked the richest man of his day how much money is enough. He infamously replied, 'just a little bit more'. In other words, money and possessions will never be enough. In light of that famous quote, covetousness is a foolish thing. Why desire what others have when it will never satisfy? Stuff will never fulfil us like God can. C.S. Lewis famously said that desires are meant to be met: hunger with food, thirst with water etc. He went on to say that if we have a desire this world can't fulfil, we can reckon that we were made for another world. Covetousness for stuff we have no right to is wrong; desire for eternity with God through Jesus's sacrifice is right. We might have no divine right for eternity with God. Nonetheless, Jesus has earned it for us by his death and resurrection. We can ent...

 Isaiah 40:31 ESV but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Waiting has never been easy. Nowadays, with phones that distract us, waiting seems harder than ever as our attention spans seem to shorten! Isaiah insists that the Lord is worth the wait. Isaiah's turn of phrase is interesting. In English we sometimes say that you've got to walk before you can run. Here however Isaiah even puts flying before walking, never mind running. John Bunyan has a great quote about the Law telling us to walk but not giving us crutches. The Gospel on the other hand tells us to fly and gives us wings. The emphasis in Scripture is not upon us and our waiting, but upon the Lord and his enabling. I think Isaiah is looking forward to eternity here in one sense. He's not saying we can literally fly if we trust in Jesus. Yet if our risen Lord could ascend to glory, we shall to...

 Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. By implication, it's good to have a good imagination. There's a limit to what we can pray or think.  Yet there's no limits to God's abilities. God's power is at work in us who trust him. We all live, and move, and have our being in him. Yet if we belong to him he can transform us into Christ's likeness. We're not to seek our own glory. We're to live for the glory of God. He is worthy, for redeeming for himself a people, by the blood of Jesus. God isn't just the means to the end of gaining glory for ourselves. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and end. From him and to him and for him are all things. Glorious God, may we ever live to make you famous. Don't let us be too limited by our finite ima...

 Proverbs 18:21 ESV  Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits. This verse was literally true for king Solomon. If he condemned someone to death, they would be killed. If he pronounced life over someone on death row, they would love. It has to be clarified that Biblical proverbs are general truths. Solomon wanted Jeroboam put to death for example, but Jeroboam fled to Egypt to avoid such an eventuality. Nevertheless, the truth still stands that words have power. If someone is verbally abused, they could feel driven to suicide. If on the other hand someone is edified, they could make the most of their time and live abundant lives to the full. 'Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me' isn't true! If we harness the power of the tongue for good, we will eat its fruits as it were. People who speak well often have good jobs, while others of us Labour with our hands. Great speakers can inspire others with th...

 Romans 12:1 ESV I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  The meaning of life is to worship God. We don't worship God as the means to the end of having meaningful lives. We do so because he is worthy of our worship. God is worthy of our worship not simply for creating us. He deserves our praise because he sustains and saves us by his mercies. That is our motivation, not an attempt to earn his acceptance.  Having been saved, we're not simply to carry on business as usual. Salvation isn't the mantra of praying the sinner's prayer with no change in our lives. We are to offer our bodies as living sacrifices. How can sinners like us be holy and acceptable to God? Not by offering our bodies as living sacrifices, but by the mercies of God. Having received the mercies of God however, we will offer our bodies as living sacrifices. 'Merciful God, we p...

 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.” People often use suffering as an excuse to disbelieve God. Yet because of God, suffering isn't the end of the story. If evolution was true, suffering would be the story full stop: survival of the fittest. Thankfully, for those of us who trust in Jesus, suffering doesn't have the final say. God's going to make it a thing of the past. Contextualising this verse helps us to see how. We suffer ultimately because of sin, not always directly, I hasten to add. Christ bore our sins on his body on the tree. So if we trust in him, we are delivered ultimately from the suffering we deserve. God forbid we would be all entitled and assume we deserve this verse. The wonder of it is that although we deserve hell, God delights to promise us this eternal joy. 'Dear Lord our God, may you fulfi...

 James 1:19 ESV Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;  I was chatting some some friends about names and their meanings. One friend's name is apparently from the Apache meaning 'quiet one'. We're all to be quiet ones in the sense that we speedily listen to others. James isn't being dictatorial here, even as he commands certain things. He addresses his 'beloved brethren' (gender neutral in the Greek). He wants his brothers and sisters to know that he's coming from a place of love. We shouldn't just listen to respond. We should just listen. If necessary of course we can speak in response, but we don't always need to have the last word. Interestingly, James doesn't just point blank say 'don't get angry'. He's saying not to be quick tempered. Anger isn't necessarily sinful per se. 'Dear Lord, thank you for the reminder of how beloved we are in your family. Help us h...

 Revelation 4:11 ESV  “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” Selfianity is all about our worthiness. There's an element of truth to that. Clearly Jesus thought we are worth dying for, even though we're worthy of hell for our rebellion against him. Christianity is all about God's worthiness. If God is just a genie to give us what we think we're worthy of and entitled to, that's not saving faith. God is glorious, us, only insofar as we feebly reflect his glory. God is honourable. He made all things well. We're dishonourable, we've messed things up. Omnipotence is one of God's characteristics. He's all powerful. He sustains the universe by his power. 'Almighty Lord, we acknowledge your worthiness of our worship. May we ever live to praise you. For your honour we pray, amen'.

 Proverbs 17:17 ESV A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Solomon strongly suggests that a fairweather friend is no real friend at all. A true friend is evergreen. Better a friend close by than a brother far away, as he says elsewhere. Jesus is the ultimate Friend. He was nicknamed Friend of sinners. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever: he's still a perennial Lover of sinners like you and I.  Greater love has no one than this (Jesus said): that he lays down his life for his friends. Jesus didn't just talk the talk. He walked the walk, and transforms enemies into friends. The Lord is our firstborn Brother from the dead as it were. He's the ultimate big Brother who beats the bullies of sin and death, hell, the devil and his horses. By trusting in him, we gain eternal life. 'O Lord our God, we worship you for your everlasting love. We're grateful that it transcends any and every adversity we may face. Help us reciprocate your lov...