Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

 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'.