Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

 Psalm 119:176 ESV  I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments. I have been honoured to have been asked to share a Psalm about how God seeks lost sheep. In all my many years writing devotionals, this is the only time I remember getting a request on what to write about! On the topic asked for, this verse immediately came to mind. This verse is more of a prayer than a promise that God will seek lost sheep. Yet in the context of Scripture and what we know of David's life, we know that God answered his prayer. Like a lost sheep, David cried out for God to seek him. Elsewhere, Jesus tells us to ask, seek and knock spiritually. The emphasis in Scripture however is upon God seeking us, rather than us seeking him. Even if the sheep doesn't know it's lost, God can seek it out. We need to realise our lostness without the Good Shepherd. David wasn't trying to earn God's favour. He just knew the goodness of loving God (as God ...

 Ephesians 4:2 ESV with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,  The world celebrates pride. God celebrates humility. God hates pride. We're not to be all cantankerous and grumpy about the proud. We're to be gentle towards them. We can't force people to humble themselves before God. We're to be patient. I love that synonym 'longsuffering' because it shows patience isn't easy. We need to be in it for the long game, to come out the other side. We're not going to get along with everyone. We're not going to like everyone. Yet we are to bear with one another in love. 'Dear Lord, please help us to be holy as you are holy. May we become increasingly Christlike each day, for the honour of your name we ask, amen'.

 Psalm 126:5 ESV   Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! Telling people about the Lord is like sowing in tears. Our feeble efforts and people's generally cold responses can get us down. Planting seeds seems like an impossible task when we're longing for a harvest. The Psalmist promises that if our hearts are broken for those who are lost around us, we will eventually know joy. God is in the business of finding the lost and bringing them home. As a harvest is brought into the barn, so God longs to bring us to glory. We're told elsewhere that God's word won't return void. It always has an impact. Whether it's on the path, rocky, weedy or good ground; there'll always be change. Jesus promises that when people speak against us, as they often do when we try and tell them about the Lord, that great is our reward in heaven. In eternity at least, we'll rejoice without any tinge of sadness. For now, we're a whole mix of emotions. 'Joyful L...

 James 5:8 ESV  You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.  We are to be patient like farmers. They plant their crops and water them. Yet it's God who gives the increase. We're to establish our hearts. We're to remind ourselves of the imminent return of King Jesus. We're not to get complacent.  These words were penned two thousand years ago. We might think the Lord is dragging his feet. Yet a thousand years is like a day to the Everlasting One.  God doesn't work to our timescales. He marches to the beat of his own drum as it were. He won't return a day late. 'Sovereign Lord, may we be ready for the awesome day of your return. Please help us to develop patience in the meantime. For your honour we pray, amen'.

 1 Corinthians 16:13 ESV Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.  Being watchful daily at Wisdom's gates as it were isn't just about having a 'quiet time'. It's not even just about looking out for devilish attacks against us. Watchfulness is also about looking forward to the return of King Jesus. We're to stand firm in the faith. We don't want Christ to catch us slacking when he returns. As he himself said, 'those who endure to the end will be saved'.  Being manly means to look after those who are weaker than us. True manliness is to be otherish rather than selfish. We're to be protective, not bullying. The Apostle Paul encourages us to be strong. As he said elsewhere, our strength is in the Lord and in his mighty power. Because Jesus rose again, we can live in his resurrection power. 'Glorious Lord, may we live in your resurrection power. We long for your return. May we prove faithful in the meantime. For your glory we...

 Matthew 5:43-44 ESV  But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  Jesus commands the impossible of us. Our gut reaction is to hate our enemies. Yet elsewhere he even commands us to turn the other cheek. This might seem like weakness to the world. Yet it requires supernatural strength. Only by the grace of God can we do this. If a Roman soldier struck a Jew on the cheek and he retaliated, he would be killed. Jesus isn't giving a blanket prohibition on self defence, or defence of family or nation. He's encouraging self preservation in that scenario. Jesus wasn't a Zealot; he wasn't a freedom fighter seeking to overthrow the Romans oppressors. It's hard to hate someone you're praying for. 'Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing', he cried from the cross. 'Father, forgive our persecutors, and help us to love our enemies, in Christ's powerful name we pray, amen'.

 1 John 1:7 ESV But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.  I love this verse because it tells us what we should do, but it's also honest that we fail. We should walk in the light. When we don't, the blood of Jesus covers us. I'm reminded of what Augustine said that I've mentioned before. He said that before he was saved he had his back to the Light and was looking at things the Light reflected on (beautiful women were his main stumbling block). When he trusted in the blood of Jesus shed on his behalf, he came into the Light. Even our own self righteousness can be something God's Light reflects upon. We need to repent of turning good things into God things, and to trust in God alone for salvation. Only the blood of Jesus can bring us out of the darkness and into the Light. Coming into the Light isn't some one off event when we pray some mantra of a sinners'...

 Galatians 6:9 ESV And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.  It's not necessarily easy to do good. Doing good doesn't come naturally to us. We need to persevere in it. If a farmer grows weary of his work, he won't get to see the harvest. If he gives up, he'll have nothing to show for his labours. Similarly, if we throw in the towel, we can't expect to inherit eternal life. As Jesus said, 'those who endure to the end will be saved'. I want to emphasise that our endurance isn't dependant on us pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps as it were. We simply need to remind ourselves that we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do. All we need to do is to walk in obedience to our Lord and Saviour. We are to keep in step with his Holy Spirit. We're not to rush on ahead or to lag behind. 'Dear Lord, thank you for the promise of ...

 Luke 6:36 ESV Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. If we're not merciful towards others, why would we expect God to be merciful towards us? Our mercy doesn't earn God's mercy. Yet if he has been merciful to us, we should be merciful to others. I'm reminded of Jesus's parable of the debtors. One has his epic, unpayable debt cancelled. Yet instead of being merciful to his relatively modest debtor, he insists that the poor guy coughs up, and ends up jailed indefinitely himself by the King he was indebted to in the first place. God doesn't show us mercy in order for us to continue in our sins. He shows us mercy so that he can transform us into Christlikeness. We are to be holy, as God is holy. Too often, we make excuses for our unrighteousness. It's true that God mercifully meets us where we're at. It's also true that he graciously doesn't leave us in the pig sty as it were.  'Merciful Father, please have mercy upon us, and empower us t...