Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

 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...

 1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV  No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. When we trust in Jesus, we're set upon a path, the way of eternal life. It's not necessarily all plain sailing however. The devil will send temptations to try and overtake us.  Satan tempts us, but God can use those temptations to test us. The evil one wants to trip us up. Yet God enables us to overcome every hurdle. God is faithful and powerful. He's able to help us to defeat the devil. It's not inevitable that we give in to temptation.  We often think of temptation as 'positive' in the sense of things like lust, hate and greed. Yet it can also be 'negative' in the sense of not doing what we ought, like telling people the Good News of salvation in Christ. In him we can and will endure, as long as we f...

 Ephesians 4:32 ESV Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. I love the motivation for kindness, tenderheartedness and forgiveness. We don't seek to be such things to earn God's acceptance. We do so because that is what God is like with us. God demonstrates his kindness to us not just by wiping the slate clean as it were. He welcomes us into relationship with him. He is the Lover of our souls. If we're not particularly tenderhearted, we can ask God to perform spiritual heart surgery. We can ask him to cut away our hardheartedness. We can ask him to give us soft hearts. Forgiveness starts with God. It shouldn't end with him though. Having been forgiven, we are to forgive one another. 'Merciful God, we praise you for your kindness towards us. May we follow your example, for your glory we pray, amen'.

 Matthew 6:25 ESV Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Jesus commands us not to be anxious. Anxiety is disobedience against him. Anxiety is mistrust in God's sovereign care of us. If we were assured of God's provision of our food, drink and clothing, we wouldn't be anxious. If we are anxious about our needs, a good prayer to pray is 'give us this day our daily bread'. The antidote to anxiety is to have a conversation with God and a conversation with ourselves about his gracious provision for us. God has never failed to provide for our needs. We are here today because we've had sufficient food, drink and clothing. Even the Apostle Paul knew what it was to lack such things at times but God always came through for him in the end. Greater than our need for food is spiritual sustenance: Jesus is the Bre...