Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

  For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, Mark 7:21 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mrk.7.21.ESV In one fell swoop, Jesus voided kosher food laws. It's not what we eat that makes us unclean. Instead, what comes out of our hearts defiles us. What matters isn't so much what we eat, as who we are morally. Clearly we shouldn't be greedy and should eat healthily. Yet if we're honest, our hearts aren't pretty. Out of our hearts come all kinds of evil thoughts. We have hatred, which could spawn into murder. We have lust, which could spawn into adultery. We might think nothing of covetousness. Yet it can easily mutate into theft of other people's stuff that we covet. We need a spiritual heart transplant. 'Dear Lord, please transplant new hearts in the place of our sinful old ones, and help us to honour You in our lives. In the name of Christ, amen'

  If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot. Jeremiah 20:9 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/jer.20.9.ESV For years now I have written these daily Bible notes. You could call it a habit or a routine. Yet I couldn't go a day without meditating on and expressing my thoughts on God's word. Any genuine follower of Jesus should feel the same as Jeremiah. Even if we wanted to keep quiet about our Saviour and Lord, we cannot help but to speak out about His goodness. We want others to share in the joy of knowing Him. There's a holy compulsion in us to declare the goodness of God. Even Lot, who failed to witness of God to Sodom, was tormented in his righteous soul by all the evil goings on in that city. If he'd have spoken out, Jesus said, Sodom would have remained to this day. Jeremiah got into lots of trouble for speaking God's wor...

  And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” Acts 10:15 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/act.10.15.ESV Peter had been taken in by the Judaisers, the false teachers who made out that Gentiles had to become Jews to be proper Christians. In a vision however, God made clear he'd been deceived. Jesus destroyed the barrier between Jews and Gentiles. The vision was of non kosher food. Yet God told Peter to tuck in! In Jesus, there is no longer any unclean food. Of course, we should eat healthily. Yet we don't necessarily need some special kind of diet. God has given us all good things to enjoy. The non kosher food Peter saw was a metaphor for Gentiles. If Gentiles like Cornelius the centurion come to faith in Jesus, they aren't to be rejected. Instead, they should be welcomed with open arms. 'Heavenly Father, forgive us for the barriers we construct between peoples. May we accept everyone in Christ, in His name we pray, a...

  “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. Jeremiah 18:6 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/jer.18.6.ESV At the end of the day, we're not much more than animated clay. God first formed us out of the earth. It wasn't until He breathed His breath into us that we came alive. Comparing God to a potter might seem rather humbling, but that's what He's like to us. He forms us in our mothers' wombs. If we come to faith in Christ, He reforms us into His likeness. Just as a potter can do whatever he likes with his clay, so God can do whatever He likes with us. Clay is in no position to question the potter. We have no right to question what God's doing in our lives. Too often we might have a sense of entitlement. We might delude ourselves that God somehow owes us something. The opposite is true: we owe God everything, and need to submit to Hi...

  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/jer.17.9.ESV The Bible teaches the opposite to Disney. Disney says 'follow your heart'. Then we have this verse from Jeremiah! If we follow our hearts we're in trouble, because our hearts are deceitful above all things. The world says we're basically good. The Bible holds a mirror up to our natural badness. We don't need to teach babies to sin, it comes naturally to them. We sin because we're sinners by nature. We're sinners first who happen to sin. It's impossible to understand the depravity of the human heart. Thankfully, John tells us in his first letters that when our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and He knows all things. Salvation is following Jesus, not our hearts. 'God, please save us from our depraved hearts. May Your transform us by Christ's blood and the work of His Spirit, in H...

  But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. Acts 5:29 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/act.5.29.ESV If obedience to God and to people oppose each other, clearly, we should obey God. If we disobey people, we'll get into trouble. If we disobey God however, we're destined for an eternity in hell. Obedience to God is in summary to love Him and to love other people. If we see other people heading for hell, it would be unloving of us not to warn them. So the apostles refused to be silenced by the powers that be. If we want an easy life, we'll do what people tell us, even if that contradicts God's law. If we want eternal life, we will obey God. The hardships of this season are nothing compared to the glories of the eternity to come, for those who trust in God. 'Trust and obey, For there's no other way, To be happy in Jesus, Than to trust and obey'. (When we walk with the Lord) 'Sovereign Lord, may we obey You even if it...

  Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left, Joshua 23:6 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/jos.23.6.ESV I think Joshua's right that there's two main ways we can deviate from the word of God. If we follow the Bible's teaching, we're on the right path. If we stray in any way, we need to get back on track. The first way we might get off track with Scripture is to assume we need to add to it. Scripture tells us to rest one day out of seven. It isn't prescriptive as to how we take our rest, but we might be tempted to add regulations as to what we can and can't do on that day. The second way we might wander from God's way is to assume we can cherry pick His teachings. Some of God's commandments aren't politically correct nowadays, can't we just gloss over them? Christ might have fulfilled sacrificial and ceremonial aspects of the law...

  And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, Acts 4:29 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/act.4.29.ESV The Church was born out of persecution. Our Lord and Saviour was crucified by the powers that be. Why should we His followers expect to avoid persecution? Naturally, we don't want to be persecuted. We don't need to invite it. Yet if we're faithful to God, we will inevitably be persecuted. Jesus blessed the persecuted, for great is their reward in heaven. We shouldn't just want to scrape into heaven by the skin of our teeth. We should want to enjoy an undeserved reward for our Spirit inspired faithfulness to God. Persecution was hotting up for the early church. Yet they didn't pray for it to stop. Instead, they asked God for the boldness to continue to faithfully proclaim Him, and He graciously granted their request. 'Dear Lord, grant us the boldness we need to stand for You in the face ...

 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Acts 2:42 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/act.2.42.ESV When we come to faith in Jesus as our Saviour and Lord, what then? Is it business as usual? Do we simply pray a 'sinner's prayer' and continue as normal? This verse provides a model for how we should be as God's people. We should be devoted to the teaching of the eyewitnesses of the risen Christ, the new testament writers. There's still plenty of self proclaimed apostles knocking around today, but we should be wary of them and test them against Biblical Apostles with a capital A who actually saw the risen Christ in the flesh. It's not enough to devote ourselves to Biblical teaching. To sit at home watching some YouTube sermon is to neglect the fellowship of the saints. Instead, we are to encourage one another. Breaking of bread isn't just eating together, but communion: remembering Christ...

  Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass. Joshua 21:45 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/jos.21.45.ESV What a wonderful verse! It's not about the Israelites being entitled or worthy. It's all about the worthiness of the Faithful One, God Almighty. The Lord is faithful. He keeps His promises. What was true for Israel is true for God's new covenant people. Just as God faithfully brought Israel out of slavery in Egypt, so He faithfully brings Christians out of slavery to sin. Not only so, but He brings us to the promised land. Just as Israel made it to Canaan, so Christians will make it to the new creation, through faith in the Jewish Messiah. The God of Israel is the God of Christians. The Jewish Messiah is the Saviour of the world. Just as God was faithful to Israel, so He is faithful to all who trust in Him. 'Sovereign Lord of glory, please encourage us about Your faithfulness, and thank You f...