Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

  I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol; I shall redeem them from Death. O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion is hidden from my eyes. Hosea 13:14 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/hos.13.14.ESV Humanly speaking, death is the end: there's no hope for the dead. Yet spiritually, even though we're all born spiritually dead, we can be made alive in Christ. We can be ransomed and redeemed. Apparently, the Hebrew isn't in the form of a question, but the Greek translation of the old testament that the new testament writers used is. In the old testament era, it must have seemed like death had the victory. Northern Israelites were either killed or assimilated into oblivion by Assyria. In the new testament era, we know that Christ has the victory over death and the grave. The new testament writers quote part of this verse in the context of Christ's resurrection. In Him, we have the victory.   The end of this verse is perplexing. How ca...

 but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord. Philemon 1:14 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/phm.1.14.ESV God doesn't want us to feel compelled to do good. He wants us to do good of our own accord. God isn't a hard taskmaster; He's a loving Heavenly Father. Because God is like that with us, we should be like that with others. Paul didn't want to oblige Philemon to keep his runaway slave Onesiphorus with Paul, because Onesiphorus was helpful to Paul. He wanted reconciliation between Philemon and Onesiphorus. The new testament is anti slavery, but it's also pragmatic. Paul didn't lead a Spartacist revolt against slavery. What he did do was to tell Philemon to welcome Onesiphorus back as a brother. Onesiphorus could serve Philemon, but of his own accord rather than under compulsion. We need to be convinced in our own minds of the goodness of goodness. It's no good doing something...

 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. Titus 3:8 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/tit.3.8.ESV In context, Paul is saying about salvation through the Lord Jesus. We trust in Him alone for salvation, not ourselves. Having trusted in Him though, we are to devote ourselves to living for Him. Living for God doesn't involve becoming cave dwelling hermits! By loving others, we can express love for God. When we talk about 'do gooders', we don't tend to be flattering, but Pusl isn't calling us to be meddlers. As we go about our days, there'll be ample opportunities to do good to others and as an expression of worship to God, without unnecessarily poking our noses into other peoples' businesses. God wants us to devote ourselves to doing good. This requires passion and purpose; the will do do it and...

  who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good. Titus 2:14 NIV Why did Jesus give Himself for us? It wasn't so we can do what we like without fear of consequences. He died to redeem us from all wickedness. God, forbid that we should continue doing evil. Jesus didn't redeem us from all wickedness only for us to be enslaved to it all over again. Just as He brought Israel out of Egyptian captivity, so He brings His new covenant people out of slavery to sin. May we not become yoked to evil again. We were saved for a relationship with God. We weren't saved to be left to our own devices. We are to become Christlike. If we're not eager to do good, we betray the fact we haven't truly been saved from our badness. God doesn't leave us in the mud and the mire. He wants to purify us. 'Gracious God, thank You for saving us to be conformed into the likeness of Your Son. In His n...

  Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness Titus 1:1 NIV Paul wasn't self serving; he served God. So many self proclaimed ministers and self named ministries are self serving. Paul's ministry wasn't pauline; it was divine. So many self proclaimed apostles are blowing their own trumpets, not Jesus Christ's. If we're proclaiming ourselves rather than Christ, we're preaching another gospel. Paul on the other hand was personally commissioned by the risen Lord to proclaim Him to the Gentiles. Paul wasn't about furthering his bank balance; he was about furthering the faith of God's elect. Having been chosen by God and given the gift of faith, we are to exercise that trust in God every day. It's like if a child is given the gift of a bike, they should use it. Paul wanted his people to grow further in their knowledge of the truth that leads to godlin...

 2 Samuel 24:14 ESV Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.” David had messed up. He'd called a census to number his fighting men. Whereas Numbers catalogues God's grace to His people in censuses, David called a census trusting in his fighting men. God gave David a choice of punishment. David demonstrated his trust in God and His character. He knew God to be infinitely more merciful than the kind of enemies he could have faced. Instead of facing military opponents, David faced a plague in his land. Thankfully, God stayed His hand of judgment and proved David right. God is merciful. When we're in distress, when we're at our wits' end, God forbid that we would look to human solutions. May we entrust ourselves to God. He is merciful and that's what we need. 'Merciful God, have mercy upon us for trusting in ourselves rather than You. In the name of J...

 Galatians 3:14 ESV so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. We're naturally under a curse because of our sinfulness. That's why we face death and that's why Christ had to die. In death, He took our curse upon Himself. In Christ, we're not only not cursed, we're blessed. Because He lives, we can face tomorrow. God promised Abraham He'd bless the world through his Seed, and in Christ the world is blessed. Because of Jesus we can receive the Holy Spirit. He blesses us by helping us to kill sin and to bear good spiritual fruit like love, joy and peace. In Him we enjoy eternal life. We receive God's Holy Spirit by faith. We don't need a second blessing. The moment we entrust ourselves to Jesus we receive His Holy Spirit. 'Father God, thank You for sending Your Son to bear our curse and for leaving Your Spirit to bless us. May we walk with Him, for Your glory, a...

 2 Samuel 22:31 ESV This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.  Why do I write about the word of the Lord daily? Because it has proved true in my life, and I want to meditate on it and share it with others. God's way is perfect, and His word outlines it for us. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Him. David took refuge in the Son of David and found Him to be a shield. This can be our experience too. The idea of needing a refuge might seem like a sign of weakness. Yet it is a case of realism, recognising who we are spiritually. We're in need of a safe place we can always come to. David wasn't a weak person, he was a mighty warrior king. Yet he knew he was only strong in the Lord and His power. David recognized his need for the Lord to be a shield for him spiritually. 'Lord our God, please shield us with Your loving protection. May we find in You a refu...

 Galatians 1:8 ESV But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. What is the good news? It is salvation in Christ alone, by faith alone, by grace alone, according to Scripture alone, to the glory of God alone. Too often we seek to add to it. Salvation isn't Jesus + circumcision (thankfully!). Neither is it Jesus + baptism. It's not Jesus + a quiet time each morning. If we add to the gospel, we're adulterating it into something that is no gospel at all. It's a bit like adding tea to coffee, or petrol to a diesel car. It's all about Jesus, not anything we can do. Paul goes on to say that adulterers of the gospel should be accursed. They will be cursed eternally if they don't repent. It seems harsh, but if people don't believe the gospel, they're hopeless, so if people are led astray, that's a terrible thing to be guilty of. 'God, forbid that we should pervert the go...

 Psalm 11:3 ESV if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”  David wrote this Psalm, at which stage we do not know. Even once he became king of Israel there was plenty of attacks upon God's people. My hunch is that he wrote this earlier, when the Philistines were harrying the children of Israel. Nowadays in the post christianised UK, we feel stuck between the rock of Islam and the hard place of godless secularism. It's as though Islam and materialism have teamed up to try and destroy any christianised foundations in this country. So what can the righteous do? In the context we are to look to the Lord. Christ Jesus was crucified by an unholy alliance of religious and political powers, yet He defeated death to make us righteous. We're not naturally righteous, yet through faith in Jesus we can have His righteousness credited to our bankrupt spiritual accounts. Whatever else happens in the world, we will see our Saviour face to face. Ultimately, that's all...