Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

  The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds." Matthew 11:19 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.11.19.ESV In 21st Century British culture, gluttony and drunkeness as belittled as sins. According to Mosaic law however, gluttonous drunkards were worthy of the death penalty! So when people accused Jesus of gluttony and drunkeness, they were saying He was worthy of death. Religious 1st Century Jews knew that bad company corrupts good morals. So when Jesus hung out with traitorous and greedy tax collectors and sinful, dodgy women, religious people were understandably uncomfortable. Jesus however is incorruptible. Whereas we have a tendency to corruption, Jesus can resurrect us to newness of spiritual life, whether we're greedy, alcoholic, immoral, gluttonous, or proud and self righteous. So whoever we are, may we come to faith in Him. He can...

  "Remember the word that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, 'The Lord your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land.' Joshua 1:13 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/jos.1.13.ESV What does this word to ancient Israel have to do with us, mostly Gentiles in the 21st Century? We don't have a promised land to physically conquer. Our commission is the greatest: to be God's instruments to conquer hearts and souls for Him, and ultimately to inherit the earth. Jesus said that the meek will inherit the earth. The meek don't insist on their rights. So even though trusting Jesus gives us the right to inherit the earth, we know we're not naturally entitled to it. Jesus goes to prepare a place for us in our Father God's house. All that is required of us it to prepare ourselves for that great day when we enter into all God's fulfilled promises. We need to strive to enter into our heavenly rest. God provided the promised...

  Your bars shall be iron and bronze, and as your days, so shall your strength be. Deuteronomy 33:25 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/deu.33.25.ESV In one sense, the second half of this verse seems blindingly obvious. Of course we will have strength as long as we have days. We doubt that so often though. Note what the verse doesn't say. It doesn't say that as your tomorrows, so shall your strength be. We don't need strength for tomorrow, just for today. We spend so much of our time preoccupied with tomorrows. Of course, tomorrow never comes, so it's better not to get anxious or distracted. It's best to focus on each day as it comes. Jesus teaches us to pray, 'Give us this day or daily bread'. We don't need to pray for tomorrow's needs. Each day God will supply our needs, if not our wants. 'Almighty God, thank You for giving us the strength we need for each day, until You call us home, to the praise of Your glory, amen'

  The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. Psalm 119:130 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/psa.119.130.ESV God's word literally brings light. He said 'let there be light', and there was light. God isn't just the source of physical light. He is also the source of the spiritual light that illuminates our souls and spirits. God isn't just the source of light, He is the light Himself. Jesus said 'I am the light of the world'. If we follow Him we won't walk in the dark. Maybe we feel like simpletons. Maybe we actually are. We don't have to stay that way however, we can get to know His word by His Spirit. Simpletons have a tendency to become foolish and even scoffers towards God. God however has a tendency to intervene and help simpletons to become wise and understanding. May He do so with us! 'Dear Lord, thank You for making simpletons like us wise and understanding. Please increasingly draw us into the ligh...

  Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. Deuteronomy 31:7 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/deu.31.7.ESV I love how some of Moses' last words to Joshua are echoed by God after Moses' passing, to Joshua as he assumed leadership of God's people. These words will doubtless have been a great source of encouragement to Joshua as he led God's people to take over the promised land. It will have been a motto for Joshua's life. We might not be commissioned by God to lead His people into the promised land, but we can still glean something from this verse for ourselves. It's not just leaders that God wants strong and courageous. The rest of us can't afford to be weak and cowardly. We might naturally feel weak and cowardly. But God can make us strong and courag...

  "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matthew 5:8 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.5.8.ESV As honest humans, we must admit that this promise by Jesus seems impossible. After all, didn't Jeremiah say that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked? Who can understand it? What is impossible with us is possible with God. He can do a spiritual heart transplant within us. He can make us pure in heart. How though can it be possible to see God? After all, surely no one can see God and live! Well Jesus is the image of the invisible God. If we see Him, we see God. God might be Spirit. Through eyes of faith though we can see Him. And when Christ returns we shall see Him. 'Lord, may You open our eyes and hearts to see You in Your awesome glory. We long for the day when we will see You our Saviour face to face, to the praise of Your glorious grace, amen'

  Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'" Matthew 4:10 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.4.10.ESV What are we to do when satan is up close and personal, tempting us to fall into sin? Just what Christ did: quote Scripture to him! The Bible is toxic to satan, it's the sword of the Spirit that we can skewer him with! Jesus is the perfect example of how to resist temptation, because He never succumbed to it. He obviously knew His Scripture well to quote it from memory to satan. The devil only lasted three rounds of Scripture quotation. So if the word of God is the sword of Spirit, we need to be skilled in wielding it. It needs to become second nature to deploy it against satan and his attacks. Scripture memorisation might not be easy, but it is a powerful tool in our conflict with the evil one. A final word of caution: at one point the devil tried to use Scripture aga...

  "But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. Deuteronomy 28:15 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/deu.28.15.ESV Is God too harsh? Why should humanity be cursed because our forefathers disobeyed God and ate some fruit? Why should a parent insist his toddler holds his hand as they walk beside the road? Because he doesn't want them to get run over. God knows best. And the best for us is the way of obedience. Sadly, we all fall short, and we all face the ultimate curse of death, unless Christ returns first. Is there any hope for us? We need to do a 180 degree about turn. From disobedience we need to repent. We need to be careful to follow the only Saviour Jesus, and love Him as He has loved us and given Himself for us. 'Heavenly King, help us repent of our disobedience and carefully follow You all our days, until Your K...

  In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. Psalm 119:14 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/psa.119.14.ESV All David had to go on in terms of testimonies of the Lord, apart from the history of Israel, was the first five books of the Bible, the torah, or teachings of Moses. He delighted in the pentateuch as much as if he was the richest man in the world. Do we? The law for David wasn't just something to show him his need of Christ. It is good in its own right. Just because we fail to keep it doesn't mean to say there's anything wrong with it. The law in summary is to love God and to love others. Jesus is the perfect embodiment and fulfilment of the law of God. If we want to know what it is to obey God to perfection, we need look no further than Christ. Someone once told me that if I was cut in half I'd bleed Scripture. Well as the Lord Jesus Christ was literally cut and bleeding upon the old rugged cross, He cried out Scripture in prayer to God...

But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 1 Timothy 5:8 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/1ti.5.8.ESV This verse troubles me, because I'm a Proverbs 31 kind of man, sitting in the ('Watching Daily at Wisdom's) 'Gates' whilst my wife wins bread and brings home the bacon. So I looked into the Greek for this verse, not to seek to excuse myself, but to better understand Paul's point. The Greek word for 'provide' is 'pronoeo', which could just as well be translated 'prioritise'. We might be tempted to think of provision primarily or even solely as financial, but I'm sure Paul is more nuanced. If a workaholic husband prioritises his job over his family, he's idolising his salary over his God given wife and kids. I think of the Casting Crowns song 'American Dream' where a man idolises an ideal that turns out into a nigh...