Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

 'You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! ' Isaiah 26:3 https://www.bible.com/bible/116/ISA.26.3   Isaiah warned his fellow Jews that the Babylonians were going to take over. Notwithstanding this, he insisted that we can know peace, despite circumstances. Whoever our overlords may be, God is the King of king and Lord of lords.   If we focus on the storm, we’ll just procrastinate and get anxious. If we dig our foundations into God and rise above the storm, He will sustain us through it. When we build our lives on Him, we will withstand even death itself.   There’s no need to worry if God is our heavenly Father. He knows what we need, and He cares. We’re to seek first His kingdom, and everything else He will provide.   If we fix our thoughts on our problems, we’re likely to swiftly get overwhelmed. If on the other hand we fix our thoughts on the Sovereign Lord of the universe, we’ll get a heaven...

  'When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. ' John 16:13 https://www.bible.com/bible/116/JHN.16.13 God is Father, Son, and Spirit of truth existing together for eternity. We get to enter into communion with God by His Spirit. His Holy Spirit guides us in the way we should go. The Spirit of truth is the Spirit of Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the life. He guides people into relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not so much that we choose God, as that we're chosen by God. We love, because God first loved us, and pours out His Spirit upon those who trust in Christ. The Spirit doesn't blow His own trumpet as it were, He's all about exalting the Lord Jesus. The triune God works together in perfect harmony to glorify Himself. The Spirit reminds us that the next great event on God's calendar is the return of ...

  'Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. ' Psalms 119:105 https://www.bible.com/bible/116/PSA.119.105 What is God's word to us? A dusty old tome? Irrelevant to our modern age? This verse reveals what it was to king David of Israel. The Bible was to David literally a bible as it were, a definitive guide, to life, the universe, and everything. It isn't just some philosophical work, it's very practical as to how we ought to live. It also shows what to do when we realise we don't live up to God's commandments. When we realise we've sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, we need to come to the Son of David for forgiveness. By His wounds we are healed of our spiritual sin-sickness. Even David had to look forward to God's promises of salvation to come. We look back and see that Christ is the Light of the world. We have light shone on Him by His word. It shows us our need of following Him. 'Lord God, may we glorify Yo...

  'For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. ' Colossians 1:13-14 https://www.bible.com/bible/111/COL.1.13-14 We need rescuing. That's the first thing we need to realise spiritually. By default, we're in spiritual darkness. Not only so, but it's a dominion of darkness, led by satan who's determined to keep us there. Thankfully, Jesus wants to rescue us, and He will if we sincerely ask Him. He doesn't just rescue us from darkness, He brings us into His spiritual Kingdom of Light. The darkness of satan couldn't extinguish the light of the world. Jesus died for us, but He rose again in eternal victory. In Him we have redemption. The price is paid, in His blood, to deliver us from darkness into the light. All the bad stuff we've ever thought, said and done can be forgiven. Because Jesus died in our place and rose again, we too can die...

  'For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.” ' Jeremiah 31:25 https://www.bible.com/bible/59/JER.31.25 I'm sure we've all experienced weariness. I certainly have, to the extent that I've gone insane with lack of sleep! Thankfully, this verse is my testimony, and God satisfies me even when I'm feeling weary. God satisfies us by giving us an awareness that He's the One who sustains us. In Him we live, and move, and have our being. Because Jesus died and rose, we can spiritually come alive and be satisfied for eternity. We might feel like we're languishing. It might seem like we're treading water as it were. Enemies might be at our metaphorical gates, as they literally were in Jeremiah's day. God can replenish His people even as we're exiles and strangers in this world. We're like refugees from this lost and dying world to the new creation. We need to trust God's promise to lead us safely home...

  Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up. Proverbs 12:25 NIV The new testament isn't unkind, but it is pretty direct to sufferers of anxiety. 'Be anxious for nothing', commands Paul, 'but pray about everything'. Jesus likewise commands us not to worry, but to seek first the Kingdom of the One who provides for all of our needs. Anxiety is weighty. It's heavy and burdensome. Yet it's a weight we don't need to carry- we can simply leave it all with God in prayer. God provides for our daily needs. So anxiety is pointless. Even though Paul for example had times of scarcity, he knew the secret of contentment. Paul refused to worry. He chose to trust in God. We should go and do likewise. 'Heavenly Father, please help us come to You trustingly instead of being anxious. May we have kind words for worriers. In Christ's name we pray, amen'

  'Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Saviour and my God!' Psalms 42:11 https://www.bible.com/bible/116/PSA.42.11 I love how realistic the Bible about how we sometimes feel. I love too about how hopeful and optimistic about how we can overcome negative feelings with God's help. Honestly, we do sometimes feel discouraged and sad, but that doesn't have to be our permanent state. As my old pastor used to say, 'it's not talking to yourself that's a sign of madness, it's not talking to yourself that's a sign of madness' (you might have to read that twice!). Basically, if we just passively listen to our negative feelings, we're going to struggle to overcome them. If we try and reason with ourselves, we're more likely to be able to overcome. Navel gazing alone isn't going to help us overcome negativity. We need God to help us to recover from depression. We have to resolve...

 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 2 CORINTHIANS 1:3-4 (NLT)   Hopefully praise comes naturally to us. We might praise a child for eating vegetables. We could praise a student for passing their exams. We might praise an employee for a successful project.   All praise is due to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though we deserve His wrath, He’s merciful to us and comforts us who mourn at our sinfulness. In all our troubles He comforts us, not just for our sakes or for His glory’s sake, but so that we can comfort others.   If we were comforted by God and refused to comfort others, we’d be miserly with the goodness of God. That would be horrible and selfish. We should comfort others with the comfort we have received. ...

 There is none holy like the LORD: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God. 1 SAMUEL 2:2 (ESV)   This verse is part of Hannah’s praise of the Lord for opening her barren womb and enabling her to have a son, Samuel (which means ‘heard by God’). She sought the Lord for a son who she promised to dedicate to God. God honoured His side of things, and she honoured hers.   Hannah wasn’t all self-righteous for giving her son to serve the Lord. She knew that there’s no one holy like the Lord. He’s pre-eminently holy. It’s amazing that any of us can become holy and serve the Holy One.   Even if God makes us holy through faith in Jesus and the receipt of the Holy Spirit, any holiness we may have is nothing compared to the thrice holy triune God Almighty. Or as Hannah put it more succinctly, ‘there is none besides you’.   There is no rock like our God. Amazingly, Jesus, a carpenter turned teacher, claimed that if anyone builds their li...

  'When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” ' John 8:12 https://www.bible.com/bible/111/JHN.8.12 Jesus was either mad, bad, or who He claimed to be, as C.S. Lewis said. If I personally said 'I am the light of the world', I would be mad, because I'd be deluded, or bad, because I'd be lying. Jesus however truly is the Light of the world. Before Abraham was born, Jesus is. He's the Word of God who said 'Let there be light'. In His light we have life. Jesus doesn't just give us our mortal lives. He's the One through whom we can enjoy eternal life. By His death and resurrection, the light of life is inextinguishable. By trusting in Jesus, we become born again to an indestructible life. Though we physically die, we can live forever spiritually, and physically rise again to newness of life in an embodied and perfect new creatio...