Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

 Isaiah 60:3 ESV And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Israel has never been a particularly popular nation. In Isaiah's day, they suffered at the hands of the Assyrians. Soon it would be the Babylonians, then the Persians, Greeks, Romans and now Islamic forces. If antisemitism is so rife nowadays, doesn't that disprove this verse? Ultimately, Isaiah is foreseeing the Jewish Messiah, the self proclaimed Light of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's not just the Light of Israel, but of all who trust in him. Sadly, most Israelis haven't come into the Light of their Messiah. Yet many Gentiles, myself included, have seen the Light. Even kings and queens, even of Britain, have trusted in Christ as their Lord and Saviour. To be a Christian doesn't mean to say we have to support the leaders of the political state of Israel. To be a Christian however means we have been grafted in to spiritual Israel. There's no room for antis...

 1 Timothy 2:5 ESV For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,  There's only one God. The one true God however isn't just a distant force way out there in the universe. The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. We need a mediator between God and ourselves. By default we are at enmity with him. We need someone to make peace between us and God. No ordinary man can intercede between God and mankind. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Only the perfect God-Man Jesus can save us. Jesus is the Christ, the One appointed by the Father for our salvation. The Lord saves, and Jesus is his name. By his Holy Spirit power he can intercede between God and ourselves. 'Our Father in heaven, we're so grateful for the mediation of Christ Jesus, for without him we would be lost. May we ever trust in him crucified on our behalf, in his name, amen'.

 Ezekiel 36:26 ESV And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  Spiritually, our hearts are naturally made of stone. By default, we're spiritually dead. We need God to do a spiritual heart transplant upon us. God is able to put his Holy Spirit within us. Where once we were dead men walking, when we trust in Jesus we can enjoy eternal life from when we first believe. Not even physical death can separate us from his love. Note that we can't do anything for ourselves spiritually. Someone with a heart of stone can't rip it out himself and replace it with a heart of flesh. We need God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Ezekiel was looking forward to the new covenant age that we're in now. By faith in Jesus we can prove the truth of this verse. He has died and risen for us and poured out his Spirit. 'Sovereign Lord, please make us alive in you. May w...

 Hebrews 4:9-10 ESV  So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. You'd have thought God's commandments to us to rest would be the easiest for us to keep. In reality, it is one of the most broken, neglected, and misunderstood of his commandments.  Hebrews reveals that the Sabbath is a picture of Christ, in whom we can rest from trying to earn God's acceptance. We're accepted in Christ. So when we trust in him we enter into a Sabbath rest. The religious people of Jesus's day were so big on the Sabbath that they overemphasised it. Jesus clarified that the Sabbath was made for mankind, not mankind for the Sabbath. Since his resurrection on the first day of the week, it has always been the church's practice to meet on Sundays/the Lord's Day. The principle of resting one day in seven is an important one because we're not machines. Even God rests! He doesn...

 John 14:6 ESV Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  Jesus is the Way. He's not a way. He's the only way to an eternity with God the Father. Only through faith in him can we be adopted into God's family. Jesus is the Truth personified. Roman Governor Pilate asked him what truth is, and didn't even stick around for the answer. Instead, he condemned Jesus to death. Jesus is the life. In him we live and move and have our being. Without him we can do nothing.  The only way to have eternal life with God is to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only way we can avoid the condemnation we deserve.  'Heavenly Father, thank you for adopting us into your family through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. May we ever follow him, until you call us home. In his name, amen'.

 James 3:13 ESV  Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.  It's not enough to say that we're wise. It's not even enough to think that we're wise. We need to be wise. Maybe we think we can just be fools for Christ. Yet we need to be wise for salvation. We don't need to be worldly-wise but godly-wise. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. How do we know someone fears the Lord? Because of their good conduct. The love of God is the heart of wisdom. How do we know someone loves God? Because they're humbled by his compassion, and ever live to glorify him. 'Loving Abba, Father God, please give us the wisdom we need to navigate this life and to make it home to you. In Christ's name we pray, amen'.

 Ephesians 2:18 ESV  For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.  It doesn't matter who we are. We can all have access to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. We can come to him as we are, but he doesn't leave us as we were. Maybe we were Jewish when we came to Jesus. Maybe we were religious. Maybe we had been trusting in our religiosity for access to God- now we must shed our baggage and trust in Christ alone. Perhaps we were Gentiles when we came to Jesus. Perhaps we were irreligious. Perhaps we didn't believe in God at all- we need to realise our need of access to him through Jesus. Even to this day, there's division between Jews and Gentiles. Antisemitism is at pandemic proportions. More widely, religious and irreligious people often despise each other- Christ can break the barriers down. 'O Lord, we're grateful that the cross of Christ breaks down barriers, not just with you, but with one another. May we not reconstruct them. In his name ...

 Mark 9:23 ESV And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.”  The father of the severely ill boy was almost hopeless. Yet he had a glimmer of hope in Jesus to deliver his son. Jesus challenged his unbelief. Jesus was gentle with the doubtful man, but he didn't excuse his doubt. Nowadays it seems like doubt is trendy. Yet Jesus challenges such unbelief. The man responded honestly to Jesus. He said 'Lord, I believe, help my unbelief'. He didn't pretend he 'had it all together' spiritually. If we're familiar with the gospels, we might take it for granted that Jesus healed the boy. Yet this was a humanly incurable condition. Jesus is able and willing to deliver us from whatever assails us.  'Lord, we believe in you, but please help us with our unbelief. We ask for the honour of your name, amen'.

 Luke 16:10 ESV One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.  In the context, Jesus seems to be talking about a dishonest man. In the story of the shrewd manager, this man seems to be fiddling the books to line his own pocket. Yet Jesus commends him! The best interpretation I've heard of the parable of the shrewd manager is that he was on commission, that he forfeited to 'buy' favour with customers which he could 'cash in' later on down the line. His job was on the line. He wasn't strong enough to become a labourer, or humble enough to beg. It seems that Jesus is echoing sentiments common in the world. 'Be true to yourself' seems to be the message. If we're not faithful in looking after ourselves, we're not being good stewards of the wisdom God has given us. We are not number one. We're not just to 'look out for number one'. JOY is about putting Jes...

 Philippians 2:5 ESV Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,  God calls us to humility. Yet in doing so he isn't calling us to something he isn't. It almost sounds blasphemous, but God is humble! God isn't proud. Proud is thinking too highly of yourself. As the Most High God, he cannot think too highly of himself. Humility is putting others first. The Son of God is the ultimate example. Humanly speaking he didn't look forward to the cross. Yet he humbly died in obedience to Father God. If the Son submits to the Father, though they are equal, of course we should humbly submit to God. Who are we to question any of his ways? He is worthy of our humble obedience. 'Gracious God, may we be Christlike and humble, for the honour of your name, amen'.