verseoftheday

And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?  Matthew 16:26 NLT Is anything worth more than your soul? The word "soul" is "psuche" which means and according to BibleHub it's usage includes: The vital breath Breath of life  The soul as the seat of affections and will The self A human person, an individual. Jesus is interested in what makes us us.  What is at the core of who we are, actually it is who we are.  Your personhood.  You. And says you have immense value, can't be valued the way that we value other things.  We can gain a lot of things that can be valued and measured and counted, and Jesus fear for us is that we gain those at the loss of what can't be measured.  Who we are.  So beloved, allow Jesus view of your worth sink in today.  Let His love for your personhood determine your value. #wordsofJesus  #redletterBible #youareBeloved 

Friday! Proverbs! Anyone who turns his ear away from hearing the law - even his prayer is detestable. Proverbs 28:9 CSB Ouch! This seems harsh! What does that mean to us, this turning away from hearing the law? Is it about not following the rules? You're not good enough if you don't  follow the rules? What if the word here is "torah"? Torah means  direction,  instruction,  law. Who's speaking? Or at least who's voice is it that the person is not following their direction? Not following who's instruction? Proverbs is about the heart, right? So what's going on in the heart of the person in this proverb? They can hear the torah, the law, the instruction, the direction, and turn away.  Choose not to listen. Choose another way. Choose their own way.  How surprising is it that this person who's heart has turned away, finds their prayer rejected? If I say to God I reject your direction, reject your instruction, I'm saying I reject you.  And while this

And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?  Matthew 16:26 NLT Jesus has changed his emphasis with his discussions with his disciples and is repeatedly telling them about what is ahead for him; suffering death being raised from death  He's just told Peter off because Peter (not unreasonably) doesn't want Jesus to go through these things. Jesus is now laying out what it is to be a follower; To give up your own way.  And yet this is what they'd done isn't it? Followed their Rabbi's call and were going from place to place with him, listening to his teaching? So what is Jesus asking here? Perhaps he's asking to go a little deeper, to our heart motives, to what we really desire? I was at a tangi this week, and Jesus questions are kind of the unspoken questions at a funeral as we remember, and celebrate the goodness, and grieve the loss to ourselves, to others, to the world. The unspoken question i

If you are wise and understand God's ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.  James 3:13 NLT The word translated "prove" here is "deiknumi" which means to "point out, exhibit, show, teach, demonstrate, make known".  So if we're wise, understand God's ways, make it known by living it out.  This seems to be a theme of James letter. James repeats again and again that he is writing to "dear brothers and sisters", so his call is to be taken in that context. How does that speak to you and me today (as dear brothers and sisters, as those who care for one another, who are in this life together)? As I sit with this today I am wondering about doing some more learning. But I already know enough to step towards others and do good in this world, and maybe the Spirit is giving you a nudge in some way today too. Could be in some small almost unnoticeable way, right through to making a st

Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father,  and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water?  Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs?  No, and you can't draw fresh water from a salty spring.  James 3:9-12 NLT James doesn't seem to want us to rush past this idea that our words can be praise and cursing, as its a symptom of something deeper.  To ensure that he's not lecturing us but is right here with us he reminds us that we're dear brothers and sisters. This allows me to sit with this idea and wonder what's going on in me that brings out these different things. It's a reminder that all is not as it should be, not just in the world, but in me too. There's a restlessness there to put an end to the selfishness, the insecurities, the f

So you see, faith by itself isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. James 2:17 NLT Jesus replied,  "'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Matthew 22:37-40 NLT  Last night at our church the question was asked "what would you tell your 'young adult' self?" How would you answer that question? If I could pass back some wisdom I would encourage my younger self to learn to love God.  That this love needs to move from my head to heart to hands.  Love needs not only an expression, but it is only really discovered when it is embodied.  Jesus lived at the margins, with the marginalised, and I would encourage my younger self to be found there too, more and more. To seek Jesus there, to see Him there, to learn what love is there, and discover that I am, in fact, Beloved

Sunday Psalms; I will sing of the Lord's unfailing love forever! Young and old will hear of your faithfulness. Psalms 89:1 NLT Well this is quite a change from Heman's Psalm 88, this one is written by Ethan the Ezrahite.  There's a lot of praise to God, recalling his greatness, his selection of David as king and all that followed in the first part of the song.  And then there's a shift in Ethan's story, it talks about rejection and God's anger and things collapsing, and a wondering of where God is in a mixed up world that doesn't seem to be working how God said, or how he wants or expects it to be.  Maybe there's something you can relate to in Ethan's song, that the world we live in can seem so broken, that every thing is a mess, that the perfect life is only for others to experience. We have an ally in Ethan the Ezrahite who's song gives us permission to write our stories, our laments, our hopes and our griefs. And Ethan also asks us to hold our