verseoftheday

...in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him... ...but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. ...forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:8-14 ESV Paul has spent the first part of Ch3 looking back.  And then he has this remarkable personal mission statement: "in order that I might gain Christ, and be found in him". Paul is an old man here, in prison no less. If he was in our church we'd be saying enjoy retirement (if we can get you out of jail!) He's met Jesus. He's an apostle. Yet he knows there's more, there's getting closer to, becoming more like, Jesus.  To gain here is a trading term, trading up, getting something better.  To gain Jesus. And be found in him.  At work, at rest, at play, in prison, in joy, in sadness, on Sunday, on Monday, on holiday, may we be found in Jesus. Yes look

Peter answered him,  "You are the Christ" And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things ...be rejected ...be killed,  and after three days rise again. Mark 8:29-31 ESV Peter had the right answer, but did not have a complete understanding of what that answer meant. You don't understand yet how salvation is going to come to people... It's not what you expect. It's not what you want to happen.  There's an old Johnny Cash song with a line  "if I had his money I'd do things my way" What do we want Jesus to fix? I've got a list. Jesus told Peter to just hold your horses, as you don't get it yet. My kingdom is not coming in power. But in suffering In rejection. In death. And in resurrection. The Peter we find in Acts learned what Jesus started teaching here.  Just like Peter I need a reminder that its not the systems of this world that will save, but the upsidedown k

For to us a child is born... Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,  Everlasting Father,  Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 ESV It's that time of year when we look back and reflect, and look forward with hope and expectation. Christmas may be just a memory now, but glance back again at Jesus, and reflect on these words from Paul Tripp "Jesus could've entered our world as a strong man, but he entered as a vulnerable infant,  like us in every way, walking all of our pathways, sharing all of our experiences, understanding every season of our struggles. He is then the sympathetic Father, priest, and friend." Why on earth would God do that? To become so small,  so vulnerable. This planet full of mixed up, hurting, damaged, imperfect people, are so valuable to Him, so loved, that what Jesus went thru was worth it. You're worth it. Emmanuel, God with us isn't just for Christmas, but can shape and colour every day, every thought, every interaction, if we allow Him to. #with

There was also a prophet, Anna... She was very old... She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child... Luke 2:36-38 NIV Anna was old. Had suffered personal tragedy. And Anna finished well. She stayed close to God, who knows how many people Anna ministered to in her life, but right towards the end she met Jesus as a baby, talked to Mary and Joseph about Jesus, the Jesus she had met in a lifetime of studying what we call the Old Testament. A lifetime of prayer. A lifetime of worship. I wonder what this old lady had to say to these young people about Jesus. About their baby. (And how did she know? No angel visits or dreams recorded here...) Anna had some priorities, and she finished well. As this year winds down, will we finish well. Anna stayed close to God When we look back on our lives, will we be able to say the same thing? Will I? That my priorities were reflected in

Friday! Proverbs! Chasten your son  while there is hope,  And do not set your heart on his destruction. Proverbs 19:18 NKJV Well this is a fun proverb! What's going on that is so bad that the writer feels he is at risk of wishing his own child's death? Is the son an adult? Or a younger person on a downhill trajectory? And what's with "chasten"? It means to discipline, to instruct, to admonish. There's a lot of talking going on here, so this is not about some 2 year old having a tantrum! I read this proverb as the father. The hero of the proverb. But really I'm the son, who's selfishness is leading to my destruction, my death.  And I need the instruction and the admonition of my Heavenly Father. And more.  I need the redemption that comes thru faith in Jesus. Jesus who's birth we celebrate, who's death we need, and in who's resurrection we have hope. The word for hope in this proverb literally means "cord". Hope is the cord that jo

There was also a prophet, Anna... She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. Luke 2:36-38 NIV Where did Anna start? With thanks. Thanks to God. It's so easy for me to forget, but this woman who had spent decades listening to, talking to, and talking about God, starts with thanks. Whether you're Christmas includes painful memories, or dramas, or if it was chock full of joy and goodness, will we start Boxing Day with thanks? Anna was looking forward to Jesus redemptive work, and we have the privilege of looking back on that. Will we follow Anna's example and speak about Jesus and what he is about... Anna saw the hope of the world encased in a baby in his Mum's arms. We see the hope of the world on a Roman cross, and, in the empty space that was his tomb, our Living Hope. #belikeAnna #bethan

There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher.  She was very old;  she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. Luke 2:36-37 NIV If you were in church this week or going today it's unlikely that there'll be a sermon about Anna. One of the obscure people in the Christmas story. She was very old. She'd suffered a personal tragedy, if she was married at 15 she became a widow at 22. The text could read she had been a widow for 84  years, which would make her 106 years old. With all the other miraculous stuff going on around Jesus birth this seems quite possible. Maybe this Christmas morning you feel like an obscure character.  On the fringe of God's sight, unseen in the world, maybe like Anna, know what loss and suffering is. But Luke writing about her, the Holy Spirit including this in the text tells us that in God's upsidedown kingdom there is no one obscure. There is no

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. Luke 2:8 NIV These guys weren't doing a night shift  They were living out in the fields. With the sheep. They smelt like sheep. No showers. They were social outcasts, no fixed abode, deemed too unreliable to give evidence in court. They were unclean and were not allowed in the temple. They were the least. They were "them". Ever been an outcast?  Looked down on? Judged. Unclean. Yet. God decided that He was going to announce Jesus arrival to these guys.  He didn't ask them to clean up first, to change their clothes, their identity, He sent his advance media team to the least. To "them". Because He's coming for us, the least, the outcast, the smelly, those who feel unclean who live outside the city. He's coming for us all. And even in that we can see a glimpse of the cross, where Jesus is outside the city, judged, outcast, unclean. He went there for us.

And she gave birth to her firstborn son;  and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:7 NASB We easily romanticise a nice clean barn with fairy lights and a manger that's been reoianted...but think for a minute about this and the reality is a lot less pleasant. A space for feeding animals perhaps attached to the Inn is what they found.  There's no mention of a midwife or any support. As they're looking for a bed it is likely night time, no lighting, Mary and Joseph on their own, Mary in labour, in the dark, in a barn.  And this is how God entered the world? Could the circumstances have been any humbler? Any less royal, any "less"? His name shall be called: Wonderful Counselor Mighty God Everlasting Father Prince of Peace The hope of the world arrived in hopeless circumstances,  so that  we might know Him. #christmas #hopeiscomingforyou

And she gave birth to her firstborn son;  and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:7 NASB Mary and Joseph had travelled to his home town for the census. Imagine going back to the place you were born and all of your extended family were doing the same thing. You couldn't move but bump into a cousin.  And your in a culture that valued hospitality, especially to travellers. Yet there was no room for Joseph and his pregnant girlfriend. No one offered a couch or made space. Jesus was looked down on, judged and rejected from before he was even born. Maybe those feelings are familiar: Looked down on Judged Rejected If you do, you're in good company then! Already we have a glimpse of Jesus life, and his death. Looked down  Judged Rejected So that we, you and I, no longer have to be.  His life for mine. His goodness for my sin Yes, Christmas points us to the cross... #sunday #worship #thisisourGod #thisisLove

Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord , and he will reward them for what they have done. Proverbs 19:17 NIV Does this proverb point us to Jesus? Jesus is the one who is kind, gracious, extends grace towards...he is the one full of grace and truth. Who are the poor then?  The ones dangling by a thread, those in need? That's us. We could not stand before the Lord, Yahweh. Our sin, my sin, taints everything.  I am the poor person of this proverb. Jesus kindness and grace took him from heaven, to the manger, and to the cross.  And in resurrection he is restored. And this is our hope as we gaze back at Christmas to a manger and a baby and God entering into the story in the smallest and most outrageous way, to meet with us, dwell with us, the poor. In our culture that glorifies bigger and more powerful, we look back on Jesus who arrived small and vulnerable. Jesus who made himself vulnerable to death itself, so that, we might have Life! All because He loves. Loves us.  The poor. 

Friday! Proverbs! Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord , and he will reward them for what they have done. Proverbs 19:17 NIV Picture the wealthiest person you know. They're loaded! And you're going to lend to them.  Our God is the source of all kindness and grace. So he must value our loans in a way I don't quite get. Maybe it's like a small child who asks a gives a special treasure to a big person to hold for them. There's a value there, a trust, an important exchange. Something goes on when we loan to God. Whoever is kind. Gracious. Extends grace towards. Who are the "poor"? The root of this word is "dangling".  lean,  needy,  poor man,  weaker Those who are hanging on by a thread, the weaker than you, the hungry... The writer is asking us to extend grace to those just hanging on. Doesn't say how that should look, because kindness and grace are heart attitudes that are discovered, formed, & reformed, as we express them in lovin

For to us a child is born... and his name  shall be called  Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,  Everlasting Father,  Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 ESV The Prince: chieftain, chief, ruler, official, captain, prince. He's in charge, he's the Boss of Peace Of Peace: Shalom.  Wholeness. Complete.  Welfare Peace This little baby is the Boss of Shalom.  We get tastes of that Shalom, there's moments when we feel complete, whole, safe. Glimpses of how it should be.  And Shalom is snatched away by the pressures of this world, our own choices, our broken thinking, the actions of others, the lies of the enemy. But the promise held in that little baby is that Jesus is the Boss of Shalom. And the way is the cross. Christmas always leads us to Easter.  Resurrection holds the hope of wholeness. Peace. One day all will be made new...and until then we get to see and know glimpses of that Shalom as we walk with Jesus, and love His people. #christmas #wonderfulcounselor #mightyGod #everlastingfat

For to us a child is born... and his name shall be called  Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,  Everlasting Father... Isaiah 9:6 ESV Eternal Always was. Always will be. It always feels too big a concept to hold. What can I see that will last forever? There's things that last a long time. There's castles and buildings that have been around for 1,000 years, will they do another 1,000? What about 10,000? Or the earth itself.  Its forever.  Then some of it melts. Or shakes to bits. Yet here we're promised an ever lasting person.  A father. Maybe your memory or thoughts of your father are good, or terrible, or somewhere in between, but we know that this ever lasting father is Love. Safe. Wise. He is for us. For ever. And he's wrapped up in this baby.  Christmas is a bit mind bending really! #christmas #wonderfulcounselor #mightyGod #everlastingFather #upsidedownkingdom

For to us a child is born,... and his name  shall be called  Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God... Isaiah 9:6 ESV Mighty God. Mighty. Like a mighty beast. Powerful, raw, dangerous. Untamed. Untameable. God. God among gods. Our "gods" are much more subtle than a temple or an idol or the sun.  Career, business, farm, family, health, beauty, wealth...me... We have a choice of gods too, places, things, people we put our faith in to save, to meet our deep needs. Isaiah anticipates that with the mighty beast God among gods, who paradoxically arrives as a helpless, completely dependent baby. All of the wondrous wisdom of the creator, all of the night and power, constrained, and made small, in a baby in a manger... #christmas #wonderfulcounselor #mightyGod #upsidedownkingdom

For to us a child is born, ...and his name  shall be called  Wonderful Counselor... Isaiah 9:6 ESV Marvelous Extraordinary Wonder Astounding And this word is connected to the Messiah as Counselor, advisor. Isaiah told us that the One who is coming as a baby would give the most extraordinary advice and counsel  Words that will astound. Sprinkled right through the gospels are people's astonishment at what Jesus said, even the professional Bible scholars were amazed. Jesus words today continue to astound...where he came from, why he came, what his upsidedown kingdom is about, what love looks like, what he said to hurting people, what he said to self righteous people, where he was going, and that he is coming back. His words to us, for us, about us, are astounding, marvelous, counsel. In all the noise of Christmas will I listen? #chrstmas #wordsofJesus #wonderfulcounselor

For to us a child is born...  Isaiah 9:6 ESV All of the truth, holiness, justice, compassion, kindness and love of heaven is shrunk into a new born baby. Completely vulnerable. Small. All of the power of heaven is constrained  Made powerless The creator joined His creation in the most remarkable way. The King became a subject. Why would God do that? Why bother with us? Why bother with rebellious people? Because He Loves. He sees us. Sees us in all our brokenness and failings and stuff, and Loves. Sees us in our rebellion and love for other gods and wants to draw us back. Back to Himself. God's heart is for us. Sees us. Loves us.  Sends Jesus. #sunday #worship #thisisourGod #Christmas

And He asked them,  "But who do you say that I am?" Peter replied to Him,  "You [in contrast to the others] are the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed)." Mark 8:29 AMP Peter replied. Why isn't that surprising? He's the guy who always jumps in to action or blurts out what's on his mind (be interesting to compare him before and after Acts 2) Anyhow, what he says is that Jesus is in a different category to who the people say he is. He is not a prophet looking forward to someone or something. He is the thing. He is the One. The Christ The Messiah The Annointed One. Everyone else had been pointing forward, anticipating, looking forward to, and Peter recognised Jesus as the culmination of God's story so far. "Who do you say that I am?" is a question from Jesus that echos through time to us today. Peter blurted out his answer because he knew who Jesus is. This Christmas, what would my answer be if that question came up? Who is Jesus anyway? #gospel

Friday! Proverbs! He who keeps the commandment  keeps his soul,  But he who is careless  of his ways  will die. Proverbs 19:16 NKJV Follow the rules! Don't step out of line or you're doomed! Mmm The word "soul" is our old Hebrew friend "nephesh" Definition:  a soul living being life self person desire passion appetite emotion This is about our emotional life!  The thriving person. The life God intended for you is lost when we don't follow Him, as His instruction is for our good and our thriving. This proverb is not a weapon to keep us in line but a reminder that God is for us, for our thriving and wants us to have that joy of life! Even in a broken world where sin and evil and hurt and loss seem to abound unabated sometimes, our God loves us, delights in us, and wants us to en joy this life. #proverbs #wisdom #somethingtochewon

They replied,  "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." "But what about you?" he asked.  "Who do you say I am?" Mark 8:28-29 NIV I wonder if Jesus unpacked the nuances of why they thought he was John - the cool guy who lived his own extreme lifestyle and attracted heaps of followers, or Elijah who destroyed the Baal priests and called fire from heaven (probs not the Elijah who got scared and depressed afterwards tho) Jesus was not worried at all about what people, the crowd, thought of him. Jesus was interested in what those closest to him really believed. Because his plan was that they were going to be the start of the church and change the world. And what they believed about Jesus was critical. Just as it is for us today. That question helps us cut through the unimportant, what the crowd think, because today Jesus is interested in our answer to that question: "Who do you say I am?" The answer change

Love...it keeps no record of wrongs. 1 Corinthians 13:5 NIV Been thinking about these words not in relation to others, but how they sit with me. I'm the one keeping a record of my wrongs. I'm the one that allows those things to pop into my brain and I respond in ways that really are not helpful for me or those around me...and that becomes a pattern... And then a habit. An habitual way of thinking based on my own record keeping. The place where my wrongs were dealt expunged was the cross. Jesus paid the penalty, so, I can let those things go.  That was Love in action. It can take a bit of reflection to see my own faulty thinking pattern and let the Spirit renew. Maybe you're like me, and you're the only one keeping that record of wrongs alive.  Love in action in us can be the erasing of those faulty habits of thinking and responding based on our own record keeping. #loveinaction

"Who do people say I am?" "Well,"  they replied,  "some say John the Baptist,  some say Elijah,  and others say you are one of the other prophets." Then he asked them... Mark 8:27-29 NLT Mark, bless him, has compressed a 10 hour 6 minute road trip into about 3 sentences... What is it that Jesus is doing here? He listened. We don't get a rebuke or a "don't be stupid" or even a "really?!?" Jesus listened. Perhaps as we ask that question in this advent season, "who do you say Jesus is?", or perhaps "what's Christmas all about for you?" would we listen. It's hard sometimes to be genuinely interestedly in an opinion or thought that I might not agree with. Jesus listened. Jesus extended grace in this way, then maybe I need to do that too. #listen #Godsgym #gospelofmark #whatischristmas

Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi.  As they were walking along, he asked them, "Who do people say I am?" Mark 8:27 NLT According to Google Maps this is a 10 hour and 6 minute trek. 47km A marathon plus a 5k. Solid day. Can you imagine the disciples...Peter has been up for an hour ready to go, charging on ahead, Judas is looking for a shortcut, Thomas is wondering if they'll ever get there... And there's only 2 questions that Mark records from that 10 hour day. The first is "who do people say that I am?" I don't think that this was an information gathering exercise by Jesus.  Just as they're walking towards their destination, Jesus question is taking them somewhere.  Today the question is just as relevant - especially at Christmas - who do people say that Jesus is? Who does our culture say Jesus is? Who do the people around us say Jesus is? How would I answer Jesus question? #monday #Godsgym #gospe

Your path  led through the sea,  your way  through the mighty waters,  though your footprints were not seen. Psalms 77:19 NIV This Psalm takes us on a journey with a person filled with sorrow. Despair. The person's perspective is changed when they choose to remember who God is and what He has done. To remember that He is the Redeemer, that He has not changed, and as a result, will know that they are not rejected, unloved or forgotten, but accepted, loved, and known. The end of this Psalm is all about remembering what God has done and points back to the community crossing the Red Sea and the destruction of the enemy. And then these words: "but your footprints were not seen" Sometimes I just want footprints to follow. Obvious, unmissable, unmistakable. But God chooses to reveal  Himself in small. Design. Beauty. A man walking the ancient paths of country ruled by another. By a person born in a barn because the hotels were full. His way requires faith. Faith when nothing mak

Jesus sent him home, saying,  "Dont even go into  the village." Mark 8:26 NIV Thanks Mark. Couldn't you have told us why Jesus said that? Was Jesus just tired and need some space? Sometimes that's what we need too. The world just gets too noisy and it's OK to pull back a bit. Jesus regularly took off on his own to pray. Did Jesus not want to make a big deal of the healing? Perhaps he was concerned that people were missing his mission by focussing on the signs and wonders. I can miss Jesus in the hype of church sometimes. Or maybe Jesus knew something about the blind man. Remember he walked him out of the village to the quiet. Maybe Jesus knew there were toxic people in the village, or that the best thing for the now-seeing man that day was to go home, to breathe, to rest in what Jesus had done, to understand who had been at work. What do you think? #gospelofmark #upsidedownkingdom #Jesuslovesyou #lovelikeJesus #breathe

Friday! Proverbs! Slothfulness casts  into a deep sleep,  and an idle person  will suffer hunger. Proverbs 19:15 ESV Well this is fun. Not! This proverb has been used as a bit of a weapon to get people to work, but there's a couple of interesting things here: The word translated "idle" here is most often translated as treacherous or deceitful.  What is it that the deceitful go hungry for? And what's with this "deep sleep"? "figurative for insensitivity of spirit" Seems that this proverb is not so much about the externals and the physical, but the heart.  Not sure if laziness of the heart is a thing but when I don't care about the things God does, his creation, people, that laziness inside makes me selfish and do what's good for me regardless of who gets hurt. Treacherous. Jesus comes with bread that satisfies that soul hunger. He is that bread. Broken for us. It's Jesus who wakes us to the world as He made it, as He sees it, and it'

Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes  were opened,  his sight was restored, and he saw  everything clearly. Mark 8:25 NIV I wonder if Mark is trying to tell us something here as the man's eyes were opened, and then his sight was restored,  and then he saw. Can we be looking but not really see.  Not see the world through the Creators eyes. Not see people as God does (dearly loved, chosen, adopted, precious, image bearers etc) Not see ourselves as God does (dearly loved, chosen, adopted, precious, image bearers etc) It's with Jesus help, His healing that this man could see clearly again.  Because I'm blind to it there's areas where I don't realise it.  Has God ever changed your heart in an area, opened your eyes to something? If He could, what would that be for you? I wonder what would happen if I asked people "what is my blind spot? Where can't I see?" What if I prayed that prayer? Let's let Him walk with us outside the

Once more  Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Mark 8:25 NIV There's a gentleness here.  Jesus led the man by the hand. Led him away from the crowd, out of the village, to a quieter place. Have you ever tried to touch someone's eyes? You've got to be gentle. This is Jesus, with the power to bring worlds into existence, pulls back, slows down, and quietly walks with a blind man and reaches out and touches his eyes. Again. This is how we are to see people and walk with them. This is love in action, being prepared to walk away from the crowd and the noise and minister to the one person.  While the big sweep of God's story is about nations and the whole world, Jesus shows us he is interested in one-at-a-time, in small, in gentle. Today he sees you and me, and gently reaches out again to touch our eyes, to bring a bit more healing.  Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes.  #gospelofmark #Jesuslovesyou #lovelikeJesus

Once more  Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Mark 8:25 NIV In v 23 Jesus led the man by the hand, and when he'd spat on his eyes Jesus put his hands on him, and now he puts his hands on his eyes again...when Jesus touched the first time he must've touched his eyes.  And now again  I wonder how long Jesus was there. Close  Touching his eyes. His eyes that represent what is lost. What is broken. Jesus comes close to our broken ness. He does not shy away from that.  As Jesus calls us to follow Him, to touch those who feel untouchable, to bring healing in the broken ness, to stand beside those who have lost. This man wasn't healed in an instant. With Mark everything seems to take about 30 seconds then he's jumped to the next thing. But Jesus is in no rush. Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes.  #gospelofmark #Jesuslovesyou #lovelikeJesus

When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked,  "Do you see anything?" He looked up and said,  "I see people;  they look like  trees walking around." Mark 8:23-24 NIV Jesus must have stepped aside and be standing next to him. He's blind so maybe Jesus is holding is arm to let him know he's still there, and maybe they're looking back towards the village. "I see people" This gives a clue that this man could see and then lost his sight for some reason. "they look like trees walking around" They're not clear. He couldn't see them for what they really were. Jesus, standing next to the man who could see, who went blind, and could now partially see. It's like a tiny picture of God's Big Story! Creation. When everything was good. The Fall. When we could no longer see, when darkness entered. Redemption. Where it was Jesus was who spat on, so that we could be restored. And He is standing with us lo

When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him,  Jesus asked, "Do you see anything?" Mark 8:23 NIV Jesus had stepped aside and asked the blind man a question.  I wonder if this question is here for us as much as it was for the blind man.  "Do you see anything?" Do you see the goodness and beauty of creation? Do you see my hand in that? Do you see people, image bearers of me? Do you see injustice? Do you see lost people, like sheep without a shepherd? Do you see hearts that need binding up, people who need grace, forgiveness, compassion, care... Love  Do you see love in action and celebrate it. Do you see the transforming goodness of the Father's love in people's lives. Do you see Light shining in the darkness. What do you see? Will you and I allow Jesus to ask that question of us today? #gospelofmark #wordsofJesus