verseoftheday

LORD,  listen to my voice when I cry out - have mercy on me and answer me! Come, my heart says, seek God's face.  LORD,  I do seek your face! Psalms 27:7-8 CEB There's lots of distress in this Psalm.  Crying out.  Wanting answers. Rejection; Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me. Psalms 27:10 NIV And there's also a way forward...somewhere in David's spirit is this ache to see God, to meet with Him. And he says "I do seek your face". His "go to" in this song is not fix my parents or sort out my enemies, but in my situation, my stuff, Lord I just want to connect with You. I want to commune with You. Then we can hear that we are accepted. Then we can hear that we are beloved.  #psalms #psalm27 #seekHisface #youareBeloved

When evil people come to devour me,  when my enemies and foes attack me,  they will stumble and fall. Though a mighty army surrounds me,  my heart will not be afraid.  Even if I am attacked,  I will remain confident. Psalms 27:2-3 NLT David's song captures something of the reality that we face: sometimes the world is an ugly place. Evil people. Enemies. Foes. Armies. In some parts of the country this might be the weather right now! Maybe it's the pressures of this world, work, business, family, health. Maybe its the actions of others, and even our own thoughts, our own inner critic.  David's song keeps it real, yet does not lose hope, becuase his confidence is in Yahweh.  The next part of this Psalm is about being held in God's sanctuary, in the safety of His presence.  May we take that with us today, wherever we go, whatever is in front of us... At his sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the Lord with music. Psalms 27:6 NLT May we

The Lord is my light and my salvation - so why should I be afraid?  The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble? Psalms 27:1 NLT These are great questions.  And they can be easy to answer when the sun is shining and all is well.  Not so easy when the hillside that was outside is now washed through your house, or you're standing in the ferry in the middle of Cook Straight with your life jacket on, or you're sitting with a health diagnosis that is not hopeful. "Why should I be afraid? Tremble?"  Yes there's lots of good and hopeful things in this Psalm, and there's the reality that the things we take as fixed or in control can suddenly not be, and it's OK to be afraid.  It's OK to tremble. The psalmist hasn't lost his faith, and he's asking the questions - because that's human and it's OK. David's done a good thing by writing his questions down. We can do that too. He's shared his heart with others.

If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it;  but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:3 NLT Paul is going hard at what his culture may have valued, and heart motivation.  How we can hide behind any good work and use it as a shield so that we don't actually love people.  How our good deeds somehow are a substitute for loving people. From the outside it's difficult to tell if a good deed is an act of love or obligation or trying to earn our way to something.  In the next few verses he gives us a formula, a recipie, for what love is, one that is a picture of God's heart for us.  Jesus did give away all the riches of heaven, and did give his body for us, and it was Love.  My motivation, my heart, it's never going to be perfect. So often my motivations are mixed, but I can allow Paul's words, God's word, to keep encouraging me to keep examining, keep working the heart stuff.  And

Friday! Proverbs! Fire goes out without wood,  and quarrels disappear when gossip stops. Proverbs 26:20 NLT Ok so not every argument is driven by gossip, but many are. The word here for gossip is "nirgan" which means talebearer, whisperer. Social media seems to be a talebearer, a whisperer with massive reach, but even without that it's the heart, my heart, that can take delight in stirring something up, telling a tale that doesn't need to be told, whispering about someone in a way I wouldn't if they were there. There's been times when I've been the one who has put wood on the fire, not the one who's taken it out. I wonder how many needless quarrels have been because of the wood I've thrown on? #proverbs #wisdom #somethingtochewon #itsaheartthing

If I had the gift of prophecy,  and if I understood all of God's secret plans  and possessed all knowledge,  and if I had such faith that I could move mountains,  but didn't love others,  I would be nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:2 NLT It seems that Paul is painting an outrageous picture of what people strive for, or perhaps these are some of the things the people he was writing to were valuing (can you imagine someone claiming to know all God's secret plans?). I wonder what his list would include if Paul was writing to my community, to my church? I wonder what he would write to me? How different would the things I value or put my energy into look if I love others first? "Lord, as I step into today, help me to see my day through this "love others" lens. Help me to grasp a little of what that means today, keep nudging my heart in the direction You would have it go. Amen." #dangerousprayers #corinthians #itsaheartthing #loveothers

But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all. If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:1 NLT It isn't about how articulate someone is, how many followers they have, what their profile is, how clever they are, but whether we love others.  Otherwise, in God's economy, it's all just noise.  And not just noise, annoying noise. Jarring noise. Worthless noise. Paul is saying that's what we become, annoying, jarring, worthless noise.  If we don't love others.  My challenge today is to live that way of life that is best of all by showing love, being love in some way, to someone.  To be intentional about that.  I've got some driving to do today, maybe that love will find it's expression in the way I drive, or let someone in, or think about other road users...I wonder where else today love for others might find it's expression? #cori

I love your sanctuary, Lord, the place where your glorious presence dwells. Psalms 26:8 NLT Do you ever read a word or phrase and it prompts you to look at somewhere else in the Bible where that might pop up?  The sanctuary of the temple, where God dwells.  And then John says this: No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. 1 John 4:12 NLT God dwells in us!  Do you see that last phrase? God's love is brought to full expression in us - I wonder what that means in my life? When I give without expecting anything in return, when I choose to overlook an offense, to love those on the margins? Even that seems too small to be the full expression of God's love, but maybe it's the heart work that turns me from being selfish to otherish (is that a real word?) I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, "Look, God's home is now among his people!  He will live with them, and they will be his people.

Put me on trial,  Lord,  and cross-examine me. Test my motives and my heart.  For I am always aware of your unfailing love,  and I have lived according to your truth.  I do not spend time with liars or go along with hypocrites. I hate the gatherings of those who do evil, and I refuse to join in with the wicked. Psalms 26:2-5 NLT Imagine asking God to put you on trial!  To test my motives and what's going on in our hearts! That's brave.  David does that knowing that he is careful about the company he is keeping, but also, firmly held by God who loves him. Being held to account by someone who really loves us is not so scary because we know that no matter what, we are held, and dearly loved.  As we step into this week may we hold that truth - we are held, and dearly loved. #psalms #psalm26 #truthtorestin

Sunday Psalms; Declare me innocent,  O Lord,  for I have acted with integrity;  I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Psalms 26:1 NLT David starts this song from the place we all find ourselves at times, wanting to know that we're OK with God, that we're accepted, that we're enough. That we're good enough. He states his claim of unwavering faith and the way that he has lived, and yet still isn't sure, still wants to know he's OK with God.  The good news is that we don't have to stake our claim on our faith or our actions, because there's no way that I can do that. My faith has wavered. My actions and choices haven't always been good ones.  Jesus is the Good News. His actions, his life, his choice to become the Way doesn't erase me, but redeems me, makes me OK with God even in my unOKness.  David was claiming his own actions, we get to rely on Jesus actions, Jesus' faith.  Here's Paul: God saved you by his grace when you believed. A

If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. 1 Corinthians 12:26 NLT The thing is that when you get sick, lose your job, graduate, finish that project, I don't suffer or rejoice if I don't know.  Paul is calling us to a deep level of connection, and an empathy for one another that we simply can't do with everyone.  But we can do it with a few.  And particularly when it comes to suffering it should lead us to act. To change broken systems, to right injustice, to provide care and sanctuary.  We are in this together, made for community, messy, suffering, joyful community. Our culture is pushing us to be more isolated and more insulated from one another and Paul is teaching the opposite. Connection Empathy Care What do you think? #corinthians #inthistogether

Friday! Proverbs! Just as damaging as a madman shooting a deadly weapon is someone who lies to a friend and then says,  "I was only joking." Proverbs 26:18-19NLT I love how the NLT people have replaced firebrands, arrows and death with shooting a deadly weapon! Makes it contemporary.  The author can't have imagined the devastation of modern weapons on people or classes of school children, but neither could he have imagined the spread of words through the media we have available today or the power of social media to amplify voices around the globe. But the heart of people is still the same. I've said too often "I was only joking". That phrase or others like it minimises the harm I've caused, disregards the other person, evades responsibility. Our words can and do hurt.  I need to remember that my words can and do hurt.  And when I get it wrong, "I was only joking" doesn't cut it.  Our words can be weapons of war, or agents of grace, containe

So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. 1 Corinthians 12:24-26 NLT This call of Paul's is to care.  To really care.  To care about the situations others face, the place they find themselves, the impact on their lives of others actions and choices.  To really care about others regardless of their status or position or profile in the "body".  To really care when problems aren't easily solved. To really care when it's messy, costly.  To really care when it takes my time, energy, money.  To really care.  That's what Paul seems to be calling us to, just as a body cares for all its parts, to really care... #corinthians #inthistogether #Godsgym

The eye can never say to the hand, "I don't need you." The head can't say to the feet, "I don't need you." In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. 1 Corinthians 12:21-22 NLT Paul is using this picture of the body to represent us, God's people, the church, and there must've been some kind of ranking, with some people being more important than others.  I know I do that too.  It's almost automatic to sift and rank people.  And Paul says to just hold up. Flip your thinking on its head, and see those you perceive as least, as weak, they're needed. You need to see them as most necessary.  That takes intention, to see the least as most important.  This is a work of the heart to fight against the story of our culture, the world around us, the inclination of our hearts, to remind ourselves that the least are most important for us as a body. This is the upsidedown kingdom in action, and

Turn to me and have mercy,  for I am alone  and in deep distress.  My problems go from bad to worse.  Oh, save me from them all!  Feel my pain  and see my trouble. Forgive all my sins.  See how many enemies I have and how viciously they hate me!  Protect me!  Rescue my life from them!  Do not let me be disgraced,  for in you I take refuge. May integrity and honesty protect me,  for I put my hope in you. Psalms 25:16-21 NLT I'm not sure what jumps off the page for you from this song, for me there's two things: The feeling of being alone. When we're under pressure, been hurt, grieving, we can feel alone.  David in that aloneness calls out to God, asks God to turn towards him, and writes about it. It's OK to put our hand up, to ask, and to process things by writing.  The second thing is that David asks God to feel his pain. He just wants someone to 'get' what's going on for him.  I'm the same; I can feel alone. And I want someone to 'get' what I

Show me the right path, O Lord;  point out the road for me to follow.  Lead me by your truth and teach me,  for you are the God who saves me.  All day long I put my hope in you. Psalms 25:4-5 NLT Show me Point out the road Lead me  Teach me In this song David implies asking direction of God is a multi faceted thing, it's more than Google maps, because it includes a submission to God (lead me) and a realisation that I don't know it all plus a desire to learn (teach me).  Point out the road, becuase I can't see it - that needs a closeness to God, and patience when things are not clear. And no matter what, holding on to the truth that our God is the one who saves, and we will keep trusting Him. That's why community matters, staying close to God's people matters, cos these things are tough to maintain on our own, when we lose sight of hope, when we don't have enough patience, when we don't want to learn, and we need one another.  #psalms #psalm25 #hope #Youareth

Sunday Psalms; O Lord,  I give my life to you.  I trust in you,  my God!  Do not let me be disgraced,  or let my enemies rejoice in my defeat. No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced, but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others. Psalms 25:1-3 NLT Boom! What a massive start to this song, with the psalmist committing, recommitting, his life to God.  No matter what. And at the same time there's the realities of life as David has people who want to take him down, who want to heap shame on him. And he's clear, shame belongs with the deceiver.  Shame is a sticky thing, and even when it's not ours it can feel like it sometimes. David helps us here by pushing the shame back on the person it belongs to.  Maybe you and I need to do that somewhere? The strength to do that comes from his commitment and recommitment to God, to follow Him, to trust in Him, no matter what.  #sunday #psalms #psalm25 #followYahwehnomatterwhat

I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given... Ephesians 1:18 NLT What a beautiful thing to pray over this church, over these people; "That your heart will be flooded with light" What a beautiful picture of God at work in us, that there would be a flood, a rushing, a tsunami of Light hit your heart.  And why? So that we would understand in a new way, a bigger way, a better way, something more, something new, of the hope that we have in Jesus.  Could you do with a tsunami of Light today? What would change for you? What would be cleaned out, washed away in a flood of Light? This is my prayer for you today; "May your heart today be flooded with light, and may you have a renewed hope that Jesus is who He says he is, that his grace is enough, that one day everything sad will become untrue, and that nothing can separate you from His Love. Nothing. May that flood of light shift what needs to go and leave you with

Friday! Proverbs! Interfering in someone else's argument is as foolish as yanking a dog's ears. Proverbs 26:17 NLT Is it just me or does this image make you smile.  Just a little. Until you think of the most likely person to yank on a dog's ears is a small child, a child who hasn't learned the potential consequences of a dog bite while holding it's ears. An older, wiser person could see the likely consequences and walk away, do the dishes, read a book, just about anything instead. And yet when I think back on my choices I have injected myself into others arguments more than once, not for reasons of justice, but just because I could.  This Proverb suggests the path of wisdom might be not to get involved. Scratch the dog's ears and walk away... Unless it's important, or justice for someone isn't happening, maybe next time I'm tempted to enter into someone else's argument this picture of holding the dog's ears will come to mind and wisdom will p

I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. Ephesians 1:16-17 NLT I'm not sure how much praying you do for others, when I read this I wonder about my prayers...I'll pray for jobs and health and healing and safety, lots of good thing, but I'm not sure how long it's been since I prayed for spiritual wisdom and insight.  How long since I prayed for someone's growth in their knowledge of God? "Lord, May we be encouraged to pray for our own spiritual wisdom, our own spiritual insight, so that our own knowledge of God would grow, and may we do that for others. Amen" #ephesians #prayer #dangerousprayers  #growthandinsight

Open up, ancient gates! Open up, ancient doors, and let the King of glory enter. Psalms 24:7 NLT He never forces his way in, barges in, goes where he is not wanted.  Even though He has all power and all authority, He chooses to be small.  Invitational. He waits.  Becuase that's what Love does.  When I have power somewhere, authority over others, I'm inclined to use it, to exercise it (& usually there's nothing inherently wrong in that) but I wonder how often things would have gone differently if I'd waited longer, if I'd listened more, if I'd become smaller.  Carlos Rodriguez is a pastor in Puerto Rico who says: "Jesus is the refugee. The man on death row. The child at the border. The single mum with two jobs. The person with a disability.  The friend with an addiction. The transgender co-worker. The kid with no lunch. How you treat them is how you treat Jesus." This is his version of Matthew 25:37-45 Power and authority can be useful to change bro

Who is the King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty;  the Lord, invincible in battle.  Open up, ancient gates! Open up, ancient doors, and let the King of glory enter.  Who is the King of glory? The Lord of Heaven's Armies - he is the King of glory.  Interlude Psalms 24:8-10 NLT David's song ends with this big picture of God, another question, and an image I don't understand; Just what are the ancient gates, the ancient doors that need to be opened to let the King of glory, the Lord of Heaven's Armies in? Surely if He has all that power there's no gate, no door that can stand against Him? Yet Jesus came as a servant. Washing feet.  He turned up with an invitation. Follow me.  He invited us in, all those who's burdens are heavy, He met with the powerful and with those on the margins, and he goes looking for the lost one, the small.  Power has the ability to sweep away even the object of love. Could it be that these ancient gates are a picture of the gate to the

Who may climb the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place?  Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies. Psalms 24:3-4 NLT In the middle of his song David asks a great question:  Who is good enough? Who is qualified? Who gets the right to meet with God? And his answer? No one.  He doesn't come out and say it directly but none of us are gonna make the standard.  Either God's standard has to drop, or there is another way. And Jesus tells us that he is that way.  No longer are we bound up by endless work to be enough, to be good enough, we are accepted as we are, welcomed in, embraced, clothed, fed, belong.  Becuase of Jesus. In Jesus. And as a result, we get to climb the mountain of the Lord and stand in his holy place.  That's what love does - love makes a way for the beloved, and that is who we are.  Maybe today that's a place to motivate us, change us, move us, or maybe it's a place to rest and heal, and th

Sunday Psalms; The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it.  The world and all its people belong to him. For he laid the earth's foundation on the seas and built it on the ocean depths. Psalms 24:1-2 NLT David never saw a photo of the earth from space, but it seems that in his mind he has that view...and a view of time, that he sees things stretching back to creation...his life is connected to this long story.  I find it's easy to lose sight of this big picture, this big sweep of creation and time when I'm caught up in the stuff of today and the things that people have created.  "Lord, help me to glimpse the enormity of your creative intent and the Big Story that we are in. Help me to see You in the world You created, and in the people who You love." #psalms #psalm24 #wearepartoftheBigStory

And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth -the gospel of your salvation - you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, Ephesians 1:13 BSB We were given some sausages yesterday that were sealed in a vacuum packed bag, but that's not the sealed Paul is talking about here about preserving something as it is. It's the word "sphragizo" which is about sealing with a signet ring,  stamping a document to validate it, to show ownership.  It also signifies the backing and authority of the owner, guaranteeing the promise of what is sealed. We've been sealed with the Holy Spirit.  Guaranteed by God, with His full backing.  Nothing can separate us from His love.  Nothing.  This is truth that we can rest in today, and in whatever 2023 throws at us.  A note in the Bible dictionary says this: "Sealing was sometimes done in antiquity by the use of religious tattoos - again signifying 'belonging to'." While getting a tattoo may not be on your to-do

Friday! Proverbs! The lazy person claims, "There's a lion on the road!  Yes, I'm sure theres a lion out there!" As a door swings back and forth on its hinges, so the lazy person turns over in bed.  Lazy people take food in their hand but don't even lift it to their mouth.  Lazy people consider themselves smarter than seven wise counselors. Proverbs 26:13-16 NLT Wow! Hezekiah is the writer of these proverbs and doesn't hold back!  What's our rule with Proverbs? These are not weapons to wield against others but insights into our own hearts and minds...and I can see myself in each of these categories of lazy.  None of these is about rest, restoration, or inferring that all we should do is work, or keep "busy", they seem to be about the way I justify myself, my choices, and culminate in that last one about not listening. Not really.  I hear the words of the wise but don't really listen.  And so these are an extension of the first 12 verses in thi

Surely your goodness and unfailing love  will pursue me... Psalms 23:6 NLT David uses this word "radaph": to pursue, chase, persecute. Love and goodness is after us, chasing us down.  But persecute?  In that persistent, never give up sense. Love and Goodness are after you.  Love and Goodness that never gives up on us.  When Love and Goodness chases me, persecutes me even, there is nothing to fear in that.  Hard to imagine as all of our pictures, our metaphors, our models and experiences of love and goodness are not perfect, they're all tainted by sin, but not Yahweh's Love and Goodness. As 2023 unfolds may we get a glimpse of, hold on to, the Love and Goodness that pursues us, sees the Goodness in us, and says that we are beloved.  #psalms #psalm23 #psalm23for2023 #ihavewhatineedcostheLordismyshepherd #beloved

Surely your goodness and unfailing love  will pursue me  all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever. Psalms 23:6 NLT The end of David's wee song is full of hope. Hope for eternity, but also hope for today. This last verse doesn't erase the dark valley or the presence of enemies from vv4-5, but it does remind us again that even in those, the Lord is my shepherd, that his goodness and unfailing love can still be found, that even in the darkest of valleys, hope is not and never will be extinguished. And one day all will be made new.  I wonder if that's why we put hope in the new year, hope that things can be different, that we might focus on or do some things differently or better or cut some things out that are unhealthy or unhelpful. Good to do that, but David in this short poem also wants us to keep in view the Big Story, and this wonderful aspect of it that God is our shepherd, with us in the dark valley, beside the still waters, in the green

Even when I go through the darkest valley,  I fear no danger,  for you are with me;  your rod and your staff - they comfort me.  You prepare a table before me  in the presence of my enemies;  you anoint my head with oil;  my cup overflows. Psalms 23:4-5 CSB "Dark valleys" "Enemies" These things are not absent from David's world, just as they aren't absent from ours. It's good to have goals and things we want to achieve in 2023, David says to keep it real, there's going to be things that get in the way, people who are not on our team, but no matter what, Yahweh is with us, and more than that, when we choose to walk with him, there's an annointing, a table being prepared, a feast with God to look forward to.  Not sure what that's going to look like, what the food will be like, whether it will be David's favourite kai, yours, mine, but it will be good.  One day all will be made new, everything hurt will be unhurt, every dark valley flooded w

The Lord is my shepherd; I have what I need. Psalms 23:1 CSB I have what I need.  This is not a message that we hear very often! Our news media and social media are built on the opposite value, that we don't have what we need, and this thing, this next thing, this way of being or doing, this look or shape or colour or relationship or place or something will give you what you need.  David says that Yahweh as his shepherd is enough.  He lets me lie down in green pastures;  he leads me beside quiet waters.  He renews my life;  he leads me along the right paths for his name's sake. Psalms 23:2-3CSB This is the way of peace for our soul, spirit, mind, body. This is a picture of rest and restoration in the middle of Life.  The Lord is my shepherd is a way of being in our circumstances.  My problem often is that I don't allow Him to be my shepherd...maybe that's what I need more of in 2023, simply to listen a little more to the shepherds voice, to take his direction, to rest a

Sunday Psalms; The Lord is my shepherd;  Psalms 23:1 CSB Last night we talked about some things we wanted to do more of in 2023, some things we wanted to build into our lives (we probably should've considered what we might need to do less of too!) Whether you're a fan of NY resolutions or not, a new year is a good catalyst for change. David starts this Psalm , this song, with a great starting place for both a new year and any changes we might want to make; "The Lord (Yahweh) is my shepherd" He's my guide, the one I look to when there's plenty, when things are good, when there's little, when nothing seems to be right or going right.  He is my reference point when the landscape around me is changing. He is the one I trust even when I can't see the destination. When I lose my grip on hope, He holds it for me, when I need wisdom, He is the person I look to.  When I need to know what love looks like, acceptance, belonging means, He is my place, when things