verseoftheday

Psalms 141:5-10 CEV My prayers condemn the deeds of those who do wrong,  so don't let me be friends with any of them. Everyone will admit that I was right when their rulers are thrown down a rocky cliff, and their bones lie scattered like crushed rocks on top of a grave.  You are my Lord and God,  and I look to you for safety.  Don't let me be harmed. Protect me from the traps of those violent people, and make them fall into their own traps while you help me escape. Psalms 141:5-10 CEV Some of what David writes really makes you worry about him...this protect me from violent people by bringing violence into their lives? I've had some wild thoughts at times, and I guess this is David writing his down, showing us what it's like to be human, especially when we're under pressure, wanting things put right, wanting justice. We get the benefit of being further along in the Big Story than David, knowing what Jesus stood for, that the Kingdom is here, and it's on its way....

Psalms 141:1-5 CEV I pray to you,  Lord!  Please listen when I pray and hurry to help me. Think of my prayer as sweet-smelling incense, and think of my lifted hands as an evening sacrifice. Help me to guard my words whenever I say something. Don't let me want to do evil or waste my time doing wrong with wicked people.  Don't let me even taste the good things they offer. Let your faithful people correct and punish me. My prayers condemn the deeds of those who do wrong, so dont let me be friends with any of them. Psalms 141:1-5 CEV What is David's song about, his sweet smelling prayer to God? To guard his words. To put a guard on the things he says. And then to put a guard on his actions, and then the people he spends time with.  To put a guard on his choices. Ever prayed that prayer? "Lord guard my words, I'm not proud of the things I've said, the things I've done, the influences I've allowed in, welcomed in, change my heart, help me to change my choices...

Sunday Psalms; A psalm of David. I pray to you,  Lord!  Please listen when I pray and hurry to help me. Think of my prayer as sweet-smelling incense, and think of my lifted hands as an evening sacrifice. Psalms 141:1-2 CEV David pictures this prayer, this song, as incense rising to heaven, pictures his posture as something from the temple. How do we, how do I see my prayers? Does it help to imagine them as having an aroma, a shape, a colour, a taste? David is not in the temple, but sees himself there in his imagination, and asks God to see his hands raised as the equivalent.  When I pray, what do I want our God, to see? And then there's the urgency of his prayer, the immediacy of his request - feels bold, the prayer of someone who knows well who he is praying to. He prays to Yahweh, the Eternal, the self-existant, Always, Forever, and is cheeky enough to ask HIM to hurry, to answer, and as he does that, pictures his prayer, his song, his psalm, as sweet-smelling incense, ...

Mark 5:18-19 CEV [18] When Jesus was getting into the boat, the man begged to go with him. [19] But Jesus would not let him. Instead, he said,  "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how good he has been to you." Mark 5:18-19 CEV This man had just been healed by Jesus and wanted to go with him, but Jesus said no. At least part of the reason was that Jesus asked him to be a witness to his own people.  Perhaps there's something in this for us, how does my family, my people, those I live with, interact most with, those who know me best, how am I a witness to them of the goodness of God in my life? Jesus called his disciples who had no desire to change their life to "follow me", but this person who's life was changed, who wanted to go with Jesus he said to "stay here". Stay here and be a witness to what I've done in your life.  It may seem attractive to "follow Jesus" somewhere else, and that might be...

Ephesians 4:1-3 CEB Therefore, as a prisoner for the Lord,  I encourage you to live as people worthy of the call you received from God. Conduct yourselves with all humility,  gentleness,  and patience.  Accept each other with love,  and make an effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit with the peace that ties you together.  Ephesians 4:1-3 CEB The last part of this passage is about community. We are in this together.  Paul is writing to a church. We are in this together. Rich, poor, old, young, experiencing success, struggling, buoyant, joyful, weighed down, hurt, all from different places, with stories, experiences that shape us, fears, insecurities, strengths, different culture, language, expectations...we are in this together. Because that is where and how we learn to love. Love lives in all humility, gentleness & patience.  You simply cannot learn those things on your own.  I cannot learn those things on my own. We are in this toget...

Ephesians 4:1-3 CEB Therefore, as a prisoner for the Lord,  I encourage you to live as people worthy of the call you received from God. Conduct yourselves with all humility,  gentleness,  and patience.  Accept each other with love,  and make an effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit with the peace that ties you together.  Ephesians 4:1-3 CEB We're up to "accept each other with love"  Some versions of the English Bible use "bear with one another" or something similar. The word here is "anecho" which means  To endure, to bear with, to tolerate, to hold up. It seems to include some concious thought and action towards and for someone else who has a need, and who may, at least in this moment, may not be pleasant (sounds a bit like me someday!). If we read this together with the previous verse about being completely humble, gentle & patient, this verse is the living out of those ideas in relationship with others, in community. This is loving my ...

Psalms 140:9-13 CEB Let the heads of the people surrounding me be covered with the trouble their own lips caused! Let burning coals fall on them!  Let them fall into deep pits and never get out again! Let no slanderer be safe in the land.  Let calamity hunt down violent people - and quickly! I know that the LORD will take up the case of the poor and will do what is right for the needy. Yes,  the righteous will give thanks to your name, and those who do right will live in your presence. Psalms 140:9-13 CEB Justice. David is like us in that we want things made right, and in the last part of his poem, his song he wants things put right.  Interesting that he doesn't stop with just expressing the injustice that he is seeing or experiencing, but looks up, looks up to God's character and His heart for justice.  In a world where we get bombarded with stories of injustice, when we feel powerless at the injustice we or others face, look up, and hold to what and who David ...

Sunday Psalms; For the Music Leader. A psalm of David Rescue me from evil people, LORD!  Guard me from violent people who plot evil things in their hearts, who pick fights every single day! They sharpen their tongues like a snake's; spider poison is on their lips. Selah  Protect me from the power of the wicked, LORD!  Guard me from violent people who plot to trip me up! Arrogant people have laid a trap for me with ropes.  They've spread out a net alongside the road. They've set snares for me.  Selah   Psalms 140:1-5 CEB If you have or are experiencing bullying, being verbally abused, attacked, trapped by someone else in a way or place you don't want to be, then perhaps there's something in David's song that resonates with you.  Perhaps David's cries are your cries.  For those who have been pushed around, pushed down, disregarded, hearing David's voice express his  experience may validate yours. This song is here for a reason, maybe if no...

Ephesians 4:1-3 CEB Therefore, as a prisoner for the Lord,  I encourage you to live as people worthy of the call you received from God. Conduct yourselves with all humility,  gentleness,  and patience.  Accept each other with love,  and make an effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit with the peace that ties you together.  Ephesians 4:1-3 CEB If we connect the Everlasting Way from Psalm 139 that David was inviting us into, and we've considered the call made to us, the invitation into God's family, the adoption, then we're invited to walk in this life with 3 attributes, 3 ways of being, 3 ways of living: To conduct ourselves with all - humility - gentleness - patience Wondering where and how this might be tested in me today, how I might live in these 3 things today, and how I might live them out today #truthtorestin  #truthtoliveoutof

Friday! Proverbs! My son,  pay attention to my words.  Bend your ear to my speech. Don't let them slip from your sight.  Guard them in your mind. They are life to those who find them,  and healing for their entire body.   Proverbs 4:20-22 CEB This Proverb is challenging with it's sense of urgency and importance.  I'm not sure that I approach God's word with this life-and-death perspective, or that it might impact my overall health and well-being. Listen well. Guard what you hear. Life is found right here.  Right here. Does it make you want to drop into Proverbs and see what the author gives us next? Letting God's word into the deepest parts of us, allowing it to speak, allowing Him to speak to our deepest needs, and guarding His truth (guarding truth from the distractions of this world, the claims of the world, and sometimes our own internal dialogue - perhaps not guard against that, but allow His Truth to gently nudge and challenge some of our in...

Ephesians 4:1-3 CEB Therefore, as a prisoner for the Lord,  I encourage you to live as people worthy of the call you received from God. Conduct yourselves with all humility,  gentleness,  and patience.  Accept each other with love,  and make an effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit with the peace that ties you together.  Ephesians 4:1-3 CEB We've spent a couple of weeks in David's song (Psalms 139) which ends with David's plea to be lead in the Everlasting Way. Perhaps this passage from Ephesians (one of my faves) is helpful in how we walk in that Way. The first thing Paul invites us to do is to slow down, take a breath, and consider just what it is we've been called into. In Ch1 he uses two pictures, adoption and inheritance, and maybe they're connected here. We have been adopted in, chosen, picked, accepted in, not just to any family, but to God's family.  And He has already prepared an inheritance to show that we do belong, even when it's hard ...

Psalms 139:24 CSB "...lead me in the everlasting way." Yahweh, the Eternal, God-in-person-Jesus, Holy Sprirt, lead me in the everlasting way. Lead me even when I don't think I need it. Lead me when it's bright, things are shiny and good. Lead me when it's dark, the storm is coming, the storm is here, when it seems there is nothing but storm. Lead me in the Everlasting Way when life hurts, when life is ebbing away, when life has ended in tragedy. Lead me in the everlasting way in deep sadness. In despair. In fear. Lead me in the Everlasting Way in success, when there is new life, flourishing, growth, abundance - I need the Everlasting Way just as much here.  Lead me in the Everlasting Way when hope is weak, strong, non-existent. Everlasting Way when I'm tired, when I'm bored.  Lead me in the Everlasting Way in the ordinary, the everyday, in the small. Lead me in the Everlasting Way in all things. Amen. #psalms #psalms139 #knownandBeloved  #dangerousprayers 

Psalms 139:1, 23-24 CSB [1] Lord,  you have searched me and known me. ... [23]  Search me,  God,  and know my heart;  test me and know my concerns.  [24] See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way. Psalms 139:1, 23-24 CSB David starts this song with being known, that God has searched his heart, and then ends his song asking God to keep on with this searching.  Knowing and being known is not a "once and done" process. It's an ongoing living thing just as it is between us - the person who I was 10 years ago is not the same person I am today - "searching" would find some things the same, and some quite different.  Perhaps David is wanting to be known by God afresh, in the here and now, perhaps in the searching by God, something good happens in him and to him, a shift, a change in direction... Am I prepared to pray David's prayer today, sing his song today? "Search me,  God,  and know my heart;  test me and ...

Psalms 139:19-24 CSB God,  if only you would kill the wicked - you bloodthirsty men, stay away from me - who invoke you deceitfully. Your enemies swear by you falsely. Lord,  dont I hate those who hate you,  and detest those who rebel against you? I hate them with extreme hatred;  I consider them my enemies. Search me,  God,  and know my heart;  test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way. Psalms 139:19-24 CSB This part of Ps 139 about hating people, putting people in categories against God & against David seems to be the least popular part of this song. It's like this should be part of a different song, not this beautiful picture we have in the first part. Yet it's here.  It seems that David is doing what he asks God to do, examine his heart, test what's there, and he gives us a slice of what is there, he's being honest with himself, and honest with God, and asks God to check him out, ...

Sunday Psalms; God,  how precious your thoughts are to me;  how vast their sum is! If I counted them,  they would outnumber the grains of sand;  when I wake up,  I am still with you. Psalms 139:17-18 CSB This song of David's has taken us on a journey from David's thoughts, his inner world, being known, even to his thoughts.  This song explores the created world in which we live, and the journey back to the time when David's life started, his personal creation story, and how our God is woven in to all the strands of his story. And here David tries to grasp the immenseness of God's mind, his thoughts (same word used in v2 for David's thoughts), and then leaves us with this idea that God is always with him. With. Perhaps even in his dreams somehow. Maybe today we need the reminder of the vastness of our God's mind, of His imagination, or maybe today, it's the reminder that He is With us, chooses to, because we are Beloved. #psalms #psalm139 #Sunday #worship...

The way of the righteous is like morning light that gets brighter and brighter till it is full day. The path of the wicked is like deep darkness; they don't know where they will stumble.   Proverbs 4:18-19 CEB Try overlaying this little passage from Proverbs with Jesus life. The original readers and hearers of Proverbs never got that opportunity, but we do.  Jesus light got brighter and brighter, even though his day-to-day circumstances weren't always pleasant. His days included being exhausted, tired, rejected by family, friends, spiritual battles, emotional battles, lots of walking, abuse, coming up against "the system", and being murdered.  Yet his trajectory was getting brighter and brighter, and he now is the light of heaven. And those who stood against him couldn't see the story that they were in, lost in their quest to hold on to power, wealth, and their own righteousness.  Trajectory  Direction If we realise we're not on the path of light and life i...

Friday! Proverbs! The way of the righteous is like morning light that gets brighter and brighter till it is full day. The path of the wicked is like deep darkness; they don't know where they will stumble.   Proverbs 4:18-19 CEB Trajectory Direction It's almost like neither the "righteous" or the "wicked" can see the trajectory that they're on...maybe that's why we need some outside referenece points to illumimate the dark, or show us what darkness is. We need God's Word to give us some markers...like...love is patient, love is kind...am I heading towards this kind of love or away from it? We need God's truth to speak into the darkness that we can carry with us, that we are seen, chosen, adopted, beloved. Perhaps today's Proverb is inviting us away from something, and towards something better, towards more of the fully aliveness that we were made to be. Trajectory. Direction. It's a heart thing. #proverbs  #wisdom #somethingtochewon #i...

Psalms 139:13-16 CSB For it was you who created my inward parts;  you knit me together in my mother's womb. I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. Your works are wondrous,  and I know this very well. My bones were not hidden from you when I was made in secret, when I was formed in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw me when I was formless;  all my days were written in your book and planned before a single one of them began. Psalms 139:13-16 CSB This is not a biology textbook, it's a song, written to express something of David's view of God, of himself, of creation, of his relationship with God. It's a song. One interesting thing I discovered today was that the word "yastar" which means formed like with clay, is the word that is translated here as your days are "planned". The image is of God working clay, forming our days, not some plan made in antiquity, but an active on-going process...maybe something to think about...

Psalms 139:1-12 CSB Lord,  you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I stand up;  you understand my thoughts from far away. You observe my travels and my rest;  you are aware of all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue,  you know all about it, Lord. You have encircled me; you have placed your hand on me. This wondrous knowledge is beyond me.  It is lofty;  I am unable to reach it. Where can I go to escape your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to heaven,  you are there;  if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I fly on the wings of the dawn and settle down on the western horizon, even there your hand will lead me;  your right hand will hold on to me. If I say,  "Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light around me will be night" - even the darkness is not dark to you.  The night shines like the day; darkness and light are alike to you. Psalms 139:1-12 CSB David's song is n...

Before a word is on my tongue,  you know all about it, Lord. Psalms 139:4 CSB Ouch! If there's a verse to encourage me to be quick to listen and slow to speak, this is it. Yesterday I was quick to make a judgement about something and voiced it out loud, and I was completely wrong. Somehow David sees Yahweh as having access to his thoughts, maybe you agree with him or not, but this is not a weapon to be used to guilt or shame us, but a song that invites us into speaking with care to those around us... What do you think? #psalms #psalms139 #Monday  #Godsgym #lovewins #speaklife

Sunday Psalms; For the choir director.  A psalm of David. Lord,  you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I stand up;  you understand my thoughts from far away. You observe my travels and my rest;  you are aware of all my ways. Psalms 139:1-3 CSB David writes this song about Yahweh being far away, yet close. He sees Yahweh as somehow seeing his choices, what's going on on the outside, from a long way away, but somehow connected and knowing what's going on inside, at the same time. Perhaps this is David's way of making sense of our God who is present in Creation yet is distant, our God who at times whispers into our hearts in the midst of the toughest of times, yet doesn't, or didn't, fix things for us. Perhaps this song is David trying to figure out the Big Story, and how his small story fits in. Perhaps David knows what it is to be fully known, and to be loved, to be Beloved. Songs are written to be sung, repeated, to move us, lift us, s...

Matthew 11:28 CSB "Come to me,  all of you who are weary and burdened,  and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28 CSB Weary and burdened.  Is that you today? Name those things that are weighing heavily upon you. Jesus doesn't say "put those things down, sort them out, then come to me", he says in your weariness, with your burdens, come, and I'll give you rest.  We don't have to have all the answers or all the fixes or even know the next step, but take the step towards Jesus. In him we can find some rest. Put things down. What do you need to bring to Him today? Take some time to seek Him, step towards Him. We get to do that because we are Beloved. "Come to me,  all of you who are weary and burdened,  and I will give you rest." ##wordsofJesus #redletterBible #weareBeloved 

Friday! Proverbs! Proverbs 4:13-17 NLT Take hold of my instructions;  don't let them go.  Guard them, for they are the key to life. Don't do as the wicked do, and don't follow the path of evildoers. Don't even think about it; don't go that way.  Turn away and keep moving. For evil people can't sleep until they've done their evil deed for the day. They can't rest until they've caused someone to stumble. They eat the food of wickedness and drink the wine of violence! Proverbs 4:13-17 NLT This passage starts with what to hold on to, and then encourages us to put up the guardrails in our life. Boundaries. Because there's the risk of a small action, a small choice taking our lives in a direction, on a trajectory that we may not have seen or anticipated or chosen. So we are called to wisdom. Called to sometimes stand apart, stand against, take a step on a road less travelled... What is the place where wisdom is asking you to make a shift today, make a ...

Mark 4:39-41 CEB He got up and gave orders to the wind, and he said to the lake, "Silence!  Be still!" The wind settled down and there was a great calm. Jesus asked them,  'Why are you frightened? Don't you have faith yet?" Overcome with awe, they said to each other, "Who then is this?  Even the wind and the sea obey him!" Mark 4:39-41 CEB The disciples were incredulous, overawed, they'd seen healings, seen Jesus face down the leaders in their community, but this day, they were afraid for their own lives, and Jesus supernaturally stopped the storm, stopped the waves. Can you imagine being in the storm, tossed around, it getting so bad you thought there's no way out, and then it's all calm, quiet, not a ripple, in an instant. Who even is this? We so want the storm "out there" to be calmed, our circumstances to change, but Jesus did this not to make their boat ride easier, but to show them who He is.  Because the real kingdom is a he...

Mark 4:37-38 CEB Gale-force winds arose, and waves crashed against the boat so that the boat was swamped. But Jesus was in the rear of the boat, sleeping on a pillow.  They woke him up and said,  "Teacher, don't you care that we're drowning?" Mark 4:37-38 CEB This story raises so many questions! What did Jesus know about the storm?  Did he intentionally get them to sail into harms way? How could he sleep through this drama and have to be woken up?  And what if anything are we to make of this for us today, 2,000yrs later? In a couple of years Jesus wasn't going to be physically in the boat with his team, but he does say that he is still "with" them.  With them in this world that wants to shape them into something it wants, when the storms hit, when nothing seems right, He is "with". The disciples had the right idea, go and find Jesus and ask him, seek him out in the storm, find him "with" you. #gospelofMark #GoodNews #invitation #weare...

I give thanks to you with all my heart,  LORD.  I sing your praise before all other gods. ... On the day I cried out, you answered me.  You encouraged me with inner strength. ... Even though the LORD is high,  he can still see the lowly, ... The LORD will do all this for my sake.  Your faithful love lasts forever,  LORD!  Don't let go of what your hands have made. Psalms 138:1, 3, 6, 8 CEB There's praise, thankfulness, there's being seen by God, there's the knowing that God's love lasts forever, there's all of this goodness and knowing, and then, right at the end, this heart request, "Don't let go". Don't let go of me. I know that you are who you say you are, that you have seen me, that you love me, that nothing can change that, and, I feel small, vulnerable, limited, don't let go. Don't let go. #psalms #psalms138 #dontletgo