verseoftheday

Matthew 26:52-54 NLT "Put away your sword," Jesus told him.  "Those who use the sword will die by the sword. Don't you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly? But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describe what must happen now?" Matthew 26:52-54 NLT Jesus connects his team to the Bigger Story and purpose of his life, reminds them that he has all the power, all the authority to change the situation, but chooses not to. There's something way more important than his comfort or his success (he is a Rabbi).  Our culture messures us, and we often feel like we have to measure up or we are failures in some way. As 2024 winds down, how does Jesus rejection of the measures of success of the culture he lived in resonate with us? One of his team has pulled out his weapon and caused harm & havoc & Jesus tells him to put it down, that's not the way of the Kingdom. What do we...

Matthew 26:48-50 NLT The traitor, Judas, had given them a prearranged signal:  "You will know which one to arrest when I greet him with a kiss." So Judas came straight to Jesus.  "Greetings, Rabbi!" he exclaimed and gave him the kiss. Jesus said,  "My friend,  go ahead and do what you have come for." Then the others grabbed Jesus and arrested him.  Matthew 26:48-50 NLT Even though Jesus knew Judas was going to do what he did, knew what would unfold from that moment, Jesus didn't intervene, stop him, or even make it difficult for him. Somehow in the middle of this betrayal Jesus still lived out a life of Grace, compassion, mercy.  This is something that seems beyond our human ability to do. Jesus must've keep holding on to the Bigger Story, the Love Story, that meant that at a human level what Judas did was a big thing, but in the Big Story was just another step to Jesus making a way for us.  Because God so loved the world. Jesus accepted the betray...

Sunday Psalms; Psalms 119:41, 45 NLT Waw Lord,  give me your unfailing love,  the salvation that you promised me. ... I will walk in freedom,  for I have devoted myself to your commandments. Psalms 119: 41&45 NLT The psalmist is looking forward to "more". There's more to come.  The Christmas story is full of the promise if more. When we get to the end of the year, we look forward to more, different, putting behind us something from the past, letting something go. And then the psalmist tells us about freedom. Freedom that is found in following our God's way of being in the world, of listening to the designer, of hearing his heart...that's the place of freedom when we discover in God's story His heart for us. His heart for justice. His heart to be known. His heart to love. A story that led to Christmas, and to the promise of "more". The best is yet to come. #psalms #psalm119 #onedayallwillbemadenew  #thebestisyettocome #thereismore #youarealreadyBe...

Eight days later, when the baby was circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel even before he was conceived. Luke 2:21 NLT Jesus parents (Mary was Jesus mum, but what is Joseph? Step-dad?) followed the cultural and religious practices of their time, and they followed the instruction of the Angel, and named him Jesus. And what was going on that first Christmas? Probably ordinary life. Recovery Rest Family  Feeding Sleeping Thinking about all that has happened and wondering about what is next Ordinary life. Ordinary Life was happening all around Jesus.  Do you wonder what it was like for Jesus who was the agent of creation, who saw all that we call reality unfold, to now be completely dependent on others...to be ordinary... God became ordinary.  When we go and visit another country, live in another culture, learn a new language, we take with us our own language, skills and experiences. Yet Jesus was born into our world. He is one of us. Why? Because Lo...

All who heard the shepherds' story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.  Luke 2:18-19 NLT The shepherds talked about the first Christmas to anyone who would listen, and Mary didn't. She meditated on what was going on, the story she found herself in, and no doubt worked on being a first time Mum, figuring out what their new baby needed, quietly going about being a parent. There's a freedom here for us in how we express our faith, there may be times when being like the shepherds is where we are at, talking about our experiences with God, and other times quiet contemplation, reflection, thought are where we are at.  What do you need today? To express something, talk to someone, quietly consider, or something in between, something else? The first Christmas gives us the gift of freedom to be who we are in the story we find ourselves in. #Christmas  #gift #whatgiftdoyouneed

Luke 2:20 NLT The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.  Luke 2:20 NLT Next day, normal life returned.  Back to work, back to looking after their sheep. But something must have shifted for those shepherds who'd had a supernatural visitation, experienced a real heavenly choir, gone into town and checked it all out and were now heading back to work, praising God. Glorifying Him. Because it was all true. Whether we're back at work, study, back to "normal", on holiday somewhere exciting, relaxing or very ordinary, we get to take with us into today what is true, the Gift that will last, will shift things in us and in our world, the truth that it was just as the Angel had said: Our Saviour arrived.  The Messiah. Lord. And everything changed, because God somehow became one of us. Whether ordinary life returns today, tomorrow, next week or next year, we get to take the Truth of...

They were terrified,  but the angel reassured them.  "Dont be afraid!" he said. "I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior - yes, the Messiah, the Lord - has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger." Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others - the armies of heaven - praising God and saying, "Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased." Luke 2:9-14 NLT The shepherds got a shock, experienced something unexpected, were afraid, and yet it turned out to be the best thing ever. In the unexpected, the shocks, the goodness, the planned, whatever life holds, may we hold the words of the angel, that there is Good News, a Bigger Story, that our Saviour, Messiah, Lord, has arrived.  We don't have a baby wrapped snugly to check out this story, but we do hav...