verseoftheday

Take hold of my instructions;  dont let them go.  Guard them,  for they are the key to life. Proverbs 4:13 NLT Can we hear Jesus in this Proverb? Jesus speaking in parables and stories, Jesus patiently explaining their meaning to his disciples, Jesus speaking the "Sermon on the Mount", Jesus sharing a meal with people, Jesus meeting the woman at the well...the rich young ruler...the Pharisees and church leaders...Peter on the beach with breakfast... Jesus speaking life and instruction and inviting his listeners to let the truth in... And that invitation continues to this day. Take hold of Jesus words, guard them, for they are the key to life. #proverbs  #wisdom #somethingtochewon #itsaheartthing  #keystolife

Friday! Proverbs! Take hold of my instructions;  dont let them go.  Guard them,  for they are the key to life. Proverbs 4:13 NLT The word "instruction" is "musar" which carries several meanings; discipline, instruction, correction, chastisement. It seems to lean towards the "setting me straight" kind of instruction, the kind that points out the right path, that warns of the dangers of following a different path, that is honest and upfront, the kind of instruction I may not like, (the instruction I get from my GP after he's seen my blood tests).  Take what God has to say and hold it close, let it instruct. One of my favourites is 1 Cor 13:4 Love is patient. This instructs me when I'm rushing, got behind, someone holds me up, is moving too slow for me, isn't keeping up, can't keep up, "love is patient". When it's my mistake, my misstep, a problem of my own making, "love is patient", I get to give myself that gift. ...

Mark 4:30-32 NLT Jesus said, "How can I describe the Kingdom of God?  What story should I use to illustrate it? It is like a mustard seed planted in the ground.  It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of all garden plants;  it grows long branches, and birds can make nests in its shade." Mark 4:30-32 NLT Another story about a garden, seed, plants, growth, and this time includes a place of refuge, home, safety, for the creatures in the story. Then Mark gives us this gem: Mark 4:33-34 NLT Jesus used many similar stories and illustrations to teach the people as much as they could understand. In fact, in his public ministry he never taught without using parables; but afterward, when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything to them. Maybe we're not supposed to "get" all that the parable is about at the first listen (we get the luxury of reading these parables). Maybe we're supposed to sit with them, look for connections between...

Mark 4:26-29 NLT Jesus also said,  "The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, while he's asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens. The earth produces the crops on its own.  First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens.  And as soon as the grain is ready, the farmer comes and harvests it with a sickle, for the harvest time has come." Mark 4:26-29 NLT What are we supposed to pay attention to here? What would Jesus have wanted those hearing him to "get" from this story? What does he want us to get, or invite us into? Perhaps it's in a world where we want certainty, to know how everything works, where logic and reason is valued above intuition or values or emotions, where mystery is not something to accept or sit with, Jesus offers us some mystery...the Kingdom grows how it grows, a bit mysteriously, a bit underground, ye...

Mark 4:24-25 NLT Then he added,  "Pay close attention to what you hear.  The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given - and you will receive even more. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given.  But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them." Mark 4:24-25 NLT Sometimes I wonder how much notice I take of Jesus words, his parables and stories. Here he is inviting his listeners to pause, to wait, to pay attention. I wonder what Jesus would be wanting me to pay attention to from what he has said? What does he want me to take seriously today? This invitation is in the middle of parables about soil and seed and plants, and lamps and lights, and growing things, harvesting and gardens.  Perhaps the invitation is to sit with these stories and allow them to speak into our lives today, our circumstances today...to pay attention... #gospelofMark #GoodNews  #invitation...

1 John 3:2-3 NLT Dear friends, we are already God's children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure. 1 John 3:2-3 NLT There is something purifying, cleansing, uplifting, healing, in letting the truth into our bones.  There's something in knowing that we belong, that we're held inseparable in God's love, that we're chosen, and held not by our strength, our goodness, our deeds, but by His. Jesus said it's the truth that sets you free.  Where does this truth set you free? Free from the "should's", free from the people pleasing, free from the fear of what others might think or say, free from the fear of rejection... What does it set you free to do? To step towards? What does it cleanse you from? As we sit today in this belongingness, what washes away? What nee...

Sunday Psalms; Psalms 137:1-4 CEB Alongside Babylon's streams,  there we sat down, crying  because we remembered Zion. We hung our lyres up in the trees there because that's where our captors asked us to sing;  our tormentors requested songs of joy: "Sing us a song about Zion!" they said. But how could we possibly sing the LORD's song on foreign soil?   Psalms 137:1-4 CEB And we're back with lament...lament and sadness for the loss of place, of land, of connection. Lament for loss of freedom. Lament for what was. It's OK not to be OK when something, or someone, important to us, is lost.  It's OK to cry.  This song laments the culture that the writer finds him or herself in that doesn't want to tolerate sadness and loss, just wants songs of joy to be sung... So this song invites us to just be real about what is wrong, what is going on in our outer world that isn't right, that isn't just, and the impact on our inner world. It's OK not to ...