verseoftheday

Mark 1:6-8 CEB John wore clothes made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey. He announced,  "One stronger than I am is coming after me.  I'm not even worthy to bend over and loosen the strap of his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." Mark 1:6-8 CEB I've often heard John the Baptist described as some kind of fringe person, a bit wild with strange clothing and strange diet. But Mark has described a revival as people flocked towards him, and in these verses he seems to connect Johns image with strength. He is a strong person, pointing to someone stronger. He is a big personality drawing people in, yet pointing towards someone bigger who will draw all people in. John is showing his people, preparing them, making it as obvious as he can, that there's more, much more to this story, and it's close. If confessing, getting right with God, getting baptised by me out here in ...

Mark 1:4-5 CEB John the Baptist was in the wilderness calling for people to be baptized to show that they were changing their hearts and lives and wanted God to forgive their sins.  Everyone in Judea and all the people of Jerusalem went out to the Jordan River and were being baptized by John as they confessed their sins.  Mark 1:4-5 CEB We would call this a revival! People were answering the call of John &  heading out to the river and being baptised. Lots of people. And Mark couches this as a part of preparing the way for Jesus - people hearing the call, confessing, and changing, being changed. Transformation. Revival. Looking for God's forgiveness and wanting to live in that forgiveness. As a pointer to Jesus. This is quite a story, a story that has it's beginning in the mists of time and wends its way into our today, a story that we are part of too... #gospel #gospelofMark  #GoodNews #revival #weareinaBigStory 

The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, God's Son, happened just as it was written about in the prophecy of Isaiah:  Look, I am sending my messenger before you.  He will prepare your way, a voice shouting in the wilderness:  "Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight." Mark 1:1-3 CEB  Mark opens his account of Jesus story by inviting us back in time, by quoting from Isaiah 40, Malachi 3, Exodus 20, that this story of Jesus that he is part of, that we are all now part of, is much bigger and much deeper. In a couple of sentences Mark links us back to the Exodus where God redeemed his people, to the mysteries of the Prophets, and this can remind us that we're part of something bigger. We're part of God's story. We've been invited to join in. And it's a reminder that it is Good News.  In our world that can seem overwhelmed by bad news, we get to live in the story of Good News, a story linked and foretold by the ancients. We're al...

From now on,  no one should bother me because I bear the marks of Jesus on my body.  Brothers and sisters, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.  Amen. Galatians 6:17-18 CEB What a great way to end a letter, leaving us with some mystery and intrigue (what are these "marks of Jesus" are they something supernatural...or is he just an old man...or are they the marks from the things he has suffered for being a christian?). Paul leaves us something to think about and a blessing: As we head into Monday, whatever we are facing, may we know a little more, hold a little more, let a little more of the Grace of Jesus speak to the deepest parts of us today. Brothers and sisters, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.  Amen. #letters #galatians  #grace #freedominJesus #newcreation #invitation  #shalom

Sunday Psalms; Psalms 119 - Resh. Look at my suffering and deliver me  because I havent forgotten your Instruction. Argue my case and redeem me.  Make me live again by your word.   ... You have so much compassion, LORD - make me live again, according to your rules.   ... Look at how much I love your precepts.  Make me live again, LORD, according to your faithful love!   Psalms 119:153-160 CEB I love the way the CEB has phrased this..."make me live again". Three times in this passage this phrase is repeated "make me live again". Why does the psalmist need to say this? Because he feels like his life is over.  He feels dead.  Maybe you've never felt like that but the writer of this song has, the opening line is "look at my suffering", and a cry to be redeemed, rescued, brought back. Suffering can make us feel dead. The psalmist looks for three things to help him come back to "life" God's word His rules for living His Faithful Love He k...

Don't let loyalty and faithfulness leave you. Bind them on your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.  Then you will find favor and approval in the eyes of God and humanity. Proverbs 3:3-4 CEB Can we see Jesus in this  Proverb? Our key words here are  "checed" Definition: Lovingkindness, mercy, steadfast love, loyalty, faithfulness, goodness And "emeth" Definition: Truth, faithfulness, reliability, firmness Jesus is "checed" and "emeth" and he entered the Story and bound himself to us, made a way to enter in to the tablet of our hearts and commune with us. He didn't wait for us, but came looking, seeking us out, opening the way, becoming small, stooping down. This is the Love and Grace that we are invited into, and invited to participate in in the lives of others. As the "checed" and "emeth" is written on the tablet of our hearts it finds its expression in the way that we live, the way that we love... Jesus inv...

Friday! Proverbs! Don't let loyalty and faithfulness leave you. Bind them on your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.  Then you will find favor and approval in the eyes of God and humanity. Proverbs 3:3-4 CEB There are 2 key words here: "checed" Pronunciation: kheh'-sed Definition: Lovingkindness, mercy, steadfast love, loyalty, faithfulness, goodness "emeth" Pronunciation: eh'-meth Definition: Truth, faithfulness, reliability, firmness This Proverb invites us to bind to ourselves and to write deep within ourselves "checed" and "emeth": Lovingkindness,  mercy,  steadfast love,  loyalty,  faithfulness,  goodness,  Truth,  faithfulness,  reliability,  firmness. In the Hebrew world these ideas are not separate from God and His character, His covenants, so when we want to understand what these things are we rely less on our own knowledge and experiences, and more on what our God reveals about Himself. We see God who reaches out,...