verseoftheday

Friday! Proverbs! Proverbs 6:23 CEB [23] The commandment is a lamp and instruction a light;  corrective teaching is the path of life.   Proverbs 6:23 CEB This proverb is inviting us to see commands, teaching, instruction, as lamps, light, and not putting us on the path of life, but are the path of life. Where are we when we need a lamp, a light? Yes, in the dark, where the next step isn't clear, where the risk of tripping, falling is unknown.  Sometimes i fool myself thinking I can see the way, see the obstacles in my own heart and mind. Until I get this instruction: Love is patient.  And I realise I haven't been. Love is kind. And today I haven't been kind.  Patience and kindness (as examples) are modelled to us by Jesus,  shown to us by Paul as "the most excellent way". These principles are the way. The way I am invited to walk in today. And they are a lamp. When I turn on the lamps of Love is Patient, Love is Kind, they shine on others, those in my ...

Mark 6:41-44 NLT Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them.  Then,  breaking the loaves into pieces,  he kept giving the bread to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people.  He also divided the fish for everyone to share. They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftover bread and fish.  A total of 5,000 men and their families were fed. Mark 6:41-44 NLT The Impossibility was solved by Jesus. He was the multiplier, the agent through which everyone was fed.  And the disciples were invited in to being part of God's work in the world that day.  Jesus could've just made loaves and fish appear for every group of people gathered together that day, but he involved his team. Jesus wants us involved in the redemptive story.  Working with Him. Yes the miracles are his, and he wants us involved in the redemptive story...even when it all seems impossib...

Mark 6:39-40 NLT [39] Then Jesus told the disciples to have the people sit down in groups on the green grass. [40] So they sat down in groups of fifty or a hundred. Mark 6:39-40 NLT There were a LOT of people. There was a TINY amount of food. It seems that Jesus wanted his team to experience the impossibilty. To sit with the Impossibility. To face the Impossibility and follow Jesus anyway.  And Jesus took his time, waited. Waited for everyone to get into groups and settle. Wait for the Impossibility to sit with his team. He knew he was going to miraculously make a way, but his team didn't. What they did was act in Faith.  God, the Eternal, Creator of everything, becoming a person, a baby, entering into the story with His creation. Impossibility. Fully God. Fully human. Impossibility. Love me. Accept me. Adopt me. Know me and do it anyway. Be enough to cover all I've done. Have Grace for me. Forgive me. Love me. Impossibility. Have a Bigger Story that we're part of. Impossib...

But Jesus said,  "You feed them." "With what?" they asked. "We'd have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!" "How much bread do you have?" he asked.  "Go and find out." Mark 6:37-38 NLT The disciples have already assessed that the task is impossible. They don't have the money, the time to earn the money, or the food to feed all these people. Too much. Too big. Impossible. And Jesus asks them to go check anyway.  And what is the response? Mark 6:38 NLT They came back and reported,  "We have five loaves of bread and two fish." It seems that this seemingly tiny amount, this "drop in the bucket" of what is needed is enough for Jesus.  And perhaps there's a small shift in the disciples from "this is impossible" to this is what we do have. There was a seed of something. And there's times I wonder if that is what Jesus is looking for in me..."how can I love ...

Mark 6:35-37 NLT Late in the afternoon his disciples came to him and said,  "This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy something to eat." But Jesus said,  "You feed them." "With what?" they asked.  "We'd have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!" Mark 6:35-37 NLT We're a long way from anywhere, there's a crowd, it's late in the day, and the disciples felt responsible and wanted to do the best they could... They had no money, no resources. No options. Jesus said "you feed them". Sometimes what Jesus asks makes no sense when lined up against our logic, thoughts, ideas. My response to "you feed them" would be just the same as the disciples... Have you ever had a nudge from the Spirit to do something, go somewhere, reach out, give, serve, love in a way that makes no sense, that is beyon...

Sunday Psalms; Psalms 5:3, 7-8, 11 NLT [3] Listen to my voice in the morning,  Lord.  Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly. ... [7] Because of your unfailing love, I can enter your house;  I will worship at your Temple with deepest awe.  [8] Lead me in the right path,  O Lord... Make your way plain for me to follow. ... [11] But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; Psalms 5:3, 7-8, 11 NLT As we look for the redemptive strands in this week's song, these jumped out... David shares how he gets to chat with God. And he does something that I don't often do - waits. Waits expecting to hear.  David gets to go to the place where God in his day restricted Himself to meet people. Our opportunity is so much greater as we no longer have to find a temple where God meets people, He is with us. Just like David in this song we get to seek direction and refuge in YHWH. Two things we need as we navigate this life - direction and refuge. What do you...

When Jesus arrived and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.  Then he began to teach them many things.  Mark 6:34 CEB This word "compassion" is "splagchnizomai", it is a deeper yearning, a physical reaction, a gut reaction. Jesus felt deeply for these people. They had already gathered, looking for something, looking for someone, like sheep looking for their shepherd. And Jesus response is deep, personal.  When we are lost, rudderless, lost sight of our Shepherd, Jesus compassion is towards us, His heart is for us, just like it was for those people. If Jesus is compassionate towards me, even in my lostness, uncertainty, need, what is He inviting me towards today? What opens up? Perhaps knowing we need a Shepherd is the most important step of faith there is... #gospelofMark #GoodNews  #invitation  #faith #JesusistheGoodShepherd