verseoftheday

Luke 2:44-48 CEB Supposing that he was among their band of travelers, they journeyed on for a full day while looking for him among their family and friends. When they didn't find Jesus, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple. He was sitting among the teachers, listening to them and putting questions to them. ... When his parents saw him, they were shocked. His mother said,  "Child, why have you treated us like this? Listen!  Your father and I have been worried. We've been looking for you!" Luke 2:44-48 CEB Imagine being in a community where you wouldn't worry about your 12yr old child's well-being because your people would care for your child just as you would. But Jesus wasn't with his friends or cousins. It seems that he was left behind. And his parents spent 3 days searching the city for him. 3 days. You can picture Joseph and Mary trying to make sense of the prophecies, the angels, the promises, and no...

Friday! Proverbs! The Lord hates six things;  in fact, seven are detestable to him:  (1) arrogant eyes,  (2) a lying tongue,  (3) hands that shed innocent blood, ... Proverbs 6:16-17 CSB This list of things that Proverbs describes that our God stands against, are anti-God, must be things that God isn't.  It's easy to use Proverbs as a weapon, to accuse or label others, but Proverbs is about finding the way of wisdom, of life, it's about the heart, mine, yours, ours.  And it's full of metaphor. Arrogant eyes. Eyes aren't arrogant, they're just that part of my body that receives visual information aren't they? Arrogant eyes. My tongue doesn't tell lies by itself, I do that. Hands that shed innocent blood - I haven't taken anyone's life... The word here for "hands" is "yad" and it is used literally and figuratively- it means an open hand (not closed) and is about direction and use of power. Proverbs invites us to sit with these p...

Luke 2:41-43 NLT Every year Jesus' parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. [42] When Jesus was twelve years old, they attended the festival as usual. [43] After the celebration was over, they started home to Nazareth, but Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. Luke 2:41-43 NLT But Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His whanau had packed up and were heading back to Nazareth. And Jesus stayed behind. Seems like a small thing. Everyone else in Jesus community was heading to Nazareth, except him. As we step into a new year, our media will be full of people and messages enticing, encouraging, drawing us into, big changes. Grand gestures.  Sign up for this challenge, change your life - for some this is all too much.  The way of Jesus is an invitation into the small.  An invitation to stay in "Jerusalem" a bit longer.  When everyone else seems to be heading off to new directions, new adventures, new "life", and if it all seems a bit much, it's not You,  it...

Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. [37] Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. [38] She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem. Luke 2:36-38 NLT We don't have anyone live at my church (maybe we should?).  But I wonder how Anna would describe her life? Would she say her life is defined by loss, sorrow? Or by service and dedication, a life that contains suffering and loss? What we do know is that she recognised something important was going on with Jesus - the Rescuer she had been waiting for was here. By our standards we might judge Anna's life as a bit of a waste - yet he...

At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel.  The Holy Spirit was upon him and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Messiah. That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, Simeon was there. Luke 2:25-28 NLT Here was Simeon, devout, dedicated, and listening to the Holy Spirit, waiting for Jesus. And because Simeon was listening and moving with the Spirit, he was there. In the temple. When Jesus turned up. Because Jesus parents were following the law. The intersection of the law, the Spirit, listening, obedience, following, moving, and the redemptive threads can be followed... Perhaps today we are being asked to be devout, obedient, to do what is right. Perhaps the Spirit is prompting us to wait, to stop, to move, to reach out, to connect with someone, to be somew...

Luke 2:22-24 NLT [22] Then it was time for their purification offering, as required by the law of Moses after the birth of a child; so his parents took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.  The law of the Lord says, "If a womans first child is a boy, he must be dedicated to the Lord." So they offered the sacrifice required in the law of the Lord - "either a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons." Luke 2:22-24 NLT Kind of crazy to think that Jesus is taken to the temple and His life is dedicated to God by his parents... Leviticus 12 contains the "law" referred to here, and it requires a lamb as the sacrifice.  Unless you can't afford one. Then a couple of small birds are OK. Joseph and Mary have followed the practices required of them, even tho they had to walk 2.5 hours to Jerusalem, even tho they were poor, even tho they were figuring out this parenting thing, even tho the child they were holding was the Messiah, the lamb of God, and they...

Sunday Psalms: Mary responded, "Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! For he took notice of his lowly servant girl,  and from now on all generations will call me blessed. For the Mighty One is holy, and he has done great things for me.  He shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear him.  His mighty arm has done tremendous things!  He has scattered the proud and haughty ones. He has brought down princes from their thrones and exalted the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands. He has helped his servant Israel and remembered to be merciful. For he made this promise to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children forever." Luke 1:46-55 NLT This is Mary's response to the blessing she received from Elizabeth which ended with "you are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what He said." Mary's response starts with acceptance and thanks. She connects h...