verseoftheday

Friday! Proverbs! There are three things that amaze me - no, four things that I don't understand: how an eagle glides through the sky,  how a snake slithers on a rock,  how a ship navigates the ocean,  how a man loves a woman. Proverbs 30:18-19 NLT Our writer Agur, son of Jakeh is doing well to have only 4 things he doesn't understand! Interesting that his thoughts move from amazement to not understanding. Interesting how he starts with the created world, then something people have created, and ends up with relationships. Interesting how he isn't attempting to solve all that he doesn't get or understand. Perhaps this part of Proverbs is here to invite us to look on the world with wonder, with an open mind, an open heart, to enjoy the things  in front of us, the people in front of us, even of we don't "get" them, that we don't have to understand everything, that we can leave room for mystery. We can leave room for the unknown. What is this proverb invit

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people.  Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.  1 Timothy 2:1-4 NLT This letter to Timothy has already stated there's a thing going on with false teachers, and now there's other groups of people Paul wants Timothy to be interested in: Everyone. Those in charge, in authority in the community. Why? Because our God wants everyone to know him, everyone to be shaped by relationship with Him, to have God's Truth interact in their lives.  Even those with power. Even those not like us. Even those with different religious or ethnic backgrounds. God's idea of community is bigger. So Paul asks Timothy to pray for "them".  Who are our "them"? "Ask God

This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it:  "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" - and I am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life. All honor and glory to God forever and ever!  He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies;  he alone is God.  Amen.  1 Timothy 1:15-17 NLT This is the second part of Paul's testimony, his turning towards God. But God. But God made a way. But God loves us and wants communion with us. But God loves. It's the goodness and grace of God that is the key to our redemption, things we don't have to strive for, be good enough for, but are things we get to accept and rest in. And so the honour and glory doesn't rest with us, but with Him. We just get to rest.  #letters #lettertoTimothy  #changeispossible  #

In the morning, as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry, and he noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" And immediately the fig tree withered up. Matthew 21:18-19 NLT Sometimes Jesus said and did things that seem strange, unconnected, mysterious. Why would he condemn a fig tree just because he was hungry? There was usually a message for his team. He had just been in Jerusalem, just been at the temple, a place that should have been life giving, and he discovered that it had become the opposite.  And Jesus was heading back there. It seems that he was using the fig tree to show his followers that things had changed. The place you went for nourishment was no more. The Living Water, the Bread of Life, was right here. There's no need for a temple to meet with God if He is right here, walking around with you. Even if his disciples hadn't really

The works of the LORD are magnificent; they are treasured by all who desire them.   ... God proclaimed his powerful deeds to his people and gave them what had belonged to other nations. God's handiwork is honesty and justice; all God's rules are trustworthy ... Fear of the LORD is where wisdom begins; sure knowledge is for all who keep God's laws. God's praise lasts forever! Psalms 111:2, 6, 7, 10 CEB 111 is our emergency number and this maybe a useful Psalm when we're facing an emergency, when our circumstances threaten to overwhelm our ability to manage them, when the world's problems seem too big, this song might help to us: In our emergency what does God saying to me? In what or who am I placing my faith? Where am I going for wisdom? This song reminds us that our God's work is justice, that he will restore what has been taken, he will set things right. And we can trust Him with that (maybe not how I want it, when I want it, but we can trust Him with the

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him, even though I used to blaspheme the name of Christ.  In my insolence, I persecuted his people. But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief. Oh,  how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 1:12-14 NLT We all have a past. We've all done things, thought things, that now are not paths that we would choose.  For Paul it was 2 things: ignorance and unbelief. It could be the actions and influences of others, the relentless messages and promptings of our culture, the people around us, our own desires, some combination of these things.  Change is possible. Change is possible. For Paul faith and love from Jesus changed him. And that faith, that love, changes us too.  Changes our heart towards God, towards others, towards ourselves.  That inner critic gets to sit down

Friday! Proverbs! (This passage is a wild ride...) Some people curse their father and do not thank their mother. They are pure in their own eyes, but they are filthy and unwashed. They look proudly around, casting disdainful glances. They have teeth like swords and fangs like knives. They devour the poor from the earth and the needy from among humanity. The leech has two suckers that cry out, "More, more!"  There are three things that are never satisfied - no, four that never say, "Enough!": the grave,  the barren womb,  the thirsty desert,  the blazing fire. The eye that mocks a father and despises a mother's instructions will be plucked out by ravens of the valley and eaten by vultures. Proverbs 30:11-17 NLT Wow! I've heard parts of this proverb weaponised by parents towards children - proverbs is not a weapon but an invitation to consider the human heart - this is about a person who has disregarded the wisdom of God, of community, of generations past &