verseoftheday

Romans 6:22-23 NLT [22] But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God.  Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.  [23] For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:22-23 NLT But now. Now free. Free from the slavery to sin, from it's mastery, it's hold, free to line up under God, free to choose the way of the kingdom, free to accept and live in this gift of Life. This gift is big enough to hold us in our doubts, our lapses, our not-so-great choices at times.  It's about trajectory, direction, stepping towards the freedom we have in Jesus, and when we can't quite believe it, living like we do...and we get to do that because it's not us who made the way, not our perfect choices and actions, but Jesus. We rely on The Gift that came from His choice, His actions. The weight is lifted. And we get to step out in the freedom that Jesus gives... #lett...

Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them. Mark 10:16 NLT Jesus said to his team to receive the Kingdom like a child, and then he took the children in his arms, gathered them in, held them close, placed his hands on their heads in blessing and protection, and blessed them. His team were doing something different with the Kingdom, in relation to the Kingdom, wanting to exercise some kind of adult control, manage it, and Jesus rebuked them, come like a child, be wrapped in, and blessed. Loved. Accepted. Welcomed. Today, be welcomed in. Be Accepted  Be Loved. Sink into Jesus embrace and let the Kingdom wash over you (even if it's just for a moment) Accept His Love like a child... #gospelofMark #GoodNews  #invitation  #weareBeloved 

Sunday Psalms; [7] For the king relies on the Lord;  through the faithful love of the Most High he is not shaken. Psalms 21:7 CSB This is an intriguing song, it seems to be written by David about his victories as King, full of imagery that isn't easy to grasp from this distance. When we look for the redemptive strand though, it is there... "For the king relies on the Lord;  through the faithful love of the Most High he is not shaken." Unlikely that we will head a nation, but we can follow David here as he "relies on the Lord". And we can stand as David did in the "faithful love of the most high". In that love, David says "he is not shaken". What is it that shakes us today? What tries to knock us down, push us over, push us aside? It can be the noise, the voices of the world, of others, sometimes our own inner critic, our circumstances, the result of our own choices or the actions of others... Whatever we face, perhaps David's song here wi...

One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them.  But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him. When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them,  "Let the children come to me.  Don't stop them!  For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn't receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it." Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them. Mark 10:13-16 NLT There's a warning embedded in here that I can be like the disciples sometimes and decide what is and what isn't important to Jesus, or who is, and who isn't important to him.  Children, vulnerable, without voice, without power, welcomed in, held, blessed by Jesus (even tho by excluding them the disciples likely thought they were doing the right thing, culturally, practically, Jesus has big people and big ...

Friday! Proverbs! [6] The godly are showered with blessings;  the words of the wicked conceal violent intentions.  [7] We have happy memories of the godly, but the name of a wicked person rots away. Proverbs 10:6-7 NLT The "godly" (righteous, just) compared to those who are not...yet the first comparison seems a bit off, one getting blessings, the other concealing a heart intention different to their words. And in the second it's the memories of someone compared to their "name". This disjoint seems intentional, so while I'm tempted to apply these Proverbs to others, Proverbs invites us to look in...to my motivations behind my words, to consider where I might not be speaking with integrity. To think about my "name", and am I trying to protect something about me that will just rot? Where can I be investing in what will last? Proverbs is a bit more nuanced than first glance- what are these Proverbs inviting you towards today? #Proverbs #wisdom  #somet...

Romans 6:19 NLT [19] Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy. Romans 6:19 NLT Paul is using something he hopes the people in the church in Rome will understand as they wrestle with what he is teaching. There's a slavery here, a coming under the authority of, but there's this element of choice involved too. What we let be in charge in our hearts and minds. Is it the righteousness that reflects God's character that I'm choosing to come under more and more? If the main thing is Love, am I choosing to love? Love. (Patience, kindness, etc) Justice. Those on the margins. Maybe that all seems too big and too much, so start with where I am this morning, and how can I express love for God this morning? How can I ...

Well then,  since God's grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning?  Of course not! Don't you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey?  You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.  Thank God!  Once you were slaves of sin,  but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you.  Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living. Romans 6:15-18 NLT Does that mean I'll never sin again? Of course not! There's been a status change - I'm no longer sins slave, and I'm free to follow Jesus, to keep stepping towards being the person He envisions for me (see Eph1:4). I'm no longer bound to sins ideas, but free to embrace God's ideas. He is Love and Light so I get to embrace those ideas and ways of being in the world. I now have a way forward, a way out when the pressures of this world, the de...