verseoftheday

Sunday Psalms; Psalms 14:1, 7 NLT [1] Only fools say in their hearts, "There is no God." ...  [7] Who will come from Mount Zion to rescue Israel?  When the Lord restores his people, Jacob will shout with joy, and Israel will rejoice. Psalms 14:1, 7 NLT This is a bleak psalm/song.  There's days, maybe weeks, months, when our world is bleak.  If that has been or is your experience, then maybe this psalm/song while written 3000 years ago in a different culture and language tells us we're not alone in how we feel or experience life. David starts by it seems reminding himself of Truth, that even when God is silent, seems distant, when the world is bleak, don't take from that that there is no God.  And then right at the end, the strand of hope, the redemptive strand we're looking for; "When the Lord restores his people..." Restoration will arrive. We get the benefit of reading this after the first Easter, knowing that Jesus death is the way of restoration,...

Mark 8:29-32 NLT Then he asked them, "But who do you say I am?" Peter replied,  "You are the Messiah." But Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him. Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead.  As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. Mark 8:29-32 NLT Peter got it.  Got who Jesus is. But didn't get it all. Because Jesus for what seems the first time is unpacking more of his mission, or perhaps it's the "how" his messiahship will actually work, not the way Peter wanted or expected. Peter is the voice (& often the doer) of the things others want to say or do. He just says out loud what the others may well be thinking - "you're the Messiah, saving us doesn...

Friday! Proverbs! [9] Instruct the wise, and they will be even wiser. Teach the righteous, and they will learn even more. Proverbs 9:9 NLT This Proverb is suggesting a cumulative effect of wisdom and learning. That wisdom and learning get multiplied in some way. Hoe does this Proverb land when we are the person doing the teaching, the sharing, giving the instruction? "Instruct the wise,  and they will be even wiser.  Teach the righteous,  and they will learn even more." I'm wondering how this lands differently when I am the receiver of wisdom, when I am being taught...how well am I allowing the cumulative impact of wisdom to shape me, my heart responses? Where is wisdom building on wisdom in me? Where am I getting wisdom? #proverbs  #wisdom  #somethingtochewon #itsaheartthing #takethenextstep 

Romans 3:21-22 NLT But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. Romans 3:21-22 NLT Paul has spent some time telling the church in Rome that none of us can keep the law in it's entirety all the time. The law can't make us right with God. It can help us see where sin has a grip on us and where we might want to focus, but making us right with God? Nup. It's faith in Jesus. That's it. Faith in Jesus changes everything. Does part of us want to add something? A "yes but..." or "yes and..."? How about today we just sit with this Truth that Faith in Jesus is enough... #letters #redemptivestrands #faithinJesus #hopeishere #weareBeloved 

Romans 2:15 NLT [15] They demonstrate that God's law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.  Romans 2:15 NLT Paul has just unpacked how we're all in trouble before a holy God, and then he drops this wee gem in, that the "Gentiles", those who hadn't been given God's law, hadn't had it impressed on them for generations have this deep internal knowledge of what is right and wrong. It's built in. The redemptive strands are there in all of us, and always have been. I wonder if we're so busy  listening and scrolling to voices from the outside we've lost connection with that inner voice that is connected to Our God's Voice... #letters #redemptivestrands #hopeishere #weareBeloved 

Mark 8:27-29 CEB Jesus and his disciples went into the villages near Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked his disciples,  "Who do people say that I am?" They told him, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others one of the prophets." He asked them,  "And what about you? Who do you say that I am?" Mark 8:27-29 CEB John the Baptist's death is recorded by Mark in Ch6, not long ago, and news wouldn't have travelled as quickly as it does today. It seems that people were saying Jesus was some kind of reincarnated prophet! He was the second coming of someone else. And then Jesus asks his team; "And what about you? Who do you say that I am?" And this question continues to echo down the centuries, all the way to us today... "And what about you? Who do you say that I am?" Is Jesus in a category with others? Comparable? Is he like someone else? "And what about you? Who do you say that I am?" This question invite...

Mark 8:25-27 CEB [25] Then Jesus placed his hands on the man's eyes again. He looked with his eyes wide open, his sight was restored, and he could see everything clearly. [26] Then Jesus sent him home, saying, "Don't go into the village!" [27] Jesus and his disciples went into the villages near Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" Do you wonder why Jesus first led this man out of the village and then told him not to go back, but to go home? I'm wondering if a clue is found in the next thing Mark gives us here...Jesus asking his team "who do people say that I am?" As good and wonderful the miracle of returning lost sight is, it's not the Big Story of what Jesus is about. Maybe he was concerned about becoming a celebrity. As followers of Jesus what are we concerned about? In our current culture which seems to value celebrity, profile, followers, Jesus seems to take a different path, and what doe...