verseoftheday

Friday! Proverbs! Proverbs 10:19 CEB [19] With lots of words comes wrongdoing, but the wise restrain their lips.   Mmm the word here "wrongdoing" is "pesha", which means revolt, a rebellion.  So if proverbs is an invitation into my own heart motivation then is this proverb asking me to consider where my words (thoughts, internal dialogue) has convinced me that wrong is right, that what is not OK is OK? If that's correct then the wise by restraining their own words look somewhere else for wisdom, for direction, to stay the course with God rather than go my own way? Too many words.  Mmm. Where am I prone to revolt - especially against God, rebelling against his call, instruction, values? If I am speaking less, this opens up room for listening, for the other... As we sit with this Proverb today, what is the Spirit prompting? #somethingtochewon #itsaheartthing  #proverbs  #wisdom #invitation 

Mark 11:9-11 CEB [9] Those in front of him and those following were shouting,  "Hosanna!  Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!   Blessings on the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!  Hosanna in the highest!" Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple.  After he looked around at everything, because it was already late in the evening, he returned to Bethany with the Twelve.   Mark 11:9-11 CEB I wouldn't make any kind of spiritual principle out of this, but after all the preparation of sending his team out to find the colt to ride on, the crowds, the chanting, Jesus got to the temple, had a look around, and went back to Bethany.  Couldn't he have started earlier in the day? Or is he perhaps, maybe, inviting us to just take things a bit quieter sometimes - letting us know that it all doesn't have to get done today... Where are we being invited to slow down? In a world that seems to value speeding up, perhaps being a lit...

Mark 11:7-9 CEB They brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes upon it, and he sat on it.  Many people spread out their clothes on the road while others spread branches cut from the fields.  Those in front of him and those following were shouting,  "Hosanna!  Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!" Mark 11:7-9 CEB Hosanna literally means "save now". There's a procession thru the city with Jesus riding on this young donkey that's never been ridden, with crowds and chanting and waving palm fronds. Redemption is here. Jesus is going to save them now.  Everything will be different as they'll be set free - free from the Empire. Free from repression. Poverty  Being less than. This is the redemptive strand that they're expecting to follow... But they didn't see the signs Jesus gave them. Not a big horse symbolising power, but a small young donkey who'd never been ridden. No warriors. No weapons. No symbols if power. "Sa...

Mark 11:1-6 NIV As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them,  "Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' say, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.'" They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway.  As they untied it, some people standing there asked, "What are you doing, untying that colt?" They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go.  Mark 11:1-6 NIV This seems like a strange thing that Jesus is asking 2 of his team to do that day.  From our perspective of knowing what part this animal plays in the bigger story this little story makes sense in the Bigger Story of God's Redemptive Story. Sometimes though, we're prompted to do things that can...

Psalms 33:16-18 NIV No king is saved by the size of his army;  no warrior escapes by his great strength.  A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;  despite all its great strength it cannot save.  But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love... Psalms 33:16-18 NIV Whether we are relying on our own strength, our own resources, the power of things our culture has created, it's not enough. The redemptive strand is here though, throughout all generations, it runs through all cultures...Unfailing Love is where our hope lies. That takes the pressure off us.  Because our hope lies in Unfailing Love. We don't have to be perfect.  Because our hope lies in Unfailing Love. We can damp down that inner critic - because our hope lies in Unfailing Love. We get to start afresh, move into new things, try things, because our hope lies in Unfailing Love. What are we being invited to put down? Because our hope lies in Unfailing...

Sunday Psalms; Sing a new song of praise to him;  play skillfully on the harp,  and sing with joy. For the word of the Lord holds true,  and we can trust everything he does.  He loves whatever is just and good;  the unfailing love of the Lord fills the earth.  The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created.  He breathed the word, and all the stars were born.  He assigned the sea its boundaries and locked the oceans in vast reservoirs. Psalms 33:3-7 NLT Sing a new song - the invitation here is to write your own! There's plenty of room for our thoughts and words and songs about our God. Perhaps following the pattern of this song might help: The psalmist writes about something of God's character: He is True and trustworthy, loves justice and goodness, and is Unfailing Love. Then the writer looks out at the created world and sees God's hand and writes about it. What is one aspect of God's character that we could write a about today? Just one phra...

[18] Whoever hides hatred has lying lips, And whoever spreads slander is a fool. Proverbs 10:18 NKJV When we look for Jesus in this Proverb he is the antithesis, the exact opposite of this. He didn't spread slander. He would stay silent or quote scripture, or ask a question. He didn't hide his hatred of death. He didn't hide that he stood against those who promoted their own righteousness and rule keeping and rule making as the way to be right with God. He didn't hide that he stood against those who treated others unjustly, and stood against the systems that led to poverty, to groups of people who were seen as less than. His integrity was total, he was the same all the way through, and his motivation was Love. And the crazy part? We are the object of His love! We are Beloved! #proverbs #wisdom #somethingtochewon #itsaheartthing #rememberweareBeloved