verseoftheday

Psalms 34 MSG I bless God every chance I get;  my lungs expand with his praise.  I live and breathe God;  if things aren't going well,  hear this and be happy:  ... God met me more than halfway,  he freed me from my anxious fears.  Look at him;  give him your warmest smile.  Never hide your feelings from him.  When I was desperate,  I called out,  and God got me out of a tight spot.  God's angel sets up a circle of protection around us while we pray. Open your mouth and taste,  open your eyes and see - how good God is. Blessed are you who run to him.  Worship God if you want the best;  worship opens doors to all his goodness.  ... Come,  children,  listen closely;  I'll give you a lesson in God worship.  Who out there has a lust for life?  Can't wait each day to come upon beauty? Guard your tongue from profanity, and no more lying through your teeth. Turn your back on sin; do so...

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;  he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. Psalms 34:18 NLT Writing psalms, songs, poetry is a personal journey, a download of where the writer is at in their internal world, their heart, spirit, emotions, thoughts.  This one is written by David, and here, right in the middle of our Bible is someone who uses some of the same word pictures that we do to explain what is going on; being brokenhearted,  having a spirit that is crushed. David also experienced God's nearness, and somehow, in some way, rescue. Being brokenhearted, feeling crushed, are part of being human, expressed here by David 3000 years ago, and by Jesus, 2000 years ago, and in some way experienced by all of us...perhaps the invitation of this song is to invite our God into our brokenheartedness, into our crushedness, because He knows what it is to be human... #psalms  #songs  #redemptivestrands #hopeishere 

Psalms 34:4-5 NLT I prayed to the Lord,  and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy;  no shadow of shame will darken their faces. Psalms 34:4-5 NLT David was on the run from Saul, afraid. Ended up in the city of the Philistines, afraid. What was the shame he was carrying?  Perhpas that's something familiar, that shame that "darkens your face".  David's invitation here is to follow his story and to "look to him for help", to the Lord, to YHWH, to Yahweh. This implies an acknowledgement of who Yahweh is, that we're in His Big Story of Love and Redemption, that we can hold on to the redemptive strand and let His Light shine on our story, our shame, into our heart...is that what we need today? #psalms #songs  #redemptivestrands #hopeishere #weareBeloved 

Sunday Psalms; Psalms 34:1-3 NLT I will praise the Lord at all times.  I will constantly speak his praises. I will boast only in the Lord;  let all who are helpless take heart. Come, let us tell of the Lord's greatness;  let us exalt his name together. Psalms 34:1-3 NLT The context of this song, this poem, this psalm, is that David was on the run from Saul, running for his life, and had pretended to be crazy, out of his mind, so that Abimilech, the Philistine king, would not see him as a threat and let him go (1 Samuel 21-22). (David had killed Goliath and had his sword). I'm not sure if this poem is David thanking God for giving him the idea and using that to save him, or saving him anyway despite what he chose to do in that situation. But what stood out for me today was this phrase: "let all who are helpless take heart." In the midst of his opening part of this song praising God: "let all who are helpless take heart." He had felt helpless.  If we have ever...

With lots of words comes wrongdoing,  but the wise restrain their lips.   Proverbs 10:19 CEB Can we locate Jesus in this Proverb? Jesus was prone to "pesha", to revolt, to rebellion, but it was against injustice and against unjust systems. His revolt was not in the way people expected... When it came to the will of the Father he was completely aligned, no turning away, even in the Garden of Gethsemane when everything in Him wanted to... And when Jesus was before Pilate he was silent. When tempted by the Enemy he just quoted Scripture. And often Jesus would just ask a question... Asking a question, sharing Scripture, staying silent, perhaps that's the restraint of the wise that this Proverb invites us towards... #proverbs  #wisdom #somethingtochewon #itsaheartthing 

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...