verseoftheday

Owe nothing to anyone - except for your obligation to love one another.  If you love your neighbor,  you will fulfill the requirements of God's law.  For the commandments say,  "You must not commit adultery.  You must not murder. You must not steal.  You must not covet." These - and other such commandments - are summed up in this one commandment:  "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no wrong to others,  so love fulfills the requirements of God's law. Romans 13:8-10 NLT If we want a simple guide to our choices, our actions, our way of being in the world, a one line summary of what being a Christian is, perhaps it's here, as Paul  ties in all that he has been talking about in his letter so far into this: Love does no wrong to others,  Love your neighbour as yourself. As I step into this day, how can I make my choices, my responses, based on this: Love does no wrong to others,  Love your neighbour as yourself. As I go about all...

May those who try to destroy me be humiliated and put to shame.  May those who take delight in my trouble be turned back in disgrace. Let them be horrified by their shame,  for they said,  Aha!  "We've got him now!" But may all who search for you be filled with joy and gladness in you. May those who love your salvation repeatedly shout,  "The Lord is great!" As for me,  since I am poor and needy,  let the Lord keep me in his thoughts.  You are my helper and my savior.  O my God,  do not delay. Psalms 40:14-17 NLT I appreciate that we get to hear David's inner thoughts here, the ones we have but usually don't share with anyone - we want justice! "May those who try to destroy me be humiliated and put to shame." David wants justice. If we have those thoughts it's OK to express them. David just doesn't leave it there tho - he expresses his hurt and turns again and again towards God. Nothing in his story is resolved, yet he steps  again ...

Lord, don't hold back your tender mercies from me.  Let your unfailing love and faithfulness always protect me.  For troubles surround me - too many to count! My sins pile up so high I cant see my way out. They outnumber the hairs on my head.  I have lost all courage. Please,  Lord,  rescue me!  Come quickly,  Lord,  and help me. Psalms 40:11-13 NLT When we've run out of courage, when it all seems too much, when the "pile" is so high it's overwhelming, we can find voice for that in this psalm. David wrote a lot more songs than this one, more lament and sadness, and more praise and thanksgiving too.  When we're in the middle of whatever "it" is, this song gives us voice, gives us an invitation to express our hearts too, and a reminder that that the middle is not the end. #psalms #songs  #voice #yourvoicematters

You take no delight in sacrifices or offerings. Now that you have made me listen, I finally understand - you don't require burnt offerings or sin offerings.  Then I said,  "Look, I have come. As is written about me in the Scriptures: I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart." I have told all your people about your justice.  I have not been afraid to speak out,  as you,  O Lord,  well know.  I have not kept the good news of your justice hidden in my heart;  I have talked about your faithfulness and saving power.  I have told everyone in the great assembly of your unfailing love and faithfulness. Psalms 40:6-10 NLT At the heart of this song is this characteristic of our God: Justice Not only will His Unfailing Love and Faithfulness make everything new, He will somehow, make everything Right. Justice. We all know somewhere in our lives the sting, the hurt, the wounds of injustice, and David invites us ...

Sunday Psalms; I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me  and heard my cry.  He lifted me out of the pit of despair,  out of the mud  and the mire.  He set my feet on solid ground  and steadied me  as I walked along.  He has given me a new song to sing,  a hymn of praise to our God... Psalms 40:1-3 NLT We don't like waiting. Or is it just me? Waiting in queues. Waiting for my laptop to startup. Saving, waiting to buy something. It's like our culture is telling us there's something bad about waiting. Waiting on God. Somehow David found a way to wait for God.  To trust Him enough to be patient. Where was David? In a place where the ground didn't feel solid. A place where there's uncertainty. He felt stuck.  In mud.  In a pit of despair. Stuck in a place that he didn't want to be, didn't ask for, and it's awful.  And he's crying out. Crying for help. To God, who it seemed had turned away. If some or all ...

Let no debt remain outstanding,  except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. Romans 13:8 NIV Paul has just told his readers to pay their taxes, and uses money - the owing of money - again as a metaphor - a debt to pay, which at the same time doesn't get paid...a lot like taxes it seems... Does it connect with our Big Ideas from earlier in the letter? "...I urge you...to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice...this is your true and proper worship.  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans 12:1-2 Could this transforming worship, this non conformity to the patterns of the world be as simple as loving others? Could it be that all of The Law is fulfilled by simply loving others? Could it all be that simple? (Not that loving others is an easy or simple thing to do) What changes when we love people - not as a transaction but as a way of being? Simply loving people t...

Friday! Proverbs! As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so are sluggards to those who send them. Proverbs 10:26 NIV Can you feel the irritation of the smoke in your eyes, teeth on edge? And "sluggard" is not a word I'd use but gets me thinking...and who is sending this "sluggard" and where are they going in a way that is so irritating? If Proverbs is an invitation to check on my own heart and motivations, where am I a sluggard? And how does that irritate me? Can the "smoke in the eyes" motivate me to change or shift something? Am I characterised by making a lazy choice? (& does that lazy choice feel like vinegar on my teeth? Or am I now immune to that?) What does this Proverb invite us towards, to consider, to think on, in our own story? #proverbs #wisdom #somethingtochewon #itsaheartthing  #invitation