verseoftheday

Friday! Proverbs! [27] I was there when he established the heavens, when he drew the horizon on the oceans. [28] I was there when he set the clouds above, when he established springs deep in the earth.  [29] I was there when he set the limits of the seas, so they would not spread beyond their boundaries.  And when he marked off the earth's foundations, [30] I was the architect at his side. I was his constant delight, rejoicing always in his presence.  [31] And how happy I was with the world he created;  how I rejoiced with the human family! ... [33] Listen to my instruction and be wise. ... [35] For whoever finds me finds life... Proverbs 8:27-31, 33, 35 NLT This is a looong passage, this whole chapter is about the importance of Wisdom...and then theres this piece in the middle that kind of makes Wisdom "alive". Alive before Creation. Alive at Creation. Part of it. Its almost like this ancient book wants us to see Wisdom not as just an idea, more than a collection of...

Jesus gave the people strict orders not to tell anyone.  But the more he tried to silence them, the more eagerly they shared the news.  People were overcome with wonder, saying,  "He does everything well!  He even makes the deaf to hear and gives speech to those who can't speak." Mark 7:36-37 CEB If it was your friend who for their whole life couldn't hear or couldn't speak, and suddenly, miraculously, they could, you'd tell someone. If it was your daughter who was healed, wouldn't you want to let others know? It's not clear why Jesus wanted to damp things down, do things on the down low. Perhaps his message about the Kingdom was getting lost in the noise around healings, maybe even with his own team? Maybe he just needed space sometimes. But whatever Jesus' reasons were, people couldn't stop telling others about Jesus.  About what he had done in their lives. Their experience. Perhaps this is Mark's invitation to us too...to simply share ou...

Mark 7:34-35 CEB Looking into heaven, Jesus sighed deeply and said, "Ephphatha," which means, "Open up." At once, his ears opened, his twisted tongue was released, and he began to speak clearly. Mark 7:34-35 CEB Why did Jesus need a direct line with heaven to heal this man? Just a few verses earlier and Jesus was having a conversation with a woman and almost as an aside Jesus said to her that her daughter was healed. No calling on heaven needed. Did Jesus need more help because this man's problems were particularly difficult? Mark is no help. I'm left wondering 2 things; if his cry to heaven was modelling something for his disciples for when he is no longer with them. And/or that Jesus in his humanity has a need. He can't do this healing in his own human limitation. What do you think? And what does this story mean for us? Jesus was wanting to shift something in another person's life and asked Heaven to "open up" to make away - who am I pray...

Mark 7:32-33 CEB [32] Some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly speak, and they begged him to place his hand on the man for healing. [33] Jesus took him away from the crowd by himself and put his fingers in the man's ears. Then he spit and touched the man's tongue. Mark 7:32-33 CEB Do you notice the pattern in the way Jesus meets with people, the pattern in the way these healings unfold? No I didn't notice it either - they all seem different.  Crowds, no crowds, touch, no touch, distance, and this one so up close Jesus poked his fingers in the man's ears, and it seems put his spit on his tongue! Very strange! Jesus meets people in different ways. And there is no reason why given. Perhaps this is what we're meant to see, that Jesus meets with people in different ways, that comparing isn't helpful, and if we try to figure it out we probably won't get an explanation... Perhaps this is about Faith. Faith in a person who is at least as comple...

Mark 7:31 CEB [31] After leaving the region of Tyre, Jesus went through Sidon toward the Galilee Sea through the region of the Ten Cities.  Mark 7:31 CEB This is at least 2 days walk and Jesus is on the move - he's just come from Jerusalem to Tyre and now on the move again. The thing that interested me about this account is that Tyre and Sidon are now in a country called Lebanon. I tend to think of countries and borders as permanent things...but they haven't always been there. Jesus moved from place to place, no border control, no passport. That got me thinking about Jesus IN my life - He wants access everywhere but I'm the one who puts up Border Controls in my heart. Not sure I want Jesus going There. Yet He wants to keep moving. He moved around teaching, encouraging, challenging, and healing. Healing. Maybe that's what He is up to in the cross Border excursions in my heart... He wants His Redemptive Love to permeate all of me, all of us... #gospelofMark #GoodNews  #in...

Sunday Psalms; Psalms 10:1, 17-18 CEB [1] Why do you stand so far away, LORD, hiding yourself in troubling times?   ... [17]   LORD, you listen to the desires of those who suffer.  You steady their hearts; you listen closely to them, to establish justice for the orphan and the oppressed, so that people of the land will never again be terrified. Psalms 10:1, 17-18 CEB This song asks one of those tough questions. Where are you God when bad things happen? When the world seems to be ruled by corruption and evil. When my life, my world, is upended, when things aren't as they "should" be. And the Redemptive Strand is here. He does listen. He is close. In Jesus He did make a way. And there will be Justice. There will be freedom, shalom, peace. One day all will be made new. The hope of the Gospel, the Good News, is here.  It's OK to want to see God's Justice now, in a world where so much seems upsidedown, in the same way the writer of this song wanted to see that, ...

Jude 1:24-25 CEB To the one who is able to protect you from falling,  and to present you blameless and rejoicing before his glorious presence,  to the only God our savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, belong glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time, now and forever. Amen. Jude 1:24-25 CEB When it seems that nothing or no one in this world can hold us, Jesus can. When our grief or hurt or despair or sense of unjustice, our fears, seem too big for us, Jude reminds us that we are held by someone bigger. When we don't believe we are enough, that in our humanity we're not good enough, and definitlely not good enough for our God, Jude reminds us that Jesus absorbs all of the blame, and sees us as complete, all we were meant to be. Jude reminds us that we are seen, known, and dearly loved. By the Eternal. Because He can. Because He chooses to. Because He is Love. We may get glimpses of what it's like to be fully known and fully loved, but one day that will become ou...