verseoftheday

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he went to the temple again, and all the people were coming to him. He sat down and began to teach them. John 8:1-2 CSB The Pharisees, those with power & authority were furious.  Half the people seemed to believe in Jesus, their own staff did, and one of their own, Nicodemus, was challenging them. If Jesus is who he says he is, then they may think they're redundant. At the very least their power shrinks, and their ability to control people disappears, and their income drops. And what does Jesus do? Just goes about his business. God's kingdom business. He's simply continuing to do what is right. In the face of opposition from those in power Jesus just keeps on doing what is right.  At the moment we live with freedom of faith. That might not always be the case. My opposition comes as much from within: what will people think if I do that? Since Covid church is livestreamed, people who I work with or study with might see me if ...

And he subjected everything under his feet and appointed him as head over everything for the church,  which is his body,  the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way. Ephesians 1:22-23 CSB The picture here is that we, the church are Jesus's body.  Our body is not unconnected from our mind, our spirit, the essence of who we are.  We are embodied souls. We feel emotions in our bodies, we respond in the physical realm to our thoughts, to the direction of our spirit, we live out who we are in our bodies. And that seems to be the insepersble oneness that we, the church, God's people, now have in and with Jesus.  One can no longer work, maybe the word is live, seperarely any more. Yes it's personal, but it's us together.  Together we make up the body. And our God wants all of us. As a body, all of us is important, and no one wins unless we all win.  We finish together. Just like our bodies are made up of different things, so is the church. The ...

And he subjected everything under his feet and appointed him as head over everything for the church,  which is his body,  the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way. Ephesians 1:22-23 CSB Everything. Everything is under his feet. When we feel lost, defeated, when we think we're beyond repair, beyond God's grace, too far away from His love, this passage tells us that cannot be true. He is enough. He is big enough. And while at times it seems that the world and the enemy has won, it's not true. Rest in that today. #lovewithoutmeasure

Friday! Proverbs! There is no wisdom  or understanding  Or counsel  against the Lord. Proverbs 21:30 NKJV Most translations include the words can stand against or will prevail against the Lord.  That may well be a sensible translation of the meaning here and there may well be some nuance in the Hebrew that indicates that. It puts the wisdom of people at odds with God.  And we see that all the time, even within ourselves.  I make choices from my own wisdom that are at odds with God's wisdom. I think I know better than Him. Better than Yahweh. But I wonder if this raw translation that we have here is actually what the writer wanted to convey. That wisdom, understanding, & counsel will always, in the end, not be against Yahweh, against God, but point to Him, reveal Him, show Him in some way.  Wisdom Understanding Counsel We simply can't filter out all our interpretation, all our experiences, all our culture, all our sin, but even with all that going o...

He exercised this power in Christ by raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens - far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age but also in the one to come. Ephesians 1:20-21 CSB Quite a picture of where Jesus is, who he is. What words come to mind as you read those verses? Jesus has been resurrected to a place of glory and honour. Big. Glorious. Something beyond my knowledge. He is our living hope, and one day we will see him face to face in all that glory. And. That's what he left.  He left all that to shrink himself into a human, to walk around, to wash feet, to serve, and to take on the world's sin. He didn't have to, but chose to. He chose you. He chose us.  He decided that we were, that we are, worth it. #dearlyloved #lovewithoutmeasure

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the mighty working of his strength. Ephesians 1:18-19 CSB The second part of Paul's prayer is about the greatness of God's power.  And the direction of that power. Towards us. He is for us.  In the next few verses Paul describes what the outworking of that power looked like, the resurrection of Jesus. His prayer here, is that we won't lose sight of the resurrection, or that our eyes would be opened so that we will understand more of what it means, and how we live in the light of that.  As I read this prayer I'm challenged about the selfishness of my own prayers sometimes. I wonder what would shift if I started my day asking God to enlighten the eyes of my heart. I'm seeing, but need enlightening. What Lord, do yo...

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,  the glorious Father, would give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. Ephesians 1:17 CSB When I pray for someone often it's about fixing something. Something is broken. Something in this world, something in a person, something in their body or mind or heart that is broken. And I want it fixed.  I don't think there's anything wrong with those prayers, but Paul gives us a start point in his prayer here that maybe shifts things. He acknowledges God the three-in-one nature of God, and prays that the people he is writing to would know more of Him. More of God. This morning, may you and I, no matter what we face today, what lies ahead this week, be given the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, may we know more of who God is, may his priorities for this world be a little clearer, may our desire to follow him be a little stronger, may we step into today, into this week with a little more security in the grace th...

3 Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him... 7 In him we have redemption through his blood... 11 In him we have also received an inheritance.. 13 In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit... 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his calling,  what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe... Ephesians 1:3-4, 7, 11, 13, 18-19 CSB If you ever feel like you're in this alone, if you ever think that you have to do this life in your own strength, if you ever think that no one is for you, Ephesians 1 says otherwise. Not only are you; Seen Known Chosen Adopted Redeemed Made an heir Sealed by the Spirit But it's all done "in him", in Jesus, by his power. Our hope is in him. Not in my power, strength, ...

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.  At dawn he went to the temple again, and all the people were coming to him.  He sat down and began to teach them. John 8:1-2 CSB The Pharisees had been reduced to name calling and labelling. Half the people seemed to believe in Jesus, their own staff, and even one of their own, Nicodemus, had called them out for not following their own rules. And Jesus just carried on doing his thing. Early morning going to the hub of life in the town, sitting down with people, and teaching. And people wanted to hear him.  Lots of them. He wasn't chasing the powerful, the elite, but happy to meet the ordinary. I wonder what Jesus was teaching that day, what his message was.  I wonder what he would be teaching in my town. Or if he turned up at my house, what his message would be for the people gathered there.  I wonder what he'd have to say to me today. Somehow I think we would know that God is love, light, truth, and justice, and that we a...

Friday! Proverbs! The wicked put up a bold front,  but the upright give thought to their ways. Proverbs 21:29 NIV With so much communication online, with the opportunity to create a face to the world via Facebook, Instagram, we all can put on that bold front. Something to hide behind. I would hide behind being a joker.  What do you hide behind? It's actually OK not to be OK. It's OK to be real. It's OK not to put up a front. It's OK to not be like everyone else. It's OK not to hide. The other person in this proverb gives thought to their ways.  How much thought do I give to my ways? Paul gives a super strong warning in Romans 12 not to be confirmed to this age, to the thinking of this world, but to think in the light of God's mercy, His grace. If we give thought to our ways in the light of living in God's world, in the grace of Jesus redeeming work, walking in tune with the Spirit, then we can start to let the mask go.  We can put down the bold front, be les...

The Spirit is God's guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him. Ephesians 1:14 NLT Seen Known Chosen Adopted Redeemed Forgiven And inheritors of something from God.  Because we're on His mind.  And just in case we don't get any of that He has given us the Spirit as a guarantee of all that is to come  Why would our God pay the price to bring us back to Himself? Why wouldn't He just start again? We're not just some cosmic video game that He just presses the reset button on.  We mean something to Him. In all our humanness and messedupness He loves us.  Our God wants us with Him. We're important to Him. You're important to Him. Right now. In this moment. #dearlyloved #lovewithoutmeasure

Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God... Ephesians 1:11 NLT Have you ever received an inheritance? It's something that someone who cares for you has worked for or developed or owned, and has kept it for you. Named you as the recipient. They were thinking about you. Thinking about you in advance. God was thinking of you from before time and has something for you.  Not because of what we've acheived, but because we're united with Jesus. Connected to him. We're: Seen Known Chosen Adopted Redeemed Forgiven And inheritors of something from God.  Because we're on His mind.  #dearlyloved

He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. Ephesians 1:7 NLT The price has been paid, but not by us, but by God himself.  He decided that we were worth it.  Worthy. Worthy of love. Worthy of belonging. And our God paid the price for our belonging.  Our redemption. And in that great act of sorrow and love, our sins, my sins, your sins, are forgiven.  Paid for.  We are set free from any penalty, not from anyrhing we have done, but from what God did, by putting it all on Jesus.  He doesn't wait for us, but made a way. He is for you, as you are, right now, in this moment.  This is Grace in action. Love at work. Not only are we: Seen Known Chosen Adopted We are also Redeemed And  Forgiven #thingstorestin #truth #truthtostandon #grace #lovewithoutmeasure

God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. Ephesians 1:5 NLT Known from before time  Seen as all you can be Chosen as you are Adopted into God's family, because He wants you there.  If you've ever felt unloved, unwanted, rejected, lost, then these words expressing God's heart for you are yours to hang on to, to let seep into your soul.  He loves you. He loves you because He loves you.  He loves you from the imagination of the Eternal. He loves you from the vision of you as all you were made to be, holy and blameless. And He loves you now. Chooses you. Adopts you as His own. As you are. In this moment. And God does not unadopt.  These concepts are trying to help us see just how valued and valuable we are. How valued and valuable you are. Not to the universe, to the world, but to our God.  The Eternal. Our hearts are finite and we can only...

Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,  who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world,  to be holy and blameless in love before him. Ephesians 1:3-4 CSB  Not only are you seen and known from before time, chosen and loved, you are seen complete, whole, in all that you were designed to be. Holy. Blameless. It's so easy to see ourselves in the opposite of these things, but that's not how God sees you. He is Love. And He, the holy, righteous, blameless one, sees us, sees you, as holy. As blameless. Is God naive? Blinded by love?  Because I'm not like that. It's the cross that changes everything. From before time Yahweh saw you in all your potential, in all your goodness, and the cross is the way that this becomes reality. At the cross where Jesus' holiness and blamelessness became ours.  Yours. Mine. Yahweh is not blinded by love, it's the radiance of His love th...

Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,  who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world,  to be holy and blameless in love before him. Ephesians 1:3-4 CSB  Have you ever imagined something before you started drawing it, building it, baking it, making it? Somehow, before any of this started, before creation, God imagined us. Imagined you. Could see you in his mind.  He saw you. In all that you could be. It's like God knew you from before time. Not only did He see you, and know you, He chose you. We're so limited and can only choose a small number of people to do life with.  But God is not limited like we are, but He is personal. He saw you from before time. Knows you. Chooses you. How good is that? #somethingtorestin #seen #known #chosen #dearlyloved

Friday! Proverbs! A false witness will perish,  But a person who listens will speak forever. Proverbs 21:28 NASB2020 There's two people here, a false witness, and a person who listens. Seems odd. Does the listener listen to the liar? Or are they listening to someone else? Does the person who listens gain more wisdom so their words last? If you read different Bible versions translators have tried to make sense of this proverb. In the context of God's Big Story there is a false witness, a liar, a deceiver, and his fate is already determined. He will perish. And there is One who's words will go on forever, who's Word is eternal, will never fade.  In Him we have our hope. And here He is described as one who listens. Our God is all about relationships, and relationships never work without listening.  If I ask for a list of God's characteristics I wonder how long it would take to get to "our God is a listener". This proverb seems to point that way.  Jesus was no...

Nicodemus - the one who came to him previously and who was one of them - said to them, "Our law doesn't judge a man before it hears from him and knows what he's doing, does it?" "You aren't from Galilee too, are you?" they replied.  "Investigate and you will see that no prophet arises from Galilee." Then each one went to his house. John 7:50-53 CSB Half the crowd, their own staff, and now one of their own are saying maybe Jesus is who he says he is. And the Pharisees continue to double down,   not even interested in engaging, but name calling and labelling those who don't agree with them. And now it's Jesus.  He's from the wrong place.  He's one of "them".  From "there". That for them was the end of the argument. He's not one of "us", so we've all got homes to go to, just go home. How often have I missed a gem from someone because they're from "there"? How often have I overlook...

Nicodemus - the one who came to him previously and who was one of them - said to them, "Our law doesn't judge a man before it hears from him and knows what he's doing, does it?" John 7:50-51 CSB In John ch3 this guy, Nico, sets up a secret late night meeting with Jesus. He has questions, and goes to the source. His colleagues are not interested in finding out anything about Jesus.  Here Nico takes them back to their own values, and asks them to slow down and consider what they're doing in light of what they say is so important to them. They can't live up to their own values. Tim Keller describes a thought experiment to imagine listening to a recording of my day and assess how I'm living out values that I hold. How many times would I hear myself breach my own values, let alone God's? The Pharisees not only highlight my own heart, but the need that I have for grace. Fortunately for me, grace is something God has an abundance of, grace that was embodied i...

Then the servants came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them,  "Why didn't you bring him?" The servants answered,  "No man ever spoke like this!" Then the Pharisees responded to them,  "Are you fooled too? Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in him?  But this crowd, which doesn't know the law, is accursed." John 7:45-49 CSB OK back to John's gospel...the Pharisees are apolectic now. Half the people are believing in Jesus, their own staff are in revolt, and their arguments have gone to the level of name calling. Labelling. And as much as I detest the Pharisees, I carry those same things in my heart (not about Jesus tho)...when things don't go my way, when people don't seem to be listening to me, and I drift   into labelling. Name calling. Their hearts are exposed here (just as mine can be). Jesus wants us to follow him. When the greatest heat possible was on him, on the cross, what do we hear?  Acknowledgment of rea...

...and I will live in the house of the Lord forever. Psalms 23:6 NLT Places. This is the last place in this Psalm, this song. If we just sit with this place, the "house of the Lord", the home of Yahweh, what comes to mind? Maybe the other places in this song are helpful; Quiet waters Green pastures Life, goodness, flourishing. The table.  The one who made a way. The dark valley...will we even remember it? Every tear will be wiped away there. Tears will be acknowledged tho, they'll be OK, and they'll be wiped away, the hurt absorbed by the One who gave himself for us. All will be made new there.  How does that work?  I don't know.  For today I choose to trust in the One who does, who's place we get to live in, the One who is good. #psalms #psalm23 #places #onedayallwillbemadenew #dearlyloved #childrenofGod  

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;  Psalms 23:5 CSB Another place. Darkest valley. Green pastures. Quiet waters. A meal table. And the enemy, David uses "my enemies". I don't know if he's referring to the Evil One, to the forces of this world, to people who have hurt us, or want to, to some of our own thoughts, our own desires, or some combination of these. But no matter what, Yahweh, our God, is at work. Serving. Preparing. Preparing a table. That speaks of nourishment and goodness for us even though our enemy is still there. He is at work. This word for table is also used in the temple as a place to prepare the sacrifice.  This table being prepared in front of our enemy is Jesus.  It's Jesus who is with us in the valley, finding nourishment, pasture, it's Jesus who is the living water, the quiet stream, and it's Jesus who is the sacrifice, prepared in front of our enemies, who overcame our ultimate enemy, death, so that we might...

The Lord is my shepherd; I have what I need. He lets me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside quiet waters. Even when I go through the darkest valley... Psalms 23:1-2, 4 Places.  David creates these little pictures of places; Green pastures. For a sheep this would be nourishment, plenty, goodness. Rest. Quiet waters. No rushing rivers here. A place to drink.  To rest. The dark valley. Unknown, foreboding, dark, feels difficult, frightening. A place we'd rather avoid. I wonder whether when we're in the dark valley that our Good Shepherd can find patches of green pasture. Even there, there's nourishment and goodness to be found.  I wonder whether there's still waters, places to drink and rest, even when we're in the valley.  In my sheepness I can walk right past places of rest & nourishment. We need the Good Shepherd to lead, to let us rest, find nourishment, even though, even when we're in the dark valley. #psalms #psalm23 #eventhough #places #rest

Friday! Proverbs! Religious performance by the wicked stinks;  it's even worse when they use it to get ahead. Proverbs 21:27 MSG Sometimes you've just got to love The Message version... Whether it's civic leaders or politicians or the ordinary hypocrite who uses the church, God's name, prayer, even giving as some kind of self promotion or in a way that helps them. It stinks. But when I examine my own heart, there's been days when I have not given with a happy heart, not served willingly, taken communion when my heart is far from being in tune with God... Proverbs are about seeing the world as it is, and about helping me see my heart for what it is sometimes. The bad news is that there are days when I am the person in this proverb.  The good news is that even on those days I am loved by our gracious and forgiving heavenly Father. He is patient. Kind. He believes in me. He believes in you.  And asks us to follow His lead into the world with patience, with kindness, t...

The servants answered, "No man ever spoke like this!" Then the Pharisees responded to them,  "Are you fooled too? Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in him?  But this crowd, which doesn't know the law, is accursed." John 7:46-49 CSB The Pharisees are not interested in anyone else's view. Not their staff, and definitely not the ordinary people.  No one like us, no one like me, agrees with you. All the people with power, those who dress like I do, went to the same university as me, look like me, they all agree with me.  We're always right. Gotta say there's times when I've got the same attitude. Not listening.  And rather than listen, just like the Pharisees, pop a label on people who have a different view...the Pharisees open a view to my own heart that I don't like to see. People with power don't have to listen, don't have to be curious. If only the Pharisees had been, they were missing the most important person in the histo...

Then the servants came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them,  "Why didn't you bring him?" The servants answered, "No man ever spoke like this!" John 7:45-46 CSB The crowd was divided, and now the staff are rebelling. They were sent to bring Jesus in, but they heard enough of what Jesus had to say to put their jobs on the line, to tell their bosses that they're wrong, that it's time to listen to Jesus.  Even today I can judge Jesus based on a Sunday school story, a song, a Christmas carol. But the servants of the Pharisees here challenge us from down the centuries to hear Jesus for ourselves, to take off our cultural blinders and our own ideas, and let Jesus speak. Living water is not something passive, it's active, rejuvenating, bringing goodness, change, life. It's restoring, blessing, building up. It's cleansing, washing, purifying, making new. The staff of the Pharisees were steeped in the rules, and the expectations of other...

When some from the crowd heard these words, they said,  "This truly is the Prophet." Others said,  "This is the Messiah." But some said,  "Surely the Messiah doesn't come from Galilee, does he?  Doesn't the Scripture say that the Messiah comes from David's offspring and from the town of Bethlehem, where David lived?" So the crowd was divided because of him. Some of them wanted to seize him, but no one laid hands on him. John 7:40-44 CSB We love certainty.  Different people seemed certain about different things; Belief in Jesus as a prophet. Belief in Jesus as Messiah. Belief that Jesus is a fraud. Jesus was right there at the height of a key religious festival, telling people he was the source of living water. People locked onto certainty, prophet, Messiah, fraud. They seemed to bypass the mystery of living water, what that could mean for them, and focussed on the labels. Jesus was judged. Had a label put on him. Labels contain.  They're ho...

"The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him." He said this about the Spirit.  Those who believed in Jesus were going to receive the Spirit, for the Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified. John 7:38-39 CSB Something was still to happen on Jesus journey, but here the promise is for those who believe that the Spirit will dwell in us. Deep within. I tend to forget this.  I keep looking for God to be at work "out there" in my circumstances, or in others circumstances.  Fix that. Please. But the Spirit is like living water flowing from within. I learned about this concept last week: ecotones.  Where two different systems meet is where life happens. Where water meets the desert for example. It's the same where people meet, communities meet, where cultures meet, and where the Spirit meets us.  Within. Life happens. Hope springs up. And life flows out of us into the li...

The Lord is my shepherd; I have what I need.   Even when I go through the darkest valley,  I fear no danger,  for you are with me; Psalms 23:1, 4 CSB Trust. Hope. Trust. This first statement from David is one of trust.  Yahweh, God, is my shepherd, so, no matter what I think, or feel, or what my circumstances say, I'm going to trust Him. In Him I'm OK. Trust. Hope. This dark place, David describes as a valley. Been there? Maybe you're there today. Why is this hope? Because it's not final. No matter how slow progress is the valley is not the destination but somewhere we pass through.  Hope because we're not alone in it. Trust It can feel lonely in the dark, in the valley, but Yahweh is with us. It can be dangerous. There are reasons to be afraid.  In that, trust that He is good. Trust ourselves to His care, to follow His words not ours, to believe what He says about us and to us. Trust that He is good, and that's enough. I have what I need. #sunday #wo...

A lazy man's craving will kill him,  because his hands refuse to work  - he covets greedily all day long;  but a righteous person gives without holding back. Proverbs 21:CJB Coveting vs giving. Maybe it's just me that has this battle? The writer of this proverb knew all about it. I know what it's like to covet all day long, but how often do I give without holding back? The most beautiful things can happen when we give without holding back.  Art is created. Music is made. Things are built. Books are written. Dreams become, start to become, reality. Hope is kindled. Lives are changed.  Joy is found. Shalom happens. Jesus loved without holding back, and he's the one we follow.  Maybe we're holding back because we want something, covet something first.  Jesus didn't wait for us. There's a scariness in not holding back, but maybe that's where the goodness is found, where life is. Maybe it's that part of me, my heart I'm holding back from God. Is there...