verseoftheday

Friday! Proverbs! Trusting an unreliable person in a difficult time is like a rotten tooth or a faltering foot. Proverbs 25:19 CSB We don't need these metaphors to know just how bad it is to trust some people. Yet we do.  Because we want to see the best in people and want to believe that they won't let us down again.  A rotten tooth doesn't appear overnight. It's a long time coming, a pattern of behaviour.  A faltering foot...when you really need it, at a vulnerable time, it fails, and you trip, fall. When someone's behaviour is entrenched, believe it.  On the other side of that coin is "let's not be that unreliable person in others lives".  Having boundaries, knowing our limitations, being OK with saying "no", being characterised by doing what we say we will is the flip side of this proverb.  #proverbs #wisdom #somethingtochewon

Grace to you  and peace  from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:3 CSB May you know God's grace to you today. May our eyes, ears, hearts be open for a glimpse today.  May you know God's peace today.  Our circumstances aren't always peaceful but our hearts can still know God's peace. According to Paul both God the Father and Jesus want to minister to us today. Let them do that... #corinthians #gracetoyou #peacetoyou

To the church of God at Corinth,  to those sanctified in Christ Jesus,  called as saints,  with all those  in every place  who call  on the name  of Jesus Christ our Lord - both their Lord and ours. 1 Corinthians 1:2 CSB Can you feel Paul's warm embrace from down the centuries? Feel his inclusion? He's not worried about where we're from, where we are, what we look like, what we've been through, what we're facing, what the world thinks of us or how it ranks us. He doesn't negate or write off any of those things as unimportant, simply if you call Jesus Lord, you've been sanctified, actually this is a verb so being sanctified, being made holy ("hagiazo" to make holy, to consecrate, set apart, purify...it's done and being done), made holy and being made holy at the same time.  Included. Wrapped in. This is a picture of God's love and the community that He wants. Included. Wrapped in. Holy and being made holy. The community he wants us to be in,...

Paul,  called as an apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will,  and Sosthenes our brother: 1 Corinthians 1:1 CSB How many times have we read this and never wondered about Sosthenes? Yes Paul is giving his audience his short introduction, his authority in writing this letter, but he's also happy to share co-authorship with Sosthenes.  It took so little to include this person. Paul had all the authority and could've carried on with his letter without mentioning Sosthenes at all, but didn't. A small act of inclusion and care. How often do I miss the opportunity to do that? Miss the opportunity to greet someone, to include someone, to invite someone in, or to give them credit or recognition? "Lord today help me to keep my eyes and my heart open to those around me.  Help me to see people as you do and not miss an opportunity to include, to invite, to give credit or to thank as I go about my day.  Amen" #belikepaul #corinthians #dangerousprayers 

God made the two great lights - the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night - as well as the stars. Genesis 1:16 CSB As well as the stars.  It's almost a throw away line. As well as all this goodness on the earth as a wee side project He made the stars.  For us. For us to see and ponder on and drink in the beauty of, and discover, and wonder about. For us to get an idea of who God is. To wonder. Maybe it's not the stars that grab you about creation, but the intricacy and design and marvelousness of the world around us, the world in us, and the world beyond us is there for us to uncover, to discover, and to wonder. And it points us to a Creator  Someone who created with intention and with care. Someone who created for us.  May today you get some moments to sit with some part of creation and wonder. #genesis #songofcreation #wonder

Sunday Psalms: Help, Lord,  for no faithful one remains;  the loyal have disappeared  from the human race. Psalms 12:1 CSB Ever felt like you're alone. That no one gets you. That no one is on your team? David knew what that's like because he's written about it here.  They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and deceptive hearts. Psalms 12:2 CSB And it doesn't take long to get to the heart. The heart that generates that talk.  May the Lord cut off all flattering lips and the tongue that speaks boastfully. Psalms 12:3 CSB Sometimes it's good to find the words we'd like to say in Scripture. This is such a human response to what David is facing. It's OK to express how we really feel. They say,  "Through our tongues we have power; our lips are our own - who can be our master?" Psalms 12:4 CSB It's all about power. The power of ideas expressed.  This is what David was up against. This age old battle that goes right back to the Garden ...

Then God said,  "Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds." And it was so.  The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And  God  saw  that  it  was  good. Genesis 1:11-12 CSB Have you noticed how this song is written with "and God said" and then what happened.  It's like a song. Or a dance. A creative process.  If we can humanise God for a minute it's like he is imagining, creating something in his mind, not out of things that already are, but things that are not yet.  God is using his imagination.  When we do the same thing we're just following our Creator. It's in our DNA.  So create.  Make stuff. Art, music, poetry, stories, buildings, cities, culture.  It's good. God saw that what he had made, all the plants and tree...

Friday! Proverbs! A person  giving false testimony against his neighbor  is like a club,  a sword,  or a sharp arrow. Proverbs 25:18 CSB It's like using a club against someone. It's like using a sword. And then there's the arrow. How relevant is this to our world today where I can say anything about anybody from a distance, from the safety of my keyboard. Using a club is up close, but firing an arrow, you can do that from a long way away, from relative safety. Seems obvious, so why is this Proverb here?There's only 2 people in this proverb. The person with all the weapons, and the neighbour.  Yes sometimes we are that neighbour and we have felt the effect of the club, the sword, the arrow of someone else lied about us.  But I think this Proverb is here to remind me that my words have power, and they can wound, they can hurt, they can destroy.  And it's here to make me wonder why I would give false testimony about someone else...because I get something ...

For we are his workmanship,  created in Christ Jesus for good works,  which God prepared ahead of time for us to do. Ephesians 2:10 CSB Easy to get caught up in the good works God has for us to do, and to skip over that "for we are His workmanship" part.  Have you ever made anything?  I can remember as a child making things out of clay. Maybe you've built something, knitted something, painted, written, or restored something. Put together a model, built a sandcastle at the beach, cleaned your car til it shone, sung a song... workmanship that you've held in your hands or in your mind, in your heart.  Do you know, can you recall what that's like? Our God's heart is for you just like that.  We are his workmanship. His beloved. And we're held in His mind, in His heart. Today, whatever is in front of you, rest in that.  You are God's beloved. #truthtorestin

The disciples went and did just as Jesus directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt; then they laid their clothes on them, and he sat on them. Matthew 21:6-7 CSB No crown. No sceptor. No soldiers. No TV cameras. No world leaders. No celebrities. No empire. No power. A borrowed donkey with the disciples jacket to sit on. And yet,  Saviour Messiah King Advocate Lamb Friend #kingdoms #upsidedownkingdom

...Jesus then sent two disciples, telling them, "Go into the village ahead of you. At once you will find a donkey tied there with her colt. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them at once." This took place so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled: "Tell Daughter Zion, See, your King is coming to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey." Matthew 21:1-5 CSB Last night we saw all the symbols of power that British culture could display at once, and it was spectacular, and historic, something to behold as QEII's funeral service unfolded  What is it that is so attractive about monarchy?  Is it the hope that someone can put things right, bring justice and peace and prosperity? And Jesus found the most humble way.  The least. His Kingdom is not caught up in or needs the trappings of this world, it's a kingdom of the heart. QEII by all ...

Then God said,  "Let there be  an expanse  between the waters, separating water  from water." So God made  the expanse  and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse.  And it was so. Genesis 1:6-7 CSB There's a lot going on here with water and dividing water and creating some kind of space. Is this the space, the atmosphere that we live in now with the right amount of oxygen for life and all that? God called the expanse "sky". Evening came  and then morning:  the second day. Genesis 1:7-8 CSB Does it seem mysterious to you? Big things are happening, God is speaking things into existence, the universe is being shaped by his voice, in stanza's, in movements, like a poem, a song, a symphony that is written and held in the mind of the composer and now being expressed into "being". This same God who invites us in, welcomes us as dearly loved children, who knows your name, is speaking stuff into being. #genesis #songof...

Sunday Psalms: Let him rain  burning coals  and sulfur  on the wicked;  let a scorching wind  be the portion  in their cup. Psalms 11:6 CSB Ever been lost for words that express just how you feel? Then you can find them in the Psalms!  David does not hold back on what he'd like to see happen, he is completely open...with God.  Our God is not afraid of our expression of hurt or anger or dismay or despair. Sunday is a day we often get together with others to praise and worship and honour God which is good and uplifting for us as we do that.  And we can have lots of thoughts and feelings about the world, about people, about how things are, about what is wrong, broken, damaged, bruised...and this Psalm, this song (can you imagine singing these lyrics?) give us permission to express them.  For the Lord  is righteous;  he loves righteous deeds.  The upright  will  see  his  face. Psalms 11:7 CSB And in that e...

If you find honey,  eat only what you need; otherwise,  you'll get sick from it and vomit.  Seldom set foot in your neighbors house; otherwise,  he'll get sick of you and hate you. Proverbs 25:16-17 CSB Here's the flip side to the too much honey coin, it's "annoying the neighbors".  As I've sat with this proverb this morning, I wonder if it can be used to put barriers between us. The way the culture I live in is organised I hardly ever see my neighbor.  When we lived in PNG there were no fences between houses and they were all on the same property. In the village some houses were arms length away, some had no doors.  I don't think this Proverb is trying to get us to examine our culture...but our hearts. The first part is about not consuming something good that in excess will cause harm or be wasted, encouraging us to control our wants.  The second part is when we can't see the impact of our choices on others. My heart is blinded to my neighbors ne...

Friday! Proverbs! If you find honey,  eat only what you need; otherwise,  you'll get sick from it  and vomit. Proverbs 25:16 CSB Classic. Good health advice. But somehow I don't think this is really about eating too much honey, it's a warning that my heart will want more.  Even if it's a good thing, my heart says that more must be better.  And I can get hooked on trying to recapture that first taste. We think that more of that good thing is going to be better, and we're all a bit different as to what that is...money, business, food, property, weights, km's run, likes, follows, wins...what captures our heart. Honey is a great analogy because it is good, good for us, but we only need some.  What captures our hearts? #proverbs #wisdom #somethingtochewon

Then God said,  "Let there be light", and there was light. Genesis 1:3 CSB "Let there be" is the word "hayah", which means "to fall out, to come to pass, to become, be" Out of the formless void of darkness, Te Korekore, the darkness that holds the potential for everything, light fell out.  Light became.  Light came to pass. Just maybe there's a picture here for us as image bearers of God, that the "light" of who God is, is within us, waiting to be called out, to fall out,  to become. Let there be light.  We've waited long enough.  Let there be light. It's ready to burst out. Let there be light It's there, infused in everything. Will you take a few minutes to sit with this song of creation today, to sit with the Creator as He sings from His creation, as Light that He called out, spoke into existence, let His Light rest on you and in you today... #genesis #songofcreation #lettherebelight

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Genesis 1:2 CSB As we sit with this description it's hard to see if the earth as we know it existed, but there was something. And God's Spirit was there. Hovering. The same word for a mother bird hovering over it's young. Teina Smith describes Te Korekore as the pitch black void that holds unlimited potential.  Unlimited potential.  Everything is there for everything and God's Spirit is hovering...what comes to mind? Maybe there's a picture here of us as people too, imbued with all the potentiality that God has infused into us...His Spirit hovering wanting to see us thrive and flourish... #genesis #songofcreation #youarefearfullyandwonderfullymade

In the beginning  God created  the heavens  and the earth. Genesis 1:1 NLT Sometimes it's good to just go back to the beginning. Go back to who started it all. Back to consider what was before. Back to consider who was before.  Before time. Before space. Before matter. And then there was something! The very first word is "reshith" which means beginning (as you'd expect) It also means "first fruits". Built in from before the beginning is fruit and flourishing and life. It's in the DNA of everything. When we're not flourishing, that's not how it's meant to be. And this flourishing life is what we glimpse from time to time, grasp occasionally, see in the beauty of people and places and creation and the created.  And when all is made new, we will know what was meant to be. We will know all the first fruits of creation, and everything will be OK. Equilibrium will be restored. Shalom will be restored. Our souls will truly be at rest. In the meantim...

The Lord  is king forever and ever! The godless nations  will vanish from the land. Lord,  you know  the hopes  of the helpless.  Surely you will  hear their cries  and comfort them.  You will bring justice  to the orphans  and the oppressed,  so mere people  can no longer  terrify them. Psalms 10:16-18 NLT At the end of his song David goes "big picture", reminding himself of who God is, that these nations we've constructed are not what's eternal. And then he makes it personal. You don't write about those who feel helpless unless it's you, or the person who you're sitting with.  He sees where justice is needed, but can't make it happen. The nations are just systems that seem so immovable and unchangeable. Systems that hold people down and remove hope. Systems that deny justice. But in all of that, David holds fast to Yahweh, and encourages us to do the same. To walk in faith. Even though we're walking in the vall...

Sunday Psalms: Lord,  why do you stand  so far away?  Why do you hide  in times of trouble?  In arrogance  the wicked  relentlessly  pursue their victims;  He waits in ambush near settlements;  he kills the innocent in secret places.  His eyes are on the lookout for the helpless; Rise up,  Lord God!  Lift up your hand.  Do not forget the oppressed. Psalms 10:1-2, 8, 12 CSB This Psalm, this song, has got to be one of the toughest reads in the Bible. It puts on display the evil, the terrible destruction that people wreak in the lives of others. It opens the window to souls that seek only what they want. And it gives voice to anyone who has cried out, wondered where God is, when He seems so far away.  This song gives voice to anyone who wants justice but it cannot be grasped.  And it gives voice to anyone who ever wanted God to just step in and fix evil, wrongness, injustice, hurt, sorrow, pain that others have...

When David's time to die approached, he charged his son Solomon, saying, "I'm about to go the way of all the earth, but you - be strong; show what youre made of!  Do what God tells you. Walk in the paths he shows you:  Follow the life-map absolutely, keep an eye out for the signposts, his course for life set out in the revelation to Moses... 1 Kings 2:1-4 MSG The king knew his days were done on this earth. He doesn't say to his son to maintain the power base, to grow the kingdom, to maintain the systems, but to follow what God says in the His Word. David wrote about it in several Psalms, picking up on the law in Deuteronomy, to look out for the poor, widows, fatherless, those in need, the oppressed.  All of us get to leave a legacy of something, some instruction based on our life to someone. David is saying here to Solomon yes you get to step into this role as king, but on what are you going to base it?  Base your life firmly in God's truth and what He calls us to....

Friday! Proverbs! A ruler can be persuaded through patience, and a gentle tongue can break a bone. Proverbs 25:15 CSB I don't like waiting.  I don't like queues.  Really, I just want the world to revolve around me.  And here is this proverb giving another lesson in being patient, this time with those with power.  Not just patient, but gentle with our words.  Those things don't genuinely come from a heart that wants the world to revolve around it.  To be patient and gentle with those who have power or authority and the implication here is that they need to change, means that I need a place to stand that is not dependent on me. Here's my place: Therefore,  since we have been justified by faith,  we have  peace with God  through  our Lord Jesus Christ.  We have also obtained access through him  by faith  into this grace  in which we stand,  and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:1-2 CSB Knowing...

And the Lord said,  "You cared about the plant, which you did not labor over and did not grow. It appeared in a night and perished in a night.  So may I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than a hundred twenty thousand people who cannot distinguish between their right and their left, as well as many animals?" Jonah 4:10-11CSB At the end of the book a bit more of God's heart is revealed...he loves people, and animals.  Mainly people. And animals. Jonah was unhappy about what was important to him being lost, and God is saying the same thing.  People matter  People lost to me matter  And the animals.  Why does this story end with a question? Maybe God wants us to keep the dialogue with him going...to keep thinking about what's really important... #jonah #youarebeloved #whatsreallyimportant

"...I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry  and filled with  unfailing love.  You are eager to turn back from destroying people...." Jonah 4:2 NLT Even though this in the middle of Jonah's complaint to God, it's still a wonderful picture of God's character and heart for us to hold on to. Any opportunity, and God is looking for it. Any opportunity to keep us close to him, to restore.  Whatever Jonah's problem with Ninevah/the people of Ninevah was it was skewing his view of God's character, minimising God's love towards him. Let's not do that.  God is filled with unfailing love.  Towards you. Rest in that today. #jonah #dearlyloved #Godislove #rest

God saw their actions - that they had turned from their evil ways - so God relented from the disaster he had threatened them with. And he did not do it. Jonah was greatly displeased and became furious.  He prayed to the Lord, "Please, Lord, isn't this what I said while I was still in my own country? That's why I fled toward Tarshish in the first place.  I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger,  abounding in faithful love,  and one who relents from sending disaster. And now,  Lord,  take my life from me,  for it is better for me to die than to live." Jonah 3:10-4:3 CSB Wow! What is up with Jonah? Jonah wasn't running from God in Ch1 from fear, but because He is too compassionate?!?! This story is not about the fish and the vomiting back up, but Jonah's response, what's going on in him. He's really unhappy that the city has been saved, seemed to know God's character and that this is what would happen.  Why? Well we don...

When Jonah's warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.  "...Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence." Jonah 3:6, 8 NIV Jonah's warning was believed by everyone it seems, right up to the king.  It not only prompted repentance, but also a new view of the lifestyle that the people had drifted into, what they had become. It's like they were seeing their behaviour through new eyes.  They'd woken up. Things had to change.  The king started naming things for what they actually were.  Things had to change.  As we let God's word and His Spirit in, this may have happened, and it may happen in the future, when we see something or someone in the light of God's creative intent, His holiness, justice, or love, and realise that something has to change.  Usually me  #jonah #prophet #somethingtochewon #newlenses #ch...

I will thank the Lord  with all my heart;  I will declare all your wondrous works.  You have rebuked the nations:  You have destroyed the wicked;  you have erased their name forever and ever. Be gracious to me, Lord; consider my affliction at the hands of those who hate me.  Lift me up from the gates of death... Psalms 9:1, 5, 13 CSB What a ride this song is! David the psalmist celebrates as if everything in the world has been put right. That all evil and wrongdoing has been destroyed and God's victory is clear.  The enemies are vanquished. And yet they're not.  Because in the middle of this praise to God David says "I'm feeling awful.  People hate me. I need help" Help has come, and I need help. Victory is won, and yet still needs to be won. The now and the not yet as we look forward to justice and all that is wrong being unwronged, there's still injustice and wrong.  This song seems to capture some of that, the now and the not yet. Jes...

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 Do you ever have doubts about your worth? The action of God speaks to your worth, to our worth. The action.  The purchasing not of us, but of our freedom. The choosing. Choosing to pay everything of worth for us.  Because He is Love.  And we are the objects of His Love.  He says We are worth it. Do you ever have doubts about your worth? He  is so rich  in kindness  and grace  that  he  purchased  our freedom  with the blood  of his Son  and forgave  our sins. #ephesians1 #lettersofhope #dearlyloved

Friday! Proverbs! The one who boasts about a gift that does not exist is like clouds and wind without rain. Proverbs 25:14 CSB Promises about things that don't exist. Promises about things there was never any intention of giving, never any intention of doing. Making stuff up.  I don't know about anyone else's motivation to do that...just mine.  Because I want something that I don't have, don't deserve, can't get or pay for. Because I want to be seen to be better, more important, more valuable. Because power. Power is addictive.  Because my heart drifts away from God's call to love Him, and to love people.  Clouds and wind without rain...empty promises...counterfeit... Let's not be those.  Rain brings nourishment, what is needed for flourishing, for life.  Let's be the water of life in this world, one small step, one small choice, one person, one act of grace, one word of truth at a time... #proverbs #wisdom #somethingtochewon

Jonah set out on the first day of his walk in the city and proclaimed,  "In forty days Nineveh will be demolished!" Then the people of Nineveh believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth - from the greatest of them to the least.  When word reached the king of Nineveh, he got up from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. Then he issued a decree in Nineveh... Jonah 3:4-7 CSB On the first day of Jonah's walk about some amazing things happened.  The people heard not from Jonah, he wasn't held up as some example of a great orator, it wasn't his Instagram posts that made a difference...the people heard from God.  The word spread without it being about Jonah. The word got to the King, not Jonah. As our culture drifts more and more into promoting personalities, this story stands in contrast to that. The message was more important than the messenger... I wonder if there's something in this for us? #jona...