verseoftheday

Evil people don't understand justice,  but those who follow the Lord understand completely Proverbs 28:5 NLT Some quotes on justice (some may be provoking); "Sure we can sing to Jesus But Jesus never asked us to do that Jesus asked us to feed the hungry, to give them water, to welcome the stranger, to clothe them, to visit the prisoner, to care for the sick. Jesus didn't want songs  Jesus wanted justice" "Charity isn't justice. Charity accepts the status quo. When we do charity, we give out of our affluence to help the poor;  we don't actually sacrifice our affluence to destroy the distinction between the rich and the poor. Don't settle for charity when justice is required." Carlos A Rodriguez "You never minimize God's justice.  You never minimize the evil. You never act like tears and nice words can erase the harm and the consequences of what they did" R Denhollader "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are...

Friday! Proverbs! Evil people don't understand justice,  but those who follow the Lord understand completely. Proverbs 28:5 NLT Mmm isn't this interesting... Those who don't know God in some fundamental way won't understand what justice really is.  I guess they won't see it applying to them, otherwise they wouldn't do the things they do. And yet...I still do things that others might see as unjust. I'm still selfish.  Perhaps because I only know in part the reality of who God is, and when He is fully known that will shift? Justice fixes things, broken systems, justice goes to the cause, it flips the power structures that oppress many and benefit the few, and in the end, roots out and destroys all that is evil, restores shalom, peace. Shalom is restored in us, between us, with creation, and with God.  This is not just what's coming, but what we're called to be part of today. #proverbs  #wisdom #somethingtochewon #justice

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him,  "Follow me,"  and he got up and followed him. Matthew 9:9 CSB Follow me. I wonder what was going on for Matthew when he heard those words? How did Matt know that this was someone worth walking away from his job and becoming his student? Was that the sum total of their conversation? What would I want to know? Did he think about what he was giving up? Or where this might take him? Had Matthew already heard of Jesus? Had he already been wondering about his life? His work? Whether he should be committing to a different life? Or did Jesus reveal something in some way to Matthew? Did his spirit connect in some way that Matthew just knew this was what he needed to do? Is "follow me" something Jesus asks of us?  What does that mean stepping away from? Leaving behind? What "not knowing", what unknown does that mean stepping towards? What does Jesus "follow m...

"I am not sorry that I sent that severe letter to you, though I was sorry at first, for I know it was painful to you for a little while.  ... For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There's no regret for that kind of sorrow.  But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death." 2 Corinthians 7:8, 10 NLT This is a letter from Paul to a church in Corinth so we don't know the back story for this, but we do get some interesting things to consider: Confronting others is difficult. Paul found it difficult to write what he did.  Speaking the truth into someone else's life causes pain. No one really wants to do that.  This truth telling came from a place of relationship first.  Out of the pain, the sorrow, came change.  Real change.  Not change that made Paul feel better or that he was right, but change that led away from sin, and towards salvation.  Heart change, not just some...

Even after we arrived in Macedonia, we couldn't rest physically. We were surrounded by problems. There was external conflict, and there were internal fears. However, God comforts people who are discouraged, and he comforted us by Titus' arrival. 2 Corinthians 7:5-6 CEB No rest. External conflict. Internal fears. Maybe today that's your experience, or you know what it's like. And Titus turned up. How often do I miss the Tituses who God sends? How often do I miss God's encouragement because it's wrapped up in a person and I'm looking for something different, wanting a change in the external conflict, the internal fears, or just the lack of rest.  Titus was the encouragement.  Sometimes we need a Titus, and sometimes we need to be a Titus for someone else. When God prompts you to turn up, to call in, to call, to message, then be Titus.  #corinthians #titus #grateful #beatitus

My dear friends, since we have these promises, let's cleanse ourselves from anything that contaminates our body or spirit so that we make our holiness complete in the fear of God. 2 Corinthians 7:1CEB Don't know if Paul wrote this in the spring, or if spring cleaning was even a thing then, but that's the picture that comes to mind...maybe it's time to have a clean out, a clear out, a fresh start with some aspect of life.  Maybe it's what we're eating or drinking or taking into our body in some way that needs a change.  Maybe it's what we're watching, reading, places or people we're spending time that needs a change.  Maybe it's a habit that's not helpful.  Maybe it's an attitude that's not helpful. Maybe it's a thought that needs to stop.  Maybe it's time to spring clean.  For each of us it will be something different that comes to mind, but whatever it is, our Heavenly Father is Grace and Love, and any spring cleaning happens...

Sunday Psalms; Saul had sent soldiers to David's house to kill him. Most of Psalm 59 is what David wants to see done to his enemy...finding a place or a way to express our thoughts and feelings is so important, even when they're thoughts of what we'd like to see God do, how we'd love him to step in and act.  But he ends this song with this: "But as for me,  I will sing  about your power.  Each morning  I will sing  with joy  about your unfailing love. For you  have been  my refuge,  a place of safety  when I am in distress. Psalms 59:16 NLT Even though David knows his enemy is literally outside his door, he chooses to sing, to find a song of praise, when he is distressed he remembers who God is, that He is that place of safety, that He is refuge. And this song invites us to join in. When the enemy is right there, when we are distressed, to find a song of praise, and to remember, to hold to the Truth of Who God Is.  #sunday #psa...

Jesus knew what they were thinking,  so he asked them,  "Why do you have such evil thoughts in your hearts?  Is it easier to say 'Your sins are forgiven', or 'Stand up and walk'?  So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins". Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, "Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!" Matthew 9:4-6 NLT Lots going on here! Jesus knew what the religious leaders were thinking. And he decided to show his authority to forgive sins by his authority over the disability that the person suffered from.  You can't see someones sins forgiven, but you can see someone who was paralyzed get up and walk away.  Jesus was saying "I am who I say I am, only God has authority, and I'm exercising it". I wonder how much the person who had been paralyzed cared about the theological argument? I wonder how he felt the moment Jesus said to "stand up"? I wonder what happened in...

Friday! Proverbs! Those who forsake the law  praise the wicked,  But such as keep the law contend with them. Proverbs 28:4 NKJV The word here for the law is "torah" which is often referred to as the first 5 books of the Bible.  Proverbs is asking us to take that seriously, not to just make up our own rules of what's right and wrong, where we decide what's truth and error.  The writer is saying take the Torah seriously, because when you don't, the world gets flipped and rather than contend with the wicked we praise them. It's easy to see the "wicked" out there, not so easy to see the "wicked" in me, those parts and attitudes that are the antithesis of the grace and otherness found in the Torah, the parts I'd be ok with praising rather than contending with... I need to take the Torah seriously, how it expresses God's heart for the marginalised, the oppressed, how it sets apart as holy, how He wants relationship... #proverbs #wisdom #s...

We were treated with honor and dishonor  and with verbal abuse and good evaluation.  We were seen as both fake and real,  as unknown and well known,  as dying - and look, we are alive!  We were seen as punished but not killed, as going through pain but always happy,  as poor but making many rich,  and as having nothing but owning everything. 2 Corinthians 6:8-10 CEB Paul's telling us part of his story here, but also reminding us that people are going to see us how they see us, and were simply not going to keep everyone happy, on our side, or even seeing us as we are.  People are gonna be people.  Their same actions were met with verbal abuse and good reports.  He was known as fake and real.  People are gonna be people. Our experiences, background, upbringing, whakapapa, beliefs, all shape the way we see others, and how they see us.  Paul was OK with that.  He was OK with "having nothing but owning everything". He'd figured...

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man who was paralyzed,  "Be encouraged,  my child,  your sins are forgiven." Matthew 9:2 CEB I don't know if Jesus knew what was going on in this man who was paralyzed, but he didn't mention it.  He did mention the faith of his people, his little community who carried him to Jesus.  Jesus saw their faith. And forgave his sins.  Jesus saw their faith.  And forgave his sins.  Keep bringing the people you love and care about to places that they might find Jesus.  Keep faith that Jesus can and does save, and it seems that at least on this occasion, the faith of others had something to do with it. Don't give up.  Even if they're paralyzed with something, stuck somewhere, pick them up and bring them with you.  Your faith matters.  Your faith in action matters.  And Jesus words: Be encouraged Be unafraid Take heart (It's the same word Jesus uses in John 16:33, the last words to his disc...

Then he said to the demons, "Go away" Matthew 8:32 CEB It seems that Jesus didn't overdo the words! Matthew doesn't seem to record much of the wider conversation (if there was one), but what we get in these brief exchanges is authority.  Yesterday Jesus had authority over the storm. Authority over the lake. Today Jesus is showing his authority over this spiritual activity and the response was immediate, unmistakable, and unforgettable if you'd been there.  He had, and has, the authority.  Yet, he still went to the cross, because we needed something different than Jesus power and authority, we needed, and need, his loving sacrifice.  He laid down his authority for us.  You are indeed beloved.  #wordsofJesus #redletterBible #youareBeloved

He said to them,  "Why are you afraid,  you people of weak faith?"  Then he got up and gave orders to the winds and the lake,  and there was a great calm. Matthew 8:26 CEB What a great question - why are you afraid? Why were the disciples afraid? Many were experienced sailors, and they were in a boat in a storm that they believed was going to sink.  They were afraid of dying.  They had a good reason to be afraid.   Our fears are always about something that might happen.  Right? My most regular ones are about what people might think of me, and fear of failing.  And sometimes those fears can prompt useful action, but usually paralysing fear that stops me doing anything.  The thing with my fears is that thing that I fear happening, just might not happen.  Yet I wonder if Jesus would just keep asking me the same question: "Why are you afraid?" Even in the storm, Jesus doesn't want us living out of our fears, paralysed by then, but ...

Sunday Psalms; Then at last everyone will say,  "There truly is a reward for those who live for God;  surely there is a God who judges justly here on earth." Psalms 58:11 NLT This song ends with these powerful words of hope.  Words of hope that speak to those who have been hurt by the actions and choices of others. Words of hope for those trampled under the circumstances of this world.  But before you read the rest of this song be warned that it has some strong descriptions of what the author would like to see happen to those who have caused harm. While this song is about seeking justice, it's also all about asking God to act, and it's sung to the tune of "do not destroy", so the whole time there's this very human call for some kind of punishment, this desire for things to be made right, the tune the song is sung to is a reminder of grace.  It's beyond me how to hold all those things at the same time, only our God can.  His justice will unfold in com...

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love.  Neither death  nor life,  neither angels  nor demons,  neither our fears for today  nor our worries about tomorrow  - not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. Romans 8:38 NLT Even after all the challenges that Paul faced, the persecution, the beatings, the shipwrecks, he is crystal clear: the circumstances of our life are not a measure of God's love for us, there's nothing, no thing, that can separate us from His Love.  Hard to believe today? It's still true.  No power in the sky above or in the earth below - indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:39 NLT And the focus of God's love for us, the revelation of His heart towards us, is Jesus.  When we're a bit lost in this world, look to Jesus, what He said, who He is, what He did.  God loves us....

Friday! Proverbs! A poor person who oppresses the poor is like a pounding rain that destroys the crops. Proverbs 28:3 NLT We don't have to look far to see the devastation that floodwaters cause to crops. I've driven up the Esk Valley in Hawkes Bay and the metre of silt still covering some crops is heartbreaking.  I have no idea how long it will take or how much investment to make that land productive again.  And that's the picture this proverb uses to tell us about the impact of oppression.  Oppression smothers everything.  While the person with power might seem better off, they really are not, as flooded land with destroyed crops is not a picture of flourishing, of shalom.  Proverbs are here not to use as weapons on others, but to prise open parts of our own hearts...so I'm left with the question of where in my life am I the oppressor?  When I consider who to vote for this election, when I make choices about...well anything really.  #proverbs #wisdom ...

I will thank you,  Lord,  among all the people.  I will sing your praises among the nations.  For your unfailing love is as high as the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.  Be exalted,  O God,  above the highest heavens.  May your glory shine over all the earth. Psalms 57:9-11 NLT No matter what you face today, God's love is as vast as the sky. No matter what you face today, there is going to be a day when all will be made new. No matter what we face today, as difficult as it may be to do, we can follow David's lead here and thank God for who He is, sing a song of praise.  And note where David is, he's with other people. No matter what you face today, reach out, make your need known, make your heart known, we're not designed to do any of this alone.  And if you're not facing anything in particular today, if the day ahead is looking OK for you, keep your eyes and heart open for someone who may need you, someone who can't pra...

My heart is confident in you,  O God;  my heart is confident.  No wonder I can sing your praises!  Wake up, my heart!  Wake up, O lyre and harp! I will wake the dawn with my song. I will thank you, Lord, among all the people. I will sing your praises among the nations. Psalms 57:7-9 NLT In the midst of all the negative things going on in David's life, the things he's complaining about in this song, he still chooses to praise God. He kind of tells himself off "wake up my heart", don't get lost in all the hurts and negativity of this world, know that at the same time our God is for us.  And one day, all will be made new.  Shalom will be restored, fully and completely, and some days we just have to choose to praise God anyway, whether things are getting better or not, this is our act of faith.  #psalms #psalm57 #faith #choose

I am surrounded by fierce lions  who greedily devour human prey -  whose teeth pierce like spears and arrows,  and whose tongues cut like swords.  Be exalted,  O God,  above the highest heavens!  May your glory shine over all the earth. Psalms 57:4-5 NLT In the middle of terrible things that people do to one another, at the same time as it can feel like we're being devoured, David reminds us to praise God anyway.  At the same time as people's actions of harm, may God's glory still shine.  Some days we just have to look a bit harder... #psalms #psalm57 #Godsglorycanstillbeseen

My God  will send forth  his unfailing love  and  faithfulness. Psalms 57:3 NLT What's the picture that comes to mind as you imagine our God sending forth his unfailing love and faithfulness? Perhaps it's a river that just never stops pouring out. Perhaps it's an arrow being shot out into the darkness. Perhaps it's the sunrise, feeling the warmth of a new day.  Perhaps it's delight in a child's face or the touch of someone who understands.  Perhaps it's a song, a movement, a voice, a colour... Perhaps it's an ally who turns up, a word, a feeling...a small shift in someone else, or in me. #psalms #psalm57 #thisisourGod #unfailingloveandfaithfulness

Sunday Psalms; Have mercy on me,  O God,  have mercy,  for in You  my soul takes refuge.  In the shadow  of Your wings  I will take shelter  until the danger has passed.  I cry out to  God Most High,  to God  who fulfills His purpose for me.  He reaches  down  from heaven  and saves me;  He rebukes  those who trample me. Selah Psalms 57:1-3 BSB When we're under pressure, when things seem to be crashing in, crashing down, there's going to be something in these Psalms 55, 56 & 57 that connects with our situation, where things are for us.  When we need mercy it's here, shelter, when we need to cry out, when we want those against us to be trampled, to be stopped, it's all here.  These songs give us permission to speak what can feel unspeakable, they give us words when we can't find our own.  At the heart of these songs is this: When I am afraid (not if, no judgement that I shouldn't ...

But Jesus replied,  "Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head." Matthew 8:20 NLT Jesus had been with people and had just had a religious leader commit to following him wherever he went, and then he says in some sense, that he is alone in the world.  That there's really no where for him to call home. It's an echo of Adam being asked to name the animals and realising he was alone.  Jesus in his humanity realises everyone and everything has a home, except him.  It's so human to feel alone, to not feel at home in this world, so when we feel that way, we're in good company. And isn't the hope of heaven that we will know shalom, where all our deepest needs will be met, where we will fully be home.  In the meantime, we walk with Jesus knowing it's OK to sometimes not feel completely at home. #wordsofJesus #redletterBible #shalom #home

Friday! Proverbs! When a land is in rebellion,  it has many rulers,  but with a discerning and knowledgeable person,  it endures. Proverbs 28:2 CSB mmm everyone wants to be in charge of everything...and that doesn't work. We need rules. We don't like them sometimes but we need them, because a land in rebellion is chaos and the most affected are the most vulnerable, those with the least resources. Rules in a just society are there to keep the strong and the selfish in check and provide space for all to flourish. With an election looming we're looking for the discerning and knowledgeable person to lead.  While this proverb was written long before Jesus, we can see the hint...we're never going to find that truly discerning and knowledgeable person who will lead us in a way that the land truly endures.  We need someone wiser and more. We need Jesus.  Perhaps this proverb is looking at the landscape of my heart, and the chaos that can ensue when I lose connectio...

Jesus said to the centurion,  "Go;  it will be done for you just as you have believed." And his servant was healed that very moment. Matthew 8:13 CEB I love these stories of Jesus healing, and this man, an outsider to the faith community that Jesus often talked to, came in with faith. He also came in with compassion (see v6).  He also came in with an acknowledgment of Jesus authority and humility (see v8-9) And what he believed for happened.  And then I come in with faith, and what I believe for doesn't happen.  And then I sit with this Roman Centurion in those moments of waiting, when he humbles himself before Jesus, that whatever Jesus' answer is, he's going to be OK with it.  A Roman Centurion who has power of life and death in some realms, recognises he has no power at all when it comes to the life of this person he cares about.  And he doesn't use humility as a bargaining chip with Jesus, not like I can do sometimes...I'm believing, doing the righ...

For you have rescued me from death;  you have kept my feet from slipping.  So now I can walk in your presence,  O God,  in your life-giving light. Psalms 56:13 NLT Can you feel David exhaling...just breathing out... When we know that our God has covered us, redeemed us, brought us into the light, and His love will never let us go, we no longer have to hold our breath, hold the tension, the weight...we can find rest, shalom, restoration in God's life-giving life.  #psalms #psalm56 #trust #someonebigger #exhale #walkinthelight

You keep track of all my sorrows.  You have collected all my tears in your bottle.  You have recorded each one in your book. Psalms 56:8 NLT Some days this verse of this song gives comfort; God knows,  He's aware of my sorrow. David creates this word picture of God collecting our tears, of God being a scribe, sitting with me as I share my story and hurts.  Our God is personal.  And He knows.  And then there's days when I just want Him to not worry about collecting my tears and to deal to the cause. Heal my friend, heal my wounds, fix, act.  And David said the same thing, in the verse just before this one; "Don't let them get away with their wickedness;  in your anger,  O God,  bring them down." Psalms 56:7 David calls on God to act on his behalf, to fix things.  God's people were looking for generations for God to intervene, to free them from Roman oppression, and He did, Jesus entered in, looked at people with compassion, cried his...

I praise God for what he has promised.  I trust in God,  so why should I be afraid?  What can mere mortals do to me? Psalms 56:4 NLT David then goes on to write about some of the things mere mortals do.  We've all got a list we could write. Things that others have done that have hurt, continue to hurt. Yet before he starts his list, David states his trust in God.  When we start there, praising God, trusting God, it helps us to reframe the list as temporary, as not God's doing.  He asks the question "why should I be afraid?" It seems like he's holding God's truth in one hand, knowing that he is held by the Eternal, yet is still fearful of people, what they've done, what they threaten to do.  David is just like us.  Human. So he sings this song, and repeats; "But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in You" Ps56:4 This world is not how we want it to be, how it was meant to be, but when I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. #psalms #psalm56 #kee...

Sunday Psalms; But when I am afraid,  I will put my trust in you. Psalms 56:3 NLT The intro to this Psalm is this: For the choir director: A Psalm of David, regarding the time the Philistines seized him in Gath. To be sung to the time of "Dove on Distant Oaks". Love the detail of the tune. But this also gives us context, something bad happened and David responds: "But when I am afraid,  I will put my trust in you." O God,  have mercy on me,  for people are hounding me.  My foes attack me all day long.  I am constantly hounded by those who slander me,  and many are boldly attacking me. Psalms 56:1-2 NLT I've never been held by the Philistines or even "constantly hounded" by anyone, but there are times when it has felt like it. When my thoughts have been racing, when it's seemed that the whole world is against me...ever felt like that?  Then this is for you: "But when I am afraid,  I will put my trust in you." David is writing this song to ...

"I say to you with all seriousness that even in Israel I haven't found faith like this.  I say to you that there are many who will come from east and west and sit down to eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom will be thrown outside into the darkness. People there will be weeping and grinding their teeth." Matthew 8:10-12 CEB Jesus is talking to a Roman centurion, a military leader who was part of the oppressive empire, and he's talking to the people who have lived in the shadow of the wings of the Almighty, God's chosen people, and Jesus is saying it's not your whakapapa that will save you, it's not your religious heritage or traditions, it's not your ethnicity.  It's your faith.  And faith is not restricted to people with the right jobs or who have done the right thing, faith can be found in the most unlikely of people and spring and flourish in the most unlikely of places.  If you're an...

Friday! Proverbs! The wicked run away even though no one pursues them,  but the righteous are as confident as a lion. Proverbs 28:1 CEB What's going on here? What world is the writer of this proverb living in? Perhaps it's a world where the truth is spoken. Perhaps it's a world where justice is valued. Perhaps it's a world where the oppressed stand. Perhaps it's a world where the marginalised and oppressed are being set free, being lifted up, perhaps it's a world where power is shifting. Perhaps it's a world where the conscience of the "wicked" is awakened and active.  Perhaps the writer is thinking of my internal world, where both the "wicked" and the "righteous" reside, where the righteous part of me is empowered by Truth, is made righteous by Grace, and is as "confident as a lion".  Grace and Truth make the "wicked" in me flee even though no one is pursuing. Maybe it's a heart thing. #proverbs #wisdom ...