verseoftheday

Sunday Psalms; Sing a new song to the Lord!  Let the whole earth sing to the Lord! Sing to the Lord;  praise his name.  Each day proclaim the good news that he saves. Psalms 96:1-2 NLT Psalms 95 started with singing too...makes me wonder if there's something in music that connects us to God - something about connecting the ideas in the song with our emotions, and the embodiment of that with our singing. This song encourages us to keep writing new ones, write our own. Yes enjoy others, but writing our own psalm, our own song, there's something in writing our own ideas about God, writing to Him. This song says to sing new songs, to sing them to our God, to do that together. And the content? To praise His Name.  To proclaim that He saves.  He is our salvation.  What a great idea to rest in, to sing about this Sunday morning.  He saves. Not me. Not my pastor, mentor, parent, friend, favourite author, worship leader or songwriter.  He saves. We get to ...

A wicked ruler is as dangerous to the poor as a roaring lion or an attacking bear. Proverbs 28:15 NLT When we look for Jesus in this Proverb we find him in the opposite. He is safe for the poor.  Safe for the weak.  Safe for the thin, the dangly. There is no wickedness, no roaring at us creating fear, no attacking looking to destroy or devour, no grasping or misuse of power, because his law is love.  Love Acceptance  Welcoming Community Restoration  Truth  Hope Jesus is not just a light giver, He is Light, so the shadows disappear. Jesus brings hope, and more, because he is Hope, so the fears can fade. Jesus loves, and he is Love, embodied Love. And the craziest part of all that is that we are the object of His Love. We are Beloved. When we experience the roaring lions and attacking bears of this world, those who use their power to harm, we hold to a Hope that is greater, a Love that is bigger, a Story that will take us Home. #proverbs #wisdom #somethingtoc...

Friday! Proverbs! A wicked ruler is as dangerous to the poor as a roaring lion or an attacking bear. Proverbs 28:15 NLT The word here translated "poor" is the word "dal" which carries the meanings of poor, weak, thin, dangly...the ruler in this proverb has power, all the power. A roaring lion or an attacking bear is in your face power, but a wicked ruler is just as dangerous, yet isn't as obvious. This proverb highlights God's heart for the poor, the weak, the thin, those just hanging on, the powerless.  In those places where we have power are we dangerous to those with less?  Do I at times seem as dangerous (or just like) a roaring lion? I wonder what those with less power around me would say? Matariki is a good time to reflect as it's about remembering, and then celebrating the present, and looking forward. This reminds me that change is possible. Those with power can change, where we have power we can use it to bless and benefit others. This proverb h...

"If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do?  Won't he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it,  I tell you the truth,  he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn't wander away! In the same way,  it is not my heavenly Father's will that even one of these little ones should perish." Matthew 18:12-14 NLT Jesus still has this child with him in the middle of the group of his disciples. This idea of one wandering off and being searched for is not unconnected to those things Jesus has been talking about: Have faith like this child. Be humble like this child. Welcome this child, and others who are small, overlooked, powerless, and you're welcoming Jesus. Dont exploit or abuse  those same small, overlooked, powerless people. And now Jesus uses the picture of a shepherd who knows his sheep, who knows when one has wandered off, and will search for th...

"Beware that you don't look down on any of these little ones.  For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father."  Matthew 18:10 NLT Jesus reiterates again how much he values children.  And in the verses before this he describes just how those who would harm our children should see their actions and choices.  The word the NLT translates as "look down" is "kataphroneo" which according to Bible Hub is literally, "think down," refers to holding someone in contempt, deeming them unworthy and hence despised or scorned. So if we're not doing that then we're deeming them worthy, care for them, look up to them, look for what we can learn from our children.  I wonder how different our world would be if we took Jesus at face value here? How do you literally not look down on someone? We stoop down to them. We get down to their level, we enter their world. I wonder if this is what Jesus wants us to do, t...

"And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me. But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea." Matthew 18:5-6 NLT These words of Jesus are sobering reading for communities, families, individuals who have the responsibility to care for, nurture and love our children, the vulnerable, the small, the powerless.  Jesus love for the small people on our world is full of justice. And he calls us to follow him. So, his heart for children, his heart for the small,  his heart for the powerless, the vulnerable, somehow, should be ours too. It can be easy (although sometimes necessary for our own well-being) to insulate ourselves from some of the terrible things that happen in this world.  But I'm not sure we're free to say that we follow Jesus and do nothing. I was at a concert on the weekend and half wa...

Come,  let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come to him with thanksgiving.  Let us sing psalms of praise to him. Psalms 95:1-2 NLT This song starts with an invitation, an offering to come and join in. In singing. In shouting. With thanksgiving. The "with thanksgiving" part is an attitude, something we bring with us. The shouting and singing is what we're called into.  Maybe culturally that's not what you're used to, maybe it's an easy fit, but this is about expression of an inner heart of thanksgiving. If someone has prepared a meal for me, the least I can do is thank them. With a smile. With appreciation. (TBH sometimes I take great meals a bit for granted, which is not cool. Is that what I do to our God too? Take Yahweh a bit for granted?) Whether it's going to church or whatever Monday holds, if I start with a heart of thanksgiving, things are different, there may not be shouting, but there's a better c...

Sunday Psalms; He holds in his hands the depths of the earth and the mightiest mountains. The sea belongs to him, for he made it.  His hands formed the dry land, too. Come,  let us worship and bow down.  Let us kneel before the Lord our maker, for  he is  our  God. Psalms 95:4-7NLT This Psalm invites us to take a different perspective from what we see on the ground. I don't think the writer of this song had the opportunity to fly in a plane, or see an image of the earth from space, but does know what a shift in perspective can do...and we're invited to see creation, and in that seeing, to see the Creator. Perhaps today we're just invited to see differently, and in that seeing, simply to honour and worship the Creator. #Psalms #psalm95 #perspective  #10000metreview #Sunday  #worship #thisisourGod

God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ - which is to fulfill his own good plan. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ - everything in heaven and on earth.  Ephesians 1:9-10 NLT Ever wonder what God is up to? Paul gives us a clue here, well, more than a clue, this is what God is up to, a joining together, a uniting of heaven and earth. Not heaven without earth, but whatever the barriers are, the separation is between heaven and earth, it will be gone, and there'll be one authority: Jesus. The empires of people, the power structures we strive for and build that create injustice, that place some higher than others, that hoard resources, selfishness, all the ugly me stuff, will be gone. At the right time. We can all say "if it was up to me..." But that's just me wanting to exercise power for what may be good reasons, but from my perspective.  Try as I might, I can't really see f...

Friday! Proverbs! Happy is the one who is always reverent,  but one who hardens his heart falls into trouble. Proverbs 28:14 CSB There's 2 people in this proverb, one who is "reverent" which is "pachad" to be in awe or to dread. This person is described as happy or blessed.  Seems kind of strange! The second person gives us the clue...the one who "hardens his heart". The first person has a soft heart, an unselfish heart, a heart open to God, to being reverent to Him, and it flows that when our heart is open to God, it's open to His world, to people, and to what needs tending within us too.  We're going to feel things.  Emotions. Including reverance, awe, and even dread.  This proverb is subtly giving us permission to experience all our emotions, not to suppress some that are deemed less acceptable, because that's a kind of hardening of the heart, making it into something it was not meant to be.  (At church on Sunday we were asked from the f...

"And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me." Matthew 18:5 NLT There's 2 sides to this coin that Jesus gives us here: Welcome a child, welcome the small, welcome the powerless, welcome the voiceless,  welcome those walked past, the unseen, and we're welcoming Jesus - who doesn't want to be doing that? And the other side of the coin?  We were all there once, for some of us being that small child was a long time ago, but we can probably find some memories of what that was like. Jesus says that in his economy, in his way of being in the world, that when you were small, Jesus saw you, welcomes you in,  says you're valued, accepted, wanted, loved. You were enough then. Jesus welcomed this child into the circle of those who wanted to be the kings of the Kingdom, and said be like this little one, this is who I love.  No matter what your childhood memories are, you are in fact, Beloved.  Welcomed. #wordsofJesus  #redletterBible...

Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. Then he said,  "I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven." Matthew 18:2-4 NLT This is part of a long dialogue from Jesus about our children & their preciousness. And it's prompted by the disciples wanting to know who's going to be the greatest.  Who's going to have the power. And Jesus calls in a small child.  A child with no power. And says to his students, his disciples, you're asking the wrong questions. Not only that, but you're not seeing the Kingdom for what it is, you're still looking at it like Empire, like the power structures of the world, and my Kingdom is just not like that.  My Kingdom elevates those with no power. The small. The vulnerable. Those without a voice.  They are seen. And they ...

Who will protect me from the wicked? Who will stand up for me against evildoers? Psalm 94:16 NLT The writer of this song felt alone, knows what it's like to be treated unjustly, unfairly, to feel exposed, unprotected.  The writer knows too what despair is; v18 "Unless the Lord had helped me, I would soon have settled in the silence of the grave."  Where was the singwriters community?  Why did no person stand up for them, stand with them? Jesus sets us the example of entering in to the world of the marginalised and standing with them, bringing healing and hope, standing against injustice. And he calls us to follow him. This can be a costly thing to do, but our world seems to have plenty of despair, a surplus of injustice, and a need for us to hear one anothers need for protection, to be that protection. Is there an opportunity, a  way, to be a little more of that in our community, in the lives of those we love? #psalms #psalm94 #injustice  #despair #hope #healing...

The Lord will not reject his people;  he will not abandon his special possession. Psalm 94:14 NLT The circumstances of life, the things that have happened to us, the pressures of the world, can lead us to believe that what the songwriter says here is not true.  We add in a story of our own worth, or lack of it, and we have a toxic brew. But this song invites us to hold this as true.  We are not rejected. We are not abandoned. We are Beloved. If we too hold that as true, then can we let that truth gently shape our responses, shape how we stand in the world, quietly nibble away at the meaning we give things. Jesus life repeats this. His life says that we are not rejected, we are not abandoned, and His Life says that we are, in fact, beloved.  How can we let that truth in today? #Psalms #psalm94 #youareBeloved

How long, O Lord?  How long will the wicked be allowed to gloat? How long will they speak with arrogance?  How long will these evil people boast? They crush your people, Lord,  hurting those you claim as your own. Psalms 94:3-5 NLT  Grief, suffering, wondering whether God is ever going to do anything about some of the evil in this world...the writer of this song is right there. Crying out.  This song tells us a few things; It's OK to name injustice (see v6 - gets quite specific) It's OK to cry out. It's OK to cry out to God. It's OK to complain to Him about injustice, about what's wrong. It's OK to speak, your voice matters.  The problems in our world can seem so big, there's so much, and it can seem like too much, overwhelming. And when that threatens we can use the words of the Psalms to realise it's not just us who have felt that way, who cannot accept that the way things are is how they should be, or how our God wants them to be.  And perhaps in so...

But he gives greater grace.  Therefore he says:  God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.  James 4:6 CSB This is not about taking pride in our work or achievements, being proud of someone, standing with them or for a cause, this word "proud" here is "huperephanos" According to Biblehub: Definition: showing oneself above others Usage: proud, arrogant, disdainful. This is compared to the "humble", the "tapeinos", which is God reliant rather than self reliant. Having a right view of ourselves before God, before His creation, before His people, to see ourselves in His Story. Our world calls us in the opposite direction, it's all about me, my story, and while there is some truth in that right, this seems to be what's at our core...how we stand, how we are in relation to God, where our heart is at in relation to Him. Kind of challenging, yet full of hope and opportunity because it's all couched in, held in, offered in, Grace.  H...

Friday! Proverbs! People who conceal their sins will not prosper,  but if they confess and turn from them,  they will receive mercy. Proverbs 28:13 NLT So easy to see the word "prosper" and connect it with material success, more cows, a bigger business, a holiday home, a new car.  All good things, but when Proverbs talks of prospering, it's unlikely that's what it means. Because this is all about the heart. It starts with concealing.  A heart that is concealing things.  When we conceal things that should be in the light, then it's going to affect our prospering.  And this Proverb gives a 2 step approach to change: Confession. And turning away. Confession may be just speaking it out loud with someone you trust, sharing in small steps the truth of what we're concealing. It takes choosing another path, another way, another option. Turning away. This might require new practices, new habits, deliberate choices about where we go, who we spend time with, what we s...

But he gives greater grace. James 4:6 CSB This chapter pivots on this little phrase, "but he gives greater grace". James has just unpacked our heart motivation, the internal battles, and how much our hearts are so pulled around by the ideas of the world and away from God...but he gives greater grace.  Grace that is more than enough for my internal battles.  Grace that is more than enough for my poor choices, but it takes something: But he gives greater grace.  Therefore he says:  God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. It takes a shift away from me, and towards God, a shift in orientation that I must be right, I always know, I have to be able to do this on my own, to "you're God, I trust You, choose to follow You, honour You, give my heart motivations more and more to you..." Being humble is something like that. And at the same time, with the same breath, knowing that we are Beloved. Chosen. Adopted. Dearly loved because we are,  dearly loved becaus...

Don't you know that... So whoever wants to... Or do you think... James 4 CSB These snippets are from vv4-5 of James 4, and they make no sense because we need to read the whole chapter, the ideas are all linked together: It seems to be about our heart motivation, the battles within, how that affects the way we stand in the world, and how we stand in relation to the ideas of the world, and ends with some practical ways to live that will shift our hearts motives, or at least give them a nudge. So if you're up for a workout today, read James 4.  It takes less than 2 minutes to read the chapter once.  As we read this chapter today (as many times as you can) listen for James heart for us, listen for what he might have for us today, listen to his questions, listen for what the Spirit has for us in this today... #james #james4 #itsaheartthing #Godsgym

"But, so we won't offend them,  go to the sea,  cast in a fishhook,  and take the first fish that you catch.  When you open its mouth you'll find a coin. Take it and give it to them for me and you." Matthew 17:27 CSB V24 tells us they were in Capernaum, which google maps shows is a small settlement right on the Sea of Galilee.  Matthew doesn't tell us how long Peter was fishing for, or even what happened, what Peter did. He doesn't record whether Peter was on his own, was thinking about his life as a fisherman, whether he caught a fish, found the money and paid the tax. He doesn't wonder why Jesus just didn't produce a coin. Peter doesn't get a sermon or lecture, but there must be something to learn. Peter was quick to respond, quick to jump to action.  It seems that Jesus wanted him to learn to slow down, to think about his actions and their impact on others ("so that we don't offend"). It seems that Jesus wanted Peter to trust him. ...

"What do you think, Simon?  From whom do earthly kings collect tariffs or taxes? From their sons or from strangers?" "From strangers," he said.  "Then the sons are free," Jesus told him. "But, so we won't offend them, go to the sea, cast in a fishhook, and take the first fish that you catch. When you open its mouth you'll find a coin. Take it and give it to them for me and you." Matthew 17:25-27 CSB The miracle of the money in the mouth of the fish is not the thing, paying the temple tax is not the thing. The key thing is that we are free. Jesus sets us free from the constraints of culture, of Empire, of the expectations of others.  Free.  And at the same time, we don't use that freedom to benefit ourselves, offend others, or make ourselves out to be better than.  Our society isn't governed by the same rules, the same expectations, that Peter's was, but there are rules and expectations all the same. Last year I had a lecturer ...

Sunday Psalms; The Lord is king! He is robed in majesty. Indeed,  the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength. The world stands firm and cannot be shaken. Your throne,  O Lord,  has stood from time immemorial. You yourself are from the everlasting past. The floods have risen up,  O Lord.  The floods have roared like thunder;  the floods have lifted their pounding waves. But mightier than the violent raging of the seas,  mightier than the breakers on the shore - the Lord above is mightier than these! Your royal laws cannot be changed. Your reign,  O Lord,  is holy  forever and ever. Psalm 93. NLT. It would seem that whoever wrote this song had experienced some kind of flooding event, some kind of natural disaster, and this song is some kind of resposnse. A reminder that our God is bigger than the disasters that might come upon the land, that might impact us. A reminder that there's a Bigger Stroy here, a reminder of our God's ete...

When he went into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect tariffs or taxes? From their sons or from strangers?" Matthew 17:25 CSB  Peter/Simon had been cornered by those who collect a tax at the temple and asked if Jesus paid. The implication is that Peter had no idea but just said "Yes!". Intriguing thing here is that Jesus didn't wait for Peter to initiate anything about what had happened, somehow, Jesus already knew.  We also see Jesus being a Rabbi and not telling or educating Peter, but asking him a question, opening up space for Peter to see something else, see something deeper that's going on here. Jesus is asking Peter to consider, from what he has learned about Jesus, from what he has learned about himself, who is really in charge here? And we get to reflect on that question too. Jesus might ask about taxes today, but is more likely to ask about multinational technology  companies and their ...

Friday! Proverbs! When the righteous triumph,  there is great rejoicing, but when the wicked come to power,  people hide. Proverbs 28:12 CSB My thought immediately went to countries and what we often see played out in the media. (When this Proverb was written none of what we call countries today existed.) I do know that people hide from those with power. Especially small people, who we call children. Children hiding in families because those who should care and nuture and love them, can't or won't. People hide in relationships that should be equal but aren't. This world is not (currently) as it should be. But Proverbs is about the heart and asks me to wonder who is hiding from me? Would anyone rejoice if I had power in some space or place? How well do I use the power, the influence, the words, the authority that I do have? We all have power.  Sometimes we don't recognise it or see it as that, and perhaps this Proverb creates a little space for us to think about where we...

What is the source of wars and fights among you?  Don't they come from your passions that wage war within you?  You desire and do not have.  You murder and covet and cannot obtain.  You fight and wage war. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and don't receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. James 4:1-3 CSB Ouch! This is all about my motives.  What's really going on in my heart that triggers the internal battle, and then the actions I take, the things I do, the things I say. I don't actually murder anyone, but I have had no problem judging someones character on very little evidence, disregarding people because they hold an opinion that I don't, want what someone else has, covet their privilege while ignoring mine...the list goes on... James in the most loving way possible wants us to "get underneath the hood" and asks us to have a good look at what makes us tick. Not because he's any different,...

What is the source of wars and fights among you?  Don't they come from your passions that wage war within you?  James 4:1 CSB A couple of great questions from James - what causes conflict? Globally. Within countries. Between groups. Between me and others, especially those I care about. And finally, what causes the conflict within me? James brings it back to issues of the heart.  Ever seen that as a "war"? My desires waging war with one another within me? Maybe that's an interesting picture as I consider my inner conflict, how cunning one side can get, the weapons that are brought to the battle line, how jealousy can come disguised as wanting to do more for others, how judgement puts on the uniform of truth. How would you answer the two questions that James asks? What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don't they come from your passions that wage war within you?  (Remember this is James writing, who about 10 times refers to his readers as "dear brothe...

The righteous  thrive  like a palm tree  and grow  like a cedar tree  in Lebanon. Planted  in the house of the Lord, they thrive in the courts of our God. Psalm 92:12-13 CSB There's a thriving, a growth, that doesn't come from and isn't dependent on what our culture, our world says is thriving or growth. There's a now and a not yet feel to this, because we are not yet living fully in the "courts of our God". Some days, some moments, we glimpse all that this song sings about, and holds the promise of more to come.  We are His Beloved, and this picture of thriving and flourishing is what is ahead, not some "perfect" state where nothing happens, but a return to Eden where everything was "good", as it should be, where there is growth and thriving, when all the disconnections from the land, each other, ourselves, and with our God, are fully restored.  For now, we get glimpses of that as we choose to love God, & love people as best we can. #p...

For you have made me rejoice,  Lord,  by what you have done;  I will shout for joy because of the works of your hands. How magnificent are your works,  Lord,  how profound your thoughts! Psalm 92:4-5 CSB Do you wonder what the sing writer is looking at, considering, as they pen these words? Is it the sky at night? The fields, the ocean, the mountains? Is it watching a child sleep, enjoying a great meal with a friend? When the writer considers who our God is, what He has made, tried to grasp something of the mind of God, these words have spilled out. There's an invitation here for us to just slow down and consider who God is, where we see Him in the world, in the stars, in the Creation, in others.  And to just sit and wonder. #psalms #psalm92 #wonder 

Sunday Pslams; It is good to give thanks to the Lord,  to sing praise to your name,  Most High, to declare your faithful love in the morning  and your faithfulness at night,  with a ten-stringed harp and the music of a lyre.  Pslams 92:1-3CSB This isn"a song to be sung on the Sabbath day" A song to be sung when we choose to honour God by resting.  By giving our mind, body and spirit rest. Rest. Some might have to work today, for some it seems difficult to get a moments rest. Perhaps this song can help us find that rest: It starts with an attitude, a choosing to be thankful. Gratitude. A choosing to praise, to sing, to use music. And to declare some things at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day. To declare God's faithful love.  At the start of the day. And at the end of the day.  To be grateful. And to sing, to find a way to express with our body that gratitude, to have a whole integrated expression. When we sing it's engaging our mi...

As they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus told them,  "The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised up." And they were deeply distressed. Matthew 17:22-23 CSB Jesus couldn't have been any clearer, yet it seems that the disciples didn't understand, didn't remember, or perhaps were so overwhelmed by all that happened around Jesus death, that they simply couldn't make sense of it.  We see Jesus life, and his death, and his resurrection, from a distance. I wonder what it was like to be so up close. To not quite understand Jesus meaning. Was this all some kind of metaphor? What was it like to be living under the terror regime of the Romans?  What was it like to see your Rabbi executed? The person you've invested everything in. I'm not sure how I'd be in their shoes (sandals) either. Would I remember these words of Jesus and hold hope that they were true after witnessing ...