verseoftheday

Jesus and his followers went into Capernaum. Immediately on the Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and started teaching. The people were amazed by his teaching, for he was teaching them with authority, not like the legal experts.  Mark 1:21-22 CEB Week 1 for James, John,   Simon & Andrew, fresh from fishing duties they're now with a Rabbi in the synagogue seeing the amazement of those listening to Jesus. Jesus was speaking with a new authority, it's like he is from a different world... I wonder what was going on for our fishermen? What were they hearing? What was their experience? Their pathway to being a Rabbi's students was not the normal one...I'm wondering if they felt completely out of sorts, "what are we doing here? How did we end up here? What is going on? What's my part in all of this?" I'm wondering that they might have felt quite disoriented. Perhaps you know what it's like to feel disoriented, like you don't quite fit, don't...

After going a little farther, he saw James and John, Zebedee's sons, in their boat repairing the fishing nets. At that very moment he called them.  They followed him, leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired workers.    Mark 1:19-20 CEB Part 2 of Jesus Calling. Still no highly educated students of the law, but two more fishermen, this time working in the family business. The implication seems to be that James and John were already living out their destiny, firmly entrenched in the family business, working with their Dad, learning from him. And Jesus calls them. Calls them away from what they were born into, away from what they were brought up in, away from what seemed the only way for them to be in the world. Maybe it is a massive change that Jesus is calling you into, or it may be in something small, something unseen, a way of thinking, that inner voice, a way of being in the world, a habit or habitual choice that we know isn't that healthy or good for us,...

Mark 1:16-18 CEB As Jesus passed alongside the Galilee Sea, he saw two brothers, Simon and Andrew, throwing fishing nets into the sea, for they were fishermen. "Come,  follow me," he said,  "and I'll show you how to fish for people." Right away, they left their nets and followed him.  Mark 1:16-18 CEB Mark gives us zero context to this conversation except that the boys were at work that day.  Did they know who Jesus was? Had they been talking about him? Met him before? Was this normal for a Rabbi to just wander around calling people to follow? (My understanding is that disciples of Rabbis studied for years to be chosen). What we do know is that when Jesus called they moved. Moved away from the task towards people. This in many ways is a reorientation of priority. Towards Jesus heart, which is for people. In a way Jesus is repeating this call to us today..."come, follow me". Where, or to what, or to who, is Jesus inviting you to follow Him towards today...

Sunday Psalms; I cried out to the LORD when I was in trouble (and he answered me): "LORD, deliver me from lying lips and a dishonest tongue!" Psalms 120:1-2 CEB I'm not sure whether the psalmist is writing about someone else who is lying and dishonest and he wants delivery from, or himself. Imagine being self aware enough to name my own struggles and ask God to deliver me from myself! Imagine being honest enough to want to change. I usually believe that my problems are all located outside of me, if I need delivering it's from some circumstances, but to ask God to deliver me from my own ability to self deceive?  To ask God to deliver me from my tendency to shape things in ways that favour me, that make me look better even at the cost of someone else? Jesus was crucified on the lies and dishonesty of people, he did cry out, and in the end was delivered. Maybe today it is the actions of others that you too need delivery from too, & in this psalm  perhaps you hear a k...

Now as the women were on their way, some of the guards came into the city and told the chief priests everything that had happened. They met with the elders and decided to give a large sum of money to the soldiers. They told them,  "Say that Jesus' disciples came at night and stole his body while you were sleeping. And if the governor hears about this, we will take care of it with him so you will have nothing to worry about." So the soldiers took the money and did as they were told. And this report has spread throughout all Judea to this very day. Matthew 28:11-15 CEB Why didn't they just tell the truth? It's so easy to blame the minimum wage workers. So easy to blame those with no power. Yet it's the chief priests in this story, those with power and resources who are controlling the narrative, what people are led to believe, because it suits them. This passage is recorded by Matthew for a reason - why is it part of the Easter story for us? Is it to remind us w...

Psalms 56:3-4 CSB When I am afraid,  I will trust in you. In God,  whose word I praise,  in God I trust;  I will not be afraid.  What can mere mortals do to me? Do you have some favourite verses, some "go to" places? This is one of mine. ANZAC Day is a day of remembering. Remembering those who we have lost in war. And we can't separate those people we have lost from war, from nations defending their integrity, their land, their people, their identity, defending others who are vulnerable, joining together for causes that are just, making a stand even when afraid. This small part of Psalm 56 acknowledges our fears; "When I am afraid" The psalmist knows what it is to be afraid. And in that fear the song writer looks for someone bigger to hold on to, and chooses to trust in God. While afraid. And as fear is spoken and held by God, something shifts in this song as a bigger story, a bigger perspective is found. As we remember loss, those we have lost, may we choose to...

Then Jesus said to them,  "Don't be afraid.  Go and tell my brothers that I am going into Galilee. They will see me there." Matthew 28:10 CEB Jesus first words after his resurrection; "Don't be afraid." He could see, sense, knew what was going on, and his first words weren't about him, the sunrise, what had happened, but about them. "Don't be afraid." Is that what we need to hear from Jesus? "Don't be afraid." What shifts, what opens up when Jesus says "don't be afraid." What fears get challenged, silenced, quietened, when we hear Jesus say "don't be afraid." Jesus next words are to then bring comfort to others - "go and tell my brothers...I'll see them there" Jesus was all about the people he loved, and in his humanity he was just like us and that's a small group, but in his divinity his heart is enough to wrap us all in. We are His Beloved, and today, just like 2000 years ago on ...

With great fear and excitement, they hurried away from the tomb and ran to tell his disciples. But Jesus met them and greeted them.  They came and grabbed his feet and worshipped him.  Matthew 28:8-9 CEB Some days this is the experience that we need, to be met and greeted by Jesus in the here and now.  I wonder if this Easter Jesus turned up at my church, turned up at my house, how I would respond? The two Mary's grabbed his feet (not something I've noticed happening in any context in my lifetime) in what was a response of worship, honour, gratitude, love. They stopped what they were in such a hurry to do. I wonder if that is something in our fast paced world, that our culture has said (if at all possible) have a break from work, slow down, stop what you are in such a hurry to do. Perhaps I need to in some way hold on to Jesus feet today. To slow down. To wait. To hold His feet. I wonder what our day will be like if we start here, holding Jesus feet, letting His love flow...

With great fear and excitement, they hurried away from the tomb and ran to tell his disciples.  Matthew 28:8 CEB This is the Kingdom arriving! This is the start of the new covenant that Jesus ushered in...two people with mixed emotions heading out to find their friends to tell them what has happened. Two people unsure of what it all means, but taking the next step that they could see. Not just two people, but two women, at a time when apparently women weren't considered trustworthy enough to testify in Court, our God trusts them with the greatest story of all time! The Kingdom story is held by the least and happens in the small. The small moments. The small people. The small stories. These all matter in the new Kingdom that is ushered in with the ressurection of Jesus.  When our emotions are mixed, when we don't understand it all, when we can't see beyond the next step, when we seem small, unheard, uncertain, we can do what these two people did on the first Easter and hold ...

Going into the tomb, they saw a young man in a white robe seated on the right side;  and they were startled. But he said to them, "Don't be alarmed!  You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He has been raised.  He isn't here.  Look, heres the place where they laid him." Mark 16:56 CEB These two women are seeking to tend to the body of Jesus are startled, shocked, alarmed... The voice of heaven meets them where they are, knows what they are experiencing. The voice of heaven brings clarity & it brings hope. The voice of heaven is not one of fear, but of comfort, welcomes them in, to come closer.  Easter is where our God shows that he knows where we are at, what we experience, because He is experiencing it too.  Easter helps to bring some clarity in this noisy clanging world that we live in, when so much seems out of sync with what was intended. Easter brings Hope.  The hope that all will be made new, that there is a Bigger Sto...

Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they came to the tomb. They were saying to each other,  "Who's going to roll the stone away from the entrance for us?" When they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away. (And it was a very large stone!) Going into the tomb, they saw a young man in a white robe seated on the right side;  and they were startled. But he said to them, "Don't be alarmed!  You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He has been raised.  He isn't here.  Look, here's the place where they laid him. Go,  tell his disciples, especially Peter, that he is going ahead of you into Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you." Mark 16:2-7 CEB He isn't here. The 2 Mary's had gone to the tomb of Jesus looking for the dead.  Today's biggest problem was going to be moving the stone.  And they were confronted by a situation that they had not expected. He isn't here. Jesus ...

After taking the bread and giving thanks,  he broke it and gave it to them, saying,  "This is my body,  which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way,  he took the cup after the meal and said, "This cup is the new covenant by my blood, which is poured out for you." Luke 22:19-20 CEB Jesus was pointing his team forward a few days to his crucifixion, and pointing further forward to a new thing, a new covenant, a new promise, a new way of being. And pointing even further forward to when everything will be made new.  (As JRR Tolkein said "the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus means that one day everything sad will become untrue"). But right now it's darkness.  Empire has won. Death is in charge. The disciples are lost. The things Jesus pointed to are obscured by grief, loss, darkness, despair.  A body broken. Blood poured out. And for what? And yet the Big Story was at work even though Jesus team couldn't see it.  The hop...

People who were blind and lame came to Jesus in the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and legal experts saw the amazing things he was doing and the children shouting in the temple,  "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were angry. They said to Jesus,  Do you hear what these children are saying?  "Yes," he answered.  "Haven't you ever read, From the mouths of babies and infants you've arranged praise for yourself?" Then he left them and went out of the city to Bethany and spent the night there. Matthew 21:14-17 CEB Jesus, bringing healing and hope, recognised by the innocent and the small, rejected by the powerful and knowledgeable, walking out of the city that had welcomed him and was now rejecting him. Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane.  He said to the disciples, "Stay here while I go and pray over there." When he took Peter and Zebedees two sons, he began to feel sad and anxious. Then he...

Matthew 21:12, 14 CEB Then Jesus went into the temple and threw out all those who were selling and buying there. ... People who were blind and lame came to Jesus in the temple, and he healed them. The week before Jesus died he not only threw out the traders from the temple, Jesus invited in the blind and the lame, the marginalised, those who were excluded. "They" were welcomed in. Welcomed in as they are. And Jesus spent his time healing, so that the lame could walk and the blind could see. This week someone shared their story with me that they have a friend who is lame, who can only walk slowly. This person likes to move quickly, but chooses to slow down to the pace of their friend. An act of love. Jesus was able to heal in ways that we might often wish or hope for, but we can do what he did and see those on the margins, see those in their struggle, invite them in, and slow down for them. Love is found in the welcome Love is found in the invitation Love is found in the slowi...

Matthew 21:12-13 CEB Then Jesus went into the temple and threw out all those who were selling and buying there. He pushed over the tables used for currency exchange and the chairs of those who sold doves.  He said to them,  "It's written, My house will be called a house of prayer. But you've made it a hideout for crooks." Matthew 21:12-13 CEB What was Jesus doing the week before he was crucified? Overturning tables. Cleaning out the temple. Returning the temple to it's purpose as a house of prayer. The culture had taken over the temple, little by little crept in, maybe even under the guise of doing something good (like "how convenient to sell doves for sacrifice in the temple"). But something fundamental had gone astray and Jesus said it all has to go and literally threw people out. I'm wondering in this week before Easter what needs to be tipped over in my "temple", in my life? What has crept in under the guise of being something good that...

Let me live again so I can praise you!  Let your rules help me I've wandered off like a sheep,  lost. Find your servant because I haven't forgotten your commandments! Psalms 119:175-176 CEB We made it to the end of Psalm 119, and after this epic, massive, long song, the psalmist leaves us with this most human of situations: He's working hard to hold on to God's word and to live it out. And he's got lost.  And he cries out to be found. To be found by God Himself, becuase he knows that our God is Life and he wants to live again. He wants to be found.  Easter is that time of year when we get to reflect on what it took for us to be found, what it took for Jesus to enter the Story because we needed Him, needed Grace, needed to be found. Amd there's days when we need to be found again, when we can use the psalmists words that we find hard to say: Let me live again. I've wandered off.  Lost. Find me again. Easter, for all the violence and tragedy and destruction th...

Let my cry reach you, LORD;  help me understand according to what you've said.   Psalms 119:169 CEB As we head towards Easter this week, we can see glimpses of what Jesus was all about...Jesus crying out in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus crying out on the Cross...we can see Jesus in this psalm  "Let my cry reach you Adonai" It's OK for the psalmist to cry out. It's OK for Jesus to cry out. It's OK for you to cry out too. Sometimes we have a good handle on life and all thats going on and sometimes we don't. It's OK to cry out to God. It's OK to want understanding. We want certainty, and Jesus invites us to sit in mystery, in faith, to trust, to trust as he did in the Bigger Story, that overcame and will overcome all that is broken and will bring us home. #psalms #psalm119 #weareBeloved  #easter2025 #cryout

Sunday Psalms; Tav. Let my cry reach you, LORD;  help me understand according to what you've said. Let my request for grace come before you;  deliver me according to your promise! Let my lips overflow with praise because you've taught me your statutes. Let my tongue declare your word, because all your commandments are righteous. Let your power help me because I have chosen your precepts.  LORD, I long for your saving help!  Your Instruction is my joy! Let me live again so I can praise you!  Let your rules help me!   Psalms 119:169-175 CEB This is the last portion of Psalm 119, a call to Life. A summary of all that has been before, repeating "Let me..."  Let my cry reach You Let my request for grace come before you Let my lips overflow with praise Let my tongue declare Your word Let Your power help me And the final "let me" is to "let me live again". What does this journey seem like? It could be a journey through grief and loss, that starts with cr...

Trust in the LORD with all your heart; don't rely on your own intelligence. Know him in all your paths,  and he will keep your ways straight.   Proverbs 3:5-6 CEB Jesus literally walked with his team, teaching, talking, listening, eating together. And when they wandered off on their own paths, Jesus brought them back - the story that comes to mind is Peter - he repeatedly got carried away with his own ideas, and Jesus still kept him close - he got scared & denied even knowing Jesus - what a betrayal for a disciple of 3 years, someone who had been right there, seen the healings and the miracles and the transformed lives along the way - what a betrayal - yet Jesus Grace shaped his path again, cooked him breakfast on the beach and renewed his purpose. Even in our disasters, failures, lowest moments, in all our paths, Jesus wants to be known, to shape our paths, to light the next step... #proverbs #wisdom #itsaheartthing #inallourpaths

Friday! Proverbs! Trust in the LORD with all your heart; don't rely on your own intelligence. Know him in all your paths,  and he will keep your ways straight.   Proverbs 3:5-6 CEB The idea of trusting in Yahweh completely (& trusting ourselves a little less) is built on here; "Know Him in all your paths" In all the complexities of life, in all the roles that we might have in a day, a week, a month, at home, at work, at play, at church, what we do online, at study, at school, with friends, when we're alone, in nature, in the city, on holiday, travelling, staying put, being an employee, boss, student, teacher, pastor, parent, family member, giving, receiving, preparing, serving, creating, resting...these are our paths...and this proverb invites us to "know Him in all our paths". The word here "know" is "yada", to know, perceive, understand, acknowledge. Know Yahweh in all our paths. Perceive Him, look for Him, see Him in all our paths....

After John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee announcing God's good news, saying,  "Now is the time!  Here comes God's kingdom!  Change your hearts and lives, and trust this good news!" Mark 1:14-15 CEB Mark has jumped from Jesus baptism and then being forced out into the wilderness to John being arrested and Jesus proclaiming that the Kingdom is here! What happened in the wilderness? What happened with John? I suppose Mark assumed his readers would know about these things or they weren't that important to record? What he does record is Jesus has found his way back to Galilee, and is echoing John's words - it's all about a changed heart, a changed mind, trusting in this news, this good news, God's Kingdom that you've been waiting for is here... As Jesus is wandering Galilee, the famous John arrested, the Kingdom seems to be less than spectacular...was anyone listening to Jesus? #gospel #GoodNews #weareinaBigStory  #itsaheartthing 

Mark 1:12-13 CEB At once the Spirit forced Jesus out into the wilderness.  He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among the wild animals, and the angels took care of him.    Mark 1:12-13 CEB Does this jolt you that Jesus was "forced" out into the wilderness? The word Mark uses is "ekballo", which means to cast out, to drive out, to send out, to expel. This word is used to describe the casting out of demons. It's like Jesus has been cast out of normal life.  Heaven has opened, the voice of the Father's acceptance and love has been heard, and now the Spirit has forced Jesus away from people, away from his community, to live in the wild and be cared for by angels. None of this is normal. (And when we have some kind of "wilderness" experience I don't think its the same as what is happening to Jesus here). Perhaps this is an insight into the change in relationship between Father Son & Spirit that was needed to make a w...

About that time, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River. While he was coming up out of the water, Jesus saw heaven splitting open and the Spirit, like a dove, coming down on him.  And there was a voice from heaven:  "You are my Son,  whom I dearly love;  in you I find happiness." Mark 1:9-11 CEB I wonder what it would have been like for the people who were there - what did they see? Did they hear God speak? Or was this some kind of special communion that no one even knew happened - except Jesus? I wonder if Jesus in his humanity, in some way, just like us, needed to hear the acceptance and love of the Father. "You are my Son,  whom I dearly love;  in you I find happiness." This last word translated here as "happiness" is "eudokeo" Pronunciation: yoo-dok-eh'-o Definition: To be well pleased, to take delight, to approve. This message to Jesus is recorded here to let us in to the intimate loving communicat...

Mark 1:4-5, 9 CEB [4] John the Baptist was in the wilderness calling for people to be baptized to show that they were changing their hearts and lives and wanted God to forgive their sins. [5] Everyone in Judea and all the people of Jerusalem went out to the Jordan River and were being baptized by John as they confessed their sins. ... [9] About that time, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River.  Mark 1:4-5, 9 CEB Jerusalem to the Jordan River is at least 60km Nazareth to Jerusalem is 139km (thanks Google Maps) Would you walk 60km to get baptised?  Jesus walked at least 2 days to get to see John and meet him at the river. And it seems that Jesus just turned up like any other person, like any other pilgrim. He was ordinary. The extraordinary became ordinary. The Creator walking for 2 days to submit to the River (his path probably followed the river most of the way, probably enjoying the hospitality of being a stranger in little villages al...

Sunday Psalms; Shin Rulers oppress me without cause,  but my heart honors what you've said. I'm overjoyed at your word, like someone who finds great treasure.   ... Psalms 119:161-168 CEB Sometimes it's systems that are the oppressor. The Hebrew word here is "sahr" which is derived from "to have dominion or rule". In our context that might be the government, the power exerted by other countries, global systems, our institutions, or "just the way things are" that we can feel powerless about (like how unaffordable housing is for so many people right now). In the face of whatever the writer of this psalm was facing, he does two things; In the inner most part of who he is, that part that no system or ruler or oppressor can touch, he honours God, trusts Him. And he holds on to God's truth like treasure. I wonder if there's something here for us, to check that trust we have for God is at the centre of us, & this picture of having a treasu...

Trust in the LORD with all your heart;  don't rely on your own intelligence.   Proverbs 3:5 CEB Can we see Jesus in this Proverb! I can hear him saying this to his team - "trust in Yahweh guys, He has got you, and what's more, I'm Him too, Emmanuel, God with you, I'm right here.  Right here in the protests, the betrayals, the disbelief, the mess, the miracles, the love, the meals, the rejections, the calling, the following, the long walks, the talking, the listening, the sorrow, the losses, the joys, the team talks and even in the solitude, when you can see and touch me and when you can't, in the calm, and in the storms...I'm right here". Trust in the LORD with all your heart. #proverbs #wisdom  #somethingtochewon #trust #trustinYahweh 

Friday! Proverbs! Trust in the LORD with all your heart;  don't rely on your own intelligence.   Proverbs 3:5 CEB This word "intelligence" is "biynah" Pronunciation: bee-NAH Definition: Understanding, insight, discernment It's about deeper meaning, deeper understanding, includes spiritual and moral understanding. So this Proverb is gently challenging us about whether we can fully rely on our own spiritual and moral understanding, and that we can fully rely on God's. I know that there's a part of me that thinks I'm infallible, always right, if I've thought it it must be right...maybe that's just me... I can trust Yahweh. Especially when my world doesn't make sense, when things feel in turmoil, when I can't see the next step, when it all seems too much, I can trust in Yahweh. He has the Big Story. He is enough to hold me and my story. Proverbs is a mirror of and an insight into the workings of our hearts, and today's is also a p...

Mark 1:6-8 CEB John wore clothes made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey. He announced,  "One stronger than I am is coming after me.  I'm not even worthy to bend over and loosen the strap of his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." Mark 1:6-8 CEB I've often heard John the Baptist described as some kind of fringe person, a bit wild with strange clothing and strange diet. But Mark has described a revival as people flocked towards him, and in these verses he seems to connect Johns image with strength. He is a strong person, pointing to someone stronger. He is a big personality drawing people in, yet pointing towards someone bigger who will draw all people in. John is showing his people, preparing them, making it as obvious as he can, that there's more, much more to this story, and it's close. If confessing, getting right with God, getting baptised by me out here in ...

Mark 1:4-5 CEB John the Baptist was in the wilderness calling for people to be baptized to show that they were changing their hearts and lives and wanted God to forgive their sins.  Everyone in Judea and all the people of Jerusalem went out to the Jordan River and were being baptized by John as they confessed their sins.  Mark 1:4-5 CEB We would call this a revival! People were answering the call of John &  heading out to the river and being baptised. Lots of people. And Mark couches this as a part of preparing the way for Jesus - people hearing the call, confessing, and changing, being changed. Transformation. Revival. Looking for God's forgiveness and wanting to live in that forgiveness. As a pointer to Jesus. This is quite a story, a story that has it's beginning in the mists of time and wends its way into our today, a story that we are part of too... #gospel #gospelofMark  #GoodNews #revival #weareinaBigStory 

The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, God's Son, happened just as it was written about in the prophecy of Isaiah:  Look, I am sending my messenger before you.  He will prepare your way, a voice shouting in the wilderness:  "Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight." Mark 1:1-3 CEB  Mark opens his account of Jesus story by inviting us back in time, by quoting from Isaiah 40, Malachi 3, Exodus 20, that this story of Jesus that he is part of, that we are all now part of, is much bigger and much deeper. In a couple of sentences Mark links us back to the Exodus where God redeemed his people, to the mysteries of the Prophets, and this can remind us that we're part of something bigger. We're part of God's story. We've been invited to join in. And it's a reminder that it is Good News.  In our world that can seem overwhelmed by bad news, we get to live in the story of Good News, a story linked and foretold by the ancients. We're al...