verseoftheday

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic,  "Child, your sins are forgiven!" Mark 2:5 CEB The word "child" here is "teknon", which means a child, a descendent. Jesus said to this person I see you, and you belong, you are part of me, part of my story, wrapped into my family, right now, even with all your limitations, you are my child. As we let these words of Jesus wash over us "Child, your sins are forgiven!" where is that place of hurt, of loss, of disjoint, of disconnection that they need to land? Will we let His Grace, Love, and Forgiveness in today, into those parts that need healing... What's forgiven here? "hamartia", which is "missing the mark", and often we are our own worst critic, bringing up again and again where we've missed the mark. Let Jesus' Grace absorb that today, as He invites you into rest, into shalom, into sabbath. You are in fact Beloved. It's easy to brush aside Jesus words as...

Friday! Proverbs! The LORD laid the foundations of the earth with wisdom, establishing the heavens with understanding. With his knowledge, the watery depths burst open, and the skies drop dew.   Proverbs 3:19-20 CEB Above, beneath, before, our story, everything is held in God's  Big Story. This is kind of the end of the introduction to Proverbs, of this introduction to wisdom and understanding. And the writer uses the biggest solidist thing, the earth, and the biggest of things he can see, the skies, to place God above, bigger than. What are the biggest & most solidist things that you can imagine? Our God is Bigger and Beyond that, contains all of that and more. And it's His Wisdom and Understanding that we're invited to nibble at the edges of, to partake of, to enter into. Perhaps today there is an opportunity to sit with this idea that our God is Bigger and Beyond. Does it help a little in how we face what is in front of us today? Does it open up a different perspec...

So many gathered that there was no longer space, not even near the door. Jesus was speaking the word to them. Some people arrived, and four of them were bringing to him a man who was paralyzed. They couldn't carry him through the crowd, so they tore off part of the roof above where Jesus was. When they had made an opening, they lowered the mat on which the paralyzed man was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic,  "Child, your sins are forgiven!" Mark 2:2-5 CEB What strikes you about this story? The crowded space, where no one made room for the person who is paralysed? The determination of this person's friends who advocated and fought for him to make a way? In our often individualistic world, that there was something about their combined faith that moved Jesus to heal? Or perhaps it was that this group had to fight, to resist, to push through barriers to get to Jesus? When God seems silent, hard to find, when we need to fight something, to resist...

After a few days, Jesus went back to Capernaum, and people heard that he was at home. So many gathered that there was no longer space, not even near the door. Jesus was speaking the word to them.  Mark 2:1-2 CEB Apparently Capernaum had an estimated population on 1,000-1,500 people, so a large crowd represented a significant proportion of that town's population.  The whole place knew Jesus was back. His first disciples would've been known there, not as scholars or students of the Torah, but as fishermen, and now they were back as disciples of this Rabbi who last time he was in Capernaum was healing people miraculously. And now he is back. What would it have been like to be in the middle of this crowd on that day? People sharing tories about Jesus, some of which would've been true, exaggerations, doubters,  wonderers, & those desperate for help. And they were listening. Because at the heart of all of this is words. Jesus words. Words that can shape and change...us. I w...

Instead, he went out and started talking freely and spreading the news so that Jesus wasn't able to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, but people came to him from everywhere. Mark 1:45 CEB It seems like Jesus wanted to keep things a bit quieter.  So much quiter that he stopped staying in towns and stayed out where no one lived. And people searched him out. People desperate for their own healing or of someone they loved. Yet Jesus shied away from the spotlight, the popularity. I wonder if the fame from the healings would distract everyone from his bigger reason? I wonder if fame and popularity would become a problem for him and his disciples? It must've been overwhelming for the men who a week ago were fishermen...I wonder what they made of all this? Even though Jesus didn't make it easy to be found, people still sought him, located him, found him. Jesus can still be found. #gospelofMark #GoodNews  #Jesuscanstillbefound

Instantly, the skin disease left him, and he was clean.  Sternly, Jesus sent him away, saying,  "Don't say anything to anyone.  Instead, go and show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifice for your cleansing that Moses commanded. This will be a testimony to them." Instead, he went out and started talking freely and spreading the news so that Jesus wasn't able to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, but people came to him from everywhere. Mark 1:42-45 CEB This person moved in an instant from unwell to well. From outcast to accepted. From solitude to community. And he simply couldn't keep quiet about it (even though Jesus had told him off). And he skipped the power structures of his community altogether it seems. Jesus told him to go to those in power and follow the rules and it seems that in his heart at least, that didn't seem to matter anymore. Jesus had changed his life, and he needed to let people know. Maybe your story isn...

Sunday Psalms  A pilgrimige song.  Of David.  If the LORD hadn't been for us-  let Israel now repeat!  - if the LORD hadn't been for us,  when those people attacked us then they would have swallowed us up whole with their rage burning against us! Then the waters would have drowned us;  the torrent would have come over our necks;   then the raging waters would have come over our necks!  Bless the LORD because he didn't hand us over like food for our enemies' teeth! We escaped like a bird from the hunters' trap; the trap was broken so we escaped!  Our help is in the name of the LORD,  the maker of heaven and earth. Psalms 124 CEB Some vivid word pictures of what David saw his people had been rescued from; "swallowed us up whole" "The hunters trap" "The enemies teeth" And what was going on in their world; Being attacked by others Others being angry towards them "The torrent" that threatened to overwhelm The "raging waters...

Happy is the man who finds wisdom,  And the man who gains understanding; ... Length of days is in her right hand,  In her left hand riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness,  And all her paths are peace. Proverbs 3:13, 16-17 NKJV Even though the big idea here is seeking, finding, and gaining wisdom and understanding, part of me wants to separate that out and focus on "what's in it for me". "See Prov 3:16 says I should live to 100, I should be wealthy, and v17 says I shouldn't have any problems". To the readers of Proverbs none of these ideas (length of days, riches, honor, beauty, peace) are separate from who our God is, none of these ideas should be seen outside the context of His Story. We're invited to seek wisdom and understanding. To gain, to grow in these things. Wisdom and Understanding became a person in Jesus. And as we seek Him, learn more of Him, grow in Him, our days lengthen, we are richer, we see beauty, we can know peace, even i...

Friday! Proverbs! Happy is a man who finds wisdom and who acquires understanding, for she is more profitable than silver, and her revenue is better than gold. She is more precious than jewels;  nothing you desire can equal her. Proverbs 3:13-15 CSB In 1973, in the dawn of television in NZ, Selwyn Toogood hosted a game show on TV called "It's in the bag" & he had a often repeated line to contestants "what will it be, the money or the bag?" This proverb says that if there is wisdom and understanding in the bag, always choose that over the money.  No matter how much it is. There's a part of me that says take the money. Chase the money. But this proverb is crystal clear, wisdom & understanding are far more valuable than anything we can desire.  What are we to do with this proverb today? No one is offering me "the money or the bag", but I do wonder if my life is somehow oriented around the wrong things, and this proverb invites us to consider th...

Then a man with leprosy came to him and, on his knees, begged him,  "If you are willing, you can make me clean." Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched him. "I am willing,"  he told him.  "Be made clean." Mark 1:40-41 CSB Not sure why there was only healing for those who found Jesus, why there wasn't some global phenomenon where there was no more illness because Jesus was now one of us. But there wasn't. So much of God was constrained and made small, and Jesus only seemed to heal those he had personal contact with.  What we do know is that Jesus is moved with compassion when he sees this person.  He reaches over the religious and cultural taboo of not touching someone with a skin disease and touches him anyway. The word here for moved with compassion is "splagchnizomai" which includes a physical response...this is just an idea that something is wrong with the world, this is not just an emotional response to seeing s...

Early in the morning, well before sunrise, Jesus rose and went to a deserted place where he could be alone in prayer.  Simon and those with him tracked him down. When they found him, they told him,  "Everyone's looking for you!" He replied,  "Let's head in the other direction, to the nearby villages, so that I can preach there too.  Thats why I've come." He traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and throwing out demons.    Mark 1:35-39 CEB Simon went out looking for Jesus because it seems that there were people clamouring to see him. Seems like the right thing to do. Yet Jesus had a different agenda, a Bigger Story was going on than what Simon could see.  Must've been a bit confusing, perhaps disorienting for Simon. Jesus wasn't where he was supposed to be. Jesus was popular, in demand, yet he is (literally) walking away to somewhere else. When we don't "get" Jesus, can't figure out what God is about in this ...

Early in the morning, well before sunrise, Jesus rose and went to a deserted place where he could be alone in prayer.  Mark 1:35 CEB You don't have to be up too early to beat the sunrise at the moment, but Jesus was up well before the sun, and headed away.  Away from the usual. Away from distractions. If you'd gone into where he was sleeping his phone would've been left by his bed... This was a deliberate effort to be alone to pray. Jesus is staying with his team, he's had the whole town at the door asking to see him, bringing those who need healing, and early the next day Jesus goes out alone. To pray. For some time. I don't do this very often.  Mark is simply recording what Jesus did and leaving it with us to consider, so I'm wondering, if this is something Jesus did, perhaps its a practice I should follow. If Jesus needed this, maybe I do too. New practices take practice, so might need to be done more than once.  Is the wilderness important? Is going out in t...

A pilgrimage song. ... Have mercy because we've had more than enough shame. We've had more than enough mockery from the self-confident, more than enough shame from the proud. Psalms 123:1-4 CEB "we've had more than enough shame." Shame can be a helpful motivator - when I've done something wrong, something that has hurt someone else, the shame of that can be a helpful motivator for me to change. It can help me to own my actions and choices and prompt me not to repeat them, and invite me into better ways of being and relating to others. But shame is unhealthy and not even ours when it's dumped on us by others actions and others choices.  This song seems to be about that type of shame. Where the words and actions of others are dumping shame on us. Maybe you're familiar with that. This song of pilgrimage, of ascent, of steps, helps us in the very first line; "I raise my eyes to you - you who rule heaven." Psalms 123:1 CEB Even if our head is down...

Sunday Psalms; A pilgrimage song. I raise my eyes to you - you who rule heaven. Just as the eyes of servants attend to their masters' hand, just as the eyes of a female servant attend to her mistress' hand - thats how our eyes attend to the LORD our God until he has mercy on us. Have mercy on us, LORD!  Have mercy because we've had more than enough shame. We've had more than enough mockery from the self-confident, more than enough shame from the proud. Psalms 123:1-4 CEB The writer is watching, waiting, hoping,  for change. Change in their situation. This is a song for when we feel stuck. Stuck becuase we are powerless.  The words of others, the actions of others have ground us down. This seems to be the place this song was written from. A song of pilgrimage, of ascents, inherent in it is movement, finding that space, that way to take the smallest of steps. And in this song the step is a movement of the eyes - metaphorically anyway - the song writer says to look up, to ...

Don't reject the instruction of the LORD, my son;  don't despise his correction. The LORD loves those he corrects,  just like a father who treats his son with favor.    Proverbs 3:11-12 CEB So Jesus said to them, "When the Human One  is lifted up, then you will know that I Am. Then you will know that I do nothing on my own, but I say just what the Father has taught me."  John 8:28 CEB A voice from the sky spoke like distant thunder,  "This is my much-loved Son, who makes my heart glad!" Matthew 3:17 FNVNT At the heart of correction are words.  Words of instruction. Words held and delivered in love. And in this Proverb, from our place in time, we get to see the connection with Jesus, who listened to the Father's instruction, His direction, and knew that he was always held in the love of the Father.  And we get joined together with Jesus, the favor that is his is ours too, because Love. Because we are Beloved. We get to choose to follow God's i...

Friday! Proverbs! Don't reject the instruction of the LORD, my son;  don't despise his correction. The LORD loves those he corrects,  just like a father who treats his son with favor.    Proverbs 3:11-12 CEB Some versions in English of this part of Proverbs have used the word "discipline" in place of "instruction" and then used passages like this as a weapon to promote or justify punishment, especially physical punishment, particularly of children. This whole chapter has been about instruction, about ideas, about trusting God in the way we live as adults, as community. Thia part is like a little summary, & wraps up this part with love. You are Beloved. So listen to the Eternal who loves you. Rejecting His words takes us back to being "wise in our own eyes". Accepting his invitation towards wisdom takes faith. This can seem easier when our days are full of success, wins, goodness. But when we are in pain, suffering from loss, struggling with our...

A pilgrimage song.   Of David. I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let's go to the LORD's house!  ... because the thrones of justice are there... Psalms 122:1, 5 CEB If there's one universal thing that people want it is justice. Every day we encounter in one way or another stories if injustice from around the world, in our own country, in the places that we live. We encounter injustice. When something, and especially someone, is lost to us, particularly through the actions and choices of others, there can be a profound sense of injustice. Something isn't right. We have been wronged. We can feel powerless and helpless. And yet this wee song of David's holds a clue for us that is a theme of the Bible, that there will be justice.  Somehow, eventually, there will be justice.  The wrongs will be righted. When I hold that to be true, when I hold by faith that in the Big Story, there is justice, I don't feel quite so helpless or powerless. When we trust that ou...

A song of pilgrimage.  "Let there be peace on your walls" ... I will pray for your good. Psalms 122:7, 9 CEB As we sit with these gentle invocations, who comes to mind who needs to hear this from you today? Who needs to know that you're praying for their good today? A spouse, partner, friend, flatmate, child, parent, sibling, cousin? That person who you don't know that well but is struggling with their health, with grief, with work or study pressure? That person who seems to have it all together, yet something in your spirit is prompting you to reach out and pray for their good, that peace might be on their walls. That person who suffered a loss and the rest of the world has gone back to "normal". That person who has some big decision to make, or has made it and now stepping into something new, "may there be peace on your walls, I am praying for your good." That person who's fear or anxiety is hard to understand, yet they're experiencing it...

Pray that Jerusalem has peace:  "Let those who love you have rest. Let there be peace on your walls;  let there be rest on your fortifications." Psalms 122:6-7 CEB Cities have walls and fortifications for a reason. The city has needed protection. Invaders. Marauders. Those who just want to take. But a city locked up behind walls, with its fortifications bristling, always on alert, that city is surviving. But it's not thriving. To thrive it needs people and goods and services to come and go, to connect and communicate with other cities. Can you see the metaphor here for us, with our walls and defences bristling. They're there for a good reason, but we need to find a way for there to be "peace on your walls" and "rest on your fortifications".  Difficult task to move a city, to cut off the danger, to shift what needs shifting to find that place of peace, the opportunity for thriving and flourishing, for reconnection. But it's worth it. Finding, or...

A song of pilgrimige.  Of David. Pray that Jerusalem has peace:  "Let those who love you have rest. Let there be peace on your walls;  let there be rest on your fortifications." For the sake of my family and friends, I say, "Peace be with you, Jerusalem." For the sake of the LORD our God's house I will pray for your good. Psalms 122:6-9 CEB What name needs to replace Jerusalem in this song of pilgrimige for you? Is it a place that needs peace? (sadly that may still be Jerusalem 3000 years after this was written). Perhaps it's a place closer to home. Maybe it's a person who's name can slot in here as your prayer today. "Peace be with you ____" Maybe it's you who needs rest,  to have peace on your walls, to stand down your defences where they aren't needed any more. That last line of compassion and care "I will pray for your good" because you're part of God's Big Story, worthy of belonging and peace, who comes to min...

Sunday Psalms; A song of pilgrimige. Of David.  I rejoiced with those who said to me,  "Let's go to the LORD's house!" Now our feet are standing in your gates, Jerusalem! Jerusalem is built like a city joined together in unity.  That is where the tribes go up - the LORD's tribes!  Psalms 122:1-5 CEB Yesterday we went on a little journey, not a pilgrimige, but stopped in at Jerusalem up the Whanganui River. A place where the church and the place are synonomous.  Joined. Interconnected. A place of unity, peace. In a world that has more tools for connection than ever, we seem to be less connected. Less connected to place. Less connected to each other. Less connected to God. Less connected to ourselves. This is a pilgrimige song,  calling David in a direction, what seems to be a physical and a spiritual direction, they are not unconnected. There's a reconnection of people together as YHWH's tribes, with some of the other things that make us different, less imp...

Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the first of all your crops. Then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will burst with wine.   Proverbs 3:9-10 CEB If we overlay Jesus life with this Proverb, maybe something interesting will emerge. Jesus was born in poverty, was a refugee, was found in the Synagogue as a child, he was a carpenter, and then the last 3 years of his life lived as a Rabbi. Honoring God with our wealth is not about how much we have, how much we give, about rules and regulations, it's living with a heart oriented towards God. Our circumstances don't determine that. Our wealth or lack of it doesn't determine that.  Jesus trusted in the Big Story that his earthly life was part of, that the "plenty", the overflow, the bursting vats of goodness would result in God's time and in His way. We too can trust in the Big Story.  When all we seem to hold is ashes. When the day ahead seems so ordinary. When we wonder if we're making ...

Friday! Proverbs! Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the first of all your crops. Then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will burst with wine.   Proverbs 3:9-10 CEB The problem with Proverbs like this is that they can be weaponised - when those with power decide what "Honor the LORD" should look like. Proverbs 3 starts with the author saying "My son, don't forget my instruction..." A father passing on wisdom for life and well-being. He encourages his reader to live a life of loyalty & faithfulness, to trust in YHWH with everything he has, to trust less in his own wisdom and more and more on God's. And now he is encouraging to honour YHWH with what you produce, with your wealth.  All along the way there are pictures of well-being, and v10 includes one too, of overflow, of enough and then some. This is not some transactional formula for wealth. It's a heart thing, that leads us towards well-being and thriving. Keeping our heart...

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Bless the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  He has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing that comes from heaven. God chose us in Christ to be holy and blameless in God's presence before the creation of the world.  Ephesians 1:2-4 CEB Before the creation of the world, before any of what we see and experience around us, before us, before those who came before us, somehow,  we were known, we were held in what I can only describe as God's imagination,  we were known and seen in all we were meant to be,  and we were chosen. Seen Known Held Chosen This seems to be the spiritual blessing that we have received in the heavenly realms. Seen Known Held Chosen From before time, already known in the mind of God, in the most fully alive version of ourselves. So, Grace and Peace to you, from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. When we feel unseen, unknown, neglected, alone, abandon...

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.    Ephesians 1:2 CEB Had a rough day? Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Processing some difficult news? Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Waiting. Unsure. Uncertain? Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Struggling with grief & loss? Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Got a weighty decision to make? Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Caring for someone who is unwell? Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Wrestling with things in your own heart and mind? Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Looking forward to something good? Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Stepping into an ordinary day? Grace and peace to you from God our Father and ...

A pilgrimige song:  ...the LORD is your shade right beside you.   Psalms 121:5 CEB This song was written in an environment a bit warmer than mine this week. I don't want anyone or anything putting me in the shade today, it's way too cold.  But in the environment this psalm was written, on a pilgrimige journey, having some shade could be the thing that is needed to complete the journey. To be in someone's shade is to be with someone bigger.  The song writer still has to take every step, the environment may still be harsh, but there is some shade, the LORD, YHWH, the Eternal, is right there.  He is with us. When we want something more solid than shade, when we don't want to take the next step, when the journey seems to difficult, the terrain and the environment too harsh, we hold on by faith to the truth that He is with us. The Eternal is our shade. So take the next step... #psalms  #songs #pilgrimige  #itsajourney  #shade #takethenextstep

A pilgrimige song: I raise my eyes toward the mountains.  Where will my help come from? My help comes from the LORD,  the maker of heaven and earth.  God won't let your foot slip.  Your protector won't fall asleep on the job. No!  Israels protector never sleeps or rests!  The LORD is your protector;  the LORD is your shade right beside you. The sun wont strike you during the day;  neither will the moon at night. The LORD will protect you from all evil;  God will protect your very life. The LORD will protect you on your journeys -  whether going or coming - from now until forever from now. Psalms 121:1-8 CEB This is a song of pilgrimige, of journey, of journeying with God and trusting in Him. Our modern mind would like this to mean that nothing bad will happen to us, but we know that isnt true, our experience tells us something different, the person who wrote this song died a long time ago, Jesus told us that in this world we will have tr...

Sunday Psalms; A pilgrimige song. I raise my eyes toward the mountains.  Where will my help come from? My help comes from the LORD,  the maker of heaven and earth.   Psalms 121:1-2 CEB This song is labelled "A song of ascents", the CEB used the word pilgrimage. "ma alah" Definition: Ascent, step, stair, elevation, degree. It's about the act of stepping up, going on an upward journey, a pilgrimige. Let's try to hold these ideas of ascent, pilgrimige. "I raise my eyes towards the mountains" takes on a destination or a place of retreat where the writer is heading, a high place, a place of safety. And as he is looking up, raising his gaze from the everyday putting one foot in front of another, he asks himself the question: "Where will my help come from?" Is it all going to be OK when I get to the mountain, the high place, get away from here? Is it all going to be OK when I stop and rest at my destination? "My help comes from the LORD,  t...

Don't be wise in your own eyes;  fear the Lord and turn away from evil. This will be healing for your body and strengthening for your bones. Proverbs 3:7-8 CSB Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation.  Romans 12:16 CSB "If you want to be perfect," Jesus said to him, "go, sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." When the young man heard that, he went away grieving, because he had many possessions.  Matthew 19:21-22 CSB We can find this theme of not being "wise in our own eyes" from Paul as he encourages the church in Rome how to live in what Proverbs might call the "fear of the Lord", and rather than focusing on turning away from things, Paul is inviting his readers to turn towards. Turn towards harmony, turn towards the humble. And here is this person who got to meet Jesus and ask his Big Question...

Friday! Proverbs! Don't be wise in your own eyes;  fear the Lord and turn away from evil. This will be healing for your body and strengthening for your bones. Proverbs 3:7-8 CSB "Fear" here carries a whole range of meanings from terror or dread to reverence and awe.  It would seem that the context of this Proverb it's more about reverence and awe. It's out of reverence to God, knowing His ways are right, right for me, right for us, that I will put aside what my default thoughts or actions might be, and choose to honour Him in my responses and choices.  When I allow Gods word, His heart, His Spirit to challenge and shape my will, my choices, my heart, when I put down my "wisdom" in favour of His, that is a path towards healing. Less of me. More of Him. My wisdom, left unchecked, probably isnt going to lead to the healthiest or best decisions. I don't want to fool myself by being "wise in my own eyes". As we sit with this Proverb today, where...

Mark 1:27-28 CEB Everyone was shaken and questioned among themselves,  "Whats this?  A new teaching with authority!  He even commands unclean spirits and they obey him!" Right away the news about him spread throughout the entire region of Galilee.    Mark 1:27-28 CEB Jesus stirred everything up. He has just called his disciples not from the ranks of scholars or students, but straight from their fishing boats. He teaches in the synagogue with authority, and shows his authority over the spiritual.  People are shaken up. Jesus is not just some new flavour of Rabbi with some different ideas, Jesus is different. Radical. And people are talking about him, about what is going on where he is. Sometimes this is the Jesus we need too. Jesus who shakes things up, not just because he can, but to bring healing, hope, and ushering in a new way of being in the world. James, John, Simon & Andrew must've been wondering what they've found themselves in the middle of! Do ...