verseoftheday

Mark 8:1-3 CEB In those days there was another large crowd with nothing to eat. Jesus called his disciples and told them, "I feel sorry for the crowd because they have been with me for three days and have nothing to eat.  If I send them away hungry to their homes, they won't have enough strength to travel, for some have come a long distance." Mark 8:1-3 CEB This story places us as an insider, in the small group, hearing Jesus heart for the crowd, turning our mind to the problem Jesus saw, the people Jesus saw. But if I'd been there that day, I'd most likely be in the crowd.  One of many who had been listening to Jesus teaching for 3 days. One of many who had run out of food. One of many facing a long walk home on an empty stomach. One of many with no idea that Jesus saw me, saw my situation, and was doing something about it. In the Big Story Jesus has seen us, seen our situation, and done something about it. And the Cross is central to that.  The Empty Tomb is cen...

Friday! Proverbs! [27] I was there when he established the heavens, when he drew the horizon on the oceans. [28] I was there when he set the clouds above, when he established springs deep in the earth.  [29] I was there when he set the limits of the seas, so they would not spread beyond their boundaries.  And when he marked off the earth's foundations, [30] I was the architect at his side. I was his constant delight, rejoicing always in his presence.  [31] And how happy I was with the world he created;  how I rejoiced with the human family! ... [33] Listen to my instruction and be wise. ... [35] For whoever finds me finds life... Proverbs 8:27-31, 33, 35 NLT This is a looong passage, this whole chapter is about the importance of Wisdom...and then theres this piece in the middle that kind of makes Wisdom "alive". Alive before Creation. Alive at Creation. Part of it. Its almost like this ancient book wants us to see Wisdom not as just an idea, more than a collection of...

Jesus gave the people strict orders not to tell anyone.  But the more he tried to silence them, the more eagerly they shared the news.  People were overcome with wonder, saying,  "He does everything well!  He even makes the deaf to hear and gives speech to those who can't speak." Mark 7:36-37 CEB If it was your friend who for their whole life couldn't hear or couldn't speak, and suddenly, miraculously, they could, you'd tell someone. If it was your daughter who was healed, wouldn't you want to let others know? It's not clear why Jesus wanted to damp things down, do things on the down low. Perhaps his message about the Kingdom was getting lost in the noise around healings, maybe even with his own team? Maybe he just needed space sometimes. But whatever Jesus' reasons were, people couldn't stop telling others about Jesus.  About what he had done in their lives. Their experience. Perhaps this is Mark's invitation to us too...to simply share ou...

Mark 7:34-35 CEB Looking into heaven, Jesus sighed deeply and said, "Ephphatha," which means, "Open up." At once, his ears opened, his twisted tongue was released, and he began to speak clearly. Mark 7:34-35 CEB Why did Jesus need a direct line with heaven to heal this man? Just a few verses earlier and Jesus was having a conversation with a woman and almost as an aside Jesus said to her that her daughter was healed. No calling on heaven needed. Did Jesus need more help because this man's problems were particularly difficult? Mark is no help. I'm left wondering 2 things; if his cry to heaven was modelling something for his disciples for when he is no longer with them. And/or that Jesus in his humanity has a need. He can't do this healing in his own human limitation. What do you think? And what does this story mean for us? Jesus was wanting to shift something in another person's life and asked Heaven to "open up" to make away - who am I pray...

Mark 7:32-33 CEB [32] Some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly speak, and they begged him to place his hand on the man for healing. [33] Jesus took him away from the crowd by himself and put his fingers in the man's ears. Then he spit and touched the man's tongue. Mark 7:32-33 CEB Do you notice the pattern in the way Jesus meets with people, the pattern in the way these healings unfold? No I didn't notice it either - they all seem different.  Crowds, no crowds, touch, no touch, distance, and this one so up close Jesus poked his fingers in the man's ears, and it seems put his spit on his tongue! Very strange! Jesus meets people in different ways. And there is no reason why given. Perhaps this is what we're meant to see, that Jesus meets with people in different ways, that comparing isn't helpful, and if we try to figure it out we probably won't get an explanation... Perhaps this is about Faith. Faith in a person who is at least as comple...

Mark 7:31 CEB [31] After leaving the region of Tyre, Jesus went through Sidon toward the Galilee Sea through the region of the Ten Cities.  Mark 7:31 CEB This is at least 2 days walk and Jesus is on the move - he's just come from Jerusalem to Tyre and now on the move again. The thing that interested me about this account is that Tyre and Sidon are now in a country called Lebanon. I tend to think of countries and borders as permanent things...but they haven't always been there. Jesus moved from place to place, no border control, no passport. That got me thinking about Jesus IN my life - He wants access everywhere but I'm the one who puts up Border Controls in my heart. Not sure I want Jesus going There. Yet He wants to keep moving. He moved around teaching, encouraging, challenging, and healing. Healing. Maybe that's what He is up to in the cross Border excursions in my heart... He wants His Redemptive Love to permeate all of me, all of us... #gospelofMark #GoodNews  #in...

Sunday Psalms; Psalms 10:1, 17-18 CEB [1] Why do you stand so far away, LORD, hiding yourself in troubling times?   ... [17]   LORD, you listen to the desires of those who suffer.  You steady their hearts; you listen closely to them, to establish justice for the orphan and the oppressed, so that people of the land will never again be terrified. Psalms 10:1, 17-18 CEB This song asks one of those tough questions. Where are you God when bad things happen? When the world seems to be ruled by corruption and evil. When my life, my world, is upended, when things aren't as they "should" be. And the Redemptive Strand is here. He does listen. He is close. In Jesus He did make a way. And there will be Justice. There will be freedom, shalom, peace. One day all will be made new. The hope of the Gospel, the Good News, is here.  It's OK to want to see God's Justice now, in a world where so much seems upsidedown, in the same way the writer of this song wanted to see that, ...

Jude 1:24-25 CEB To the one who is able to protect you from falling,  and to present you blameless and rejoicing before his glorious presence,  to the only God our savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, belong glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time, now and forever. Amen. Jude 1:24-25 CEB When it seems that nothing or no one in this world can hold us, Jesus can. When our grief or hurt or despair or sense of unjustice, our fears, seem too big for us, Jude reminds us that we are held by someone bigger. When we don't believe we are enough, that in our humanity we're not good enough, and definitlely not good enough for our God, Jude reminds us that Jesus absorbs all of the blame, and sees us as complete, all we were meant to be. Jude reminds us that we are seen, known, and dearly loved. By the Eternal. Because He can. Because He chooses to. Because He is Love. We may get glimpses of what it's like to be fully known and fully loved, but one day that will become ou...

Friday! Proverbs! Proverbs 8:1-4 CEB Doesn't Wisdom cry out and Understanding shout?  Atop the heights along the path, at the crossroads she takes her stand. By the gate before the city, at the entrances she shouts:  I cry out to you, people; my voice goes out to all of humanity.   Proverbs 8:1-4 CEB How often have I walked past Wisdom? Ignored it. Sidestepped it. This Proverb reminds us that God's Wisdom is available to us.  Wisdom is in our face. So what's my problem then? I want an easier path, something that makes a promise that seems more pleasant. My own heart can be deceiving about what Wisdom is, where I should be looking. My world is clamouring, telling me wisdom is contained in Instagram reels or somewhere. Somewhere else.  In something else. In what someone else has or does or something. Where am I looking? Where am I walking straight past Wisdom? What do I really need? #proverbs  #wisdom #somethingtochewon #itsaheartthing  #seeWisdomto...

Jude 1:22-23 CEB [22] Have mercy on those who doubt. [23] Save some by snatching them from the fire. Fearing God, have mercy on some, hating even the clothing contaminated by their sinful urges.   Jude 1:22-23 CEB What is Jude's big point here as he wraps up his letter? See people.  See through their collections of choices and defence mechanisms and things that they do to isolate or insulate them from their heart aches, their need of connection with God, their doubts, and to see people through the eyes of mercy.  I'm wondering seeing others through the eyes of mercy is easy for some...and not so easy for others... And what about seeing ourselves through the eyes of mercy? Maybe we need to try that... #Jude #letters #invitation #eyesofmercy  

But you,  dear friends:  build each other up on the foundation of your most holy faith,  pray in the Holy Spirit, keep each other in the love of God,  wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will give you eternal life.  Jude 1:20-21 CEB When there's doubters, scoffers, those offering and suggesting "better" ways of being in the world, when the world is against us, here is Jude's antidote. Community that builds each other up in our faith.  Prayer. Keep each other. Hold on to the hope that we have in Jesus. If there weren't days when our faith wavered, our hope is hard to see, when praying alone seems fruitless, Jude invites us into this picture of community, where on the days I'm wavering, struggling, dry, you're strong, clear, hope  full. We need one another. Find, seek out make, community of faith. And hold on. #Jude  #letters #invitation  #community  #hopeishere 

Jude 1:3-4, 8 NLT Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people.  I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God's marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives...for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. ... [8] In the same way, these people - who claim authority from their dreams - live immoral lives, defy authority, and scoff at supernatural beings.  Jude 1:3-4, 8 NLT From the earliest of times it seems that Christianity has been under attack, not from the outside, but from the inside. Denying Jesus as The authority Giving authority to dreams. Using Grace as a way of making things that were unacceptable acceptable. This letter from Jude uses "wormed their way in". If they came charging in, they'd be easy to...

Mark 7:30 NLT [30] And when she arrived home, she found her little girl lying quietly in bed, and the demon was gone. Mark 7:30 NLT  All was made new. Restored. Healed. Imagine this mum who has gone and found a Rabbi she had heard about, probably tried every other resource she had access to, maybe this felt like a "last resort" to find a way for her daughter and her home to experience peace. And she met Jesus. And when she got home, it was home again. Everything is OK. She must've felt that she can breathe again. And grateful! Perhaps this story is here for us for when our life seems in turmoil, that there's no "fix", that we can be sure that one day we too will see Jesus, and shalom, peace, balance, will be restored. All will be made new. All hurt unhurt. The pressures gone. The anxities gone. And we too will be left with peace and gratitude... #gospelofMark #GoodNews #weareinaBigStory #weareBeloved  #redemptivestrands #hopeishere  ##onedayallwillbemadenew

Sunday Psalms; Psalms 9:9-10, 13, 18 NLT [9] The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed,  a refuge in times of trouble.  [10] Those who know your name trust in you, for you,  O Lord,  do not abandon those who search for you. ... [13]  Lord,  have mercy on me.  See how my enemies torment me.  Snatch me back from the jaws of death. ... [18] But the needy will not be ignored forever; the hopes of the poor will not always be crushed. Psalms 9:9-10, 13, 18 NLT As we look for the redemptive strands in the Psalms they are wound in and out of this one. This song of David's declares that our God is our shelter and refuge at the same time acknowledging the realities of life. He cries out to be snatched back from the "jaws of death" means he is not yet in that place of safety. And he declares again in v18 his Faith. Faith that even as he continues to call out, he is not and will not be abandoned. Our circumstances may try to tell us something, that we are aband...

Mark 7:25-26, 30 NLT Right away a woman who had heard about him came and fell at his feet. Her little girl was possessed by an evil spirit, and she begged him to cast out the demon from her daughter. Since she was a Gentile, born in Syrian Phoenicia... ... And when she arrived home, she found her little girl lying quietly in bed, and the demon was gone. Mark 7:25-26, 30 NLT In between the 2 parts of the story here there is a dialogue between this woman and Jesus that is intriguing. Jesus makes a statement, and the woman responds to his statement that seems to show that she gets the differences between them, that she knows what she is asking. And when I "listen" to this dialogue I see a kind and inquiring Jesus. Often we see Jesus stepping over cultural and religious boundaries to meet with people, and in this account it's this woman from Syria who steps towards Jesus.  My wondering is that this story is here to get us, me, to think about what I am doing when I step toward...

Friday! Proverbs! Proverbs 7:1-3, 23-25 NLT Follow my advice, my son;  always treasure my commands.  Obey my commands and live!  Guard my instructions as you guard your own eyes.  Tie them on your fingers as a reminder.  Write them deep within your heart. ... He was like a stag caught in a trap,  awaiting the arrow that would pierce its heart. He was like a bird flying into a snare, little knowing it would cost him his life. So listen to me, my sons, and pay attention to my words. Don't let your hearts stray away... Proverbs 7:1-3, 23-25 NLT This Proverb uses an example of someone being caught in a trap, led astray. This is not written to a naive child, but to us. What is it that seems good, but when we line it up against God's Truth is a trap, is going to take us in an unhealthy direction, take us away from God's best for us. Start with what we already know in God's Word, and hold onto that...let what we already know to be true be our guide... #proverbs #w...

Jude 1:1-2 NLT This letter is from Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James. I am writing to all who have been called by God the Father, who loves you and keeps you safe in the care of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and more mercy, peace, and love. Jude 1:1-2 NLT What jumps out at you from Jude's greeting? For me it's not the bit about who Jude is...it's this: Called by God. God loves you. Held by Jesus. What a place to be.  Perhaps I need to turn off the news feeds, the noise, the bombardment of messages we allow into ourselves and sit with these things that Jude's ancient letter invites us into: Called by God. God loves you. Held by Jesus. Which one of those truths do you need to rest in today? Called by God. God loves you. Held by Jesus. Pick one. Called by God. God loves you. Held by Jesus. #Jude #letters #speaklife  #takewhatyouneed

Mark 7:24 NLT [24] Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre. He didn't want anyone to know which house he was staying in, but he couldn't keep it a secret.  Mark 7:24 NLT Boundaries. Jesus needed them. In his humanity he had limits just like us. Just like us. (And just like us he found it difficult to keep them when others needs keep pushing in). If we feel guilty for some reason about wanting to have boundaries in our relationships with people, remind yourself that it's Biblical! Jesus did it. Went off and prayed on his own. Wanted to be unknown for a bit. Let people leave unhappy. Stood up for injustice. Told the Truth. All types of boundaries. What do you need for your well-being today? #gospelofMark #GoodNews  #invitation 

Mark 7:5, 14-15 NLT [5] So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him,  "Why don't your disciples follow our age-old tradition?  They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony." ... [14] Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear.  'All of you listen," he said, "and try to understand. It's not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart." Mark 7:5, 14-15 NLT The Pharisees had travelled to meet with Jeuss and  noticed that the disciples weren't following their traditional rules of handwashing. Jesus gave them a telling off for how hypocritical they are about their own rules. And then calls in the people to listen: It's a heart thing. I'm interested in your heart. The rules, the traditions may all be good, helpful, worth keeping, but they aren't the thing.  The heart is the thing Jesus was interested in.  And in the emphasis on keeping the rules, the Pharisees ha...

[53] After they had crossed the lake, they landed at Gennesaret. They brought the boat to shore and climbed out. The people recognized Jesus at once, and they ran throughout the whole area, carrying sick people on mats to wherever they heard he was. Wherever he went - in villages, cities, or the countryside - they brought the sick out to the marketplaces.  They begged him to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him were healed. Mark 6:53-56 NLT What a beautiful account of people responding to the needs of others, running to get them, carrying the sick, bringing them to Jesus. "And all who touched him were healed". While we may have experienced healing in some way, one day, we will see Jesus face-to-face too. And his touch will heal us. Heal you. heal me. All that is broken will be unbroken. All that is unhealed, restored, replenished, renewed. All that is hurt, unhurt.  One day all will be made new. This is the redemptive strand held in this...

Sunday Psalms; When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers - the moon and the stars you set in place - what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?  Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority - the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals... Psalms 8:3-7 NLT Have you ever looked up at the night sky in wonder as David did? Looked at some aspect of creation in detail, held a newborn child, looked at the expanse of the world from a mountainside, a high point, and wondered about why God cares about you? David did.  And here in this song is the answer he got. Humans are amazing. God has made us different form all other creatures, and closer to God than we realise. As Genesis says, made in His image.  Crowned with glory and honour. Perhaps "glory and honour" doesn't sit too ...

Love is patient,  love is kind.  1 Corinthians 13:4 CSB (Proverbs 7:1-4) "Father in heaven,  help me to follow this instruction in the most excellent way. Help me to guard this truth as I guard and protect my own eyes. Maybe I need to mark ot on my skin, write in my journal, have a reminder somewhere, but most of all Jesus, may Your Spirit write it deep within my heart.  Spirit help me to love Your Word, to be as close to Your truth as the best and closest way a family sbould be.  Help me to slow down for others, to wait, so that being patient is who I am. Help me to be kind in my actions, and in my thoughts, and in my first response.  May love is patient, love is kind, be held in the deepest parts of me. So be it. Amen" #proverbs #wisdom #dangerousprayers #speaklife 

Friday! Proverbs! Follow my advice, my son; always treasure my commands. Obey my commands and live!  Guard my instructions as you guard your own eyes. Tie them on your fingers as a reminder.  Write them deep within your heart. Love wisdom like a sister; make insight a beloved member of your family. Proverbs 7:1-4 NLT What do I treasure like this? Do I protect God's truth like I protect my own eyes? Do I hold God's truth with respect and honour? Do I write His Word deep in my heart? The writer of Proverbs couldn't make being clear about our values stronger than this, it's what we hold deepest that shapes our identity, thoughts, emotions, and choices. I wonder what the Holy Spirit is prompting me to tie on my finger, to remind me of today, to write on my heart, to store in that deepest part? Love is patient. Love is kind. This is what I am called to treasure and protect today. In a world which does not slow down and wait, this is what love looks like. In a world that is h...

Mark 6:51-52 CEV He then got into the boat with them, and the wind died down.  The disciples were completely confused. Their minds were closed, and they could not understand the true meaning of the loaves of bread. Mark 6:51-52 CEV This is the end of Mark's account of Jesus rescuing his team on the lake. Overall Mark, you're leaving us with questions! Why were the boys confused? What about relief, gratitude, wonder? What do you mean that "their minds were closed?" Closed in what way? Did they just not understand or was there something else going on? And what did they miss about the meaning of the loaves of bread? Was it that Jesus used the breaking of bread as a symbol of his body broken and this miracle was pointing to His body being more than enough to give life to everyone? How were they supposed to see that yesterday? Or did Jesus talk about that in his teaching and they weren't listening? Or is there something else? When even those closest to Jesus, who heard...

Mark 6:49-51 CEV [49] When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, they thought he was a ghost, and they started screaming. [50] All of them saw him and were terrified. But at this same time he said, "Don't worry!  I am Jesus.  Don't be afraid." [51] He then got into the boat with them, and the wind died down... Mark 6:49-51 CEV Don't worry. I am Jesus. Don't be afraid. Who needs to hear that today? What's ahead, what's happening that is causing you to worry? What is making you afraid? We get to call on the walking-on-the-water Jesus.  We get to ask Him to speak into our worry, to speak over our fear. And as we seek Him out in our story, may our hearts and minds be as calm as the lake was that day... The disciples couldn't see Jesus in the storm, but He could see them. We are seen. Seek the walking-on-water Jesus today... #gospelofMark #GoodNews  #invitation #weareinaBigStory  #redemptivestrands 

Mark 6:47-48 CEV [47] Later in the evening he was still there by himself, and the boat was somewhere in the middle of the lake. [48] He could see that the disciples were struggling hard, because they were rowing against the wind. Not long before morning, Jesus came toward them. He was walking on the water and was about to pass the boat. Mark 6:47-48 CEV More miracles. It's a stormy night.  Pitch black. Jesus is up in the hills and he can see what's going on in the middle of the lake. Jesus is then walking on the lake and catches up to them. Jesus is limited by his humanity, yet at the same time is not limited by the things that his team were struggling with.  The wind. The storm. The struggle. He'd been outside it, above it, praying through it with the Father. I'm with the disciples here - when all you can hear is the wind, when we're in the storm, struggling, it's really difficult to see the Bigger Story that we're in Jesus was feeling the rain, the lake, t...

Mark 6:46-47 CEV [46] Then he told them goodbye and went up on the side of a mountain to pray. [47] Later in the evening he was still there by himself... Mark 6:46-47 CEV How's that self care going? Time in prayer? Jesus wasn't being selfish, but selfcaring. There's that saying "you can't pour from an empty cup", and Jesus was filling his cup up. We're invited to do that too. Physical, emotional, spiritual, relational, thoughts...these all need "filling" at times. What do you need today? How can you take a step towards what you need to tip something into your cup? #gospelofMark #GoodNews  #invitation  #rememberweareBeloved 

Sunday Psalms; Psalms 7:1-2, 9-11 CEV [1] You,  Lord God,  are my protector. Rescue me and keep me safe from all who chase me.  Or else they will rip me apart like lions attacking a victim,  and no one will save me. ... [9]  You know every heart and mind,  and you always do right.  Now make violent people stop,  but protect all of us who obey you. You,  God,  are my shield,  the protector of everyone whose heart is right. You see that justice is done,  and each day you take revenge. Psalms 7:1-2, 9-11 CEV Fears. We all have them.  These fears expressed by David are current, happening now, fear for his life. Some things David does that might be helpful for us... He names what he is afraid of. And he gives that fear back to God, and names the attributes of God that stand in contrast to his fear: Our God is about justice, seeing those who seek to follow Him. Somehow, He will make things Right.  In our world where injusti...