verseoftheday

[6] When we were utterly helpless,  Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Romans 5:6 NLT This is the redemptive strand. When we, people, humanity, had no ability to get ourselves right with God, Jesus stepped towards us.  He moved. This is what Love does, steps towards the Beloved. While we sit with this today, we're also called to be followers of Jesus, which could mean stepping towards those we love. That may be an invitation to some self-care today. What fills you up? And it might mean stepping towards someone you love.  Perhaps someone who is on their own, not included. Perhaps someone who has put up barriers for some reason who you can try again with. Is there someone who the Spirit is prompting to 'be like Jesus' with and step towards? #letters #redemptivestrands #hopeishere #weareBeloved  #takethenextstep 

Romans 5:4-5 NLT [4] And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. [5] And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. Romans 5:4-5 NLT "For we know how dearly God loves us" Hope is here, wrapped in, contained in, enshrined in, packaged in, Love. "For we know how dearly God loves us" Whether our day ahead holds joy, despair, goodness, discouragement, fun, difficult things, work, study, rest, community, time alone, decisions, choices, pressures, planning...we get to hold on to this Truth and take it with us today: "For we know how dearly God loves us" Start here: "For we know how dearly God loves us" #letters #redemptivestrands #hopeishere #weareBeloved 

Romans 5:3 NLTRomans 5:3 NLT [3] We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. Romans 5:3 NLT Let's just take a look at v3, and this word that is translated "problems and trials" or in some versions "afflictions", "sufferings", "tribulations" - according to Biblehub it is "thlipsis" which is "pressure" - (what constricts or rubs together), used of a narrow place that "hems someone in"; that causes someone to feel confined (restricted, "without options"). There's a different word "stenoxoria" which is about external pressure from outside circumstances. So what does this mean for us as we read this passage? It doesn't seem to mean that we rejoice when something or someone has hurt or harmed us.  That's external. It's when we feel hemmed in, under pressure internally, that these verses pull us back to the Bigger Story. ...

Romans 5:1-5 NLT [1] Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. [2] Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing Gods glory.  [3] We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. [4] And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. [5] And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. Romans 5:1-5 NLT Easy to pull vs 3&4 out and kind of glorify struggle and because it builds all the things in v4. But it's all built on the foundation of the Big Story, that we are made right with God by faith in Jesus, and the hope we have of fully aliveness wit...

Sunday Psalms; Psalms 17:1, 8, 15 CSB [1]  Lord, hear a just cause; pay attention to my cry... [8] Protect me as the pupil of your eye;  hide me in the shadow of your wings [15] But I will see your face in righteousness; when I awake, I will be satisfied with your presence. Psalms 17:1, 8, 15 CSB Something from the beginning, the middle, and the end of this song, this prayer of David's. He starts by asking, crying to God, having already considered his reason. It is a just cause he is bringing to God. In the middle he recognises his own vulnerability, his need. And at the end, it's like he has woken from a dream, or maybe he is looking forward to life fully in God's presence, when all will be made new, a future hope. This prayer invites us to bring what's important to us to Him too.  To acknowledge our vulnerabilities and needs. And reminds us to hold hope in our God who will make all things new... #sunday  #worship #thisisourGod  #redemptivestrands #hopeishere #...

Matthew 5:9 CSB Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Matthew 5:9 CSB In NZ we take time today to remember - remember those who lost their lives because there was no peace, because there was war. For there to be a need for peacemakers there must be a lack of peace - we see that every day in the news - countries, leaders, people groups at war with one another, disconnection, greed, envy, hatred. It's "out there", and it's inside us too. Jesus reminds us that being a peacemaker reflects the heart of God. Peace with Him. Peace with creation. Peace with ourselves. And peace with one another. As we remember the losses and the horrors of war, may we find ways to step towards peace, to being a peacemaker in the spaces where we do have power, where we do have influence.  #beapeacemaker #anzac

Friday! Proverbs! The woman named Folly is brash.  She is ignorant and doesn't know it. Proverbs 9:13 NLT So easy to weaponise Proverbs as we see these attributes in others.  But if Proverbs is more of a mirror, then it makes me wonder when I am ignorant and don't know it, where my opinions equal truth for everyone, when I have no idea about how someone else has had to manage things in their life and yet I judge them by my experience...so many places where I am ignorant and can't see it...easily anyway... When we hold up Proverbs as a mirror, the Bible as a way into our hearts to see where we may be ignorant, perhaps that's the beginning of wisdom that Proverbs bangs on about. Perhaps starting with Loving God, and loving others.  And it's not using Proverbs to beat ourselves up with either, but a gentle inquiry into the workings of my heart... "Jesus, may the Holy Spirit prompt me today where I might be the one who is brash, where I am ignorant and not know it,...

Romans 5:1-2 NLT Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God's glory. Romans 5:1-2 NLT Not only have we through faith been made right with God, are at peace with Him, we stand in a place of privilege, and in that place that we stand we get to look forward to something else! Something glorious! I don't know what Paul means by "sharing God's glory" but it certainly seems like a step up! This place we stand in is not from our achievements or actions, but by faith.  Nothing can shift us from this place. And so standing here, right with God, at peace with Him, looking forward to "sharing God's glory", what does that let us put down today, or step into today? #letters #truth #redemptivestrands...

Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.  Romans 5:1 NLT Peace with God. Whenever we don't experience or believe we have peace with God, it's not coming from Him. Any lack of peace that may have existed has been absorbed by Jesus, and by faith, we are now OK, made right, righteous. Lack of peace with God must be coming from somewhere else then: The lies of the Enemy. The pressures of the World. The things, the desires of my own heart.  The battle isn't with God, but perhaps at least in part it's to restore or rebuild, to strengthen connection with Him. Whatever is going on in us, come back to the Truth: "Therefore,  since we have been made right in God's sight by faith,  we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us." #letters #truth  #redemptivestrands  #waverfreefaith

Romans 4:19-25 NLT And Abraham's faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead - and so was Sarah's womb.  Abraham never wavered in believing God's promise.  In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. And because of Abraham's faith, God counted him as righteous. And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn't just for Abrahams benefit. It was recorded for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.  He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God. Romans 4:19-25 NLT The redemptive strands that flow from Abraham to Jesus, to us! Abraham had received a promise from God but he can't have imagined the story that would flow from his believing in God. Abraham's faith ...

Romans 4:18 NIV Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed... Romans 4:18 CEB When it was beyond hope, he had faith in the hope that he would become the father of many nations... Small Man to the Sacred Family in Village of Iron 4:18 FNVNT When all hope seemed to be gone, he trusted in the promise... Romans 4:18 NLT Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping... When our circumstances are trying to tell us there is no hope, that our God isn't who He says He is, that's the hope that Abraham models for us.  When our hope in the Big Story of our God's redemptive promise, the making new of all things, is hard to see, seems lost to us, we're encouraged to hold hope anyway.  #letters #hope  #weareinaBigStory #redemptivestrands #hopeishere #weareBeloved 

Sunday Psalms; Psalms 16:5, 7-8 CSB [5]  Lord, you are my portion and my cup of blessing; you hold my future. ... [7] I will bless the Lord who counsels me - even at night when my thoughts trouble me. [8] I always let the Lord guide me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Psalms 16:5, 7-8 CSB This song wrestles with the concerns in David's life. And it includes 3 things that David does in the midst of turmoil and uncertainty: 1. Reminds himself that God holds his future securely. No matter what, look up, our future is secure. 2. When his thoughts "trouble" him he looks outside himself to God's truth for counsel - when our thoughts race or we're stuck, look to God's truth to shift things. 3. He lets the Lord guide him. Inviting our God into that decision making space isn't always easy, but it seems to be a choice that David makes. Hiw can I choose that today? How can we let the redemptive strands of this song shape our choices today, be ou...

Mark 9:9-10 NLT As they went back down the mountain, he told them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept it to themselves, but they often asked each other what he meant by 'rising from the dead." Mark 9:9-10 NLT Peter, James and John had just experienced something on the mountain with Jesus that radical,  extraordinary, supernatural. And Jesus was talking about rising from the dead. Yet more radical, extraordinary and supernatural talk. They couldn't fully grasp it, grasp the meaning of it, and Jesus was right there.  It's no wonder that we might struggle to grasp what Jesus went through, what "rising from the dead" means, making sense of God becoming human and dying to defeat death and rising from the dead into Life, Life that we are invited into too... Maybe we're not supposed to be able to grasp it all, make sense of it all, and leave room for mystery...room for faith...and that's OK... #gos...

Friday! Proverbs! Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment. Wisdom will multiply your days and add years to your life. If you become wise, you will be the one to benefit.  If you scorn wisdom, you will be the one to suffer. Proverbs 9:10-12 NLT This word "multiply" is about abundance. It may not mean more, but better. More abundant days. That's what we're invited into when we stand on the foundation of Wisdom, on the knowledge of who our God is. Let that foundation underpin our choices in this moment, this hour, today...in taking the next step...knowing that we have a firm foundation beneath us. What does this Proverb invite us towards today? #proverbs  #wisdom #somethingtochewon #itsaheartthing #takethenextstep 

That's why the inheritance comes through faith, so that it will be on the basis of God's grace. In that way, the promise is secure for all of Abraham's descendants, not just for those who are related by Law but also for those who are related by the faith of Abraham, who is the father of all of us. Romans 4:16 CEB Paul is writing to the early church in Rome, and actively removes barriers based on religion, ethnicity, where people have come from, religious expectations, and places everyone together on the basis of faith.  Standing securely on God's Grace. When we feel a bit wobbly in who we are, what the future holds, what our past might be shouting at us, we get to come back to this firm foundation: God's Grace. Freely given. Because He Loves. Because He Loves Us. God's Grace. Freely given. Because He Loves. Because He Loves Us. And as we come back to this foundation, my hope is that 2 things can happen, we get to put down something that is a burden, and somethin...

For the Scriptures tell us, "Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith." When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.  Romans 4:3-5 NLT Our being right with God has 2 components: 1. We're people, the object of God's love. 2. We put our faith in God.  Believe Him. Paul even uses a very modern example of the transaction that we make with society, employers, bosses, employees where we trade our labour and energy for income, and reminds us that faith in God is NOT like that.  Belief, faith counted Abraham as righteous. Right. OK  Accepted  Acceptable  And Paul reminds the church in Rome it's the same for them, the same for us. There is no transaction.  And in this space we get to experience Grace. Grace that steps towards, that makes a way.  What does that invite us i...

Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice spoke from the cloud, "This is my Son,  whom I dearly love. Listen to him!" Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.   Mark 9:7-8 CEB Peter, James, and John had been given a glimpse of something bigger, mysterious, powerful, deeper. A glimpse behind scenes. Behind the story that they were living in, they got a glimpse of the Bigger Story that holds it all... Behind the life that Jesus lived, there was more, there is more.  Sometimes with one another we get a glimpse into a person's inner story, or understand the bigger story of their life, and here Peter, James, and John get the curtain pulled back on something way bigger, a relationship, a reality, that must've been hard to grasp and understand. I read this account and don't understand it.  We are invited just like our brothers 2,000yrs ago were invited to glimpse, a Bigger Story, big enough to hold us, all that we might wreslte with...

Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and brought them to the top of a very high mountain where they were alone.  He was transformed in front of them, and his clothes were amazingly bright, brighter than if they had been bleached white. Elijah and Moses appeared and were talking with Jesus.  Peter reacted to all of this by saying to Jesus, "Rabbi, its good that we're here. Let's make three shrines - one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He said this because he didn't know how to respond, for the three of them were terrified.   Mark 9:2-6 CEB Six days after Jesus had been telling them about his death, asked them that question "who do you say that I am?", Jesus takes just three of his team to the mountain where they experience something mind blowing! We hear from Peter because we all respond to things differently, Peter is the one who says things out loud and wants to act, to move, to do something. James and John were terrified too. ...

Sunday Psalms; Psalms 15 CEB Who can live in your tent, LORD?  Who can dwell on your holy mountain?  The person who lives free of blame,  does what is right,  and speaks the truth sincerely; who does no damage with their talk,  does no harm to a friend,  doesn't insult a neighbor; someone who despises those who act wickedly, but who honors those who honor the LORD; someone who keeps their promise even when it hurts; someone who doesn't lend money with interest, who won't accept a bribe against any innocent person. Whoever does these things will never stumble. Psalms 15 CEB David's song seems to be him trying to figure out what it takes to be right with God. And he gives us a great list. There's lots of goodness in his list, and if I read it quickly enough there's days when I might even meet this "standard". But the reality is I can't even consistently manage the first thing on the list...which is one reason why we need Jesus. And His Grace. And His...

Romans 3:23-26 CEB All have sinned and fall short of God's glory, but all are treated as righteous freely by his grace because of a ransom that was paid by Christ Jesus.   Through his faithfulness, God displayed Jesus as the place of sacrifice where mercy is found by means of his blood.  He did this to demonstrate his righteousness in passing over sins that happened before, during the time of God's patient tolerance. He also did this to demonstrate that he is righteous in the present time, and to treat the one who has faith in Jesus as righteous. Romans 3:23-26 CEB Paul reminds us that we're all in the same boat - all miss the mark, all of us.  I'm not sure which words jump out at you from this passage, but notice these: "freely" "freely by his grace" "faithfulness" "mercy" "patient" And notice the "direction" - it's God stepping towards us, making a way. Because Love. Love is who God is and what He does.  ...

Friday! Proverbs! The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the LORD;  the knowledge of the holy one is understanding. Proverbs 9:10 CEB Verses like this one have been used as weapons to bring about some kind of external compliance with "the rules" - often wielded by someone with power (like parents wanting children to do something or not do something.) But Proverbs is not written to children.  Translating ancient Hebrew into English must be incredibly difficult - take this word "yir'ah", which is found 41 times in the Old Testament, and includes fear and reverence, and awesome. If Proverbs is about our heart, what does this Proverb invite us into or towards? Wisdom. Wisdom in Proverbs seems inseparable from God's character. Will we open ourselves up to knowing more of our God? That might include facing fears, and being reverent, and sitting in awe. This Proverb is also inviting us into a journey. Relationship with God is not static, it's moving,  vibrant, ...

John 21:6 CEB He said,  "Cast your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some." So they did, and there were so many fish that they couldn't haul in the net.  John 21:6 CEB I'm sure someone has written a book on the "7 principles of net casting for a successful life" from this passage, but I don't think that is what this is all about.  The disciples in the boat having been out fishing at night didn't recognise Jesus at all.  He was just some random guy on the shore giving fishing advice. It was the result of that advice that made them realise it was Jesus. This miracle pointed them to Jesus.  Through what happened they were able to see Jesus clearly for who he is. The Kingdom isn't pointing us to material prosperity, but pointing us to Jesus.  Our culture wants to make it about the fish.  The resurrected, back in his body, saviour of the world, fishing advisor, friend, conqueror of death, Jesus, that's who is at the centre of the...

John 21:3-5 CEB Simon Peter told them, "I'm going fishing." They said,  "We'll go with you." They set out in a boat, but throughout the night they caught nothing. Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples didn't realize it was Jesus.  Jesus called to them, "Children, have you caught anything to eat?" They answered him,  "No." John 21:3-5 CEB Ressurection. And Jesus just turns up like it's an ordinary day... But it's not an ordinary day. Jesus team have had their world turned upsidedown, Jesus was beaten, tried, killed, buried, and rose again. He's appeared to them. And disappeared again. And his team do what a lot of us would do, go to something familiar, something that feels solid, doing anything but sit around (which is Peter's character right?!) And Jesus turns up like it's an ordinary day... Our turmoil filled, disrupted world, or maybe it's the mundane, the ordinary, keep your eyes ...

Then the two from Emmaus told their story of how Jesus had appeared to them as they were walking along the road, and how they had recognized him as he was breaking the bread. And just as they were telling about it, Jesus himself was suddenly standing there among them.  "Peace be with you," he said. But the whole group was startled and frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost! Luke 24:35-37 NLT Jesus turned up again in a way they did not expect! Startled. Frightened. Out of their normal experience, trying to make sense of Jesus appearance. Perhaps there's times when we are struggling to "Make sense" if Jesus, they way others experience him, the way we have experienced him, but one thing we can take from this story is that Jesus arrived in their midst with "Peace be with you". His message to his team that day resonates down the centuries to us today:  "Peace be with you" There's plenty to be worried about in this world:  "Peace be...

That same day two of Jesus' followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem.  As they walked along they were talking about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them. But God kept them from recognizing him. He asked them,  "What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?" They stopped short, sadness written across their faces. Then one of them, Cleopas, replied, "You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn't heard about all the things that have happened there the last few days." Luke 24:13-18 NLT Everything had changed, and yet these followers of Jesus didn't realise it. Even though it was Sunday, they were living as if it was still Saturday. Even though they had heard a report of Jesus resurrection, they were living like it hadn't happened. And I'm wondering if there are days when I am just like Cleopas and his companion...

Luke 24:40-43 NLT As he spoke, he showed them his hands and his feet. Still they stood there in disbelief, filled with joy and wonder.  Then he asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he ate it as they watched. Luke 24:40-43 NLT Jesus didn't just arrive in a body like ours, live in a body like ours, die in a body like ours, he came back in a body too.  The Divine, the Eternal, fully embracing humanity. The ordinary.  "Do you have anything here to eat?" And he carried his scars through death and into Life. Scars that didn't stop him walking, or holding his food (or needing food).  Resurrection. Where Jesus scars are signs of Life, Renewal, Resurrection. He is God with Us. Hope is Here. And it's OK not to "get" it all, understand it all: "Still they stood there in disbelief, filled with joy and wonder." But we do get to accept that our God so loved the world, so loved us, so loved me,...

At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o'clock.  At about three o'clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Eli,  Eli,  lema sabachthani?" which means  "My God,  my God,  why have you abandoned me?" Matthew 27:45-46 NLT Not only abandoned by his friends and family, his community and the State, the human Jesus experienced all the worst that humanity can experience. And the divine Jesus, experienced abandonment from the Eternal, the relationship that had been Forever. Yet God. Yet God was at work bringing about a redemptive story, a victory over all the abandonment stories, especially the biggest of them, death itself. Saturday can seem dark. It is.  And it's not the end. Not the last word.  #lovewithoutmeasure #redemptivestrands #hopeishere

Two others, both criminals, were led out to be executed with him. When they came to a place called The Skull, they nailed him to the cross. And the criminals were also crucified - one on his right and one on his left. Jesus said,  "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing." And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.   The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed.  "He saved others," they said, "let him save himself if he is really God's Messiah, the Chosen One." The soldiers mocked him, too, by offering him a drink of sour wine. They called out to him, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" A sign was fastened above him with these words: This is the King of the Jews. One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed,  "So youre the Messiah, are you?  Prove it..." Luke 23:32-39 NLT Mocked and ridiculed by the Empire, the crowd, religious leaders, even by one of the men suffering in the s...

Mark 8:34-37 NLT Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said,  "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?" Mark 8:34-37 NLT When Jesus asks a question, it's worth sitting with, and here he asks the crowd 2 questions: What do benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? The word "soul" is the same word translated as "life", "psuche", psyche, soul, the inner part of us. Jesus is asking us about our inner life and what's most important - the outer life that others can see? Or the inner life, the "who I am" part of me? "Is anything worth more than your soul?" Jesus. Easter give...

Mark 8:34-35 NLT Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said,  "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.  If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it." Mark 8:34-35 NLT What is this "life" that Jesus is talking about? The word here is "psuche", from which we get the word psyche, or soul. Biblehub defines it this way; 1. soul, inner being or life 2. (literally) breath 3. (figuratively) the heart's desire, the drive or passion of one's soul (i.e. that which brings satisfaction to one's being) Jesus seems to be inviting us to give up our life, our inner life, our desire, our breath, to him. And by doing that, we won't be diminished or lessened, but we somehow be made fully alive... And at Easter Jesus modelled that by giving up his life.  Why? Because it seems he think...