verseoftheday

Friday! Proverbs! [16] The labor of the righteous leads to life, The wages of the wicked to sin. Proverbs 10:16 NKJV Read this Proverb in different versions and there's a wide range of expressions in English. I wonder if we try too hard to find literal meanings, or connections that make direct sense in our culture 3000 years since these were written. Perhaps Proverbs like this are here to invite us to think about the things we do that lead to Life, and the things we do that take us away from Life? What goes on in our hearts, our minds, that moves us from Life? And what moves us towards Life? Where can I make a shift today? Towards Life for me? For those around me? For those in my community? Where can I speak Life today? #proverbs  #wisdom  #somethingtochewon #itsaheartthing #speaklife 

Mark 10:43-45 NLT "But among you it will be different.  Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else.  For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many." Mark 10:43-45 NLT Today I'm wondering where in my life, my day, leadership might take the form of serving? Where does the "serving others" get expressed? Why does it feel so hard sometimes to even think of others let alone serve? If Jesus said being a servant is what he is about, and I'm a follower of Jesus, then being a servant of others should be easy shouldn't it? Given that disciples didn't get it, and they were living with and travelling with Jesus, maybe it's OK if it takes a while for us to get it too, to not be "perfect", to expect that living in the upsidedown kingdom isn't always easy... #gospelofMark #GoodNews  #invitation ...

Mark 10:41-45 NLT When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. So Jesus called them together and said,  "You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them.  But among you it will be different.  Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else.  For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many. Mark 10:41-45 NLT "But among you it will be different". Welcome to the upsidedown Kingdom! "But among you it will be different". Where is Jesus calling you and me to different today? Where is He inviting us to hold a different value to that of the culture around us, that is pushing it's agenda? "But among you it will be different". Jesus was first calling his team to be different together, in their r...

Mark 10:38-40 NLT But Jesus said to them, "You don't know what you are asking!  Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?  Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?" "Oh yes," they replied, "we are able!" Then Jesus told them, "You will indeed drink from my bitter cup and be baptized with my baptism of suffering. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left.  God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen." Mark 10:38-40 NLT This is a sobering statement from Jesus. Not sure I'd be too keen on sticking with Jesus if he said that to me! I wonder what Jesus was talking about here? Having to face death? Was it specific for James & John? Does it flow down to us too as followers of Jesus? One thing that is clear is that there is a deeper story at work, a deeper conversation and work of the Father that goes on. Isn't this what faith is,...

Mark 10:35-39 NLT [35] Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him.  "Teacher," they said, "we want you to do us a favor." "What is your request?" he asked.  They replied, "When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left."  But Jesus said to them, "You don't know what you are asking!  Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?  Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?" "Oh yes," they replied, "we are able!" Mark 10:35-39 NLT It's too easy to look at James and John  and blame them for a poor attitude, poor motivation. But we're not them.  We're not living in their culture, their shoes, their story.  I wonder what I would be thinking if I'd left my business, my family, to travel around with this Rabbi who is now famous, ...

Sunday Psalms; Psalms 30:1, 6-7, 11-12 NLT [1] I will exalt you, Lord, for you rescued me.  You refused to let my enemies triumph over me. ... [6] When I was prosperous, I said, "Nothing can stop me now!"  [7] Your favor,  O Lord, made me as secure as a mountain. Then you turned away from me, and I was shattered. ... [11] You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing.  You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, [12] that I might sing praises to you and not be silent.  O Lord my God,  I will give you thanks forever! Psalms 30:1, 6-7, 11-12 NLT There's a story beneath this song of David's. Read the whole song and there seems to be an underlying drama or event in David's life he is reliving in this song. A story that included enemies, illness of some sort (stress related?), prosperity - and believing that prosperity would save him - loss, and a return to God who may not have changed David's circumstances, but shifted things in him th...

The wealth of the rich is their fortress;  the poverty of the poor is their destruction. Proverbs 10:15 NLT The story Jesus told recorded by Matthew in Ch16 of his Gospel account of the rich young man who asked Jesus what good thing he needed to do to get eternal life. The conversation led to Jesus inviting this person to give away his wealth, and to follow Jesus. And at that moment anyway, he couldn't do it.  His wealth had moved from being a fortress, to being a prison, a barrier to the fully aliveness that Jesus was offering.  His wealth made him poor.  Welcome to the upsidedown Kingdom... Jesus invites us to follow him - I wonder what I'm holding on to today that stops me from stepping towards fully aliveness with Him? #Proverbs  #wisdom #somethingtochewon #itsaheartthing #takethenextstep 

Friday! Proverbs! The wealth of the rich is their fortress;  the poverty of the poor is their destruction. Proverbs 10:15 NLT Two interesting ideas to sit with here: How do I see wealth as a fortress, protection, buffer? And the only way I get to think this way is from a place of wealth... If I can afford a flu vaccine I can create a buffer against illness for example. If I can afford a car I can take my child to the school I choose... And the second part? If I can't afford to heat where I live in winter my health will pay. Poverty eats people up. (And yes we can spiritualise this and look at as a spiritual poverty - but I don't think this is the idea here) Where or how am I involved in flipping this Proverb? Is this what followers of Jesus are called towards, those with less, to even things up, to challenge systems that hold people down? What do you think as we sit with this Proverb today? #Proverbs  #wisdom #somethingtochewon #itsaheartthing #takethenextstep 

And I am convinced  that  nothing  can ever  separate us  from God's love.  Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,  neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow - not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below - indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 NLT My hope today is that you can feel the redemptive strands wrapping around you and holding you.  As we sit with Paul and feel his conviction from 20 centuries ago, may it be our truth too. Paul is clear that he has considered the spiritual world, his inner landscape, and the outer creation, and there is nothing in any of those spaces capable of separating him from God's love. While there may be things to fear and struggle with in all those realms, there is nothing, no thing, that can separate us from God's Lo...

Romans 8:35-38 NLT [35] Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love?  Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?  [36] (As the Scriptures say, "For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep".)  [37] No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. [38] And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from Gods love... Romans 8:35-38 NLT Paul's answer is clear and unequivocal- he is convinced that even though his circumstances, the story he finds himself in is trying to convince him that he is not loved, Christ's love is greater than his circumstances. The redemptive strand of God's Bigger Story holds. Nothing. No thing can separate him from God's Love. And this is not some personal redemptive story, but ours too. Our God's Love is Enough. We have been redeemed, made rig...

Romans 8:31-32, 34-35 NLT [31] What shall we say about such wonderful things as these?  If God is for us, who can ever be against us?  [32] Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won't he also give us everything else? ... [34] Who then will condemn us?  No one - for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God's right hand, pleading for us.  Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love?  Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?  Romans 8:31-32, 34-35 NLT Can anything separate us from Christ's love? Paul asks questions about condemnation, gives us the assurance that we are not condemned because of Jesus. Before he moves on can we accept that we are Beloved, that we are Accepted, that we do Belong in His family? And then Paul's next question - Can anything separ...

Romans 8:1, 34 NLT [1] So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.  ... [34] Who then will condemn us?  No one - for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God's right hand, pleading for us. Romans 8:1, 34 NLT This beautiful chapter starts and (almost) ends with this idea of condemnation- Paul starts with the statement that there is no condemnation for those who are in Jesus, and in then unpacks that, ending with the question: Who then will condemn us? Perhaps the question could be "who, though they might speak words of condemnation, has the power to condemn you? Remember, Jesus died for you.  Jesus was raised to life for you. Jesus is stating your case for Life. So, who, though they might speak words of condemnation, has the power to condemn you? No one. Not the lies of the Enemy, the voices of the world, and especially not your own inner voice. No one." #truthtorestin  #letters #h...

Sunday Psalms; Honor the Lord... Worship the Lord... The voice of the Lord echoes above the sea. The God of glory thunders. Psalms 29:1-3 NLT This song hits with how Big God is, and calls us to honor Him, to Worship, to "hear" Him. Psalms 29:10 NLT The Lord rules over the floodwaters. The Lord reigns as king forever. And this carries on right to the end. And then we get in the last verse the redemptive strand: The Lord gives his people strength.  The Lord blesses them with peace. Psalms 29:11 NLT He is our ultimate source of strength. He is our peace. Lean into Him today... #psalms #songs #Sunday #worship #thisisourGod  #redemptivestrands #hopeishere  #weareBeloved 

Wise people treasure knowledge,  but the babbling of a fool invites disaster. Proverbs 10:14 NLT When we look for Jesus in this Proverb even though he experienced rejection, loss, grief, accusations, temptations, frustrations, abuse, and death, he was not the babbling fool that invited disaster.  He did treasure knowledge. And as followers of Jesus we're invited to follow him in his practices - he spent time with the Father and he focused on Scripture - quoted several books from the OT. There's 2 practices that we can follow Jesus in that treasured knowledge. Jesus wasn't about knowledge for it's own sake, because he was about 2 other things - people, and the thing that connected him to people, his mission- to make a way for us, to be the way for us - knowledge applied and in action in Love for people...this is what Jesus invites us to follow him in... #proverbs #wisdom #somethingtochewon #itsaheartthing #takethenextstep

Friday! Proverbs! Wise people treasure knowledge,  but the babbling of a fool invites disaster. Proverbs 10:14 NLT My inclination is to look out at the "babbling fool" and point that person out...but if Proverbs is not a weapon but a mirror, then this Proverb invites me to consider 2 things about me: 1. Where and when am I the "babbling fool"? And  2. How well am I treasuring knowledge? Mmm I'm thinking I've got room to move in both these areas...notice when and where my words are getting away on me and not reflecting who I want to be in the world. And considering what I am treasuring - am I undervaluing knowledge, wisdom? What is this Proverb inviting you towards today? #proverbs #wisdom #somethingtochewon #itsaheartthing #takethenextstep 

Romans 8:31-32 NLT What shall we say about such wonderful things as these?  If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won't he also give us everything else?  Romans 8:31-32 NLT All of these wonderful things Paul has described in this chapter  shows that our God is for us. For you. God is for us. Paul asks us the question then "who can ever be against us?" And it feels like the whole world some days. Every thought, every emotion, the choices and actions of others that impact us.  God is still for us. On the days that I can't believe it, God is still for us. Paul's evidence? He points us to Jesus.  God is for us. #letters #redemptivestrands #hopeishere  #Godisforus #weareBeloved 

Romans 8:31 NLT [31] What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? What wonderful things is Paul talking about? That there's going to be a glorious revealing of who we really are, who we were made to be - v18-23 We are adopted into God's family - children of God - with all that goes with being His children v23 We received this hope of adoption, of belonging, when we were saved - v24-25 We have the Holy Spirit who helps us out, advocates for us, and translates our heart to God v26-27 We have a God who works our story for good, who knows us, chose us, called us, and made us right with Himself v28-30 And somehow is making us glorious! v30 "What shall we say about such wonderful things as these?" Romans 8:31 NLT #letters #redemptivestrands #hopeishere #weareBeloved 

[28] And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. [29] For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. [30] And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory. Romans 8:28-30 NLT Not only is v28 connected to the Holy Spirit working in our weakness and groanings in this world, but to this whole redemptive strand that flows through these verses... Called. Known. Chosen. Becoming like Jesus. Called home. Made right with God. Given glory. We live in the "now and the not yet" where these things are true and becoming true, where our story, who we are, our day-to-day lives, are held in our God's Big Redemptive Story. We are Beloved. #letters #redemptivestr...

Psalms 28:8-9 MSG [8-9]  God is all strength for his people, ample refuge for his chosen leader; Save your people and bless your heritage. Care for them; carry them like a good shepherd. John 10:11, 14 NLT "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep." "I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me..." Matthew 18:10, 12-14 NLT [10]  "Beware that you don't look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father. If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do?  Won't he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost?  ...  In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father's will that even one of these little ones should perish." As we track the redemptive strand from David, through our Heavenly Father to Jesus, the Good Shepherd, perhaps you know what it's l...

Sunday Psalms; Please listen to my prayer and my cry for help,  as I lift my hands toward your holy temple. Don't drag me away, Lord,  with those cruel people, who speak kind words, while planning trouble. Treat them as they deserve!  Punish them for their sins. They don't pay any attention to your wonderful deeds.  Now you will destroy them and leave them in ruin. Psalms 28:2-5 CEV If we have ever wanted revenge, things to be made right, justice, and have expressed it in ways that have been angry, unloving, then we are in good company - because this song of David says just what is going on for him. He wants God to fix it. To sort out those who have caused him harm. And then he ends his song with this redemptive strand, with a return to complete trust in God, to knowing that whatever he is facing, God as shepherd will hold him. May we know the closeness and love of the Shepherd today... I praise you,  Lord,  for answering my prayers. You are my strong shiel...

Romans 8:26-28 NLT [26] And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. [27] And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will. [28] And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.  Romans 8:26-28 NLT I've plucked v28 out many times and while it holds truth for us on it's own, it's idea of God's purposes for us being worked out is connected to the Holy Spirit working in our weakness, pleading for us, the groanings that come from being in a world that is not how it should be. In that context v28 is an expression of God's love for us, acknowledging the reality of a world where every part of creation is experiencing the now and the not yet of the...

Can you direct the movement of the stars -  binding the cluster of the Pleiades or loosening the cords of Orion? Can you direct the constellations through the seasons or guide the Bear with her cubs across the heavens?   Do you know the laws of the universe?  Can you use them to regulate the earth? Job 38:31-33 NLT God sends this epic set of statements and questions to Job, and in the middle of it all he refers to the stars, invites Job to look up, to look to the Pleiades, the "Kiymah", the Matariki stars. As we celebrate Matariki this same invitation offered to Job comes our way, to look up to the stars, to trust again in the One who made them, who set the seasons in motion, who designed our world with such intricate detail and care to support humanity and to point us to the Creator. Look up. Look up and know that our story is held in the Big Story of our God's redemptive Grace. Look up and know that we are in fact Beloved. #stars #matariki #redemptivestrands #hopei...

Romans 8:26-27 NLT [26] And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. [27] And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will.  Romans 8:26-27 NLT Paul seems to be describing some kind of cosmic communication and communion between the Holy Spirit (Pneuma) and our God (Theos) - not too  unexpected - except the the Spirit (Pneuma) is communicating and communing from within us! Not only that, but the Spirit (Pneuma) is advocating for us! This seems to be a big thing that is going on in the unseen spiritual world where our God is at work in us and for us... What does this say about our worth? How Beloved we are today? #letters #advocate #weareBeloved 

Romans 8:20-21, 23, 26 NLT ...But with eager hope,  the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay.  And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory... We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.  And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.  For example,  we don't know what God wants us to pray for.  But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.  Romans 8:20-21, 23, 26 NLT This word weakness literally means "without strength". Where are we "without strength"? Paul uses the example of prayer and it may be in that space, or it may be somewhere else that we are "without strength". Where do I need to invite the Holy Spirit in to today? Where am I "groaning", struggling, waiting, ...

[22] For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. [23] And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. [24] We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don't need to hope for it. [25] But if we look forward to something we don't yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.) Romans 8:22-25 NLT Waiting. Groaning. Hoping. Looking forward. Adopted and being adopted. Saved and being saved. This passage from Paul holds us in this redemptive tension that is what we might just call life, being human, living in the now and the not yet... How does that look for you today? "We were given this hope when we were sav...

Psalms 27:3-5 CEB If an army camps against me,  my heart won't be afraid.  If war comes up against me,  I will continue to trust in this:  I have asked one thing from the LORD - it's all I seek:  to live in the LORD's house all the days of my life,  seeing the LORD's beauty and constantly adoring his temple.   Because he will shelter me in his own dwelling during troubling times; he will hide me in a secret place in his own tent;  he will set me up high, safe on a rock.   Psalms 27:3-5 CEB We can feel the redemptive strands being weaved here by David in this song...he knew that there would be trouble in his life, sorrow, grief, disappointment, loss, all the things we are familiar with. And at the same time he continues to look for the shelter and the covering of our God in all of that.  He will shelter. He will hide. He will place me on the rock. In our story, whatever we're facing today, David's song invites us to hold on to t...

Sunday Psalms; [1] The LORD is my light and my salvation. Should I fear anyone? The LORD is a fortress protecting my life. Should I be frightened of anything?   Psalms 27:1 CEB David is the author of this psalm, this song, and he opens it with these 2 statements of truth: The Lord is my light and my salvation. The Lord is a fortress protecting my life. Holding these things as true in a world that seems to be coming against him leads to the question: So should I be afraid? Because I am. Even though he knows that he is held by Yahweh, the Eternal, Unfailing Love, he is still afraid. This is what it is to be human, to know and hold to what is True, and to live in a world that is doing it's very best at times to tell us something else... David names the things in this song that make him afraid - we can follow his lead and do that too.  David ends his song by sharing with us his declaration of hope in the face of fear: "But I have sure faith that I will experience the LORD's g...

Proverbs 10:13 CEB [13] Wisdom is found on the lips of those who have understanding, but there is a rod for the back of those with no sense.   Can we find Jesus in this Proverb? He is the one on who's lips are found wisdom. And as we saw in Romans it's Jesus who frees us from the rod that is being a "slave to sin" and invites us into the freedom of life in the Spirit. And he is also the one who bore the rod. He endured the rejection, the threats, the challenges, the abuse, the trials, and the crucifixion, the Cross, and this is where Jesus diverts from the Proverb,  not because he had "no sense", but because he Loves. And we get to follow Jesus, so as followers, may wisdom be found on our lips today... #proverbs  #wisdom  #somethingtochewon #itsaheartthing #takethenextstep 

Friday! Proverbs! [13] Wisdom is found on the lips of those who have understanding, but there is a rod for the back of those with no sense.   Proverbs 10:13 CEB I tend to read things literally and see someone being beaten because they don't understand- and that just doesn't fit with the story of the Bible at all. So it seems likely that this needs a metaphorical look... The person with understanding speaks wisdom, compared with the person who doesn't have understanding- and for that person wisdom is hard to find, as a result everything is difficult. Relationships. Work. Learning. It's like the world continues to beat on them, beat them down... And if Proverbs is a window to the heart, maybe there's been times when we've felt that way - the world continues to beat on us, and our own inner critic joins in. This Proverb invites us back then to Wisdom. Back to the heart of our God who is Unfailing Love. What is it today that Unfailing Love is inviting us to look at ...

Romans 8:20-23 NLT Against its will, all creation was subjected to Gods curse.  But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join Gods children in glorious freedom from death and decay.  For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering.  We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.  Romans 8:20-23 NLT Paul paints this picture for us of all creation right on the cusp of something new and glorious, something we will all be part of, something we get glimpses of, but the best is yet to come. One day all will be made new. How does this hope change how we live today? #letters #hopeishere #redemptivestrands #weareBelo...

Romans 8:18-19 NLT [18] Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. [19] For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are.  Romans 8:18-19 NLT Sitting with this idea that there will be suffering in this life is not easy.  When we acknowledge the reality that there is and will be suffering helps us to not just prepare for it, but to live with it when it arrives. This passage gives us part of the story - acknowledges that there is suffering, and that there is something coming that will absorb it and turn it into glory. And secondly, that all of creation, all of us, are in this suffering world together.  All of us. All of creation knows and is waiting on the renewal of all things. (This may be of little help when we're in the midst of our own suffering, but this is the hope we hold for one another when others can't hold it for themselves). Suffering is part of this life. And so is...