verseoftheday

The poor man utters supplications, But the rich man answers roughly. Proverbs 18:23 NASB Jesus became the poor man. Gave up power. Surrendered his authority. Shrunk himself to become one of us...the creator of the universe confined himself to a human body and walked the roads, talked, listened...he came with "earnestly and humbly" to make a way, to become the way for us to be made right with God. And he let the rich of this world abuse, humiliate and crucify him... Why? The only crazy outrageous reason is love. Only love. Only love that is well, just, massive. Beyond. Love that compelled Jesus to become the poor man. And he asks us to follow him... #lovepeople #grace #upsidedownkingdom #proverbs #wisdom #somethingtochewon

Friday! Proverbs! The poor man utters supplications, But the rich man answers roughly. Proverbs 18:23 NASB Supplications? I looked it up! "the action of asking or begging for something earnestly or humbly." Which one are you? The poor who ask or beg earnestly or humbly? Or the rich who are rough in response? Or neither? Or both? This is about power. The poor person here does not have power but does have a need and is seeking help. The rich person can help. But doesn't. He chooses to use his power to belittle, to make himself look bigger, and the poor person feel smaller. I've done that with words, jokes, sarcasm, and maybe ways that I cannot see or recognise. While this proverb speaks to how life often is, it is not a prescription for how we should try and live. There is no love here, no grace here. Grace Love Love changes everything. Love says I'll give up my power for you. #lovepeople #grace #upsidedownkingdom #proverbs #wisdom #somet...

But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Submit yourselves therefore to God. James 4:6-7 ESV Humble. I'm good with that. There's something heroic and good and even celebrated (ironic as that seems) about being (known as being) humble. That's an OK word. But submit. That just goes against my... well...me. I just don't want to. The word here translated submit is "hupotasso" to line up under. When Jesus was 12 and the family went to Jerusalem for the Passover and he stayed behind teaching in the temple and his parents didn't get it cos he was 12. But he submitted to them. Lined up underneath. Hupotasso. Willingly. Underneath their authority and direction. Willingly. James says willingly line up under the "Theos", the God of John 1, the God who created and sustains all. Willingly submit to Him And yes, that may well put me in conflict with me, because part of my hea...

But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." James 4:6 ESV Midweek gym session! James could be quoting Proverbs 29:23, but seems to be Psalm 138:6 This grace we looked at yesterday does not appear to be available to the proud, the arrogant. Remember that James is writing to believers here. Some of whom he is now describing as proud and arrogant. I wonder where James would put me? In the proud and arrogant camp? Or wirh the humble crew? Some days, some moments I am firmly in the proud and arrogant camp. I can be there on my own, and it seems like this is where the fun is, the action, the good times... But it's hollow. Empty. God opposes me here (& that's not a place I want to be) Lord, today, I want your grace. Grace that is found in humility. I need your help to be that person today who walks, works, loves, humbly. I can't do that without you. I need you with me on this. Thanks Amen #jam...

But he gives us more grace. James 4:6 NIV James has just let rip about the way our hearts get led by what's easy for us, what's pleasurable, how we want what others have, and how much we complain... And then this. "But he gives us more grace" It's like playing Australia at rugby. Overwhelmed until beaten. Beaten by grace It's being really hungry, feeling like you can never be satisfied, and course after course arrives...until you're beat. Beat by grace. No matter what, there's more grace. James is a realist about who we are and the battle that can rage in our hearts...and says, that's OK, it's part of being people. Not yet unbroken people Not yet unhurt people Living in a not yet unbroken world, so for now, there is this one thing. Grace. Unmerited, underserved favour. The heart of God found in our living Hope. Jesus. Be beaten by His grace today. #grace #beatenbygrace

When Jesus heard this, he told them, "Healthy people don"t need a doctor - sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners." Mark 2:17 NLT I so want to believe that I can be good enough, do enough, get it right, that I can save myself. If I just do X a bit better, and cut out Y... Jesus says here that if you think you can do this on your own, satisfy a Holy God, then I can't really help you. Once we see that we need Grace, that we're all broken, fallen people, that we all have "stuff", then we can see God's Grace as the wonderful gift that it is, and step into it. Yes I want to be better, do better, not to earn that Grace, but because of it. I cannot earn a gift (& cannot unearn it) #grace #inthistogether #gospelofmark #wordsofJesus "Church isn't A museum for good people But a hospital For the broken"

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10 ESV Every now and then I return to these verses, and it can be for a number of reasons. Read them again if you have a minute... For me today it's a reminder that God has some things for me to do. Things that may make no sense to the world. The lens of grace leads to humility. Changes the way I see me, my stuff, and what really matters. That we are all in this together. My circumstances are no different to yesterday, but when I look through the lens of grace things do look different. This grace while personal coming in, is other oriented in it's expression. We work it out, live it, in community. Together. #grace #upsidedownkingdom #loveGod #lovepeople

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. John 3:16-17 ESV This is God's manifesto. He enters the story, humbles himself, shrinks himself, to become one of us. He came so that we might have life. An act of salvation. Because He Loves This is not something we can earn, but something we accept, receive. God made a way. He stepped in Stepped down Stepped towards us. Where there was no way He made one. It is amazing grace. Freeing grace In a world of trouble, this is still the manifesto of a God who loves. Loves us His heart is for you and me. No matter what No matter who you are #sunday #worship #thisisourGod #grace #amazinggrace #dearlyloved

If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. But if you show favoritism... ...Mercy triumphs over judgment. James 2:88-9, 13 NIV Monday morning and back to the gym! James is hammering away at favouritism. Great that you're loving others. Doing what's right. But. Even in doing that are you showing your biases? In your heart. James keeps pushing me to think about my motivation and to test it. And all the while it's that last line that not only dictates how to live, but also what saves me. It's Mercy. Grace. Mercy triumphed in God's dealings with me. And so it needs to be in my reading of this chapter, and in the way I try to live. Grace. That is the thing that removes favouritism. Demolishes differences. Gives freedom. So don't hang on to things God has forgiven you for Mercy triumphs When you don't feel good enough Mercy triumphs Start there today. Then with the pe...

After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. "The Lord has done this for me", she said. "In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people." Luke 1:24-25 NIV Here at the beginning of the Christmas story we have one of the great hidden themes of the Bible. Something we all share with Elizabeth. Shame. Here's the first inkling of what God is up to. He's stepping into the story in the most unexpected way, making Himself small, powerless, so that He can take our shame. Take our disgrace. And overwhelm it with His Grace. The world would have us think that some tinsel & fairy lights will fix everything. They're nice, but they won't. Liz knew that God was at work to remove her shame. He took ours as He was nailed to the Cross. Yes the tinsel is nice. But the real Christmas story has a much bigger purpose, to open the way for a Saviour, a Rescuer, a Redeemer. #chris...

A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool. Proverbs 17:10 ESV When we look for Jesus in this proverb, he can only be the "man of understanding". What rebuke cut deep into his heart? The rejection of the Father. Not for anything he had done, but for what we've done. He suffered the rebuke of God, the loss of all things, for us. And that leaves me as the fool. The person who has to hear the truth 100 times for it to sink in, who keeps making the same mistakes... Jesus forever carries the scars for me, suffered the rebuke, the rejection of God for me. And for you. Willingly Because he loves. Us Undeserving That's Grace. #grace #scars #proverbs #somethingtochewon #jesusatthecentre

But [we are different, because] our citizenship is in heaven. And from there we eagerly await [the coming of] the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who, by exerting that power which enables Him even to subject everything to Himself, will [not only] transform [but completely refashion] our earthly bodies so that they will be like His glorious resurrected body. Philippians 3:20-21 AMP I have no idea what this transformation means, but I'm guessing things are going to be restored to how they were meant to be... before the Fall...that the effect of sin will be unwound.. I'm going to take it as a good thing! And I have that hope because of my citizenship. A citizenship not earned by what I bring, but what Jesus did on my behalf at the cross, and granted to me when I believed in Him, & stepped by faith into a new relationship with him. And for that, I can sing. We can sing. #sunday #worship #thisisourGod #onedayallwillbemadenew #grace

A worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire. Proverbs 16:27 ESV Maybe your life has been impacted by the "worthless man" or woman, who does things for literally "without profit",  or maybe you've been on the receiving end and felt the scorching fire that has scarred and disfigured. I'm not sure about you. but my inclination is to bite back. But I don't want to be that worthless person I don't want to return worthlessness for worthlessness I don't want to return scorching fire for scorching fire Again, the answer is Grace "Jesus, you're the only one who can turn those burns, those scars, that scorching fire, into soothing balm, healing waters, into kindness, into goodness, into love. Help me to become the person who loves. Thank you for the forgiveness and grace that flows towards me, help me to reflect that in some way in my life today. Amen" #grace

Friday! Proverbs! A worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire. Proverbs 16:27 ESV Who is the "worthless man"? According to Strongs concordance the word worthless comes from the words "bliy" & "ya'al", literally, "without profit", worthlessness. The person who does only what is good for him, taking no heed of God, or others. This man, this person plots evil, and this person uses words like a scorching fire... What does a scorching fire do? Burns the skin, the surface, causes pain, disfigurement, scarring. Its indiscriminate and hurtful. Who wants to be that guy? And yet. At times. I am that person. I do things that profit no one. And my words are a  scorching fire. It's me. And my only place of refuge is Grace. #proverbs #wisdom #somethingtochewon #grace

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Philippians 3:12 NIV Salvation has come...but is still coming...and he's pressing on to what? "To take hold of that for which Christ took hold of me." What was that? Grace. In the previous verses in this chapter Paul talks about the things he'd put his faith in. The last one was his own goodness. But when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus all of that exploded. What's left was Grace. And he's pressing on towards Grace, and giving it out, sharing the good news of that Grace with anyone and everyone. Grace. #itsagift

I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. Philippians 3:8-9 NIV Do you recall the "them" from v5-6? Paul's ethnicity & cultural background, his gender & all that goes with that, his education and his work (& the wealth & status that flowed from that) and finally his belief in his own goodness. That by being good enough, God would have to accept him. Those things he was prepared to toss out with the rubbish to know Jesus, to be found in Him. You can't get there on your own. You simply can't be good enough. The only way is faith in Jesus. No matter who you are No matter what you've done No matter what's been done to you Righteousness, adoption, redemption, forgiveness, comes from faith. In Jesus. #itsagift #grace

This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers... Tamar... Rahab... David... Solomon... Matthew 1:1- NIV Jacob the deceiver, Tamar who made a terrible error of judgement, Rahab who was a prostitute, David, who should've been the start of #metoo movement... Solomon...Jesus family line was full of people who made shocking choices, people we might think were irredeemable, fallible people, people who failed... When we, or those we know, make poor choices, do dumb things, fail...it's not the end, it's not irredeemable...none of us are beyond Grace as we are (re)born into Jesus's family line... #grace

Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba. Genesis 21:14 NIV Was Abraham paying the price for giving Sarah into the King's harem to save his own skin? Was it just Sarah being vindictive? Regretting the scheme to get a son in the first place? It certainly wasn't anything that Hagar had done, but she was paying the price. Despised. Rejected Sent outside the safety and security of her home. We too have One who paid the price for our sin. Despised. Rejected. Sent outside the gate to die a criminal's death... I've made selfish decisions just like Abraham, shown no grace or forgiveness just like Sarah, and am in need of a saviour. What a wonderful thing that  we have one :) #grace

Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said...But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, and she said to Abraham, Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac. Genesis 21:1, 9-10 NIV Isaac has just been born, and Ishmael is 14 yrs old. What did he do? Probably said the baby was ugly as teenage boys are likely to do... After all God had done for them, Sarah couldn't extend a sliver of the grace that she'd been given. She reduced Hagar to a label. And as a label, it was easy to kick Hagar & Ishmael out. I've grown to love Hagar over the last couple of weeks, and was ready to rip into Sarah over this, but then I realised that I do this too...label people. And then it's so easy not to extend a sliver of the grace I've received to anyone else. I'm just like Sarah. But God does not label us. He knows your name. #dearlyloved #grace

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all. Isaiah 53:6 NLT In the days before multi media, video clips & projector screens an old preacher had a hand made wooden box, like a miniature shipping container, with a single door at each end. And in that wooden box were hand carved sheep. When he opened one door, he'd take the sheep out and they'd wander off The word ALL was painted on the inside of the door. We're all the same. We've all wandered off. I can't recall all the other things in the box, but there was a hand made wooden cross. And when he opened the other door on the box the word ALL was painted. Because Jesus died for us ALL. It's a simple story really. God entered his creation to make a way, to be the way for ALL. Not the "good" or the great, the popular, the successful, but for ALL. No matter who you are. No matter what you've done. ...