verseoftheday

Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will go with you." They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. John 21:3 ESV Monday Jesus has risen. Yet the news is full of mayhem, death, destruction. It seems as if nothing has changed. Peter and his crew go fishing. And catch nothing. It seems as if nothing has changed. Yet it has. The very fabric of the world has changed. The very next thing that happens is that Peter meets the risen Jesus. Our world needs to meet him too, and the new way, the new thing, is to see the risen Jesus living in and through people. In and through you and me. In our work. In our disappointments, losses, hurts and the destruction and mayhem that others cause, the world needs to see those who carry the kingdom of light in their hearts living out our faith Our hope And our love #heisrisen #easter #monday #liveit

A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. Proverbs 18:2 ESV If we flip this do we find wisdom? Try a rewrite of this Proverb: "The wise are not concerned about expressing their opinion, but love to understand others" Try your own rewrite :) The problem is that I like my opinions, and I'm quite keen that you know about them too. But if the way of love is to understand others I need to park my opinions, and choose to seek to understand. Next time something comes up and my opinion is going to flow, I'm going to try this: "Help me understand why you think that" "Tell me more about your views" And I'm going to choose to be interested. To listen without my opinion getting in the way To make loving someone more important than my opinion... #rewriteaproverb #liveitout #easiersaidthandone #lovepeople

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27 NIV Good to read James 1 from the beginning to give context: Trials Humility Perseverance Unchanging God #quickslowslow To live out God's word And now how our faith should look in the world we live in...how we should live it out. The orphans and widows are literal. But they also represent the marginalised, the discarded, those without resources. Who are those in our world Our country Where we live In our street Who comes to mind? Will you pray a dangerous prayer here at the start of 2019? Will you pray that God would bring some one, some group, some people, who you and I can step towards in 2019 Some one who despite (or maybe within) our circumstances, our battles, we can step towards. Maybe it's about jumping in and serving somewhere...James is not about programs, but people. ...

Jesus said... "Be encouraged, my child! Your sins are forgiven" But some of the teachers of religious law said to themselves, "Thats blasphemy! Does he think hes God?" Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, "Why do you have such evil thoughts in your hearts?..." Matthew 9:2-5 NLT Jesus knew what they were thinking - quite a cool superpower to have - He knew not just their thoughts but their heart intent. It wasn't a genuine inquiry or desire to learn. They'd already passed judgement  on Jesus without finding out who he really was for themselves...much like people today... do they see the Jesus who backs up their rules & regulations, or do they see the Jesus of  grace & compassion (when they see me) #grace #liveit

1 Corinthians 9:24-25  ...So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. An athlete listens to their coach. Who has the biggest influence in your life? The thousand voices? The greatest coach is Gods word, his prompting in our lives...but if we hear it but don't action it...we are just kidding ourselves... #runtowin #listentoyourcoach #liveit #loveGodlovepeople #arisechurchinterns #youareanathlete