verseoftheday

Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this:  to look after orphans and widows in their distress and  to keep oneself unstained from the world. James 1:27 CSB To God's people scattered all over the place, here's James simple 3 part way to live: Live before God, oriented towards Him.  Circumstances change, our health, our kiwisaver balances, our freedoms, the choices we have all change, but James reminds us to live "coram deo", before the face of God. Part 2 is to love people who are struggling, alone, with less, less resources.  This requires an outward orientation, and in #level4 some creative thinking.  If everyone in your bubble is OK, what about those outside it. Have a think about who those people might be in your world?  Could you give an online music lesson, read a story to another family's children every day, do some tutoring, organise shopping for someone who can't get out...3d print face masks for hospital staff... And part 3. Keep u...

Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror.  For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works - this person will be blessed in what he does. James 1:23-25 CSB To God's people. Scattered. In isolation. Don't just be hearers of God's word but doers. How does that look for us in the current environment?  Do look at the restrictions and think "I can't". I can't love others, I can't serve in my area of gifting, I can't get together... James reminds us that it's who we are that's important. Look in the mirror. We're the same people, and for a while our world is very different.  He reminds us to keep in God's Word, and to keep living in it out.  My "I can't" becomes "how can I?...

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Colossians 1:19-20 CSB This letter was written to a small Christian community in a city with a range of beliefs. A bit like us today.  Under Roman rule.  (We're willingly submitting to having our freedom restricted right now) Paul has been reminding the church who Jesus is. It's easy to get swamped with what's happening, worry about what might happen, and lose sight of who Jesus is: The fullness of God in a person! His mission: to reconcile everything. To unhurt all the hurt, to unspoil, to unruin, to bring all things back to how they were designed. His way: by going to the cross. The only one who could. The gospel, the good news of who Jesus is, his mission, and his way of accomplishing that mission is as important to us today as it was to the church in Collosae. Yes...

My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger... But be doers of the word and not hearers only... James 1:19, 22 CSB James is writing to a people scattered all over the place, writing to people facing trials.  Mmm just a bit like us.  Quick slow slow is encouraging us HOW to communicate, but James is also encouraging us TO communicate.  Regularly check in with people. Ask God to put people on your heart and reach out to them. Some are business as usual, some having a nice break, some are working in health care, some facing financial ruin, jobs lost. Some will be fearful  BE quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to become angry, and DO reach out and communicate.  James calls the scattered people to be doers of the word. That might look a little different in this time of Less Choice.  Jesus called us to Love God, and to Love People. James encourages us to get on and do that. #james #Godsgym ...

Friday! Proverbs! A king's terrible wrath is like the roaring of a lion; anyone who provokes him endangers himself. Proverbs 20:2 CSB What a week it's been since we started Prov 20! What's this proverb got to say to our current situation? We don't have a king, but the government does have significant power and it is using that now, and if we break the rules we will feel it's "wrath".  It's for my good and the good of my neighbour. If God is the King here, my sin, my choices have put me in danger.  God's anger is for my good, as He doesn't want any taint of sin in my life, that sin that separates me from Him. But Jesus has stepped in between, absorbed my sin and with that the wrath of the king. I'm no longer in danger. A child of the King Saved, and being saved. Renewed, and being renewed. Whole, and being made whole. Cleansed, and being made clean. Our world has shifted in a week, but the gospel of grace is unchanged, for my good, and the g...

There is a river - its streams delight the city of God, the holy dwelling place of the Most High.  God is within her; she will not be toppled. God will help her when the morning dawns. Nations rage, kingdoms topple; the earth melts when he lifts his voice.  The Lord of Armies is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.  Selah Psalms 46:4-7 CSB Remember that this is a song, and songs are often  about the picture, the story, the feelings. The river that's streams delight before God. That God is in. That God will help That won't be toppled. Is this a picture looking forward to Jesus? Who while it looked like he was toppled God raised again in the new light of the resurrection. Or is it us? The church? Restored and made new. Jesus talked about the vine & branches. Inseparable. The church as a body, & he is the head.  Maybe this picture of streams and a river is us made whole in Jesus, delighting the City of God. There's drama amongst the nations, but we ...

God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble.  Therefore we will not be afraid,  though the earth trembles and the mountains topple into the depths of the seas, though its water roars and foams and the mountains quake with its turmoil.  Selah Psalms 46:1-3 CSB This song is describing a changing world, where what felt solid no longer seems as firm, and in that, it's not really today that's so concerning, but the future. Those things that were mapped out, felt in control, perhaps don't feel that way now. Work, business, study program, family, relationships, health, wealth, even food supply, systems we've known all our lives... Turmoil. The psalmist starts with who God is.  Refuge Strength Helper He has not changed. Refuge: a place where we can go Strength: someone to lean into Helper: resources to bear our burdens. Therefore. Therefore we will not be afraid. We do not have to be afraid because of who God is. In today's turmoil look ...