verseoftheday

Friday! Proverbs! A lazy man's craving will kill him,  because his hands refuse to work  - he covets greedily all day long;  but a righteous person gives without holding back. Proverbs 21:25-26 CJB Often this proverb is used as a weapon to get someone to work...but really it's about the heart, and how our desires can take over.  When we want that thing above all else it affects our thinking all day...the thing we think will give us life actually doesn't because it's captured our heart.  Maybe it's that "A" grade, that car/boat/house, that business, that measure of success. Maybe it's that relationship, that baby, that desire for justice,  that "when this happens I'll be happy'. Good things that can and do speak life, when they take over our hearts,  steal life. And who or what is on the other side of this proverb? The righteous person.  And that person's heart is for others.  Giving is all about others. And in God's upsidedown king...

On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out,  "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. The one who believes in me,  as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him." He said this about the Spirit. Those who believed in Jesus were going to receive the Spirit... John 7:37-39 CSB The wall between people and God will come down,  the law will be fulfilled, sin will be eliminated, the Messiah is here,  and there's more,  God's Spirit will be in you. Like a spring. Blue Spring near Putaruru, or Pupu Springs near Takaka are places where pure water pours up out of the ground.  That's the picture here of God's Spirit pouring through us to bring life to the world... (Some days for me it seems like barely a trickle, but I wonder how much that's me restricting the flow?) Jesus is claiming here that everything revolves around him.  He's at the centre. So often I want to put me at...

Then on the most important day of the feast,  the last day,  Jesus stood and shouted out to the crowds; "All you thirsty ones, come to me!  Come to me and drink" John 7:37 TPT This feast is Hoshana Rabah, the feast of tabernacles, and on the last day of the feast these things happen: - 7 circuits are made that represent the 7 circuits of Jericho when the walls fell down, representing the wall between people and God coming down. - Some stay up all night reading the Torah, the books of the law, & all the Psalms. The law will be completed on the final day. - 5 willow branches are beaten flat to symbolise the elimination of sin. - Prayers culminate with a particular prayer expressing hope for the speedy coming of the Messiah. - every day a pitcher of water from the pool of Siloam is poured out to represent the water from the rock God provided in the wilderness On the last day of the festival, the wall between people and God will come down,  the law will be completed,...

When the Pharisees heard that the crowds were whispering such things, they and the leading priests sent Temple guards to arrest Jesus. But Jesus told them, "I will be with you only a little longer.  Then I will return to the one who sent me. You will search for me but not find me. And you cannot go where I am going." The Jewish leaders were puzzled by this statement.  "Where is he planning to go?" they asked. "Is he thinking of leaving the country and going to the Jews in other lands? Maybe he will even teach the Greeks! What does he mean when he says, 'You will search for me but not find me, and You cannot go where I am going'?" John 7:32-36 NLT The leaders didn't like people listening to Jesus, and they did not get him at all.  They heard at least some of his words but they didn't want to hear what he said through his claim to being the Messiah. They didn't want to see the real Jesus. They preferred their own version. And I have to be...

Many among the crowds at the Temple believed in him.  "After all",  they said,  "would you expect the Messiah to do more miraculous signs than this man has done?" When the Pharisees heard that the crowds were whispering such things, they and the leading priests sent Temple guards to arrest Jesus. John 7:31-32 NLT The people could see the signs. They could see Jesus for who he said he was, but those in power it seems could not. Were they blinded by what they might lose? Those with power wrote Jesus off. Sent guards to arrest him. They wanted to shut him down as he threatened the structures that they had built up. Threatened their empire. Jesus does that.  Threatens empires. Whether it's nations, or the empire I have in my own heart, where it's my will be done, my kingdom come. Jesus kingdom is upsidedown, and that doesn't sit well with those with power.  We get to choose to go with the Pharisees and get Jesus arrested, shut down.  Shut down his call to lo...

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Matthew 5:9 NIV Today in NZ we reflect back on war. The horrors of it. We remember those who lost their lives in wars. Our focus is on not forgetting. And it's good not to forget.  Good not to forget those who died so that we can have many of the freedoms that we enjoy today.  What do we do with that "not forgetting"? Unlike many around the world we are not faced with war, but many do face injustice.  Many do face violence in their homes. People suffer at the hands of others, and we so easily forget.  Jesus called us to be peacemakers, and that takes more than "not forgetting". That takes stepping towards injustice, towards suffering, and bringing peace. And that's what Jesus did.  Stepped towards us. To bring peace. And he calls us to follow him.  To be peace makers in our homes, in our families, in our communities takes work and effort and sacrifice.  Facing injustice, stepping...

Then the leaders tried to arrest him;  but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come. Many among the crowds at the Temple believed in him.  "After all", they said, "would you expect the Messiah to do more miraculous signs than this man has done?" John 7:30-31 NLT All the signs were there. People could see that Jesus was who he said he was. All the signs were there. But it still took an act of faith, to believe in him.  To trust in him. There's days when this is easy. And there's days when it's not. When the effect of evil on people's lives is so great, when other people's choices affect us, when the world pushes in, there's days when I can let those take over.  But the signs for Jesus are there.  I see him in the created world, in the light of the dawn, the view from the mountains, the creative genius all around. I see him in others.  In a word of courage, an act of generosity, a gentle touch, a changed life, a renewed spi...