verseoftheday

That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:29-24 NIV It's that time of year when we get pestered about new year's resolutions, and it is a good opportunity to change some things, but Paul is pointing us to fundamental change, change at the core of who we are. Yes put off the old, but the new is to be "like God"!  I think we're supposed to go "I can't do that", because it's a work of God in us, working with us and through us and the choices we make, the things we choose to think on, to dwell on.  This putting off the old and putting on the new doesn't just happen at ...

Friday! Proverbs! The one who sends a message by a fool's hand cuts off his own feet and drinks violence.  A proverb in the mouth of a fool is like lame legs that hang limp.  Giving honor to a fool is like binding a stone in a sling.  A proverb in the mouth of a fool is like a stick with thorns, brandished by the hand of a drunkard.  The one who hires a fool or who hires those passing by is like an archer who wounds everyone indiscriminately.  As a dog returns to its vomit, so also a fool repeats his foolishness.  Do you see a person who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. Proverbs 26:6-12 CSB This chapter from v1-12 is all on this theme of the fool and being wise in our own eyes.  These word pictures created it seems are there for us to see and say "not me, I'm not that person or do those things", and then the writer hits us at the end with the person who is "wise in their own eyes" and I realise that is me.  I ju...

After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was - the star they had seen at its rising. It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overwhelmed with joy. Matthew 2:9-10 CSB This wasn't some reading of the stars, or a comet or some other easily explained thing.  Was this light or lights in the sky only visible to these people from another land?  They must've lost sight of it to stop into see King Herod to see if he knew what the go was.  And then it seems that the light appears in a new way.  A light in the sky led them to the light of the world.  And their response? Overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with joy. That's quite a thing! We don't know how long they had been seeking Jesus or how far they'd travelled, but they knew that finding Jesus was the culmination of what feels like their life's work. Everything led to this.  This baby who is the hope of the world.  And they are over...

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.  ... So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. John 1:1,14 NLT It seems that God had never had a body before, had never known what it was like to be human, to have our limitations, our frailties, what it is like to be hungry, dependent, tired, to be known and loved as a person, yet here he was, the Word, the Logos, the Eternal, became human.  And how does John describe God as a person? Full of unfailing love and faithfulness.  Full of unfailing love and faithfulness towards us.  This world is messed up, and the things we face are tough, and at the same time there is goodness and beauty and joy, and our God, who became human, and who is full of unfailing love and faithfulness - this is Christmas. #christmas #wonder #Godentersthestory #loveandfaithfulnessishere

All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord's message through his prophet: "Look!  The virgin will conceive a child!  She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means 'God is with us.'" Matthew 1:20-23 NLT God is with us. With us in the merry part of Christmas, the goodness, with us in the struggles, the grieving too.  God is with us.  I had to read this piece from NT Wright a few times, but he puts it like this:  "This is the really scary thing... not that Jesus might be identified with a remote, lofty, imaginary being, but that God, the real God, the one true God, might actually look like Jesus... a shrewd Palestinian Jewish villager who drank wine with his friends, agonized over the plight of his people, taught in strange stories and pungent aphorisms, and was executed by the occupying forces. To say that Jesus is in some sense God is of course to make a startling statement about Jesus. It is also to make a stupendous claim about God...

After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them. Luke 2:17-19 CSB The shepherds had an encounter with an angel, and had a glimpse of the armies of heaven, had a message about the Messiah, came to town, checked around to see if there'd been any babies born, found Mary and Joseph, telling their story to everyone along the way.  And everyone was amazed. And Mary was also an ordinary young mum, with a new born baby completely dependent on her, a baby that needed feeding and cleaning and burping and loving.  This extraordinary story is at the same time so ordinary, as Jesus, the Divine, the Creator of all, is also just another baby born in a small town under Roman rule to a young woman a long way from home.  Mary had a lot to ponder.  She also had to summon the energy to feed and clean and burp t...

For you have shattered their oppressive yoke and the rod on their shoulders, the staff of their oppressor... For a child will be born for us,  a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders.  He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,  Eternal Father,  Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:4-6 CSB It's easy to get caught up in some romantic notion of a cute baby who never cries (cue "away in a manger") and this new family being formed. Yet Isaiah paints a picture of massive, tumultuous change.  Nothing will be the same again after this.  Nothing. He is the hope of the world, the shatterer of yokes that oppress, who said "my yoke is easy." A new kingdom started. And nothing will be the same again. Nothing. And Jesus calls us to be part of this new kingdom, to work with him shattering yokes that hold others down, and to allow his counsel, his peace, to reign in our lives. Yes it's a baby's birth we celebrate, God's wonderful gift of ...