Watching Daily At Wisdom's Gates

 A friend has a Christian Discord Community, it'ld be good if you joined :)  https://discord.gg/wxARVhkn 

 Ezekiel 37:5 ESV Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.  Imagine a load of bones of Christians slaughtered by Muslims in Nigeria. It seems pretty hopeless. Yet Jesus blessed the persecuted, because great is our reward in heaven.  Even if we're martyred for the Lord God, hope is not lost. Just as Jesus defeated death, so can we. We just need to trust in him. Imagine a load of Islamists marching in London, and then a load of racists marching in London too. Each faction seem hopeless. Yet God can cause the spiritually dead to come alive.  Nothing is impossible for God. A white supremacist and an Islamist fighter alike can come to faith in the Lord God. If God wants to make us alive spiritually, we can't stop him. 'Heavenly Father, please make us alive in Christ, in whose name we pray, amen'. 

 The (Dis)United Kingdom: My Attempt at a Biblical Take on The State of the Nation Context Firstly, as I often say, Jesus unites people of differing backgrounds. Men and women, old and young, Jews (religious) and Greeks/Gentiles (irreligious).  Jesus unites us under his banner. His banner over us is love. His cross isn't the St. George's cross or the St. Andrew's cross.  The cross of Jesus was a rough, wooden, Roman instrument of torture. Why did Jesus go through that? To save revolutionaries and tax collectors alike. His inner circle included the traitorous Matthew who had been a tax collector for the Roman oppressors; and Simon the Zealot who wanted to kick the Romans out. I could draw parallels with the UK today, but I want to do so through the lens of first century Israel. Matthew and Simon were able to put their political differences aside for the sake of King Jesus, but I'm sure Christians were divided in AD70 when the Jews revolted against Roman rule. By then, Ch...

 James 5:16 ESV  Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.  Confession isn't just for Roman Catholics to do to priests. It's for every follower of Jesus to do with one another. Unresolved guilt is bad for our health. Prayer, confession and forgiveness are good for our health. James isn't saying that we'll never get ill. He is saying that we don't need shame to get us physically down. The church of the Lord Jesus is a body. So if one part suffers we should all feel it. Otherwise we might have spiritual leprosy, where we can't feel pain, which is a warning sign that something needs fixing. Every believer in Christ is made righteous through faith in him. If we simply trust him, our prayers will have great power. This isn't about being 'holier than thou': self righteous, proud and arrogant. 'O Lord our God, may we obey you in confess...

 Matthew 7:7 ESV  “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  This verse isn't a blank cheque to become a billionaire. In the context, it's about God giving good gifts to his children. It's not wrong to make money; it is wrong to be stingy and to horde wealth. God gives us what we need. He wants us to have more than enough, but not so that we can line our own pockets. Instead, he wants us to be generous. Ultimately, we shouldn't be hankering after stuff. Our primary focus should be to seek first God's Kingdom and his righteousness, and he'll provide our needs. Having said the above, God himself is generous. He isn't begrudging to give us what we need. He delights to answer sincere prayer. 'Dear Father God, please help us to boldly ask you for what we need, and please hear our cries, for we come in Jesus' name, amen'

 2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.  Christians rightly love this verse. Yet it was originally addressed to ancient Israel. How can we apply it to ourselves? In the immediate context, God was addressing King Solomon of ancient Israel. Israel is literally called by God's name. It means prince of God/wrestler with God. El at the end of Isra-El is a generic name for God in the old testament. Christians are called by God's name too. We are the people of Christ, the One anointed by the Holy Spirit to save us. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. This verse is a great promise. Yet note that it is conditional on us humbling ourselves, praying, seeking God's face, and turning from our wicked ways. Either God revives his church, or else Christ will return to judge the world. 'God Most High, ...

 Psalm 68:5 ESV  Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. The world looks down on the fatherless (children in need) and widows (single mothers) as liabilities. God cares for them more than the 'welfare state' or any charitable people. He's exalted in the highest heaven, but he's not condescending. In a sense, we're all fatherless spiritually. If we don't belong to Jesus we are of our 'father' the devil who is abusive and cruel. We need God to adopt us spiritually through faith in Christ crucified for us. We're all spiritually destitute, like a poor widow. We all need God's protection and provision. Otherwise we're hopeless. God isn't distant. He sent Jesus for our deliverance and restoration to him. He promises to never leave or forsake us. 'Father God, we're so grateful for your adoption and husbandry of us. Please continue to care for us, until you call us home. In Jesus' name, amen...

 John 13:34 ESV A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  Jesus's commandment here doesn't seem all that new at first glance. After all, Moses commanded us to love our neighbour as we love ourselves. Yet Jesus sets the bar even higher than Moses. With Moses, the standard is self love. With Jesus, he himself is the standard of sacrificial love. We should be prepared to love people to death. Jesus isn't just asking for one big act of sacrificial love, like his death on the cross. He is calling for us to daily die to self and put others first. Most importantly though we're to trust in his love, not our own. We're not just to love those who love us. Any old pagan can do that. Jesus commands us to even love our enemies. 'Loving heavenly Father, we're so grateful for your love to us in Christ crucified for us. Help us to love like that, in his name, amen'.

 Proverbs 16:3 ESV Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. With a naive, casual reading of this verse, one might assume that every Christian business will succeed. Of course, we know that isn't true. Does that mean that this verse is false too? Proverbs aren't promises; they're general truths. So when Solomon tells us to commit our work to the Lord, he isn't necessarily telling us that we'll become billionaires. Are the plans of unbelievers not often established though? In the new covenant, we're told to work 'as unto the Lord'. I think as a spiritual book we have to read this verse spiritually, not as a 'get rich quick' guide. We're to seek first God's Kingdom and his righteousness. We're to invest in the Kingdom of heaven. We're not to horde wealth here. If we commit to generosity, God will empower us to be generous. 'Oh Lord, we're so grateful for your generosity towards us in Christ crucified....