wise

Sometimes sin hides itself behind a good time. Go to that party? Sure, nothing wrong with that! Coffee with that person? It’s only coffee! And yet so many slippery slopes begin with it’s onlys and nothing- wrong-with-thats.

Many famous pastors and leaders who’ve stumbled would probably give a thousand worlds to go back and undo those ‘it’s only’ moments. 

Thankfully, God gives us an awesome tool to recognise what might be the beginning of a slippery slope. The Bible calls it wisdom. Wisdom lets you discern dangerous situations that look innocuous. It helps you set boundaries and it encourages you to be accountable. It marks out maturity.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,

  and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

For through wisdom your days will be many.” - Proverbs 9:10-11

Today, ask God for wisdom in every decision, big or small. He knows exactly what we’re like, what situations we struggle with and where we need to be careful, even when it isn’t obvious! Read Proverbs 9 to find out more about the difference between wisdom and folly, and let God speak to you today. It might just save your life.

whatever the weather

Someone wise once said, “There’s no such thing as bad weather; there’s only unsuitable clothing.”

There’s definitely something to be said for dressing well for the season you’re in! It takes preparation, wisdom, good sense, and adaptability.

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” - Ecclesiastes 3:1

There are spiritual seasons too. You might be in a time of testing or trial; perhaps a time of new-found joy, love, or grief, or waiting? Or maybe you’re transitioning into a new season - a new school or job or family home. How will you prepare? What’s the wisdom for the season you’re in?

Whatever time of life you’re facing today, remind yourself that your Father knows it already and has promised to be with you. Ecclesiastes 3 goes on to say that He makes ‘everything beautiful in its time’ and that He set eternity in your heart. That means that even when the leaves start falling or the sky clouds over, the Holy Spirit in you is as real and as true and as faithful as ever.

As the song puts it: “Though the seasons change, your love remains.”

May He guide your preparation, give you wisdom, enhance your good sense, and inspire your adaptability, whatever you wear, and whatever the weather.

water into wine

Jesus loves turning the ordinary into the extraordinary. He does it all the time. No wonder then, that His very first miracle was turning plain water into fine wine, at a wedding.

“Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water’; so they filled them to the brim.Then he told them, ‘Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” - John 2:7-8

The master tastes the wine of course, and remarks on how good it is. He has no idea just how extraordinary that wine really is, or where it came from!

Have you ever noticed just how Jesus did it? Have you spotted what He didn’t do? 

This was a miracle in which the servants did all the work, and all Jesus did was speak. Incredible! Right from the beginning Jesus shows us that He wants us, people like you and me, to be involved in changing the ordinary to the extraordinary! All we have to do is listen and respond to whatever He tells us to do.

Today, when you’re faced with the ordinary tasks ahead, remember that God has an amazing plan to use you to transform the world around you to be extraordinary!

Ask Him to speak, and listen carefully to what He tells you. The water’s in your hands. What can you do with it?

walking on water

Nobody seems to encapsulate the familiar mix of faith and doubt better than Peter. The other disciples in the boat think they’re seeing a ghost. No-one’s really sure, even when Jesus calls out to them across the water.

“Take courage! It’s me!” He shouts. You can read this story in Matthew 13:22-32. Peter, impulsive and outspoken shouts back from the boat.

“If it’s you Lord, tell me to come to you on the water.”

No-one else had dreamed that that was even possible. Sure it’s okay for Jesus (if it is Jesus) but us? Seriously? Get back in the boat, loudmouth. 

And yet at the same time as showing incredible faith, even Peter isn’t certain yet that it’s really Jesus! His leap of faith is really a test to prove that it actually is Him out there in the dark.

There might be challenges ahead where you too need to trust, even though you do still doubt. Having faith isn’t necessarily about eradicating those fears and doubts, it’s about stepping out of the boat regardless of them. Then with every step, God does the rest. That’s the real adventure! God loves it when we’re brave enough and reckless enough to leap onto the waves, sink or swim. And even if we see the wind, sink and fall, He’ll still catch us.

two places at once

If you’re a believer, right now you’re sort of in two places at the same time. You’re seated in heavenly realms, and, you’re also here making a difference in the physical world we live in. It’s all here in Ephesians 2...

“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” - Ephesians 2:6-7

What this means is that wherever we go we carry the authority and the honour of VIPs with a seat in Heaven. That’s such an awesome privilege! What’s more, the purpose of that duality is that we’re here to connect the two worlds together, to bring Heaven down and display to the world the riches of God’s grace. In the rest of Ephesians Paul goes on to explain how that’s exactly what the church is called to do as we sit, walk, and stand together. If you have time, why not read of the whole letter to find out more.

Don’t forget your position: you’re seated in Heavenly places because God raised you there. You also dwell in the overlap between Heaven and Earth where people are longing for the kindness of a Saviour. Could you show them?

treasure

It’s easy to be underestimated isn’t it? People assume so many things about us from the outside. They calculate our value, our usefulness, our ability to perform, our attractiveness, our worth. And yet God sees way past all that.

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” - Matthew 13:44

In this parable, Jesus shows us the joy of discovering something beautiful and hidden. Whatever it was that the man found, it was worth so much more than the cost of all his possessions! Great treasure hidden inside the very ordinary earth and soil of an underestimated field.

This must be how God the Father thinks of us! The Bible says that He sees our hearts where everyone else can’t get past our outward appearances. And then, looking at your heart with all the joy in His, He paid the very highest cost to make sure that you would belong to Him. You are that treasure.

I wonder what treasure you see? I wonder whether we too can ask God to help us see the great treasures in each other? Today, be on the lookout for the kingdom-gold in those around you, and in you. You might just see something incredible.

“the grace”

“May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all.” - 2 Corinthians 13:14

Evermore. Amen. We use this sometimes to end a prayer meeting. It’s a pretty good way to send each other off into the world with a threefold blessing. After all, who’s going to turn down love from the Father, grace from the Son, or fellowship from the Holy Spirit?

Grace is like unboxed favour. It can’t be contained, it bursts into life whenever Jesus is around. It reminds us that through Him we’ve become saved heirs to a thing we never deserved.

Meanwhile God’s love for you is unfailing. There’s nothing you can ever do that will change it. He will always love you, and it’s the love that spans the universe from the Father’s heart to yours.

What’s more, the presence of the Holy Spirit is unending. There are no dark valleys or distant mountains, no stormy seas or dry seasons you go through where He fails to be with you.

The prayer though is that these things will be with all of us. You might be the answer to somebody else’s prayer in the way the grace, love and fellowship of the Trinity flow through you.

So today, don’t forget that you’re a recipient of unboxed favour, an agent of unfailing love, and a companion of the unending Presence. Evermore. Amen.

every night ends with a sunrise

“I’m going out to fish,” said Simon Peter. The others looked at each other hopelessly. “Well we’ll come with you,” they replied. After all, what else was there to do?

All night, out on the lake they worked. They threw nets, they hauled in, they pulled, they watched, and they moved, but the inky waters of Galilee gave them nothing in return. What, they must have wondered, had it all been for? 

It’s sometimes hard to remember that they didn’t know the end of the story. Jesus had died, he was gone, crucified and buried, and everything he’d told them suddenly seemed so hopeless. It was all over, and they couldn’t even go back to fishing it seemed!

We too sometimes get caught up in our own situations without realising that our stories aren’t over. Things can look pretty dire, hopeless and done. And yet, there’s often another chapter. Every night ends with a sunrise. Are there things God said to you that now look impossible? Was there a hope you’ve lost?

As the sun burst over the hills and the dark waters were painted silver, a voice called out to them, inviting them to a miracle, to a new day, to a breakfast that changed the world. Jesus is risen. And He always brings hope with him.

shine

Do you like it when people say nice things about you? I think we all like a bit of positive praise every now and then.

One of the Hebrew words the Bible uses for ‘praise’ is a word that means ‘to boast’ or ‘to shine’. The idea is that our praise for God is so uncontainable that it can’t help burst out of us like a supernova. It’s loud, it’s bright, it’s irrepressible, it’s unavoidable, explosive praise!

“Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live.” Psalm 63:3-4

Now, we don’t always feel like it. But sometimes praise is exactly the dynamite we need, to break through in our situation. Praising God for who He is and what He’s done is an excellent way to take the focus off us and onto Him and blow up a few of our barriers along the way.

Psalm 63 makes it really clear that He’s worth it, more than even the very life in our bones or the breath in our lungs! Today, try spending a few minutes declaring out who God is and what He means to you, and watch what happens when you fill the atmosphere with praise!

elephant rope

It’s unpleasant to think of it, but there was a time when animals were poorly treated in circuses. You know the stories, I’m sure.

A sad thing that used to happen was that baby elephants would have their legs tied with rope. They weren’t strong enough to break it. As they grew, those elephants never forgot that rope, and even when they were fully-grown, strong enough to crash through forests and snap tree trunks in two, they were still able to be bound by the same rope as when they were babies. 

There are so many things in our lives that hold us back in our thinking, just like elephant rope.

But look at this...

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” - Galatians 5:1

You can be free! Jesus did it, he freed us from the past, now it’s time to break off that old rope and live in freedom.

There might be beliefs you have about yourself that just aren’t true, and might never have been! There might be things people have said. Snap that old elephant rope. Pray about it - ask God to show you who you are and the freedom that He brings you. You can do it.

rock-house

Here’s a theory: everyone is building something. In your life you will already have built up relationships, families, friendships, reputations, characteristics, perhaps even a business, or a ministry, and every day you face decisions that might build those things further. It seems we’re all at work constructing things we hope will last.

In Matthew 7:25-27, Jesus makes it really clear that how you build a thing really matters! He compares two people taking on building projects - one puts up a house on a foundation of rock, the other chooses sand. When the inevitable storm comes, the rain washes away the sand-house but the rock-house stays strong. There’s a difference between building wisely and building foolishly.

Jesus says the thing that makes that difference, is:

Hearing God speak, and then...

Putting it into practice, whatever it is you’re building.

He doesn’t sugar coat it: life is unavoidably stormy, and rainy days will definitely come. Eventually your foundations will be tested.

So, what foundation are you going to build your life on? What about your work, or your ministry? What about family or relationships? How could you make sure you’re hearing God and then applying what He says in everything you’re building?

The wise person always chooses the rock, even when it’s tough to drill into, and the sandy stuff looks so temptingly soft. So today, choose wisely.

quick to listen

You can probably type quickly. The average person hits around 60-70 words per minute. But did you know that you read about four times faster than you write?

These days, a lot of our conversations happen online where we’re reading and writing all the time. If you’re anything like me, you’ll have found that the ‘art of listening’ might be more important than ever!

James, the brother of Jesus, gives some advice about this. He says that everyone should be:

“Quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” - James 1:19-20

Whoah! It’s like he’s been on Twitter! Actually though, the principle of human nature is an ancient one: we all like to be right, and we’re not great at listening and talking at the same time. And it’s easier than ever to be constantly on transmit rather than receive.

Today, whether online or offline, why not take time to listen fast and speak slowly? Or read deep and type later... Take a breath, let the silence in. Don’t send that email straight away. Don’t hit reply. Listen.

It’s a great way to prevent those angry exchanges we’re sometimes tempted to fall into, and it leads to righteousness in relationships.

persevere

The Bible never pretends that life is easy. In fact, it’s a library of messy stories: tales of failure and redemption, tragedy and triumph, hope, and wisdom in the face of difficulty. It’s also the story of how God works to turn all those things to good, through the pages of history.

In the New Testament, James gives some advice to people going through difficulties:

“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” - James 1:12

Keep going! Whatever’s tough that you have to face today, keep moving, persevere! There’s a crown of life with your name on it, just on the other side of the test.

There are lots of good reasons for persevering - it builds your character, it gets you to your destination, and it shows the world what God can do through you. 

Another is that it might just unlock something for somebody else! What story would you like to tell someone who’s going through what you once faced? What would you like them to thank you for?

Life can be messy, but today remember that your journey through it is a story the world needs to hear. Keep moving!

the mustard seed

Do you know what’s inside a seed? The tiny embryo of a new plant, nutrients for growth, and a tough outer shell. Everything required for growth is packed in.

Jesus tells us that faith is like seeds. Part of the reason is that you only need a little faith to do extraordinary things, but more to the point - your faith, like a seed, is supposed to grow. 

“Then Jesus asked, ‘What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.” - Luke 13:18-19

So let’s unpack it. At the centre is the next generation of hope, the new embryo. When God speaks He sparks things into life. What dreams and hopes has He given you? What word, what promise are you believing?

Then there’s the conditions for growth, the nutrients. How do you grow that God idea in your heart? How do you feed it?

The shell is hard and dry, until it falls to the soil. Water softens it and lets the seed germinate out through the softened seed-wall. Are you ready to let go of your seed and let God do the rest?

Today, whatever your hope is, whatever you need faith for, don’t worry about whether you have enough. Just let God take what you do have, and watch it grow. 

the god of lost things

Have you ever spun yourself into a panic, looking for something important? Easily done, isn't it? Sometimes I'm like a whirlwind through my house, upturning everything, searching everywhere in a sort of cyclone of stress!

Jesus told three stories about people who lost things in Luke 15: a shepherd loses a valuable sheep, a woman loses an expensive coin, and a father loses his relationship with his youngest son.

I think part of the reason Jesus tells us these stories is because he wants us to know that God the Father understands the pain of the lost things, and He wants to rejoice with us when those lost things are found.

So, what's lost in your life? Dreams? Hopes? Relationships?

Perhaps you yourself feel a bit lost and far from God? Maybe today you need to know that your story isn't over: the shepherd finds his sheep, the woman finds her coin, and one day, even the son finds his way home.

What's more, all three stories end with a huge party! That's God's heart - Jesus came to 'seek and save the lost' and whenever he does, there is always a party waiting to happen. Why not ask Him to help you find the lost things? Why not ask Him to find you?

lantern light

Old-fashioned lanterns were quite simple: a portable flame burning from a covered dish. To keep one alight you probably needed a supply of oil, a taper, and a flint for sparking.

Right in the middle of Psalm 119, the psalmist says this:

“Your word is a lamp for my feet,

    a light on my path.” - Psalm 119:105

The picture is that God’s word illuminates our steps. Probably only a couple of steps at a time. We carry the oil of the Holy Spirit, apply it to the words that God shows us, and He helps us walk step-by-step through the darkness.

It’s a great picture! After all, there are lots of pitfalls in life, lurking right out there in the dark! When we start to apply the Spirit through the Word, they become much clearer.

Wouldn’t it be great if the Bible had some great advice about things like anxiety, about marriage, about parenting; about how to know when to speak and when not to, about managing your money well, about looking after the vulnerable, about working hard, or loving people and loving God? Well guess what? It does! In fact, it’s truly excellent at illuminating the heart of God for all our journeys. Why wouldn’t it be? He wrote it for you.

So today, let’s let a little lantern light in. Ask God what he wants to show you, and trust Him to illuminate your path. 

labels

We’re quick to add labels aren’t we? A person gives up meat - on goes the label. Someone else accidentally says an offensive thing on Twitter - label. Religious? Follow a team or a pop-star or a political idea? Labels for you then. And no changing it!

But labels don’t make a lifestyle. They’re really just assumptions from people who only see snapshots of your life.

The truth is, no-one can really label you unless they made you and they know you. And only one Person made you. So only one Person knows you enough to give you your real label...

“For you created my inmost being;

    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

    your works are wonderful,

    I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you

    when I was made in the secret place.”

• Psalm 139:13-15

In this age of labels, it’s okay to break the mould and be exactly who God made you to be! You don’t have to believe what anyone says about you. You don’t have to let the label define you when you know you were made for so much more than a convenient name or category. Today, call out who you really are, speak it over yourself, and get peeling off those labels!

kintsugi

What do you do when something precious gets broken? Replace it as soon as possible? Throw the old thing away? Perhaps try to fix it?

In 15th Century Japan, shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa inspired a rather elegant solution for broken things. He instructed his craftsmen to repair broken ceramics with lacquered gold. Every ugly crack in a broken tea bowl suddenly glimmered with a seam of glittering gold, and a new art form, kintsugi, was born.

Kintsugi celebrates brokenness and makes it part of an object’s history, rather than pretending, or hiding the fracture lines. It’s a beautiful picture of what God does for us - taking our brokenness and our scars and transforming those things into part of the beauty that makes us who we are.

“But he was pierced for our transgressions,

    he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was on him,

    and by his wounds we are healed.” - Isaiah 53:5

Jesus shows us how extraordinary beauty can come from desperate brokenness, how deep wounds can be repaired even if they can’t quite be forgotten. Are there areas of your life that need healing? What wounds are you carrying? Ask God to step into your fracture-lines and to bring the golden touch of Heaven into your life. Jesus is the master at the art of bringing beauty from brokenness.

honeybees

Honeybees are incredible. Did you know for example, that the forager bees in a hive can communicate the exact locations and directions of flowers they’ve found... by dancing? Scientists call it the ‘waggle dance’ - a precise mathematical set of group movements that tell the hive where to find food, based on angles and the direction of the sun!

This is a great picture of church! A bee outside of the hive can’t really survive as a lone honeybee: there’s no way to join the dance. Bees need each other just like we do. The writer to the Hebrews puts it like this:

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”- Hebrews 10:24-25

The bees adjust their dance-moves according to the angle of the sun. They have an ability to track its path across the sky and change the angles of the waggle dance!

Maybe today we should consider how our own journey is responding to what God is doing with the church? Could you join the dance? Maybe the first step is to find the warmth of the sunlight, and then find your rhythm and your beehive. Don’t give up meeting together! Church is awesome.

jonah in the whale

You might remember Jonah, the reluctant prophet? He refused to go where God sent him, got thrown overboard from a ship, and then got swallowed by an enormous fish.

That would have been horrendous. Jonah spent three days and three nights crammed into the slimy, acidic stomach of a living creature, jolting around the ocean, being slowly digested with the fish guts, seaweed, and salt-water swirling round him. He prayed and repented, and then God sent the fish to vomit him onto dry land.

We’ve all had our low points haven’t we? And yet God has an amazing way of interweaving His grace into our stories. What Jonah might not have known as he lay there bleached white by stomach acid and the sea, is that the Assyrians (the people to whom God was sending him) already had legends about a holy fish-man who came from the sea! Imagine him telling his story in the market place and the city streets! His experience made him the perfect person for the task ahead.

If you’re feeling low, have a read of Jonah’s prayer in Jonah 2 today. There are some great clues about how to keep a good attitude in the darkest of places. And remember, God is always able to use the best and worst of our stories, even when they took us to the bottom of the ocean and back.

grab a towel

What’s the etiquette when you visit someone’s home? Shoes off or on?

It was clearer in the hot, dusty world that Jesus lived in. A low-paid servant would stand with a jar of water and wash the grime and the sweat from the guests’ feet as they arrived.

That is not a nice job is it? Kneeling in front of people who are tired and hungry, scrubbing the dirt and the grit from their smelly, sweaty feet.

“So he [Jesus] got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel round his waist.After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped round him.” - John 13:4-5

Whatever the etiquette was, this was not it! The most important person in the room, the most powerful, the guest in the place of honour, was definitely not supposed to grab a towel and get down on the floor!

Jesus shows us that true leadership takes the humility of being a servant. It was never more about the place of honour than it was about recognising the value of those you’re serving.

Today, ask God for an opportunity to serve someone. What could you do that blesses them, that shows you value and honour them? Someone wise once said that if you’re the most powerful person in the room, you should grab a towel. How could you wash someone’s feet today?

free to fly

It’s not advisable to try breaking the law of gravity. What goes up must come down after all, and while aeroplanes and helicopters find clever ways to use gravity, even they have to obey its principles.

That’s a little bit like what it means to live ‘under God’s grace’. Grace is God’s aerodynamic, gravity-twisting solution to the law that brought nothing but condemnation.

“For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” - Romans 6:14

Jesus brings us the freedom to fly, where sin once chained us up. Without Him, meeting God’s righteous standards was impossible, and the law of sin and the punishment of separation from God were inevitable.

But here in Romans, Paul shows us that by the power of grace, that old law has been superseded and is no longer dictating terms. Jesus deals with the gravity of our situation by fulfilling the law perfectly on our behalf, leaving us free to fly.

Perhaps today you just need to know that you don’t have to be mastered by sin any longer. You can choose freedom from it today because the old chains are broken, the door is open, and the sky is waiting.

five friends on the roof

There’s a story in Mark 2 about four guys who ripped a hole in a roof, just so that they could get their friend in front of Jesus. Imagine! The placed is packed, Jesus is teaching inside, and there’s just no way in. But you know this might be the only chance your friend will ever get. Do you all give up and go home? Do you hope that Jesus will somehow make eye contact and find you?

Not these men! There had to be another way! So, they picked up their paralysed friend, lifted him onto the roof and started tearing off the tiles! Then, as the mud and straw crumbled onto the crowd below and the daylight beamed in, they lowered their friend to the floor, right at the feet of a gloriously interrupted Jesus.

I think Jesus loves being astonished by people with radical faith. Sometimes we’re good at doing the polite, expected thing of waiting for God to move, when He’s actually just waiting for us to put our faith into action. The men had a choice outside the door that day; they chose to love their friend more than their safety or their reputations, and they chose to risk it all because they believed that Jesus was who he said He was.

So how about you? What will you do to step out in radical faith today? What are you choosing to believe? What are you waiting for?

fiat lux

In 1965, two astronomers accidentally discovered a faint signal: microwave radiation that seemed to come from every direction, day and night. They quickly theorised that it came from outside our galaxy and was evenly spread, regardless of which way their telescope was pointing.

What they had discovered was a thing called ‘cosmic background radiation’ - or light - that remained from the very beginning of our universe. It proved for the first time that creation, and light itself both had had a very definite beginning.

Imagine that! The very first words we know that God said, “Let there be light!” still echo through our universe.

I like to think that that command resonates through me too, just like background radiation. Let there be light in everything I do, don’t let me hide anything from you God. Let me bring light into every situation I face, help me to illuminate the way for others around me. And let me be full of light when I’m surrounded by darkness.

Jesus said that our job is to be the ‘light of the world’. Like a lamp that fills the house, or a cosmic event that lights up the universe, we’re supposed to shine brightly and not be hidden.

Ask God today to help you bring light. Whatever situation you face, let yourself shine in clarity, purity and brilliance. Let there be light! Not just at the edges of the universe, but through you too!