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Monday

I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Come unto Me and rest;
Lay down, O weary one, lay down your head upon my breast.”
I came to Jesus as I was, weary, worn, and sad;
I found in Him a resting place, and He has made me glad.

In the past five years which began with the Covid pandemic, the world has become less safe, and it seems humanity has become less humane. There’s a world-weariness of soul and a heaviness of heart. Christians have always turned at such times to Jesus for assurance, strength, and resilience. In the noise of social media and 24/7 news, we turn to the risen Lord and hear again the invitation, “Come unto me all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Jesus is not offering an escape from the reality of a broken world – but a place to refresh, renew, and go again.

Tuesday

I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Behold I freely give
the living water; thirsty one, stoop down and drink, and live.”
I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life-giving stream;
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in Him.

In recent years the phrase, “I can’t do this anymore”, has been the signal of exhaustion and emotional burnout, a confession we can’t go on like this. Jesus’ words are intended for such moments. Living water is revivifying and uninterrupted in supply. “My grace is sufficient” is the promise Paul heard when he hit the wall of demands too overwhelming to carry. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” is the same promise. In a parched world thirsty for hope, Jesus offers living water. Drink it, then become carriers and couriers of the Living Water.

Wednesday

I heard the voice of Jesus say, “I am this dark world's Light;”
Look unto Me, your morn shall rise, and all your day be bright.”
I looked to Jesus, and I found in Him my star, my sun;
and in that Light of life I'll walk till traveling days are done.

Jesus is the Light of the World. Any shining Christians do is with borrowed light, as reflectors of the glory of Jesus. These are strong words of hope and direction for life. If we rely on Jesus our star and sun, we will have light enough to walk, and renewable energy for each day’s discipleship. This verse, in fact the whole hymn, provides an important antidote to the creeping despair and exhausted passivity brought on by too much bad news. Not words of escape – instead, an urgent reminder where to find energy, fuel, hope and resilience to keep up with Jesus!

Thursday

Matt 11.28 “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

An invitation and a promise to folk who have had enough. Respite care is what enables those whose self-expenditure is unsustainable, and who need support, time and rest. Time spent in the presence of Jesus is never wasted. Rest is more than stopping doing what tires us. Take time for replenishment, to renew the sources of energy; listen again to the life we are leading, breathe deeply in the strong presence of the One who cares for us, and says – “I will give you rest.” Grace is always gift.

Friday.

Matt 11.29 “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.”

Rest is not empty time, it is stewardship of time. To learn of Jesus, to take his words to heart, to think deeply of all Jesus asks of us and offers us, that is to take on the yoke of His teaching. A yoke enables strength to be harnessed to purpose, and guides and directs energy towards fulfilling that purpose. Jesus later said, “If you love me you will keep my commands.” We spend our lives learning the teaching of Jesus, living our lives in Christ in response to knowing the life of Christ indwells us by the power of his Spirit. Discipleship is commitment to Christ-centred lifelong learning.

Saturday

Matt 11.29b “I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”  

No one understands us more thoroughly, no one looks on us with more compassion, and no one is more on our side, than Jesus. This is the best comment on these words: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”  (Hebrews 4.15-16)

Sunday

Matt 11.30 “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  

The paradox is a paradox of grace. In the service of Jesus a yoke isn’t an ill-fitting instrument of exploitation; the yoke of Jesus is easy, fitted to who we are, enabling us to grow into who God calls us to be. A light burden sounds like a contradiction in terms. But it depends who shares that burden, and who does the weight-bearing. Jesus’ invitation to us, to come to him and spend our lives with him in his service, comes with conditions and promises. The condition, “Take my yoke upon you.” The promises, "My yoke is easy, my burden is light, and you will find rest for your souls.”    

Monday

Romans 12.9 “Love must be sincere.”

I learned chunks of Romans by heart as a young Christian, in the King James Version! “Let love be without dissimulation.” Reading the older translation increased my word power as a teenager new to reading the Bible. Dissimulation is deliberate play-acting, pretending something is true when it is not. Paul is saying that in a Christian community there’s no place for pretence. God’s love poured into our hearts is the real thing.  Its authenticating hallmarks are faithfulness that creates trust, costly service to others, and compassion and practical help. Love without dissimulation.

Tuesday

Romans 12.9b “Hate what is evil, cling to what is good.”

Hate is a strong word, but if love is to be genuine, then its flip side is to hate what is evil, to abhor and resist what harms, hurts and diminishes others. Paul is well aware of the many ways sin gets in the way of love, and Christian community can be so easily undermined when love falters. The positive is to cling to what is good. In our thinking, lifestyle and actions to support what is life-giving, to encourage kindness and generosity, to be a persistent voice for good and a vocal opponent of the common undercurrents of jealousy, dislike, gossip and resentment that drain the joy and affection out of Christian fellowship. Cling to what is good, hold on to love.

Wednesday

Romans 12.10 “Be devoted to one another in love as brothers and sisters. Honour one another above yourselves.  

These two imperatives say much the same thing. Mutual affection and honour is love that is emotionally grounded in friendship and respect. What proves love in the Christian community is sincere is the quality of relationships being built. Being devoted to one another means we notice who is not there, we care what happens in each of our lives, we appreciate each other’s gifts, we bear one another’s burdens, we look not only to our own interests, we want to see each other flourish in our relationship with God. We will be there for each other, as God is ever there for us.

Thursday

Romans 12.11 “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord.”

Paul learned the hard way that unrestrained and unexamined zeal can do serious damage to those who get in our way! Our first zeal is to love the God who in Christ revealed what love is – reconciling grace and costly forgiveness. We love because God first loved us. Our spiritual fervour is nothing less than the fire of God’s love igniting everything in us that will burn, the love of God poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, and overflowing in Spirit-enabled and loving service to others for Jesus’ sake. “Still let me guard, the holy fire / and still stir up Thy gift in me.”

Friday

Romans 12.12 “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer”.

There’s a three point sermon if ever there was one! Joyful hope, patience in the tough times, and faithfulness in prayer; three ways in which we can know our love for God is real and without dissimulation, and be confident that our faith is rooted and grounded in the faithfulness of God. This demands an inner discipline of faith, a heart receptive to God’s Spirit-given grace, grace that is always sufficient and a mind guarded by God’s peace which is beyond our understanding, but no less real for that!

Saturday

Romans 12.13 “Share with God’s people who are in need.”

Sharing is by definition a habit of generosity, a willingness to give what is ours for the benefit of others. ‘Share’ is the English translation of ‘koinoneo’, Paul’s word for fellowship as partnership. In Christian community we are committed to the care of each other, we are all in this following Christ thing together! Make fellowship real by looking after each other, making sure each has daily necessities. Let no one be overlooked, or left to struggle on their own when life is hard. Whatever else pastoral care is, it is a community commitment to each other’s welfare, physical, emotional and spiritual. In that sense too, “Let love be without dissimulation.” Martin Luther once said that property, including money, is fellowship in created things.

Sunday

Romans 12.13b “Practice hospitality.”

Hospitality is both a practice, and a disposition. Hospitality is something we do as an expression of welcome and goodwill to others. In Paul’s world hospitality was an obligation for Jewish people rooted in their own experience of being strangers in Egypt, wanderers in the wilderness, and exiles from their homeland. The community of Christ is to be a place of welcome, inclusion and refuge. It is more than a shake of the hand and an invitation to coffee afterwards. “Welcome and accept one another as Christ has welcomed and accepted you”, is Paul’s spelling out of hospitality as doing to others as God in Christ has done to us. This is no optional afterthought. Paul is telling all Christians to treat others as God has treated them in Christ. To practice hospitality is to be a community of consistent love, open welcome, and generous sharing. 

Monday

James 1.12 “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”

In every life circumstances change, difficult times come, relationships go wrong, and hopes are disappointed. The old wisdom “these things are sent to try us” can seem heartless when someone says that to us. But James has a point. Resilience is built by resistance; character is shaped by all our struggles to make life work; faith and trust in God are strengthened by a determined inner love, enabled by God’s grace. The crown of life is God’s ‘Yes’ to our love, when we have never taken the option of walking away, but have persevered and found God’s grace more than sufficient.

Tuesday

James 1.17 “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

The best translation of what James meant is still the opening verse of the hymn: “Great is Thy faithfulness, O God, my Father; / there is no shadow of turning with Thee. / Thou changest not, the compassions they fail not / as Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.” We live each day beneath the constant generosity of God. As we say of those we have come to trust. “You always get them the same way.” Or as the old KJV says, in God “there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

Wednesday

James 1. 19 “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this. Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry…”

Pay attention! Take note! Get your head round this. In three phrases James provides an outline for a TEDS talk on learning to keep our mouths shut! Peace-making, conciliation, negotiation, relation building, community health and safety – they all depend on three things. First, the discipline of listening in order to understand rather than find fault; second, install a good braking system on the urge to talk back, correct, or control the conversation; third, enough self-knowledge to recognise that our anger is seldom righteous anger! James’s words should be in bold print at the top of every day planner and displayed at every supermarket checkout!

Thursday

James 1.20 “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, because anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”

Anger is a problem. There are times when it is absolutely right to be angry, and when it would be wrong not to be outraged. But that is anger on behalf of others when, for example, we witness injustice or needless suffering. James is talking about anger as that inner aggression that wants to win the argument, to get our own way, or to put someone in their place – which usually means beneath us! The righteous life that God requires is the opposite of self-serving anger. If we want to know what that looks like then think of an upper room, dirty feet, a basin and a towel, and Jesus defusing the anger of disciples who had been arguing about who was the greatest.

Friday

James 1.26 “If anyone considers himself religious, and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.”

Those words could have come straight out of Proverbs, and they have the same concern. Gossip, harmful words, innuendo, wounding sarcasm, lying, angry retorts, broken confidences, the clever take-down – the list is long of the ways that our words undermine trust and poison a community environment. Religion, as James sees it, is demonstrated in the practice of the faith we profess. As followers of Jesus we are called to a discipleship of the mind and heart, – and of the mouth!   

Saturday

James 1.27 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:”

Our religion, according to James, is nothing more, nothing less, than our faith being put into practice. We don’t just hear God’s word, we do it. Religion is both our inner piety of prayers and devotional affection and commitment to God, in response to God’s great love towards us in Christ; and our religion is how we behave in the light of God’s great love for us. The mercy and compassion of God has acted in love towards us in the gift of his Son. “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless” will likewise be visible, actual and real in the practice of mercy to others.

Sunday

James 1.27 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

Care for the vulnerable, compassion for those who need help; in other words seeing the world through the eyes of Jesus who never, ever, ignored those in distress. Perhaps the worst pollution by the world is allowing our hearts to harden and become complacent about the distress of those who have no power to rescue themselves. Looking after folk who are struggling is of the very essence of Christian love, and love for Christ. “Forasmuch as you did it for one of the least of these…”

God of Grace and Wisdom – If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

We live in a world that is becoming less and less predictable. Give wisdom to those who hold power, and can influence the lives of others for good or ill. And give to each of us wisdom to know and to do what is right. Keep us faithful to the teaching of Jesus about loving our neighbour, trusting our Heavenly Father, and lifting up our heads in hope for the coming of your Kingdom.

God of Grace and Mercy – “Be merciful, just as your Father in Heaven is merciful.”

We live in a world where cruelty is televised, where in places of war, conflict and oppression, mercy is seen as weakness, and where innocent lives are too often dismissed as of no value or consequence. Merciful God, constrain the powers that rage for vengeance, bring an end to suffering and death as the price of our all too human failures to live together without hate and violence. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

God of Grace and Justice – Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever flowing river.

We know that there can be no peace without justice, and that you are a God of faithfulness and without injustice. Those words of your prophet Amos become our prayer as we read the news feeds, fear for the future of our world, worry about the sheer scale of problems humanity faces. By your Spirit who brought creation out of chaos, speak again Let there be light, and push back the darkness that threatens the life of our world and all who call this planet our home.

May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace as we trust in him, so that we may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Monday

Matthew 22.37: Jesus said: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and the greatest commandment.”

Sometimes we ask a question because we genuinely want to know; other times a question can be a mental body swerve, a way of avoiding the truth that stands in our way. This was Jesus’ reply to a trick question about which is the greatest commandment. Jesus’ answer was like a well-timed rugby tackle, leaving no room for manoeuvre. The first priority of the heart, the magnetic North of the soul, the first focus of the mind, is to love God with all that we are. To love God completely, and serve God first and foremost, is to give God first claim on our worship and obedience.

Tuesday

Matthew 22.39: Jesus said: “And the second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself.”    

Second only to our love and obedience to God, is our love and service to our neighbour. The parable of the Good Samaritan is all the argument a Christian should ever need to be alert, responsive and compassionate to those we meet on the way who could do with our help. But if we need even more convincing, then Jesus’ astonishing self-revelation in the need of our neighbour is likewise like a well-timed rugby tackle that isn’t fooled by the body swerve: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matt.25.40)

Wednesday

Matthew 22.40: Jesus said: “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

God demands no more than is contained in these two commandments. But the unpacking of them in lives of loving obedience to God and compassionate service to others is the work of a lifetime. “He has shown you, every one of you, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah distilled into that one verse all the commands of the Law and the Prophets for holiness and justice. Jesus concentrated all that teaching down into matters of the heart devoted in love to God, the soul centred in worship, the mind focused on obedience, and the neighbour loved and safe in our presence.

Thursday

Matthew 4.3 Jesus said: ”Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

These words were spoken under pressure. Temptation is that familiar inner process of being torn two ways at once, knowing there is a right and wrong choice of what course of action to take. The greatest commandment to love God with our whole selves means nothing in life matters more than God. Life is God’s gift. We live every day by the enabling grace of God, who calls us as his children to a loving and responsive obedience with all our heart, soul and mind. Seek first God’s rule in your heart and in your daily living; then every other thing will fall into its proper place.

Friday

Matthew 5.13: Jesus said: “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?”

Salt can’t lose its saltiness. But it can become adulterated, a mixed economy of salt and accumulated compromises. Jesus was saying two things. First, salt works when it makes a difference, when it is different from what it comes into contact with. The various uses of salt for preserving from corruption, medicinal aid to healing, adding flavour to what is bland, all depend on salt being salt! Second, the credibility of the good news depends on our being Christ-like, telling the Gospel, living lives of such convincing quality that Jesus is obvious and visible in who we are. Salt of the earth.

Saturday

Matthew 5.14: Jesus said: “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.”

Light is an element of the reality we inhabit that enables life, makes visible, pulses with energy and is used to make life liveable. Followers of Jesus are lights that guide and illuminate and encourage life. The light of Christ brings hope, by forgiveness banishes guilt, liberates from fear, and guides those who are lost and confused back to their home in God. And yes, wherever it’s dark, light can’t be hidden. On the contrary, light defies and defeats darkness. Travellers in the darkness, see the city lights, and know where home and safety lies. You, yes you, are the light of the world.

Sunday

Matthew 5. 16: Jesus said: “In the same way, let your light shine before everyone, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

The good news of God’s love revealed in Jesus, demonstrated on the cross, bursting abroad and let loose on the world at the resurrection – that’s the light that shines in and through the Christian’s heart, and as the living centre of the Christian community. This is who we are! Love God, completely; love your neighbour, every time; be the salt and be the difference; shine with the light of Christ out into the world around you. Be the Body of Christ who is the originating Light of the World.

Some years ago, I spent several days on retreat at St Deiniol's Library and Psalm 119 was the main focus of study, prayer, and journal writing. I also set myself an essay, written for no reason other than writing for me is a way of thinking out and thinking through a complex text.

In 22 sections, each devoted to a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and each line beginning with that specified letter, Psalm 119 is a masterpiece of literary precision. It is also a powerful teaching method for what it means to live a life of obedient love and faithful persistence in the service of God and others. The acrostic pattern is a well marked path for the reader, a metaphor the Psalm uses throughout for the life of loving obedience to God.

When I'm out walking, I take photographs of paths. Often they remind me of this Psalm, and one of its key verses: "Your word is a lamp for my feet, and a light to my path." (Psalm 119.105) This particular photo could be a visual exegesis of that verse!

Monday

Psalm 3.1-2 “O Lord, how many are my foes. How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, ‘God will not deliver him!’”

In my teens I used to work beside one of the most negative folk I’ve ever known. No cloud ever had a silver lining! One work colleague said, “Aye everything in his favour’s against him!” But the truth is, sometimes in all of our lives there come times when there’s too much coming at us at the same time. This Psalm was written by someone who felt overwhelmed, and there were no silver linings. So he complained to God, which is exactly the right thing to do! When everything seems to be conspiring against us, the first response of faith is to remember God is for us.

Tuesday

Psalm 3.3 “But you are a shield around me, O Lord; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.”

Part of the experience of feeling down is the body language, a head-hanging lethargy. Time and again the Psalm poet gives the bad news, then the counter argument – “But…” Yes there is much that gets us down, but God is a shield around us. Yes we might feel like hanging our heads in defeat, but God gives the energy and strength to lift up our heads and look at the world again, this time through the eyes of faith that God is to be trusted. God’s glory is most clearly shown when his grace is made perfect in our weakness, and we hold across heart and mind the shield of faith.

Wednesday

Psalm 3.4 “For the Lord I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill.”

Prayer is not always about decorum, politely asking for God’s blessing. Nor are reverence and deference the most important inner attitudes in prayer. The psalm poet is shouting, pleading, arguing, with persistence and an intense need to be heard. When much is going wrong, and everything seems against us, there is an important place for honestly telling God how desperate we are. The prayer of the troubled is not an attempt to minimise our difficulties, or talk ourselves into acceptance. Prayer is a forceful cry for help, believing we are heard by God who is never so far away he does not hear, or will not answer. “I cry aloud, and he answers.”

Thursday

Psalm 3.5 “I lie down and sleep; I wake again because the Lord sustains me.”

We all need a sound theology of sleep, as well as a sound sleep! Anxiety, life under pressure, too much going on in our head, the long build-up of stress; we’ve all known the churning misery of sleepless nights. It’s as if we don’t trust ourselves to let go, and risk loss of control by falling asleep! Yet every day we wake up we do so by the sustaining grace of God who gives us life in the first place. There is profound theology in the vivid memory of disciples thrown about in the boat during the dangerous squall on the Sea of Galilee, and “Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion.”   

Friday

Psalm 3.6 “I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side.” 

This isn’t empty bravado. The Psalm poet is a realist, it’s just that his view of reality includes God. Again, we’ve all been in that place when we feel hemmed in, surrounded by more than we can deal with. Those words, “I will not fear”, are spoken in defiance of the worst the world can do. We have sung these words often enough! ““The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, / I will not, I will not desert to his foes; / That soul, though all hell should endeavour to shake, / I’ll never, no, never, no, never forsake!” And God says, “That’s a promise!”

Saturday

Psalm 3.7 “Arise, O Lord! Deliver me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.”

Exclamation marks signify theology with a loud voice, faith with the volume turned up. There is both confidence and desperation in the words. The Psalm poet knows ‘how many are my foes’, and ‘the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side.” This Psalm is for those times when we’ve run out of options, ideas, energy yet the hard stuff keeps coming. The strong language of broken jaws and teeth is hardly what we would call devotional prose! It is fighting talk, but it is God who is asked to act, to deliver, to enable life to go on, to lift up our heads, to be a shield around us. Christians are not exempt from storms of circumstance, whether on the Sea of Galilee or in the life that is ours. Sometimes our prayers need exclamation marks! 

Sunday

Psalm 3.8 “From the Lord comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people.”

In a self-help culture, awash with exaggerated positivity about what our life can be like if we just dream it, or go for it, people of faith live to an alternative worldview. “From the Lord comes deliverance.” It simply isn’t true that all the answers lie inside us, or that all problems can be solved by our determination, or mind-set. Blessing, when it comes, is gift. Sure, it requires our faithfulness, trust, obedience, and it may well cost us. But the Lord is at work in our lives, always and everywhere. Even the tough times and hard miles. He is our shield, bestows glory, and lifts up our head.