Robert

 Lamentations 3:25 ESV 
          
           The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. 
           
          
          I feel God speaking very directly to me through this verse this morning. I've left it late today to 'wait for him' in prayer and Biblical meditation. I was tempted to crack on with the day's other tasks.
          
           There's a sense in which God is good to all. He provides all our needs. Yet if we want an intimate relationship with him as our Father, spiritual lover, and indwelling Holy Spirit, we need to wait for him.
          
          God wants us to seek him in a wholehearted manner. He doesn't just want half an hour every morning. He's a jealous God: he wants our everything.
          
          'Lord, we're thankful for your goodness as we wait upon you, and seek you wholeheartedly. In the lovely name of Jesus, amen'.
          
          

 Romans 8:1 ESV
          
          There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  
           
          
          Romans seven is about how we continue to struggle with sin as Christians. So Romans 8:1 comes as a breath of fresh air. Despite our sinfulness, we're safe in Christ Jesus.
          
           Romans eight goes on to say that we are to live by the Spirit, not by the flesh. This doesn't mean to say we'll be perfect. Nevertheless, we should be seeking to kill sin with God's help.
          
          The devil wants us to feel condemned. Thankfully he only has power to accuse us. God is willing and able to acquit us of the punishment we deserve for our sinfulness.
          
          There's no condemnation in Christ. He didn't come to condemn us, but to save us. He will return as Judge, but if we're trusting in him we'll be accepted by him.
          
          'Almighty God, we're so grateful that you don't condemn us when we're in Christ. We entrust ourselves to him. For your honour and praise, amen'. 
          
          

 Psalm 133:1 ESV 
          
           Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! 
          
          
           
          Division makes headlines. Unity quietly envelops us like a warm comfort blanket. I'm sure there's a sense here of 'shalom': holistic wellness, not just the absence of hostilities.
          
           Our heavenly Father wants us to get on well. He doesn't want us to be a dysfunctional family. He wants what's best for us.
          
          Discord might be entertaining for dramas. In real life however, it's better to live in harmony. It's good and pleasant to enjoy unity in diversity.
          
          We're different. Yet we can know unity in connection with the Lord God. We can respect our differences and appreciate that we're all made in the image of God.
          
          'O Lord our God, may we dwell in unity, and know the goodness and pleasantness of such a state. In Christ's name we ask, amen'. 
          
          

Zephaniah 3:17 ESV 
          
           The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. 
           
          
          Maybe the thought of the Lord God being in our midst fills us with terror. Maybe our troubled consciences make us think that he would smite us in his wrath, to condemn us to hell as we rightfully deserve. This verse reassures us.
          
          Perhaps the opposite reaction to the thought of God's presence is indifference. We might wonder what difference God being with us would make. This verse challenges our apathy.
          
           God is mighty to save, yet he doesn't do so begrudgingly. He delights to deliver us. He calms our troubled hearts with his unfailing loving kindness.
          
          Amazingly, God himself celebrates us with loud singing. He is after all the Source of all goodness, music included. Nevertheless, his delight in us is astounding!
          
          'O Lord our God, as you amazingly delight in us, so we delight in you, the Lover of our souls. May we never lose the wonder of your love for us, in Christ's name we ask, amen'.

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Proverbs 22:4 ESV 
          
          The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honour and life. 
           
          
          This is a surprising verse. We might assume that worldly people who idolise Mammon gain riches and honour and life in this world. Solomon suggests otherwise.
          
          Solomon, certainly early in his reign, was a humble man. God blessed him with riches and honour and life. He initially, and I believe in the end, feared the Lord, at the dedication of the temple and in his repentant swansong of Ecclesiastes.
          
          The Bible teaches the opposite of the world. The world celebrates pride. The Bible says that pride goes before a fall.
          
          If we are humble and fear the Lord, not only do we tend to have good lives in this world. We also gain eternity where the streets are paved with gold. Even if we muddle through this life, there's a glorious destiny for those of us who belong to Jesus.
          
          'Dear Lord God, may we be humble and fear you as we ought. Please bless us as we do so. For your honour we ask this, amen'.

 Mark 8:35 ESV 
          
          For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.  
          
          
          This seems a counterintuitive verse. If we want to save our lives, we would hope and assume we'd save them. If we lose our lives we wouldn't expect to save them.
          
          I think what Jesus is doing is contrasting selfishness (trying to save ourselves) and 'otherishness' (living for Jesus and the gospel). We're not to simply be out to save our own skins. We're to care for others.
          
          If we live and die for the gospel, we're telling the good news to others, whatever the consequences. We're doing our duty to tell of salvation in Christ. Even if we get persecuted, it's worth it.
          
          We can either live selfishly or self-sacrificially. Jesus is calling us to the latter. By his grace we can do this.
          
          'Dear Lord God, please help us to be selfless and loving, not selfish. For your honour and praise we ask this, amen'.
           
          
          

 1 Timothy 4:12 ESV 
          
          Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.  
           
          
          They say forty is the new thirty, but I still don't think I can call myself a youth: I'm well into middle age! In ancient Israel, Levite men started active service for God aged thirty, as did the Lord Jesus himself. So I suspect Timothy was probably in his twenties at most.
          
          Even if we're no longer youths, we can still obey the Apostle Paul's charge here. We're still to be exemplary. We're not just to be good when we're young, only to derail ourselves later in life.
          
          Our speech doesn't have to be exclusively religious Bible quotes, but it does have to be seasoned with salt. It's not enough to just talk about the weather or our favourite sports team. Our conduct is to be holy and pure, like Billy Graham refusing to be alone with a woman who wasn't his wife.
          
           Love is to define us. Paul fleshes out what that looks like in 1 Corinthians 13. Faith is a gift of God, but we're still to exercise it. Purity is to permeate our relationships, to be totally above board.
          
          'Heavenly Father, please help us to be Christlike in our conduct, whatever our age may be. Help us to stand up for ourselves against those who would despise us. In Jesus' name, amen'. 
          
          

Psalm 103:2 ESV 
          
           Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, 
           
          
          We are to bless the Lord. We're not just to pay him lip service. Our very souls are to bless his holy name.
          
           Benefits have a negative connotation in the UK, which has a relatively generous welfare state which arguably many people exploit. Lots of people are on state benefits who should be working and benefiting the greater good by paying taxes. Spiritually, if we receive God's benefits, we're to bless others.
          
          It's not enough to scrounge benefits from God and to be miserly with them. If he forgives us, we're to forgive others. If he's a Father to us, we should treat others like family.
          
          As Jesus said, if we want to be forgiven, we need to forgive. We can't earn the benefit of forgiveness. Having been forgiven however, we should benefit others with forgiveness.
          
          'O Lord, we bless your holy name. May we always remember your benefits to us, especially forgiveness. In Christ's name we ask this, amen'.

 John 15:4 ESV 
          
           Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.  
           
          
          What does it mean to abide? Jesus goes on to illustrate what it means. As a branch abides in the vine, so we must abide in Christ.
          
          We're not very agricultural nowadays, so an easier illustration might be that of an arm within a body. As an arm is connected to the body, so we are to be connected to Christ. We can't bear spiritual fruit apart from him.
          
          The Apostle Paul talks about people who have a form of godliness, but deny its power. That's like a snapped off branch boasting of its fruit. Apart from Christ, we can do nothing.
          
          A severed arm can't boast if it's holding a tool by rigor mortis. It's only in connection with our Lord that we can be spiritually effective. We don't just abide in him to bear fruit, but because he is our raison d'etre, the meaning of our lives.
          
          'Heavenly Father, may we abide in your Son, and may he abide in us, now and for eternity, in his name we ask this, amen'.