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The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. — Hebrews 4:12 Thoughts on Today's Verse... How often do you let God do major surgery on your spirit as the Holy Spirit uses God's Word to encourage, judge, motivate, convict, instruct, and inspire you? Open the Bible. Search the Scriptures. Find Jesus in the four Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. With such a great tool so readily at hand for most of us, let's not let a day go by without inviting God to use his words on our hearts and inviting the Holy Spirit to give us understanding as he leads us to become more like Jesus. My Prayer... Almighty God, your will is my heart's desire. But I also realize I need to be fed more consistently by your Word in Scripture and conformed to your ultimate Word, Jesus ( 2 Corinthians 3:18 ). Please give me strength and consistency in my w...

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God  may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. — 2 Timothy 3:16-17 Thoughts on Today's Verse... God wants us to be prepared to do good works. Thankfully, he gave us the Scriptures. Today, the Bible is translated into many different languages, dialects, and versions. We have online Bibles, audio Bibles, and Bibles that can fit into our pockets. Rather than a threat, all these Bibles are a great blessing because they make the Scriptures plentiful, understandable, and available. Oh yes, a few translations are questionable, but nearly all make it clear who Jesus is and how we come to him for salvation. But we must remember that the goal of Scripture is not to be learned but to be lived. God intended his Word to be practical truth - a gift that prepares us to "be thoroughly equipped for every good work." My Prayer... Holy God, it still amaz...

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the LORD, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. — Ephesians 5:19-20 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Paul emphasizes that hearts full of thanks make for good singing! With Jesus as the source of our salvation and the center of our future, how can we not sing? But singing is not just for God to praise God. God wants our songs to bless others, to speak to others, and to build others up in the hope we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. This means that singing is our ultimate spiritual talk. It blesses God and blesses others! So, let's speak to God in praise with our songs and singing. And let's speak to each other in those same songs and singing, so that we together can anticipate gathering with the saints of all time, blessing each other and God before his throne of grace. My Prayer... O LORD my God, you are awesome and wondrous. You...

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. — Proverbs 9:10 Thoughts on Today's Verse... We pursue so many things, but only one pursuit brings true wisdom: a reverent awe and appropriate respect for the holiness and greatness of God. The apostle Paul reminded the Athenians, who always wanted to appear wise, that God made us to seek him, find him, and discover that true wisdom is in him ( Acts 17:24-27 ). The wisdom of Proverbs keeps leading us back to knowing God and having deep, reverent awe of him. This is where wisdom begins! This is where true understanding finds its source. We can only understand life's priorities, purposes, goals, and directions when we recognize who the LORD is, walk with him in our day-to-day lives, and live before him with reverence and awe at his greatness and his grace! My Prayer... Holy, majestic, righteous, and eternal God, we confess that we know you so much less than you know us. That also mean...

A man finds joy in giving an apt reply — and how good is a timely word! — Proverbs 15:23 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Knowing the right word at the right time is a great gift to have and a great blessing to those with whom we share that apt word. However, even the best wordsmiths among Jesus' people admit that their words are not nearly as good as those the Spirit gives them to share at just the right time. Nevertheless, we must not excuse ourselves for insensitive speech, unkindness, or harsh silences that miss opportunities to bless others. Not paying attention to what was said is no excuse. Not being spiritually in tune with others' needs is a cop-out - it's a failure of our hearts. Not knowing Scripture well enough to bless others with gracious speech at the right time is self-deception and laziness. Listening to others after having listened to God in his Word and seeing the example of Jesus should tune our hearts to hear and bless others. When we do, our well-timed...

Carry each other's burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. — Galatians 6:2 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Sometimes I let myself feel so burdened by my problems that I don't even see others' struggles, trials, and hardships. But Jesus reminds me that if I am to be like him, truly JESUShaped, I will be a burden-bearer for others. This principle is implicit in the second greatest commandment: "Love your neighbor as yourself" ( Matthew 22:39 ), and it's made clear by the example of Jesus! Jesus became one of us to lift our heaviest burdens. The LORD died and rose again to free us from the weight of sin, the fear of death, and the threat of hell. Jesus blessed us by carrying our heaviest burdens and now calls us to lighten the load of those around us. My Prayer... Compassionate Father, help me see the burdens weighing down those around me. Give me wisdom to know how best to respond with help and courage not to put off that help. I want to be...