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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. — James 1:12 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Only Christians win at life. That's because none of us who are human has the power to hold back our greatest enemy, death ( Hebrews 2:14-15 ; 1 Corinthians 15:26 ). But when we have persevered, we are given the ultimate victory: THE CROWN OF LIFE, life that will not end ( Revelation 2:10 ). Because our lives are in the hands of the one who defeated death, death cannot separate us from our victory in Jesus Christ our LORD! As the apostle Paul emphatically proclaimed: When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin...

Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. — Ephesians 6:10-11 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Many of the struggles in our lives are not mere accidents! Many of them are not put there by God. Our challenges often come from the hand of our enemy, the evil one, the liar and murderer from the beginning ( John 8:44 ). He is always prowling about looking for the best scheme ( 2 Corinthians 2:11 ) to knock us down and devour us as he weakens our commitment to and relationship with the LORD Jesus ( 1 Peter 5:8 ). We are in a war with this evil one - a struggle not with flesh and blood, but against spiritual powers ( Ephesians 6:12 ). By placing ourselves firmly in the hands of the LORD and using his tools of warfare enables us overcome our enemy in the name of Jesus and by the blood of his cross ( Colossians 1:20 ), because Jesus humiliated the evil one and his minions in the triumph over evil ...

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought. — Jeremiah 17:7-8 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Trust. Can we really trust in God? Is the LORD really faithful? While we may wish we had been alive when Jesus walked the earth or when Jeremiah spoke God's hard truth fearlessly, we are especially blessed to be alive today. We stand at the end of an incredible stream of God's redemptive work and faithfulness to his promises. We can look at history and know him to be profoundly faithful to his people. We see the Father honoring the Son's trust with great power demonstrated in Jesus' resurrection and the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost. This power is available to us through the Holy Spirit ( Acts 1:8 , 2:32-36 ). This same power is available to us today through ...

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. — 1 Peter 2:2-3 Thoughts on Today's Verse... A newborn child is a special treasure! Messy? Loud? But a special treasure, nonetheless. However, we know something is horribly wrong when a child does not grow and mature as he or she should. Arrested development in a physical child is the cause of great concern. The Holy Spirit also reminds us that stunted growth in our spiritual lives should not occur and should be a cause of even greater concern ( Hebrews 5:14 ; 6:1-3 ; 1 Corinthians 14:20 ). God does not want us to remain immature! He wants us to continue to grow and mature in the direction of Jesus' righteous character, gracious compassion, and faithful lovingkindness ( Colossians 1:28-29 ). Our Father wants us to crave what is good and what builds others up, and find ourselves growing to become like Jesus. So, what are you going to do...

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. — Galatians 5:22-23 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Many religious groups offer various ways to know whether you have the Holy Spirit. Jesus has one simple answer: "By their fruit you will know them" ( Matthew 7:16 ). Paul gives us the definition of God's holy fruit - LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, SELF-CONTROL. These qualities come to life in us as good fruit that comes as a sign of the Spirit's work in our lives. Now, why not repeat them out loud and ask the LORD to make this fruit yours in full measure through the power of the Holy Spirit, the gift the Father gives to those who ask ( Luke 11:13 ). My Prayer... Abba Father, through the Spirit, I call upon you, knowing you are interceding for me, O Holy Spirit ( Romans 8:26-27 ). Please fulfill in me the character you posse...

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. — Romans 15:13 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Hope, joy, and peace sound terrific. The problem for us as mere mortals is that we live on a flawed planet with flawed people and with tendencies to go to war with each other. How are we going to find hope, joy, and peace? We for sure won't find them in the sloganeering, the sappy marketing version of hope, joy, and peace we hear from people with simplistic solutions that don't work in the real world. We need answers from someone who has lived with the grit of the real world, experienced the highs and lows that mortality brings, and yet still managed to live with hope, joy, and peace. That someone is Jesus, who loved deeply, gathered people to himself openly, blessed powerfully, and could calm raging seas or endure the worst kind of torture with grace and forgiveness! Two moves are vital for ...