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Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops... — Proverbs 3:9 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Honoring God must come first in everything. We don't give him the last, the least, or the leftovers. He gave us his best, most precious, and most perfect of gifts - his Son Jesus and the indwelling Holy Spirit. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gifts! How could we give him anything less than our best, our first, and our most precious - our firstfruits in everything! My Prayer... Gracious God and loving Father, thank you for every good and perfect gift you have lavished upon me. Please accept the offering of my heart, which I freely give to you. Soften it and make it gracious and generous. I commit to offer you and your work in the world my first and my best. In Jesus' name, I make this pledge in prayer. Amen. The Thoughts and Prayer on Today's Verse are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to [email protected] . © 1998-20...

If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. — Romans 14:8 Thoughts on Today's Verse... We are the LORD's care. We submit our lives to him because he bought us out of bondage to sin and death and brought us into his eternal family of grace. We have voluntarily placed our lives into his hands. No matter what we do or where we go, his grace goes with us. He has promised never to leave us ( Hebrews 13:5-6 ). He has assured us that nothing can separate us from his love ( Romans 8:32-39 ). So let's live with a sense of excited anticipation, looking to see where the LORD will lead us next. Let's face our difficulties, trials, and even death, with the assurance that we will not face tough times alone or forever. The glory we anticipate is far greater than any of our trials ( Romans 8:19 ). Even as we walk in the dark shadows of death, we don't have to fear what the evil one and his minions can do to ...

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. — 2 Corinthians 9:7 Thoughts on Today's Verse... God is working in us to conform our character and will to be like his own. God is a giver. God finds delight in generously blessing us. When we praise God for his grace, we are praising him for his gracious gift of love given to us in Jesus. He's a giver! Now he asks us to be like him: to be generous and full of grace. Giving is not an arbitrary task imposed on us to fund our churches and ministries; instead, giving is part of our character transformation as we become more and more like God. Giving to others in need and to the work of the Kingdom is one of the most genuine ways we demonstrate our allegiance, dependence, and participation in the gracious work of God. We are most like God when we give... lovingly... cheerfully! Remember how the most famous verse in the Bible begins? "For God so lo...

So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" — Hebrews 13:6 Thoughts on Today's Verse... How can we be confident in what happens today? What is our assurance for tomorrow? Where do we muster excitement about eternity? The LORD is our helper! Fear will not be our master because our future, our destiny, our eternity rest in the hands of the eternal LORD. The worst that man can do is to send us home to my LORD, who will never leave us or forsake us ( Hebrews 13:5-6 ). Nothing the evil one can do can separate us from our Father's love ( Romans 8:32-39 ). We say with confidence, "The Lord is our helper; we will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to us?" My Prayer... Almighty God, my Father and my helper, I place my trust in you. As the Alpha and Omega, the God who is the great I AM, I trust you for all my tomorrows and rest my dependence in you and your unfailing love. In Jesus' name, I rely on you and ...

If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin... — Romans 6:5-6 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Paul reminds us that our baptism was more than just a dunking in water. In baptism, we share in Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. What he did to save us, we now get to share with him in doing. We died to sin and were raised to be a new person, cleansed and made holy, empowered and indwelled by the Holy Spirit. We have been set free from the power and penalty of sin and the limits of our mortal physical bodies. This experience we had with Jesus is our physical connection, our assurance of our future spiritual glory with him! Why? Since "we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection." My Pray...

We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. — 1 Thessalonians 4:14 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Jesus' resurrection was just the beginning! His resurrection means that those of us who have faith in him and trust the testimony of the first-generation eyewitnesses to his resurrection can have confidence in our future. Those who belong to Jesus, whether they are living or dead when he comes, will share in his victory over death and will be with the LORD forever! For us, when our bodies die, we are with Jesus ( Philippians 1:19-24 ). While it may appear that our bodies are sleeping ( 1 Corinthians 15:51 ), we are always alive in Jesus, and our future with him is guaranteed! My Prayer... Loving Father in heaven, thank you for giving me the victory over sin and death in Jesus. I know that just as you raised him from the dead, you will also raise me up at the great day of Jesus' return. Please use ...