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May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. — Romans 15:5-6 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Unity comes from God's Spirit as we all draw closer to Jesus ( John 17:20-21 ). As we are drawn to Jesus through the Spirit, we immediately find ourselves drawn closer to one another ( 1 John 1:1-4 ). Unity also has a purpose much deeper than our getting along with each other. Jesus prayed we would be one so that the world would know that God sent him into the world as the Son to save the world ( John 3:16-17 , 17:21, 23 ). We want to be united so that our praise can bring glory to God and lead others to him. Unity is far more than a goal; it is a process through which the world learns of Jesus. At the same time, we glorify the Father who sent Jesus to save us when we live together in unity. Leading others to Jesus and gl...

The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. — James 3:17-18 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Now I know why righteousness is so hard to find these days. We don't have many in our world who are full of heavenly wisdom - if that means being considerate, submitting to others' needs, living with mercy toward those who are different, bearing good fruit, treating others with impartiality, and demonstrating genuine concern for our neighbors. These traits of wisdom are hard to find in our world, probably because they are often associated with weakness. And, while many claim to love peace, so few are willing to make peace and to sow peace into the lives of others. Heavenly wisdom is full of sacrificial earthly action. That's a powerful reminder to me that wisdom is not what we know but what we sow! We don't pr...

God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. — Hebrews 6:10 Thoughts on Today's Verse... The Holy Spirit offers us great assurance in today's verse! God is not unjust. Oh, that is such an understatement: God furnished the atoning sacrifice for our sins by sending Jesus ( 1 John 2:1-2 ). When we seek after him, Jesus promised we could find him ( Matthew 7:7-8 ; Acts 17:27 ). God will not forget the work and love we share with others. God has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west ( Psalm 103:10-12 ). He chooses to keep an eternal record of the good we have done. We are his people. He claims us. He is gracious and loving, remembering the good we have done to others while forgiving and forgetting our sins. Wow! What great motivation for us to keep maturing into the likeness of Jesus Christ as we become more JESUShaped ( 2 Corinthians 3:18 ). My Prayer... God, you are s...

Oh, the depth and riches of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out. — Romans 11:33 Thoughts on Today's Verse... God's plan to save us is incredible. His blueprints for the creation of our universe are beyond our imagining. He is so rich in wisdom and knowledge that we cannot even imagine his greatness. What else can we do but go to him and ask him to open our minds to his work, will, and presence in our lives? God is far greater than our minds can comprehend. His judgments are not fully comprehensible to us, and ways beyond us, but we do know this: What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ( Romans 8:31-32 ) "Oh, the depth and riches of the wisdom and the knowledge of God!" And on top of his greatness, he loves us and has g...

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. — Zephaniah 3:17 Thoughts on Today's Verse... I still remember trying to learn to affirm my son's value to him. I didn't know exactly what that looked like or what I was supposed to do or say. Then, the Holy Spirit gently reminded me of what God the Father did to affirm Jesus the Son at his baptism. "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased" ( Luke 3:21 ). God affirmed his relationship with Jesus, "You are my Son..." God affirmed his love and affection for Jesus, "...my Son, whom I love..." God affirmed his delight in Jesus, "...with you I am well pleased." Zephaniah reminds us that the Father feels much the same about us as his children: "He will take great delight in you..." On top of that, he calms us with his love and rejoices over us in singin...

As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. — Ecclesiastes 11:5 Thoughts on Today's Verse... "I don't know!" This sure seems to be one of the hardest phrases for us to say. When thinking about God and his ways, especially his work on us and plans for us made when we were in the womb, that's really all we can say. "I don't know!" The truths we know about God and his ways with us when we were in the womb are only what he has chosen to reveal to us. He is the Mystery of mysteries. He is the supreme unknowable Knowable. Yet what we do know of him, what he has revealed to us in Jesus, is not only mighty and awesome, but loving, tender, and merciful. We know his love is willing to sacrifice for us, so we could seek after him and find his grace. So in reverence, we kneel to pray to the Father we cannot fully know - at least not yet, but will one...