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Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. — 1 Peter 5:8-9 Thoughts on Today's Verse... The evil one, the devil, is not an imaginary being or a pretend force we dismiss as a childish fear. He and his power are real, and he intends to do us eternal harm! (Look at the poor man inhabited by a legion of demons in Mark 5:1-20 and see what the evil one would like to do with all of us.) Instead of spending our time worrying about him, however, let's resist him when we are tempted and focus on Jesus. Jesus defeated the evil one and his horde of demonic spirits on the cross ( Colossians 2:15 ). Jesus won the big showdown at Calvary, triumphing over Satan. He took the evil one's greatest tool, death, and our fear of death, and disarmed it ( Hebrews 2:14-15 ). Now we can re...

It is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast. — Ephesians 2:8-9 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Don't you love receiving gifts! Especially when they're truly given with no strings attached; we just have to receive them. The greatest gift we've ever received has nothing to do with our efforts. It is a gift from God. We didn't earn it, deserve it, or purchase it. God gave it through his sacrifice so our salvation would not be our boasting, but his loving kindness offered to us in Jesus. This simple, clear, and saving gospel, which finds its origin in God alone, is so important that the apostle Paul warned that no one should change it, or they would face the curse of God ( Galatians 1:8-9 ). Our appropriate response is to receive this gospel with joy by placing our faith in Jesus, then go live for him, doing good things to bless others ( Ephesians 2:10 ). Video Commentary.....

I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship. — Romans 12:1 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Because God went first and sacrificed his most precious gift, Jesus, to save us, he can ask us to surrender ourselves to him. Only one problem: The sorry ol' sacrifice wants to keep crawling off the altar. Let's admit it; talk of sacrifice and being a living sacrifice doesn't sound all that enticing. Except offering ourselves to God is where we find life and find what is most enduring about ourselves. As the famous missionary Jim Elliot profoundly put it: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." We offer ourselves, our will, our time, our heart, our commitment, to God each day because of what he has already done for us, and the greater things he has promised us in the future! My Prayer... Holy and Righteous Savior, I want to sur...

All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever. — 1 Peter 1:24-25 Thoughts on Today's Verse... As the seasons change, the leaves fall, and the grass dies, we are reminded once again of how short our lives actually are. Despite rapid advances in technology, our deepest needs are met only by the eternal, proven will of God in Scripture and through the gift of your Son, your Word in human flesh ( John 1:1-3, 14-18 ). Whether you get your Scripture from the Bible on your mobile device or from an old family Bible, please access it today. You're not here forever, but God is! He wants to bring you close, so that with him, you can stand forever. We each need the blessing of eternal goodness from the well of the Holy Spirit's truth in Scripture ( 2 Timothy 3:14-17 ). My Prayer... As I age, I am constantly reminded, O God, of my transitory stay on earth and your eternal reig...

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...

I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart. — Psalm 40:8 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Too many of us are paranoid about the word "law" and find it hard to hear a scripture like today's verse. However, we must recognize that the goal of the New Covenant of grace and the gift of the Spirit is that God's law is written on our hearts ( Hebrews 8:10 , 10:16 ) and demonstrated in our lives ( Romans 8:3-4 ). God is not concerned with the law being written on tablets of stone. He wants us to know his will in our hearts and live it out in our daily lives. Jeremiah prophesied of this day coming, a time when God's people desire to do God's will from the heart, with a passion to love what our Father loves and despise what he despises ( Jeremiah 31:33 ). Having been saved by our faith in Jesus based on God's grace and filled with the Holy Spirit, we can now say with confidence: I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart. My...

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. — Psalm 51:12 Thoughts on Today's Verse... In the face of sin and separation from God, grace is God's refreshing stream that restores our salvation - making it existentially real to us. In our struggles with suffering, grief, and loss, only God's grace and his Holy Spirit ministering to our spirits can help us find a sustaining and willing spirit. This ongoing joy of salvation comes only when we realize and accept the forgiveness, grace, restoration, and Spirit-inspired refreshment God has given us - in other words, we get to drink from the stream of grace as the Holy Spirit wells up within us with heaven's living water to refresh us ( John 7:37-39 ). So we can say with confidence that God will restore to us the joy of our salvation, and he will grant us a willing spirit to sustain us!* * Psalm 51 is written as David's confessional response for his grievous and multiple sins in hi...

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. — Psalm 37:4 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Rather than seeing this as a way to get our wish list granted, let's see it for what it really is - an invitation to seek a loving, dependent relationship with God above all other things and to find our delight in him. In finding him, in delighting in him, we will find our priorities properly aligned and our hearts tuned to desire what is really valuable and what he longs to give to us. Then we will see that what we have in him is our heart's greatest desire. This is not a promise to get all the stuff we want; it's a promise to find in God all that we need, and then we find our delight in what pleases him. My Prayer... Awesome and Gracious Father, we confess to you that too often our hearts are full of selfish desires. Today, however, we recognize, dear Father, that you are the one we most need, and your will is what our hearts most desire. Please kindl...

Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. — Psalm 27:14 Thoughts on Today's Verse... If there is anything we don’t like to do, it is to wait. Maybe that is why God is so interested in us learning to do it - to learn to prayerfully wait on him. There is something purifying about remaining strong in tough times and remaining faithful when ill winds blow. So God gives us times to wait on him to see whether our search is really about him or merely looking for an easy way out of our messes. I don't know about you, but I am going to wait on the LORD because that's where my future, my hope, and my strength will come from. My Prayer... Loving Father, I know you have waited patiently for me so many times - for me to show my faith, repent of my sins, grow in holiness, come to you in prayer, act more maturely, give to those who cannot return my grace and care, and you have waited on me for so many other things and in so many other times. Thank you! Thank you f...

The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare. — Psalm 25:14-15 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Where does true deliverance come from? Only from God. Deliverance is found in God through deep reverential respect for his holiness and strength, through living faithfully in covenant relationship with him, and through maintaining our focus and dependence upon him. Any other roads to deliverance are false shortcuts that ultimately prove themselves to be a snare. Like the tightrope walker whose eyes are not on the ground or the surroundings, but on the rope in front of him where he will walk, so too our eyes must be on the LORD. Only by looking to him will he lead us to safety and from the snares of the one who longs to have us and destroy us. Our eyes must be ever on the LORD because we trust that he will lead us away from "temptation" and "deliver us from the evil...

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. — Psalm 19:14 Thoughts on Today's Verse... God does so much for us. He is the Rock and Redeemer that undergirds our lives. He is the One who has saved us from sin and death. Our worship comes from our gratitude for what he has done, recognition of who he is, and anticipation of what he is going to do. But worship can never be compartmentalized to just fit into church places or quiet times ( Colossians 3:16-17 ). Worship involves every aspect of life ( Hebrews 12:28-13:16 ). That is why it is so important to tune our hearts so the words of our mouths and the motives of our hearts align with God's will and work. Then our private worship, whether alone in quiet or in a group with fellow believers, becomes the tuning fork for our hearts and lives so that our public worship, our lives lived out in the world, will play the song of God to a world that has not yet heard ...

How great you are, O Sovereign LORD! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. — 2 Samuel 7:22 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Remember how the Ten Commandments began? "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me" ( Exodus 20:2-3 ). Our God is the Sovereign LORD! No one is like him, and no false god rivals him. So we, Jesus' disciples and children of God today, need to join King David in his praise: "How great you are, O Sovereign LORD! There is no one like you...!" Some truths are better acknowledged, believed, and proclaimed than discussed, so today we affirm that truth to ourselves and proclaim it to others rather than waste time on discussing it: "How great you are, O Sovereign LORD! There is no one like you...!" My Prayer... Holy, righteous, and living God, we hold you in the highest place in our hearts. Please forgive ...

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is — his good, pleasing, and perfect will. — Romans 12:2 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Don't let the world mold you. Wow, isn't that a tough command to obey? It reminds us that what we allow into our minds makes it a place of spiritual warfare. Sloppy thinking is more than sloppiness; it's dangerous because the world feeds us messages that constantly distort God's truth and the holy values he calls us to live. Rather than being incensed by the world acting like the world, let's be transformed by renewing our minds and by doing what Paul said he did - "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" ( 2 Corinthians 10:5 ). Let's not let our minds be molded and conformed to the world, but let them be renewed as we are transformed by the power of God's Spirit. My Prayer... ...

"I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." — Jeremiah 29:11 Thoughts on Today's Verse... When Israel lay devastated in the face of a ruthless enemy that would rob them of all their glory and strip bare the very soul of God's people, God issued his promise. While the destruction visited upon them was in response to their rebellion and sin, God's punishment wasn't punitive alone; it was also redemptive. In their destruction, God promised prosperity, hope, and a future. That future was in him, not their worthiness or deservedness. Just as a doctor must sometimes cause pain when he or she sets a broken bone so it may heal properly, God's discipline is not capricious but curative and ultimately life-giving. If you are dealing with a hard time when God may be disciplining you, please remember this promise from Jeremiah 29 , which is also reflected in Paul's ...

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. — Proverbs 3:5-6 Thoughts on Today's Verse... When things are tough, I call on the LORD and lean on his mercy and grace. Deep in my heart, however, I fear I may have made him into my rip-cord Savior - the one I go to only in times of trouble. When I'm reveling in my blessings and things are going well, I am much like the Israelites. I forget to acknowledge that all my blessings and opportunities have come because of the LORD's grace. In my joy and success, I must learn to acknowledge him and not rely on my own wisdom and strength. The wisdom of Proverbs challenges me to honor God and acknowledge him "in all my ways," not just call on him in hard times. I must trust in the LORD and acknowledge my need for him in the good and the bad times, the easy and the challenging circumstances. I invite you to join me in committ...

Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. — Psalm 62:8 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Most of us find it very difficult to share the innermost secrets of our hearts with anyone. We want to keep our secret failings, worst embarrassments, and hidden sins unknown to those who know us. We fear others might reject us if they know, or think we are evil or hypocritical. We worry that we could disgrace ourselves and our families if anyone knew the secret sludge in our hearts. The truth is clear, however: Hidden sin is hidden from us only through self-delusion. It is not hidden from our Father. Hidden sin festers in our hearts and drives a wedge between us and the God who would forgive and empower us to triumph over these things. Sooner or later, the sins we have tried to keep hidden rise to the surface and become known. If only we would pour out our hearts to God, asking for his forgiveness and cleansing ( 1 John 1:8-9 ). When we pour our heart...

Listen to advice and accept instruction and in the end you will be wise. Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails. — Proverbs 19:20-21 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Long ago, Thomas à Kempis declared, "Man proposes, heaven disposes." Most of us rush to give advice and make grandiose plans. The Wiseman of Proverbs, likely Solomon, reminds us that wisdom comes from submitting to instruction and good advice - that requires discernment! Then, after a significant time of listening and considering, we can begin to align our hearts to the LORD's purposes. If you are like me, you would do much better to let your plans ripen a bit more in the light of the LORD's truth and wisdom from others before launching into living out those plans. I am comforted that James, the wisdom writer of the New Testament, reminded us that God will give that wisdom if we seek it and do not doubt ( James 1:5-8 ). As we pray for wisdom, let's also...

It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. — Deuteronomy 13:4 Thoughts on Today's Verse... So many people want us to follow their lead, validate their choices, approve of their opinions, and follow their voice. Only God alone has proved himself faithful and loving through the ages, worthy of our devotion as we follow and obey him. In his might, he is to be revered. But rather than seeing reverence only as a "church thing," Moses reminds us that reverence is also a daily "life thing." We are to obey and keep God's commandments. We are to serve him and depend upon him in our daily lives. We are to worship God in the way we live each day. Rather than just silence in the worship assembly, reverence must also be a committed action in our daily lives as we follow the LORD's guidance and obey his commands, while we serve others to God's glory! Video Commentary... ToGather...

"I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed — I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "that I am God." — Isaiah 43:11-12 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Peter reminded us that we are here as God's chosen people, his witnesses, to "declare the praises of him who has called us out of darkness into his wonderful light" ( 1 Peter 2:9 ). We have experienced God's saving work in our lives. We have experienced God's saving work in our lives. We know he is the LORD. We are the recipients of his blessings and grace. We know our God is the true God. We are the people who anticipate his mighty deliverance yet to come. Our God is the God of the first and the last, the one who is and was and is to come. So, how can we remain silent? How can we remain bitter, pessimistic, or discouraged? The God who made the tomb empty and made the corpse of Jesus our livin...

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. — Psalm 63:1 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Addiction has sometimes been defined as "God-hunger directed to the wrong source of soul satisfaction." Psalm 63:1 reminds us this is true. Deep in us is a desire to seek after God because he is not far from us and longs to be known by us ( Acts 17:26-28 ). Unfortunately, far too often when our souls crave God deeply, he is the last place we turn for satisfaction and fulfillment. Let's earnestly seek God, have our souls thirst for him, and recognize when our bodies long deeply for him. Then let's refuse false substitutes for our soul-thirstiness and seek God above all things, because God is our God. When we earnestly seek him, and our souls thirst for him, and our bodies long for him, we can find satisfaction in him! My Prayer... O, Abba Father, please fill my heart with longing fo...

Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, theLORD is the Rock Eternal. — Isaiah 26:4 Thoughts on Today's Verse... When we see mountains, we can feel small and insignificant by comparison. We know they are not only much more massive than we are, but also have existed much longer than we have. The LORD, however, was and is and will be present far longer than any mountain ( Revelation 1:8 ; Isaiah 41:4 ). The LORD is the only true rock of security and stability, our fortress in the middle of life's chaos ( 2 Samuel 22:2 ). All the forevers we have in our existence are found in God Almighty alone! So, we join with Isaiah and encourage each other with these words of everlasting truth: Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD is the Rock Eternal. My Prayer... Eternal God, you are the great I Am, the one who is and was and will be forever. We trust that you are and always will be our God, our Redeemer, our Savior, our Shepherd, our strong fortress, our mighty rock, and our ete...

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. — Isaiah 55:6 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Isaiah declares that God is always close to those who genuinely seek after him and call on him as their God. In fact, God is fully present as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in us, with us, and making his home in us when we obey him ( John 14:15-17, 18, 23 ). The real problem is that we can drift away from him, lose interest in him, and leave his presence ( Hebrews 2:1 , 3:12 ). So let's seek God and receive his grace. Let's obey God and discover that his presence and help are with us, recognizing that he alone truly saves and makes his presence real in us and to us. My Prayer... Father, please help me, through your Holy Spirit, as I grow into seeking you with all my heart. Please be real to me and make your presence known to me as I seek to know you through your Scriptures, your living Word (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. I long to know you as my Abba Father and be kno...

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth. — Proverbs 27:1 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Don't you have your hands full today? I know I sure do! Don't you find yourself distracted from the urgent and important things of today when you worry about the problems of tomorrow? I know most people do! Don't you occasionally find yourself missing an opportunity today while fantasizing about all the possibilities far down the road? Many people do! Isn't it a waste of time to be anxious about those things over which you have no influence? Why worry so much about tomorrow, next week, and some time in the future? Let's walk with God today and trust in his faithfulness for us tomorrow. As our LORD Jesus commanded us: "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." ( Matthew 6:34 ) My Prayer... Holy God, please give me the strength to seize the moment and live tod...