Category: Verse of the Day

Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

The One Who Makes Us Holy

God is the one who makes us holy. No one else can do that. We are born into sin. We have a sinful human nature that causes us to rebel against God. So there is no way of achieving salvation and getting to heaven on our own accord. We need someone to advocate for us, to go before the throne of God on our behalf. He will intercede for us and make us holy if we allow him to. This verse says He will make us holy in every way, our whole spirit, soul, and body. Our whole person.

This does not seem possible, does it? It is possible because God is holy. He can make us holy because that is His job- He knows holiness, He is holiness, and He can make us blameless before His sight. If we allow Him to do this, we will experience Him completely and deeply. He can make all things new.

A Prayer to Remember

Dear Lord,
You are holiness and blameless. Sin can not exist in your sight. You alone are the only one who can make me holy. I will trust in you. Amen.

The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.

Luke 1:35

Our God-Given Purpose

God chooses each one of us for a specific purpose. Mary was to be the mother of His son. Her specific purpose was to bring Jesus into the world. Her purpose did not stop there. She was to care and raise the son of the Most High. She had the beautiful job of being the mother of the king. She took that role very seriously and loved her son dearly. We see this when she knelt at the cross as her beloved son was dying on the cross.

You have a purpose too, dear one! God created you for a reason and has a plan for you just as He did for Mary. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God has a plan and purpose for each and every one of us. Plans to prosper us and not to harm us. Plans to give us hope and a future. Jesus is that hope.

A Prayer to Remember

Dear Lord,
You are my hope. You are my future. May I delight in your plan and purpose for my life. May I always look to you when I become weary and feel as though I do not have a future. Amen.

His mouth is sweetness itself;
     he is desirable in every way.
 Such, O women of Jerusalem,
     is my lover, my friend.  Song of Solomon 5:16

The Love Within

How would you describe your relationship with the Lord? Do you invest in spending time with Him every single day? Do you just go to church on Sundays? Do you intercede on others’ behalf every day as you go before the throne? Who Is God to you? Is He a friend? A lover? A Father? Is He everything? Or nothing at all?

God wants us to have a love relationship with Him. He longs for us to desire Him. He should mean more to us than anyone else. When we spend time with Him, we will fall more in love with Him than before. He will be desirable to us. We will call Him lover and friend. He will be a sweet song on our lips. Everything else we need will be a distant second compared to the One who gave us life. Spend time in His Word and get to know Him in a way that makes you want Him everyday.

A Prayer to Remember

Dear Lord,
You are my life. I long to want more of you. Draw me near to you everyday so I can rest in your arms. Amen.

The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.

Hebrews 1:3

The Glory of God

God the Father, Jesus the Son of man, and the Holy Spirit are three in one. When I was child, I remember a Sunday School teacher explaining the trinity to me in terms I could understand: water in its different states (solid, liquid, gas). When water transforms between the different states of matter it remains the same: it is still H2O. It just has different physical properties. God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are all one in the same; they are God existing as three separate entities.

As I grew in my faith, I understood that each had a different purpose as well. God the Father loves and cares for His children. The Son Jesus was the sacrifice who wiped away sins and resurrected to give us new life. The Holy Spirit advocates for us on our behalf before the Father. All three of them work together to give us a new, abundant life. The Son radiates the glory of the Lord because He is God. He is a part of God. God holds Him to high esteem. To know Him is to know God Himself.

A Prayer to Remember

Dear Lord,
Thank you for sending your Son Jesus to die for my sins, that I may live with you, my Father. Thank you for the Holy Spirit who leads and guides me. Amen.

God is not a man, so he does not lie.
     He is not human, so he does not change his mind.
 Has he ever spoken and failed to act?
     Has he ever promised and not carried it through? Numbers 23:19

The Constant God

God is a God who never changes. He is not a man so he does not think like a man, nor does he act like a man. He cannot be persuaded. Man is so unreliable. Man fails to act and speaks broken promises. We are a sinful people who give in to our flesh and human nature every single day.

We can only think as a human thinks with our human brain. Yet we expect God to act as we act. It is against His nature to act as we act; however, it is because of our flesh and our sin that He has mercy on us. He knows we are weak and give in to our own desires. So we cannot hold Him to our standards; we must instead push ourselves to His standards. This verse tells us that He is trustworthy because He works in His ways, not ours.

A Prayer to Remember

Dear Lord,
Your ways are perfect, Oh Lord. May I always trust how you work and that you know what is best for me. Amen.

And this is the way to have eternal life-to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.

John 17:3

The Life Within

True life is knowing Christ. There is nothing better in this world than knowing Him as personal Lord and Savior. Eternal life is knowing the salvation of God’s Son. Many people think there are other ways that lead to Christ or that all ways lead to Him, but that is a lie the world tells so that they do not have to confront their sins or change.

However, Jesus is the only way as John tells us in chapter 14 verse 6, He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him. You can try other ways, but they lead to death, not life. They lead to sorrow, not rejoicing. Most of all, they lead to hell, not life in Heaven with God the Father. He is the one true God. He loves His children so much that He made a way for them to be with Him through Jesus Christ. May you find true life in Him and lead others to the same joy you have found.

A Prayer to Remember

Dear Lord,
You are the way, the truth, and the life. You are the one, true God. You have given me the hope of knowing you forever in eternity. May others know the same life you’ve given me. Amen.

The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out,
 "Yahweh! The Lord!
     The God of compassion and mercy!
 I am slow to anger
     and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.
 I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations.
     I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin.
 But I do not excuse the guilty.
     I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren;
 the entire family is affected-
     even children in the third and fourth generations."  Exodus 34: 6-7

The God of my Forgiveness

God is slow to anger. Sometimes we forget that about Him. He is slow to anger and quick to love and forgive us. He is the same God yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He is the same God who showed compassion and mercy to His people, the Israelites, by giving them Moses to lead them out of slavery in Egypt. He forgave the people time and time again when they turned away from Him. He forgave their iniquity, rebellion, and sin.

However, He does not forgive those who do not ask. Those who are arrogant and do not believe they need forgiveness. Their rebellion affects the decisions of their children and grandchildren. Their entire family is affected as this verse says. He has no place for them in His kingdom. But just like the Israelites, He will have compassion and forgiveness for you if you choose Him.

A Prayer to Remember

Dear Lord,
I choose you. I chose you yesterday, I chose you today, and I will choose you tomorrow. You are the God of my forgiveness, compassion, and mercy. Thank you. Amen.

They were calling out to each other,
 "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven's Armies!
     The whole earth is filled with his glory!"  Isaiah 6:3

The Glory Within

The earth is filled with the glory of the Lord. Look outside for just a moment and you will see so many beautiful examples of His splendor. See the birds that know when it is time to fly south for the winter and return again once the cold begins to fade away. See the mountains that stretch to the sky. The fields of green and yellow. The clouds that form themselves into shapes for us to see. There’s so much more to see if you just pay attention.

Now, picture heaven as so much more. His people circling the throne calling out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” There is nothing else that is as perfect as the Lord, God. If you know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, then when you die, you will experience God and all of His glory. He will welcome you into His glory.

A Prayer to Remember

Dear Lord,
Holy are you Lord. May I see your glory every day. May I see the splendor of your work in your creation everyday. May I worship who you are. Amen.

He redeems me from death
     and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
 He fills my life with good things.
     My youth is renewed like the eagle's!  Psalm 103: 5-6

The Redeemer Within

God is our rescuer. From the beginning of time He had a plan to save mankind, knowing that our sin would separate us from Him. He sent His Son, Jesus, to the earth to walk with us in our most difficult times, plead on our behalf, and die as a sacrifice to save our souls. We need only choose Him. Admit our sin, believe that Jesus is God’s Son and He raised Him from the dead, and confess our filth before the Lord.

When we do that we will experience the blessings this verse talks about. He will crown us with His beautiful love and His tender mercies. He will fill our lives with good and perfect things. He will renew our souls, as though He is giving us youth again. He will redeem! He is the Redeemer of mankind! Do you know Him in that way today?

A Prayer to Remember

Dear Lord,
You are good and faithful to me. You redeemed me and poured out your love and mercy on me. You have filled my life with good. Remind me of that every single day. Amen.

For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.

John 4:24

The Worship Within

Worship is more than the songs you sing, the words you say, and the type of music you sing. It is more than the congregation or the worship leader (or team). It is even more than the church building itself. Worship is about the attitude of heart. It is about who you worship, not how you worship.

You can stand and raise your hands, but if you do not sing to the Lord, it makes no difference. You can stand on a stage with a microphone in your hand and lead others in worship, but if it is not through the Spirit, then it is not true worship. Worship is how you live everyday when you are not in the church building. Worship is what you say and do. It is a lifestyle. Your singing should be an outpouring of your life. If you worship in the Spirit, then you can worship anywhere, regardless of the style or songs.

A Prayer to Remember

Dear Lord,
May I lift my voice before you everyday in worship. May my life reflect the words that I sing. Amen.