Category: Verse of the Day

For his anger lasts only a moment,
     but his favor lasts a lifetime!
 Weeping may last through the night,
     but joy comes with the morning. Psalm 30:5

The God who Cares

If you are a parent or know someone who is a parent, then you know that there are moments where children tend to test your limits. You have to discipline and set boundaries, and when you do, they will push those boundaries. Every discipline, however, is because you can see the bigger picture for your children. You know what they need. God loves us as a parent loves a child, in fact, more than a parent loves a child. Everything he does is for our good. He may be angry for a time, as a parent can be angry with a child, but His anger only lasts for a moment. His goodness, His grace, His love, and His care lasts for a lifetime.

The same is said of weeping and sorrow. We go through moments of grief with our families, with our experiences and situations, and in life in general. Those moments are momentary compared to eternity with God. God is for us and loves us like a Father. He cares for us, He speaks love and truth over us, and most of all, He never leaves us.

A Prayer to Remember

Dear Lord,
When I weep, you weep. When I jump for joy, you are overjoyed. You discipline me, you care for me, and you teach me. You are everything to me. Amen.

Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.

James 1:17

The Good Within

Have you ever lost touch with someone you used to be close to? Maybe it was a childhood friend. You spent all of your time together, but then grew apart once you got older. Maybe you let distance separate you from friends or family. Maybe it was a relationship. You went your separate ways. It can be heartbreaking to lose touch with someone. It can be especially difficult if that person changes and becomes someone different. However, God never changes. He is constant. We can count on Him to be there for us, to care for us, and to bless us when we stay within His will.

Everything we experience, all of the good things we have, is from the Lord above. He is the one who gives us all we need. He is the one who blesses us in this life. Our greatest blessing, however, is knowing Christ Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, the One who rescues. He is the greatest blessing.

A Prayer to Remember

Dear Lord,
You are a blessing in my life. You have rescued me and saved me from my sins. Everything I am is because of you. Everything I have is because of you. Thank you, Lord. Amen.

Have you never heard?
     Have you never understood?
 The Lord is the everlasting God,
     the Creator of all the earth.
 He never grows weak or weary.
     No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
Isaiah 40:28

The Strength Within

God lives forever! He is the One who is everlasting. He is the only thing in this life that is everlasting. He was here before the world began and will be here long after you or I are gone. He created everything in this world. As Job says in chapter 1, verse 21, “The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!” He is in charge; He is on His throne. He determines what we have and what we do not have.

The incredible thing about God, though, is that He never grows weak or weary. We cannot imagine a world without weakness or weariness, but that is who God is. It does not take much to make us weary in this world. However, He gives strength to the weak and endurance to the weary. We can go on because He gives strength to our bones. He is always the answer.

A Prayer to Remember

Dear Lord,
You are my strength. You help me persevere. You are my Creator and everlasting. I could never measure your understanding. Help me know you more. Amen.

This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.

1 John 1:5

The Light Within

In a dark, dark world, God is the light. He always has been. From the moment light entered the universe and illuminated what had not yet become, God brought life that would never end. He crafted the world with His hands, fashioned every tree, every creature of the sea, and beast of the land, and when He finished, He scooped up the dirt and formed the one with whom He would plant His light inside.

We are His light. We were made in His image and are to bring His light to the world around us. However, we are human, flesh, dirt. So while we bear His name, we still give in to our sinful nature too often. Darkness tends to creep up within us. We fight our flesh just as Paul describes in Romans 7:18, “And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t.” While we fight our flesh, we must remember that God is light; He does not struggle with darkness because He has no darkness within Him.

A Prayer to Remember

Dear God,
You are the light that lives within me. May I shine my light before men, that they will come to know you. Amen.

He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

Revelation 22:20

Come Lord Jesus!

Come, Lord Jesus! What an amazing hope we have to know that Jesus is coming. He tells us here that not only is He coming, but He is coming quickly! This is a great promise from Jesus Christ. This is the hope that we can build our lives on. The Christian knows that someday Jesus will be returning for them; however, the nonbeliever has nothing to hope for, nothing at the end of this life to hope for. The saved will either meet Jesus after they die or when He returns. That makes living easier and dying easier.

What about you? Do you know Jesus? Do you have the hope of God living in your heart and the promise that you will live with God in eternity? If you don’t, then pray and ask God to forgive you of your sins and invite Jesus into your life today. If you do, reaffirm and praise God that Jesus is coming soon!

A Prayer to Remember

Dear Lord,
Thank you for your hope and the promise of eternity. May these words bring me comfort on days where I am weary. May the world know the hope that I have. Amen.

And I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the words of prophecy written in this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book.

Revelation 22:18

Know the Word

God’s Word is sacred. It is living and breathing. It is current and relatable. Nothing needs to be added to it to make it more relevant. It IS relevant. Yet some churches think they need to change the message to make it fit the world. They misinterpret passages that are clear about God’s views. They choose to be right with the world rather than live in the righteousness of God. So they add pieces knowing that this verse says that destruction will come to those who try to add to the Word or change it in any way.

As Christians, we need to make sure that what we share with the world is from the Bible. I have often heard people say, “the Bible says…” without knowing if the Bible actually says it or not. That doesn’t mean we don’t ever say anything; it just means that we must test every thought, every word, every action against the Word of God.

A Prayer to Remember

Dear Lord,
May I know your Word more and more. Increase my knowledge and understanding. Give me wisdom when I share with others. Amen.

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.

Revelation 22:17

Free to Anyone

Freely. He gives these things freely. Nothing we give on this earth ever seems like it is free. We always give with a stipulation or some sort of condition attached. But not Christ. His gifts are free. This is one of the greatest reasons to share the gospel and proclaim the name of Jesus. He offers living water that never runs dry and allows anyone who chooses Him to drink freely of the life He gives. As Christians, we should say, “Come” to those in need. Our lives should be proclamations of what He has done. The gospel is for anyone that has a heartbeat. No conditions. You do not have to clean up your life and then come to Him. You can come to Him dirty and worn, broken and bruised. He offers the water of life to purify you and cleanse you of all unrighteousness. It is the work HE does.

May you see the thirsty and the needy. May you see the broken. May you share the life you have been given with the world. It is not for us to hang on to or keep to ourselves. We must give this living water to the world!

A Prayer to Remember

Dear Lord,
You offer the living water that never runs dry. You give it freely with no strings attached. Thank you for your salvation. May I bring your gospel to a dying world. Amen.

…and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.

Colossians 2:19

Connected to God

This verse gives us a picture of what the body of Christ looks like. Christ is the head of the body. He holds it together- every part of the body with its joints and ligaments. All are held together by the Savior of the world. This body grows as God nourishes it! The body gets its strength from God the Father as He provides for it and nurtures it. Every part of the body serves a specific purpose and is important to its function. Every part contributes to the will of God. Every part is needed as 1 Corinthians 12 states.

However, this verse also discusses those who are not connected to the body of Christ, specifically Christ Himself. Paul discusses the many false teachers out there before this verse in Colossians 2. He then says that they are not connected to Christ. If they are not connected, then that means they do not know Christ and are not saved. Be aware of the false teachers out there trying to preach a different gospel. Only God can grow the body of Christ and only Christ can be the head of the body.

A Prayer to Remember

Dear Lord,
You are the one who grows your people. You provide us with the nourishment we need. Please help me be aware of the false teachers out there so I will not be led astray. Amen.

…Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.

Colossians 2:13-14

Cancelled Debt

God canceled all of your debt when you accepted His great gift of salvation. What a beautiful thought that is. Imagine if you owed someone a lot of debt and then out of the goodness of their heart they decided to cancel all of it, no questions asked. Hard to believe isn’t it? Maybe because in this world when someone owes us a debt, we expect them to pay back. Companies even charge interest when the debt is not paid. Praise God that he does not operate in that way instead he wipes it away.

God offers His forgiveness because He loves us that much. That makes us alive in Christ; it gives us new life in him. He not only canceled our debt, but he remembered it no more. Our forgiveness does not usually work like that, does it? But His is so great.

A Prayer to Remember

Dear Lord,
Thank you for your forgiveness. I will never understand why you chose to forgive a sinner like me, but I will forever be grateful that you offered it without anything attached. Amen.

Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.

Colossians 2:8

Higher Than Human Thinking

As humans, we can really get ourselves into trouble when we give in to our own ways and think we know what is better than God‘s ways. Yet, we see it every day in society. Politicians think they have the answers that people need. Televangelists claim you can have all the answers and everything you want if you just donate to their program today. Scientists and educators can only see the logical side and explanation of things that go on unseen. It can just be as simple as someone thinking their own will is better than the will of the Father.

What is dangerous is that many of these people will try to lead others astray. Some of them may have a big following. They may claim to know Christ, yet never open their Bible. They may claim to be a Christian, yet deny Him by the way they live. God‘s ways are higher than any human intellect. 1 Corinthians 1:25 says that “This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.” Go is wiser than anything ER can ever think- He did create us after all. So who would you rather trust?

A Prayer to Remember

Dear Lord,
Your ways are higher than man’s ways. Your foolishness is smarter than man’s wisdom. May I trust in you only and see to know you more. Amen.