Tagged: today’s verse

The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

—Psalm 121:7-8 (KJV)

Thoughts on Today’s Verse…

One of my most complex challenges as a parent is knowing that I can’t ultimately protect my children from some hurts and heartbreaks. Some of that pain is necessary to help them mature and grow. Some of it is just the agonizing result of living in a fallen world. However, we can be fully confident that if we share the Lord with them and they give their lives to his will, nothing can steal them from his ultimate victory, care, and reunion with him and with us. Knowing how we love them, imagine how much the Father loves us and longs to bring us to that place of safety in his house! Until we get home, isn’t it comforting to know that he is watching over us and those we love, now and forever?

My Prayer…

O, Father, I know you see and watch over me, but sometimes I miss seeing you and find it hard to wait to be comforted and blessed in your presence and my eternal home. Watching and waiting, Father, I look forward to our first face-to-face meeting. Until then, I recognize your watching care over all of my ways, and thank you now for everything I will one day receive. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.

The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken.

—Deuteronomy 18:15 (KJV)

Thoughts on Today’s Verse…

Jesus is that prophet like Moses. He has come and taught us God’s truth. He has taught us with his words recorded in the Gospels. He has taught us with his example, through the deeds he has done. He is teaching us through his abiding presence in us and through the Spirit he has given us. But he teaches us most effectively when we put into practice what he has said.

My Prayer…

El Shaddai, who thundered from Mount Sinai and gave your Law to your servant Moses, I believe you are still speaking today through Jesus. Help me not only hear his voice, but listen to his message and life and put it into practice today. Gently correct and lead me in the way of obedience so that I may more perfectly glorify you with the worship of my daily life. Through the mighty name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.

Which in time past [you] were not a people, but [you] are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

—1 Peter 2:10 (KJV)

Thoughts on Today’s Verse…

Excluded. Rejected. Discarded. Abandoned. Forgotten. Pushed aside. Not picked. Each of these describes an aspect of feeling like you are a nobody. Satan gives our sinful flesh the tools and the opportunities to speak these words of self-condemnation to ourselves. God, however, has extended us his mercy and grace. ”But now…” — two of the greatest words in the Bible — God has loved us in Christ, and brought us into his family and gave us a purpose. We are now part of the people of God! We have been chosen for the victorious team of teams. We have received mercy! Grace has washed over us and the love of God has adopted us in his family. Peter is giving maligned and persecuted people the reminder that they can choose to see themselves as “nobodies” or they can choose to see themselves by their new identity. Thankfully, Peter’s words speak to our hearts, too. You, dear friend in Jesus, are God’s child. You are part of his eternal and conquering people — like Moses, Esther, Paul, and Mary Magdalene. Mercy has reversed the power of sin and failure and put grace in place empowered by the Holy Spirit’s presence in you. So don’t live today as you once “were”: live today as you are in Jesus!

My Prayer…

O Father of Mercy and God of all grace, thank you for making me new — your child, part of your people, and a purpose put in the world around me on purpose. Please help me hear your description of me and not Satan’s. Please help me define my identity by your words and not my own words of self-condemnation. I thank you for who I am and that I a no longer bound by what I once was. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.

Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.

—Psalm 62:8 (KJV)

Thoughts on Today’s Verse…

It is so hard to share the secrets of our hearts with anyone. We want to keep our secret failings, embarrassments, and sins hidden. We fear that others would reject us and we would shame ourselves if anyone knew the secret sludge in our hearts. But hidden sin is only hidden from us. 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 us and empower us to triumph over it. If only we would pour out our hearts to him knowing that he longs to be our refuge.

My Prayer…

Loving Father and Holy God, today I want to confess to you several things on my heart. Father, I am afraid for others to know that I have…(confess your most secret and shameful sins to God) Holy God, I have sinned and ask your forgiveness for…(confess those sins that others may not see as all that important, but that Satan uses to diminish your allegiance to God) Eternal Lord, I get anxious about…(confess those things that make you worry and place them in God’s hands) You alone are my refuge and strength. I trust these confessions with you and ask that you strengthen me by the power of your Holy Spirit to not fall into these same traps again and again. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.

1 Timothy 3
1 This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. 2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; 3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;