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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...