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Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. — 1 Peter 1:3 Thoughts on Today's Verse... The great truth about Jesus' empty tomb is not just that he is risen, but that he is living! His victory over death wasn't short-lived; it was ultimate. He now lives to intercede for us until he returns and brings us to his home with the Father ( Hebrews 7:25 ). Our life is hidden with him. No one and nothing can take it from us. When Jesus comes again, we will share in his never-ending glory ( Colossians 3:1-4 ) as we are transformed to be like him and see him as he truly is ( 1 John 3:2-3 ). How can we not praise God for such grace and living hope! My Prayer... Almighty God, we praise you from the bottom of our hearts! Your incredible and glorious grace has brought us eternal victory out of mortal anguish. Thank you for paying the price to make this true....

Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe. — Proverbs 29:25 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Fear is a paralyzing emotion. It robs us of vitality, decision-making ability, hope, and strength. Courage helps us step out of fear's paralysis and turn its nervous edge into motivation and power. But this kind of courage comes to us fully only when we know that all the evil one and his allies can really have of us are our bodies. The evil one and his allies can take our physical life; but if they do, they send us to be with Jesus ( Philippians 1:20-21, 23-24 ). They cannot take our mind, our attitude, our faith, and, most of all, our relationship with God, given to us through Jesus and secured by the promise of the Holy Spirit's presence. Let's put our trust in the LORD because the fear of man will prove to be a snare. But when we trust in the LORD, our future is kept safe with him, "hidden with Christ in God" until we share in Je...

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. — Matthew 5:11-12 Thoughts on Today's Verse... For many of us, the sentiments of this verse feel foreign and upside down to the world we know. However, those who have studied the persecution of Jesus' followers over the centuries remind us that current believers in Christ are enduring perhaps the greatest amount of persecution in the history of Christianity. However, many of us live in places where belief is tolerated. Christians are just considered a bit out of touch with reality and a bit naive, but tolerated. However, with worldliness creeping into God's people from every direction, maybe we should be thankful that Christian living makes us different enough from our cultures to be noticed, even if that notice is a bit unfavorable...

This is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ. — Philippians 1:9-10 Thoughts on Today's Verse... I don't know about you, but my hardest decisions aren't about choosing between good and bad. I usually know what is good and what is bad, especially when bad involves evil. My toughest choices are when I have to choose between good, better, and best. My love for God usually overcomes my weaknesses, and I choose good over bad - or at least recognize good over bad. But unless I've placed myself before God's word and surrendered my heart to him in prayer, asking to be led by the Holy Spirit, I have a very tough time choosing between good, better, and best. In my heart of hearts, I want "to discern what is best" and "be pure and blameless until the day of Christ." Yet I'm convinced that much of what Go...

Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God. — John 3:20-21 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Truth is seen in what it does and whom it seeks. Let's live as children of light and seek after the Father who dwells in unapproachable and glorious light ( 1 Timothy 6:16 ) so we might be light to a world darkened by evil ( Matthew 5:14-16 ). Let's not hide, play, or flirt with the darkness, but come to the light and receive the light of life ( John 1:4 , 8:12 ) as we live as light in our dark world ( Philippians 2:15 ). My Prayer... Father of the heavenly lights,* I ask you to correct me gently as I place myself, my imperfections, failures, and sins before you, bringing them into the light of your presence. Please forgive and cleanse me by the blood of Jesus so that I might be spotless ...

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. — 1 Corinthians 2:14 Thoughts on Today's Verse... The Holy Spirit is God's abiding gift, God's seal, our anointing, and our promise of future glory.* The Spirit is our assurance that what God began with Jesus' sacrificial death and our participation in it through faith and baptism, he will bring to completion at Jesus' return. But the world cannot understand this great promise, just like it cannot understand much of Scripture. Without the gift of the Holy Spirit, their eyes only see what they can touch with their fingers and cannot fully see what is true in God's heart and what God has revealed in his Word. * The things said about the Holy Spirit come through clear statements in the Scriptures from places like John 14:18-23 ; Romans 8:9-39 ; Titus 3:3-7 ; 2 Corinthians 1:22...