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A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. — Proverbs 15:1 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Why is it so hard to endure unjust and unfair criticism? Why do we feel that we have to defend ourselves regardless of how ridiculous or unfair the accusations against us are? Why do we have to have the last word in any argument, or look to get even if we don't? Often, the problems we have with others in an argument escalate because we do not choose "a gentle answer." So, why do we not choose "a gentle answer" ? These are the excuses I hear from others, and sometimes I make them myself: "I don't want to appear to be weak!" "I don't like to lose at anything!" "I don't want that person to have the last word!" "I resent the unfair things, the demeaning things, that person called me!" When I look at these excuses - some of them are my excuses - the same pronoun appears again and again: the pronoun, ...

Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. — Hebrews 9:28 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Can you think of anything more exciting than waiting for Jesus to come take us home to share with him in his glory?! Ours isn't a passive wait. Jesus gave us a commission to take his story to the whole world and invite others to prepare and join with us in awaiting his glorious return. We worship and praise our great God as we anticipate this great day - as we eagerly await him. We joyfully anticipate our salvation, trusting that it is nearer now than when we first believed ( Romans 13:11 ). We stand on spiritual tiptoe, eagerly awaiting our Savior, the LORD Jesus Christ ( Philippians 3:20 ). We not only believe, we anticipate his return to bring the full experience of salvation promised to "those who are waiting for him." But until then, we work on miss...

I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. — Revelation 21:2-4 Thoughts on Today's Verse... I don't know about you, but I'm kind of ready for that old order stuff to go away. The end of tears, death, mourning, crying, violence, abuse, suffering, war, divisive politics, and pain sounds pretty good to me! No wonder the early Christians would say, "Marantha. Come, O LORD" ( 1 Corinthians 16:22 ). They couldn't wait. How about us? How about you? What is keeping you from saying, "LORD Jesus, please come, and come soon? I urge you to pu...

The Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. — 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 Thoughts on Today's Verse... What do you have that is forever? Most of what we have in this world falls apart, breaks, or wears out quickly. But we have three things that last forever: God (Father, Son, Spirit), our Christian friends, and our praise of God. These are eternal. The glorious truth is that Jesus is going to return, the dead who died in him will be raised to receive their eternal bodies, and those living at his return will have their bodies changed into their immortal bodies. The best part of all of this is we will be reunited with all the faithful of all the centuries, and we all will be with the Lord foreve...

In God, whose word I praise — in God I trust, and I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me? — Psalm 56:4 Thoughts on Today's Verse... One of the powerful things about having a Bible as a repository of God's words is that its age and influence across diverse countries and cultures remind us how enduring God's truth is. Still, we remember that it is God in whom we put our trust! His enduring presence across cultures, centuries, and countries reminds us that eternity is beyond our grasp. Still, the Eternal One holds us in his hands as we journey toward the destination he has for us. Our lives, with our future secured, are hidden with Christ in God and are destined for his glory ( Colossians 3:1-4 ). Our worst days, months, and years of suffering, hardship, difficulty, and challenges cannot compare to the glory that is yet to be revealed in us ( Romans 8:18-21 ). Our trust is in our eternal Savior, so let's keep our eyes focused and our hopes centered on him and t...

But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children — with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. — Psalm 103:17-18 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Forever love is sometimes talked about in dime store novels, but this kind of love is only found in God's faithful lovingkindness. Thankfully, we can tap into that reservoir of eternal and divine love through the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus pours into our hearts to help us both receive that kind of forever love and share it with others ( John 7:37-39 ; Romans 5:5 ). Importantly, our verse emphasizes how God's kind of love is multigenerational - generations before us passed it along to us, and we must pass it on to the generations that come after us. This multigenerational principle is not just a practice of celebrating God's love and our love for others found under the Old Covenant; it is also one that the apostle Paul taugh...