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Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. — 2 Corinthians 7:1 Thoughts on Today's Verse... In a world so full of distractions and temptations, purity is difficult. Even more than difficult, the call to purity often goes forgotten and ignored ( 1 John 3:2-3 ). "Cheap grace" ( Jude 1:4 ) is sometimes substituted for Jesus' call to passionate, pure, and holy living. While we never want to give in to a works-righteousness approach to salvation, we must also remember that impurity through laziness, lack of commitment, or simple rebellion contaminates those claiming to be Christians and ruins our influence before the watching world. We are called to be at work perfecting holiness in our lives out of our reverence for God! My Prayer... Please purify my heart, my life, my body, and my influence, O God. May my words and my thoughts be blameless in your sig...

If we live, we live to the Lord: and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. — Romans 14:8 Thoughts on Today's Verse... One of the incredible realizations we have as Christians is that our relationship with the LORD is eternal. As we seek after him, he is always there, and no one can separate us from his love ( Romans 8:38-29 ). Even when we die, we go to be "with the LORD" ( Philippians 1:23-24 ). When we sleep in death, we are still "in the LORD" ( Revelation 14:13 ). When he returns in glory, we will go to "be with the LORD forever" ( 1 Thessalonians 4:17-18 ). Everything we have on earth is temporary except our love for the LORD Jesus, our praise of God through him, and our friends with whom we share that love and praise! My Prayer... Almighty God, thank you so much for binding yourself to our world in Jesus and binding me close to you through his lordship in my life. I look forward to the day when the LOR...

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. ... "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." — Revelation 3:14, 20 Thoughts on Today's Verse... It has always fascinated me that this verse is often cited by those calling others to conversion when it is written to a lukewarm church and her members. These disciples, like many of us, need to rekindle their love-relationship with the LORD and demonstrate it by living passionately for Jesus. Along with those believers centuries ago, we need to ask the LORD Jesus into our hearts, lives, and churches today. It's not that he's not there; it's just that he awaits our invitation to enter and take the lead. He will not barge in and dominate, but enters when we invite him into our lives and welcome him to take control. So, dear friend in Jesus, the LORD inhabits hearts into which...

We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. — Ephesians 2:10 Thoughts on Today's Verse... The Psalmist reminded us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, and that God created us with something definite planned for us to do with our lives ( Psalm 139:13-15 ). We display his craftsmanship, his artistry, his skill when we intentionally live for him and not like the rest of the world. Paul deepens this truth in our verse today as he writes about being saved by grace through faith ( Ephesians 2:8-10 ). We have been recreated in Christ Jesus to continue the good work of Jesus as we become more and more JESUShaped ( Colossians 1:28-29 ) and as the Holy Spirit continues God's transformative work in us, making us more and more like Christ ( 2 Corinthians 3:18 ). So, let's get about doing the work of Christ the Father created us to do! My Prayer... Master, Father, and LORD, please teach me to recognize your ...

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. — 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Thoughts on Today's Verse... We are God's temple! God lives in us! We are a holy dwelling of the living and almighty God! WOW! We were made Holy by the price Jesus paid to redeem us ( 1 Peter 1:18-20 ). So, now what we do in our bodies is part of the worship we give to God just as much as what we do when we get together with other Christians in worship ( Romans 12:1-2 ). We are called to not only abstain from impurity, but we are called to glorify God in our bodies and honor the sacrifice of Jesus by living holy lives each day. This is worship because we are where God lives through his Spirit. Holy living is not a burden, but a way to say "Thank you!" and offer praise to God for what he has done for us and what he has made in us! We are the temple of ...

I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. — Psalm 119:14 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Our treasure and our truth come from God's holy Scriptures. The Scriptures are God's guidance for us and his treasures, given to us as the Holy Spirit leads us to understand and apply them as we reach to become more like Jesus ( 1 Corinthians 2:10-12 ). They teach us how to avoid the evil one's harmful traps and to live God's blessed life ( 2 Timothy 3:14-17 ). Rather than seeing God's Scriptures as limiting us in this life, we need to see them as a gift of love to bless us, to prevent us from falling into the traps of this life, and to lead us into life forever with God. We can come to value them more highly than riches, for in them we will find our great reward, both in this life and the life to come ( Psalm 19:11 ). My Prayer... Holy God, thank you for your written Word, the Scriptures, and your "living" Word ( Hebrews 4:12 ), also the S...