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Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. — Deuteronomy 6:4-5 Thoughts on Today's Verse... So many times the evil one seduces us into a flat, 2-dimensional Christianity - going to church and doing good things. However, God calls us to a three-dimensional faith - one that involves our heart, soul, and strength (body). He wants us to love him with all of our heart, all our inner being, and all of our actions used mightily for him. God wants us completely aligned with his ways, his character, his compassion, and his faithfulness in every facet of our being. Hear, O [people of God]: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Yes! Three-dimensional faith. Three-dimensional discipleship. My Prayer... Dear Heavenly Father, I honor you as God Almighty. I appreciate all the kindness and blessings you hav...

You are forgiving and good, O LORD, abounding in love to all who call on you. — Psalm 86:5 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Forgiveness is such a sweet blessing. But God does more than forgive! Jesus cleanses and purifies us, then presents us to God as "holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation" ( Colossians 1:21-22 ). God does not grudgingly meter out his love. He does not ration out his forgiveness. He lavishly pours his love upon us, and into us, as we genuinely seek him as our Father ( Romans 5:5 ; 1 John 3:1 ). So, let's cry out and ask for God's forgiveness as we praise the mighty and holy name of The Almighty, confidently knowing that our Father longs to bless us with his overflowing goodness, mercy, and love. My Prayer... O Precious Father, I call to you, wanting you to know how important your love and forgiveness are in my life. Thank you for sending Jesus to show your love for me and pay the debt of my sin. Please help me to live today as ...

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. — Ephesians 4:2 Thoughts on Today's Verse... "You mean I have to put up with all this from that person!?" There are those folks in life about whom the saying is true: "They are the grit out of which we are to fashion our pearls." Our great example in this challenge - "To be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." - is Jesus. Jesus has fashioned many pearls from pretty bad grit. Think of what he had to put up with in his 12 disciples. Remember how the LORD's patience and kindness helped transform them. His love persevered through so many of their failures, especially failures in his hardest and darkest moments. In the process, however, Jesus' life of humbleness, gentleness, patience, and love transformed them. Can we dare to do less with those for whom Christ died? Video Commentary... ToGather Worship Guide | More ToGather Vide...

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." — Mark 9:35 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Did you hear that? Last! Last? Nobody likes to be last. When it comes to lines, we all hate to be last! Many of us have a hard time settling for second place, much less last place. Jesus, however, reverses the way the world ranks people ( Luke 22:25-27 ). The person who is most important to him is not the person seeking status, Facebook® likes, a big following on social media, notoriety, or a place of honor at "bigwig" gatherings (events centered on status and influence). The most important person is like Jesus himself: they are willing to give up their rank, status, and place importance to serve the least, last, and lost. Why? Because that's how Jesus was. For Jesus, being last meant being first in service and first in the eyes of God. My Prayer... Magnificent God, my Savior, you have made ...

God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship him in spirit and in truth. — John 4:24 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Genuine worship is a gift. God is spirit. God is holy. So, we cannot fully and authentically approach God in worship without the gift and blessing of his Holy Spirit. As Christians who received his Spirit when we were born of God through our faith and baptism ( John 3:3-7 , 4:23-24 ; Titus 3:3-7 ), we can now speak to him and worship him openly and confidently - our spirit combined with the Holy Spirit in us, worshiping God who is Spirit. The Spirit within us makes us a place where God lives through his Spirit ( 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ). The Spirit intercedes for us when we approach God in prayer ( Romans 8:26-27 ). We are then filled with God's Spirit as we worship him ( Ephesians 5:18-20 ). No wonder Jesus commanded: God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship him in spirit and in truth. That's with our spirit, combined with the Holy Spirit, and with worsh...

Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. — Ephesians 6:12-13 Thoughts on Today's Verse... How often do you forget that we are in a spiritual war? Our enemy is deceptively cunning. If we lose the sense of immediacy to his threats, the danger appears gone. But he's always there, lurking in the shadows. Remember that Jesus' battle with the evil one during his temptations was only the beginning of his spiritual battles. Luke ends his account of the LORD's temptations with these ominous words: When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time ( Luke 4:13 ). We never know when the evil one's "opportune time" will come ...