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To all who received him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. — John 1:12-13 Thoughts on Today's Verse... We live in a time and culture of rights. "It's my right to..." - and you can fill in the blank with almost anything. But we don't have the right to be God's child. God's grace gives us that right at great cost to God. Jesus, God the Son, came to earth, lived, died, and was raised from the dead. We receive this grace through faith: God gives us new birth as we trust in Jesus as LORD and we share in Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection in baptism ( Romans 6:3-7 ; Colossians 2:11-12 ), as by faith we are reborn through the power of the Holy Spirit ( John 3:3-7 ; Titus 3:3-7 ). To be "born of God" - to be "born from above," to be "born again" - is the gift of adoption into Go...

"You are the light of the world. Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." — Matthew 5:14-16 Thoughts on Today's Verse... These words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount remind us that our lives must not be allowed to be simply neutral. We will either point others away from God or show them that allegiance to God is essential. We must have a passion for walking in God's light. If we are going to reflect his light, we must live in that light. Let's make an intentional effort today to shine the light of God's holiness, love, and grace in all we do and say around others so they can find their way to the one who is truly the Light of the World ( John 8:12 ). My Prayer... O God, may the words of my mouth, the actions of my life, and the influence of my deeds show others your holiness, love and grace. May my influence lead others to Jesus so they can find your life and come to know Jesus as their true Lig...

I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life. — Psalm 119:93 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Much like the rules parents have for young children - don't drink what's under the cabinet, don't play in the street, don't walk out from behind parked cars - God's guidance is not to restrict us, but to protect us. His commands, his principles, his precepts, both the positive and prohibitive ones, are for our protection and perfection. By them we find life and have it preserved. The Old Testament Law had all sorts of cleanliness laws that did not make any sense at all until thousands of years later, when modern science taught us about bacteria and viruses. All through these years, the Israelites were preserved by God's commands when they had no real understanding of why God had given the laws in the first place. God's precepts bring us protection and natural rewards that go with living a wholesome and wise life ( Deuteronomy 6:1-3 ; Psa...

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. — Philippians 3:14 Thoughts on Today's Verse... I've been told that the way to walk a tightrope is to keep one's eyes focused on the goal, never looking down at the ground or over one's shoulder at what lies behind. I know that is a pretty good way to live life - to keep our eyes focused on Jesus and his victory, which awaits us when he returns. We must not allow ourselves to look over our shoulder, focusing on our past successes or failures. Our goal must be to keep walking toward Jesus until we are transformed to be like him, and then walk with him into glory ( Colossians 3:2-3 ; 1 John 3:1-3 ). My Prayer... Glorious and gracious LORD, I look forward to the day when you call me by name, as I see you face-to-face, and as you walk hand in hand with me in glory. Until that day, I ask the Holy Spirit to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus and what you want me to do and become. By y...

Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. — Hebrews 12:1 Thoughts on Today's Verse... With the example of all the great heroes of the Bible, both big and small, we can do God's work with confidence. But for us to boldly go where he wants us to go, we must first let go of "the sin that so easily entangles", our lives, distorts our vision, enlarges our doubts, and robs us of our spiritual vitality and stamina. As we put those things away from our lives, we can then look "to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith" and we can "not grow weary" or "lose heart" ( Hebrews 12:2-3 ). We can join the apostle Paul when he said he had fought the good fight, had finished his race, and could trust that God's bountiful grace had great things in store for him ( 2 Timothy 4:6-8 ). Let's...

Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. — Hebrews 11:1 Thoughts on Today's Verse... While the road ahead of us may be clouded with questions and concerns, we can look back and see the many ways God has acted on our behalf in the past to get us to the places we need to be today. But beyond us, we also see his work throughout history, as he has provided guidance and protection to his people, Israel, throughout the Old Testament, and to his people in the early church, the disciples of Jesus in those early days in the book of Acts. We can take assurance that God's promises are true and our victory is certain in him because we have seen him act in the past. We can be sure of what we hope for, and we can be certain of what we do not yet see because of our faith! My Prayer... Almighty God, we believe that before there was a world, you existed. We trust that even now you sustain our world with your words of grace. We are confident that before the futu...