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To me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. — Philippians 1:21 Thoughts on Today's Verse... The truth is often as simple as it is sweet - if Jesus is our life, then our lives have no end. In faith, we shared with Jesus in his saving death, burial, and resurrection ( 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 ) through our baptism as we called on the name of the LORD to save us ( Colossians 2:12 ). Our lives - our eternal essence and identity - are hidden with Christ and will be fully revealed when we share with Jesus in his eternal glory ( Colossians 3:3-4 ). Death does not strip life from us, but ushers us into life in Jesus' very presence, where no power or event, not even death, can steal us from his grasp ( Romans 8:38-39 ). My Prayer... O Eternal God, thank you for sending Jesus to show us your love, and thank you for sending him again in the future. Jesus is our anchor in the storms of life and our light in our darkest nights, reminding us that you love us with an undying love. In the name of...

"Let him who boasts boast in the LORD." For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. — 2 Corinthians 10:17-18 Thoughts on Today's Verse... We live in a world with skewed values, false promises, lust for notoriety, and desperation for fleeting fame. The real question for us, needs to be this: What can we boast in other than the steadfastness of the LORD's love, the incredible riches of the LORD's grace, the incomparable supply of the LORD's blessings, the sweetness of the LORD's people, the mercy of the LORD's plan for our salvation, the promise of the LORD's tomorrow, and the promise of the LORD Jesus' nearness ( Philippians 4:5 ; Romans 8:38-39 ; Hebrews 13:5-6 ) - who is with us and in us and for us? So, dear friend of Jesus, let's have our only boast be in the LORD because that is where everything else that matters in our lives can be found! My Prayer... LORD of majesty and mercy, every ...

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 ...