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I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws. — Psalm 119:30 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Jesus challenged us with this strong call: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me" ( Luke 9:23 ). "The way of truth," the way of Jesus, is a daily choice. Not intentionally putting Jesus at the center of our lives and not seeking to please him as our top priority means we slip a little further away from the life he is calling us to live. Any decision made without consciously seeking to please him and obeying his commands ( Matthew 28:20 ) is choosing to place Jesus at the periphery of our lives. So let's set our hearts on him. Let's choose his way and his truth so we can live his life ( John 14:6 ) in our world. Yes, we have chosen the way of truth, and we have set our hope on Jesus, who is the fulfillment of God's laws ( Matthew 5:17-28 ). My Prayer... Heavenly Father, I choose to ...

If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. — 1 John 1:7 Thoughts on Today's Verse... As we seek to please God and trust in his grace, more grace is supplied. As we walk openly, transparently, and bring who we are to the Light ( John 3:19, 21 ), we are forgiven our sins and cleansed of their stains ( 1 John 1:8-9 ). This grace gives us an ongoing relationship with each other for fellowship, encouragement, and mutual support, and it also brings us into deeper fellowship with our Father in heaven. Jesus' death was "once for all" ( Hebrews 7:27 , 9:12 , 26 , 10:10 ); its cleansing power goes on and on for each of us, as long as we tune our hearts to the Father's grace, we are open about our sinful failures, and our hearts return to the path that seeks the Father's will and live in the Light of Jesus. My Prayer... Loving Father, thank you for the gift of Jesus and ...

"Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." — Isaiah 41:10 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Fear saps our willpower and leaves us feeling depleted and hopeless. Feeling depressed, discouraged, and dismayed saps our emotional resources and takes the passion out of our spiritual service. Yet very few of us have ever experienced a defeat so complete and bitter as the one God's people faced when Isaiah shared this message of hope. The preservation of Israel through their horrors of defeat, humiliation, and loss from their times in exile until the time of Jesus is a many-centuries-long reminder of God's miraculous and faithful fulfillment of his promises and love. Later, when all appeared lost, the ongoing survival and triumph of Jesus' disciples through centuries of persecution and opposition powerfully remind us that underneath us are the everlasting arms ...

I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws. — Psalm 119:7 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Praise is integrally connected with our character. For us to worship God properly, the intent of our hearts and the effort of our lives must show our determined desire to know and live his will as we reflect his holy character, gracious compassion, and faithful loving justice. While we will never do this perfectly, his grace covers us as we seek to live for his glory, and as the Holy Spirit is always at work transforming us into greater Christlikeness ( 2 Corinthians 3:18 ). However, we must never use God's grace as a pretense to excuse spiritual laziness, intentional weaknesses, and persistent sins. True praise comes from an upright heart and a life aligned with our Creator's loving purposes, and reflected in our knowing what he wants and obeying what he calls us to do. My Prayer... Holy God, I want to be more like you in character, even though I will never f...

I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. — Ephesians 3:17-19 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Love that surpasses knowledge is truly powerful, but difficult to explain. However, when you have loved your spouse for decades, and he or she is as close to you as any bodily organ, you experience what this means. Love that surpasses knowledge. You know each other, and each other's faults and weaknesses, but your love is deeper than when you first fell in love. When you love a child and do for them what you never dreamed you could do for another human being, you understand this phrase. Love that surpasses knowledge. And when you stand before God, adopted as a full heir of all his great riches ( Romans 8:14, 16-17 ), a full sibling to Jesus Christ the LORD ( H...

Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. — 1 Thessalonians 5:11 Thoughts on Today's Verse... While Paul's exhortation here is excellent, it is the style of the exhortation we should especially notice. We live in an age where we are constantly pressured to emphasize the novel, new, or improved versions of things. But in our lives as Christians, our knowledge always exceeds our obedience - we very seldom live up to the truth we know, even though it is old truth and established truth. So, more often than we like to think, we need to remind each other of what we are doing that is right, good, obedient, and holy. Our words of affirmation and encouragement don't need to be elaborate or profound or novel or new. We can say, "Hey, you're doing well; just keep doing what you're doing! I know your Father in heaven is pleased with you!" Let's encourage each other and build each other up, as in fact some of us are already doing...