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Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. — Romans 13:8 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Jesus paid the debt we owed God for our sins, trespasses, and rebellious actions ( Colossians 2:13-14 ; 1 Peter 1:18-10 ). Thank God we no longer owe the debt for those transgressions because of God's grace ( Romans 6:23 ). However, I do owe others the love, respect, forgiveness, and grace that God has lavished on me ( Ephesians 4:32 ). As Paul reminded us yesterday : Give everyone what you owe him. If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. ( Romans 13:7 ) Why is this so important? We are to keep paying installments on the "continuing debt to love one another" as Jesus has loved us! My Prayer... Holy God, everything in heaven and earth is yours, yet you have graciously shared them with us, your children. We thank you for not just pur...

This is why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him. If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. — Romans 13:6-7 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Ouch! Tax day. Not my favorite day, how about you? But where would we be without government, order, and laws? Anarchy! Rebellion! Lawlessness! Dog-eat-dog days where all people are "in it" only for themselves! While we may not always like how the system functions, we need to know from God how he wants us to live with flawed people in community. Paul is not naive. He knows he is likely going to be imprisoned and martyred by the Roman government. So, we can follow Paul's example as we seek to be redemptive in our living, obedient in our citizenship, and ask God to bless our countries and bring revival to them. Jesus left us this principle: "So give back to Caesar what is Caesar...

I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you... that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. — 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 Thoughts on Today's Verse... The story of the Gospel is simple. The grace of the Gospel is glorious. The sacrifice of the Gospel is incomprehensible. The victory of the Gospel is eternal. The core of the Gospel is Christ, and him crucified and raised on the third day. We live in light of God's third-day solution accomplished for us in Jesus' resurrection from the dead! My Prayer... Almighty LORD, thank you for the empty tomb and Jesus' victory over the grave. Just as Jesus' death pardoned my sin, his resurrection assures my future. Thank you for grace and glory. May my life be lived each day by the power of the resurrection. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. The Thoughts and Prayer on Today's Verse are written by Phil Ware. You can email questio...

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. — Romans 3:23-24 Thoughts on Today's Verse... "I blew it!" Come to think of it, we've all blown it! We don't measure up. We're not divine. We are not righteous on our own. We all fall short. We might be decent by the world's standards, but decent won't save us in the presence of a holy, infallible, and perfect God. Only the truly righteous make it past the grave and into glory. Thank God! Grace is freely given, and the price for our sin was paid by Jesus. While I "blew it," Jesus renewed it from sin, death, hell, and the evil one! While I "blew it" - and admit, you blew it, too - Jesus renewed our lives for life with him now, and in glory forever ( Colossians 3:1-4 ). Jesus even presents us to the Father as "holy in his sight, without blemish, and free from accusation" ( Colossian...

Jesus said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it." — Luke 9:23-24 Thoughts on Today's Verse... "I've just got to get away and find myself." If that is our goal, we must know it won't ever happen. We do not "find ourselves" or "find our life" by pursuing it ( Matthew 10:39 ). We find life, true and lasting life, by losing it for something and someone greater than ourselves. We find our lives by losing them to Jesus, to the work of his Kingdom, and to the grace of blessing others and bringing them to Jesus ( Matthew 16:25 ). My Prayer... Master and Maker of all that lives and breathes, take my life and make it yours. Use my every breath for your glory. Holy Spirit, I trust your transforming work to make me more like Jesus, more JESUShaped. LORD Jesus, I pray that my words ...

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. — 1 Peter 2:24 Thoughts on Today's Verse... Jesus bore our sins. He didn't just carry them to the cross; he also suffered the penalty we deserved for those sins. His anguish was our healing. His suffering was our righteousness. How can we ever think of going back to sin after he suffered so much to bear its penalty? So, let's begin each day declaring, "Today, O God, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I die to my sins and live for righteousness! Please help me live up to my commitment by the transforming power of the Spirit to make me more like Jesus, more JESUShaped each day" ( 2 Corinthians 3:18 ; Colossians 1:28-29 ). My Prayer... Holy God, how you could stand to see your precious Son under the weight of my sin, along with all the sin of human history, I will never understand. Thank you for such great love and for being su...