Today's Verse: And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. 1 John 5:19 When two people have a disagreement on a serious matter, they might describe their situation as being worlds apart. When this occurs, they are very far from coming to any kind of agreement. As we consider God’s will for our lives, we quickly realize that living for Jesus and living for this life are worlds apart. We see the condition. “The whole world lieth in wickedness.”

Today's Verse: But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. ~James 1:4 Are you a patient person? Are you someone who has to be told, “Hold your horses”? All of us are born with a very low patience level. We are not patient when it comes to lines, traffic, getting our food at a restaurant, and mostly other people. We tend to rush, become irritable, and get very annoyed because of our lack of patience. However, patience is a spirit

Today's Verse: Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. ~2 Corinthians 3:17 The other day, we examined the meaning of liberty. This morning, let us see the work of liberty in our life. Paul said, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” I am thankful for the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Godhead. He is co-equal, co-eternal, co-existent, and co-essential with the Father and the Son. Where the Spirit of the Lord is,

Today's Verse: Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. ~Psalm 37:1 Dealing with people can be a blessing. It can also be a trying experience as some personalities choose to be adversarial, annoying, contentious, disloyal, undermining, or difficult to work with. Some types of personalities can just get under your skin. In other words, they test your patience and lead to fretting on our part. Three times in the opening ve

Today's Verse: Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, ~2 Thessalonians 2:16 In 2 Thessalonians 1-2, Paul gives us prophetical insight on things to come. He tells us about a faithful removal (the rapture of the Christians and the removal of the Holy Spirit), a false representative (the Antichrist of the Great Tribulation), and a forsaken remnant (people who hear t

Today's Verse: Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator. ~1 Peter 4:19 The reference to God as our Creator is found five times in the Bible. It is found three times in the Old Testament and twice in the New Testament. Creator is a powerful name and description. It implies an author, founder, maker, controller, and master. The very name implies the One Who made all things. Pe

Today's Verse: And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? ~Genesis 25:32 Every summer, the NBA will be in the midst of players declaring their free agency status and teams making trades to clear up room in their salary cap. Teams will be making trades to strengthen their position and make them championship contenders. Every team strives to make a trade that is profitable and not one that they will regret. This morning, we

Today's Verse: Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. ~Psalm 123:1 How well can you handle criticism? Criticism is when someone has taken the opportunity to give his opinion and remarks about who we are, what we said, what we believe, or what we have done. There is constructive criticism, which helps us make needed improvements to our life or performance. There is adversarial criticism that dismantles, divides, and destroys. Adversarial criticism

Today's Verse: I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. ~Psalm 121:1 The background to Psalm 121 is a believer who is in a valley and trapped by his enemies. He is outnumbered, overwhelmed, and desperate. He looks behind him and he is in trouble. He looks ahead of him and he is in trouble. He looks to his left and to his right and he is in trouble. However, he looks up to the hills and help is on the way. This morning, let us look to the hills, fr

Today's Verse: Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver. ~Ezekiel 22:18 I know a lot of people who are bargain hunters when they go shopping. They look for merchandise that is marked downed in price. The markdown could be due to scratches, defects, being a returned item, or being seasonal. Whatever the reason, it does not have the same value as the wh

Today's Verse: He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. ~Proverbs 28:13 All of us have experienced failure in one way or another. It could have been a failing grade on a test or class. It could have been a losing season. It could have been a business venture that went out of business. It could have been our inability to live up to a required standard of excellence. Failure hurts. Failure is a setback. Failure make

Today's Verse: I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. ~Job 42:2 What you think and believe about God determines the kind of Christian you are. Years ago, leadership and management expert John Maxwell spoke about the law of the lid. The lid is the ceiling that you allow in your thinking and faith. The lid is what keeps you from attaining your goal or seeing a dream come to fruition. Job was going through an intense time of suff

Today's Verse: The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments. ~Habakkuk 3:19 When buying cold and pain relief medicine, the label description of “maximum strength” implies greatness of potency and something that will more than get the job done. Habakkuk made a discovery about maximum strength that changed how he lived. We see the vital connection. “T

Today's Verse: If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. ~Colossians 3:1 The Scottish preacher John McNeill liked to tell about an eagle that had been captured when it was quite young. The farmer who snared the bird put a restraint on it so that it could not fly, and then he turned it loose to roam in the barnyard. It was not long until the eagle began to act like the chickens, scratching and pecking at

Today's Verse: For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. ~1 Corinthians 15:25 1 Corinthians 15 is a powerful proclamation concerning the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Without the resurrection of Christ, our faith is in vain. It also magnifies our Lord as the only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. In no uncertain terms, Jesus is King and Lord over all. Paul emphatically declares that “he must reign.” Jesus is undefeated in His

Today's Verse: The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion. ~Proverbs 28:1 What comes to your mind when you think of a lion? Lions have been labeled the king of the jungle. They are considered fierce, strong, and relentless. They are fearless and tactical hunters. They instill fear into the hearts of their prey. Peter describes a lion as a predator that walketh about, seeking whom it may devour. Solomon uses the boldness of a lion to describe t

Today's Verse: Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way. ~Psalm 119:37 One of the challenges of parenting babies and toddlers is keeping their attention focused. Little kids tend to be distracted easily. Learning to focus is part of child development and training. In some cases, children who have difficulty focusing are said to have attention deficit disorder. In a spiritual sense, some Christians find themselves pulled in different direction

Today's Verse: The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger. ~Job 17:9 Every mother is good at telling her children “go, wash your hands” before touching their faces and before eating a meal. Our hands come into contact with a lot of germs that can spread very easily. Clean hands are an essential part of good hygiene and good health. Clean hands are also a beautiful picture of the importance of serving God with purity

Today's Verse: By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. ~Hebrews 7:22 The Bible uses some words that have financial and legal meaning. The word imputation is a financial word that means to put a debt on the account of another person. Our sin debt was placed on Jesus. The word justification means God looks at us just as if we never sinned. In a legal sense that meaning is similar to the word expunge. Expunge means to clear the criminal record of someone so th

Today's Verse: Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. ~John 12:3 Have you ever gone to someone’s home, and as soon as you approached the front door, you smelled the delicious aroma of food being prepared? There is something very appealing to our senses when we smell the aroma of food being cooked. The same can be said about the wo