Today's Verse: For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; ~Titus 1:7 A leader is someone who has been entrusted with the responsibility of directing, guiding, and influencing other people in an organization or mission. A spiritual leader must be godly, trustworthy, and transparent. He is someone who carries a large burden on his shoulder in his leadership capacity. Let us se

Today's Verse: I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: ~Revelation 2:2 Revelation 2:1-7 is the record of a letter that the Lord had the Apostle John write to the church at Ephesus. God loves His churches, and He wants every local church and its members to have a long-term and deeply rooted impact where it is planted. The L

Today's Verse: By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned. ~Hebrews 11:29 According to Wikipedia, the Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. It borders six countries. This salty sea is just over 190 miles across at its widest point and about 1,200 miles in length. There's a measured maximum depth of 8,200 feet and an estimated average depth of 1,640 feet. Needless to say, i

Today's Verse: Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: ~Proverbs 6:6 When someone is served a notice, it is a formal announcement of great importance that requires his attention. Typically, a notice is served formally with a specified period of time to respond. This morning, we see a notice that God serves upon the sluggard. We see the nature of the sluggard. “Thou sluggard....” Sluggard is someone who is careless, complacent, indifferent, lazy, pro

Today's Verse: And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. ~Luke 1:17 A man of the hour is a man who has a special purpose and function. He is unique, influential, and one-of-a-kind. John the Baptist was God’s man for the hour. The prophets Isaiah and Malachi foretold of John and the unique ministry God had for him.

Today's Verse: For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. ~Proverbs 4:2 Proverbs 4 is the instruction of a father to his son. I believe it is a good pattern for parents to follow for the training and instruction of their children. As parents, we must have the conviction that we never cease from being teachers of good things to our children, grandchildren, and future descendants. A father’s instruction is classified as good doctrine. Doctrine is what we believe and

Today's Verse: Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with harp? ~Genesis 31:27 Have you ever driven on a freeway and accidentally taken the wrong exit? If you have, you might have felt anxious and frustrated. Fortunately, in this day of advanced GPS technology, we can quickly get our bearings corrected and be back on our way to our desired destinati

Today's Verse: And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. ~Nehemiah 2:12 Nehemiah took on the risky project to rebuild the broken walls and burned down gates of Jerusalem. These walls and gates had been unattended for more than seventy years. The people who returned after the captivity got used to seeing the rubbish, deca

Today's Verse: And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only? And he said, To morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the LORD our God. ~Exodus 8:9-10 Are you someone who tends to put things off? Do you have a difficult time making decisions? Are you a procrast

Today's Verse: And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. ~Exodus 2:17 A leader is someone who has influence. He is someone whom people trust and follow. He is someone whose ideas or convictions are very compelling to others. He should be someone who is respected, transparent, trustworthy, and diligent. A title and role do not necessarily mean a person is a leader. Leadership must be earned, developed, and continu

Today's Verse: Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ~Acts 15:26 Since we are in the summer season, it is also fire season. In areas where there is very dry vegetation, signs are posted indicating the degree of fire danger. The brighter the color, the greater the fire hazard. The word "hazard" indicates a possible peril. The Bible speaks of Judas and Silas as men who hazarded their lives for the Lord Jesus Christ. They accepted the dangers

Today's Verse: Jotham was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Jerushah, the daughter of Zadok. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Uzziah did: howbeit he entered not into the temple of the LORD. And the people did yet corruptly. ~2 Chronicles 27:1-2 A core principle about leaders and followers is that “people do what people see.” Dr. Lee

Today's Verse: There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother. ~Proverbs 30:11 Sociologists have identified seven generational groups that are present in our society. There are the Traditionalists, who were born before 1945. There are the baby boomers, who represent everyone born between 1946 and 1964. There is Generation X, which includes those born between 1965 and 1976. There are the millennials, which include everyone born between 1977 a

Today's Verse: And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. ~1 Samuel 3:19 One of our core responsibilities is the raising up of leadership for the future. It is vitally important that we are focusing on mentoring men who will be the next generation of leaders. At the time when Samuel was just a very young lad, there was a void in leadership. The sons of Eli abused their office as priests and discouraged the hearts of the peop

Today's Verse: And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God ~Haggai 1:14 When someone is stirred up, he is aroused to action. He is moved from a state of inactivity to activity. He is motivated to get something done. We are highly motivated when we a

Today's Verse: Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread. ~2 Thessalonians 3:12 Do you like to work? What kind of worker are you? Someone said that there are three kinds of workers. For example, when a piano needs to be moved, the first kind gets behind and pushes, the second pulls and guides, and the third grabs the piano stool. The Apostle Paul gave a command to the believers at Thessalonic

Today's Verse: And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle. ~Acts 23:10 Do you sometimes feel like you have so many things competing for your attention or time that you almost feel like you are being pulled apart? If you have had this experience, it is a very uncomfortable and stressful feel

Today's Verse: And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed. ~2 Kings 13:18 One of the greatest virtues we need in our lives is the virtue of persistence. Persistence is staying at something for a long time. It is not throwing in the towel and giving up early. It is staying in the race even if you are in agony. It is doing what you do with maximum effort until it is complete. Spurg

Today's Verse: So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. ~Ezekiel 33:7 Have you ever had a neighbor ask you to watch their house while they were away? If so, they had an expectation that you would be observant of any suspicious activity and that you would help circumvent problems by getting law enforcement involved. On the other hand, if something happened when you were s

Today's Verse: They made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept. ~Song of Solomon 1:6b We live very busy lives! Living in the San Francisco Bay Area places many demands upon working adults. Working people need to make time for commuting, attending classes, taking their children to school and after-school events, household chores, cooking, cleaning, and outside volunteer activities. In addition, those of us who are actively serving the Lord in o