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: Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. ~Haggai 1:5-6 The San Francisco Bay Area is one of the most expensive places in the country to live in. Many people work long hours in their primary employment, and many ot

Today's Verse: I sought him, but I found him not. ~Song of Solomon 3:2b A few years ago, I had the privilege of being part of a panel of pastors who were interviewed about current topics. I left later that afternoon to return home to the San Francisco Bay Area. About two hours into my drive back, one of the secretaries at the host church where I had been called me and said, “Bro. Fong, we found an iPad that was left behind. Is this yours?” I immediately thought, “How did I l

Today's Verse: By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; ~Hebrews 11:24 This morning, we are studying the second mention of the Moses' faith. Faith is a decision that we must make many times in our lives. We walk by faith and not by sight. The just shall live by faith. Faith can be exercised by little children and older adults. Everyone can and should live by faith. Let us see the ingredients of a maturing faith. We see

Today's Verse: By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. ~Hebrews 11:23 The faith of Moses is referred to five times in Hebrews 11:23-29. He demonstrated great faith at critical junctures of his life. The first mention of his faith occurs when he was born. It is not so much his faith as it is the faith of his parents. This morning, let us see how the faith

Today's Verse: Fulfil your works, your daily tasks.... ~Exodus 5:13b Pharaoh told the Hebrews that they needed to do their daily tasks—we would call this the daily grind. Like it or not, the daily grind is what we must do each day in order to be productive. There are things we must accomplish that are essential for our work, school, and church. Even more important are the daily things we must do for a strong spiritual life. We must be daily in the getting of wisdom. “Bles

Today's Verse: This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the LORD of hosts. ~Zephaniah 2:10 In Zephaniah 2, we see God’s dealings and judgment against the nations that disparaged and oppressed Israel. We see God vindicating His people against the nations that made themselves enemies of His people. God said, “This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves again

Today's Verse: But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons which were slain; and they hid him, even him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain. ~2 Kings 11:2 Are you in possession of a hidden asset? By this, I mean, do you have something very useful, meaningful, and profitable that benefits you or other people? Athaliah was engaged in a violent campaign

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: And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not again: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously. ~2 Kings 9:20 Everyone who drives an automobile has been taught to be alert, careful, obedient to the safety laws, and vigilant. Reckless drivers have a total disregard for the laws and safety of other people. One statistic that I recently read indicated that 56% of all deadly vehicle crashes invo

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: Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. ~2 Corinthians 3:17 Today marks the celebration of America’s declaration of independence from the oppression of Great Britain. It marks the date when America established the charter that described our freedom and liberty. Today, America is 250 years old as a nation. Leading to this great declaration were the valiant proclamations of men like Patrick Henry. It was Mr. Henry who

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: And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. ~Genesis 24:58 On the wedding day, the most precious moment is when it is time for the bride to walk the aisle and to join her bridegroom. The congregation is asked to rise and stand out of respect for her entrance. The bride gracefully walks the aisle with great anticipation as she will join the groom and together recite their vows one to another and be joined as

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