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: 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: 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: The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me? ~Psalm 118:6 Who do you go to if you need help? Little children go to their parents. Little brothers or sisters go to their big brothers and sisters. Members of a congregation go to their pastors. Wives go to their husbands. The psalmist made a monumental proclamation. He said, “The LORD is on my side; I will not fear; what can man do unto me?” Let’s see what he meant by that emphatic statement.

Today's Verse: And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. ~2 Kings 4:4 In many corporate business dealings, some of the most important decisions are made behind closed doors. The President of the United States makes important decisions with his cabinet behind closed doors. In 2 Kings 4, reference is made three times to “shut the door.” The first time

Today's Verse: And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. ~Acts 16:25-26 Breakout is a term that is used in many descriptive ways. It is used to describe something unexpected that occurs like the breakout of a rash. In the stock market, it describes a st

Today's Verse: But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee. ~Ezekiel 2:8 When I see the dentist, he or the hygienist will always say, “Please open wide your mouth.” When we feed little children, we frequently must tell them, “Open your mouth. God in His wisdom knows we are like little children and must give us a similar instruction. Let us see three times when God instructs us t

Today's Verse: And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth. ~1 Kings 17:24 Do you know anyone who is a skeptic? Are you someone who is a skeptic? The Jews tend to be skeptical people. Jesus said about them, “Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.” After crossing the Red Sea, the Hebrews saw and then believed. However, faith means believing first and then seeing. Faith is belie

Today's Verse: And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD. ~Genesis 12:8 The altar was a place established for the worship of God. The altar was identified by sacrifices that the offeror burned at this location. The altar identified the offeror as a worshiper of God. It was meant to stir the devotion o

Today's Verse: On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: ~Acts 10:9 Every Christian believes in the importance of prayer. We know that prayer is a vital part of our fellowship with God. Jesus taught, “that men ought always to pray and not to faint.” Paul taught that “men should pray everywhere lifting up holy hands.” Prayer is the means by which the hand of God is moved to work

Today's Verse: Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy. Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee. ~Psalm 86:1-2 A man prayed this prayer one morning: “Dear Heavenly Father, So far, today, I've done all right. I haven't gossiped or lost my temper. I haven't been greedy, grumpy, nasty, or self-centered. I'm really happy about that so far. But in a few minutes I'm going to be getting out of bed and then I'm goi

Today's Verse: Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest. ~Matthew 9:38 One of the necessary traits of leadership is the willingness and ability to solve problems. Problem solving can be tedious and can require much attention. This morning, we see a problem that we are to pray about. It is a problem of such magnitude that every Christian is a vital part of the solution. We see the concept of missions. Missions is simpl

Today's Verse: When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. ~Matthew 8:10 How great is your faith in the Lord? Can you recall a situation in your life where you had to exercise great faith in God? This morning, we see a man of authority who did just that. What this man did was the exception, and not the rule. Let us see this morning the exercise of great faith. We see the app

Today's Verse: But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. ~Matthew 6:6 Are you good at keeping secrets? A secret is privileged information that is to be kept between two parties: the one who shares the secret and the one receiving the secret. Jesus gives us an important dynamic about prayer that is perhaps overlooked by most Christ

Today's Verse: Therefore David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the LORD said unto David, Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah. ~1 Samuel 23:2 Do you pray? Do you consider your prayer life successful in the eyes of God? One of the great preachers of the 19 th century, F.B. Meyer, said, “The greatest tragedy is not unanswered prayers, but unoffered prayers.” Perhaps the one area many Christians struggle in is having a consi

Today's Verse: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. ~Isaiah 45:3 Do you enjoy treasure hunts? This is when the organizer of such an event chooses a location where he hides treats, treasures, and trinkets for people to look diligently for. The reward is that whatever is found becomes the sole possession of the one who finds it. God told Is

Today's Verse: What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? ~Psalm 34:12 People, as they get older, will sometimes tell their family and friends, “I’ve lived a good life.” By what means are we qualifying a good life? Is it our comfort level? Is it our success? Is it our career achievements? Is it our travel? David gives us the biblical perspective on what constitutes a “good life.” Everyone wants a good life and Psalm 34 tells us how it is a

Today's Verse: And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it. ~Exodus 30:1 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. ~Revelation 8:3 The burning of incense was an integral part of worship after the building of the altar of incense. Incense was composed of

Today's Verse: And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. ~Matthew 26:40-41 What time of the day do you consider your energy and strength levels to be your best? For me, it is the early morning hours after I have had a good night’s rest. I try to do my most vigorous physical exercises during

Today's Verse: Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears:...