Daily Verse

Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me — put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.—Philippians 4:9Thoughts on Today's Verse...I don't know about you, but I genuinely hope my life reflects what I say and teach. What a great statement to be able to make to those we lead, whether in the classroom, with our families, while at […]

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.—James 4:7-8Thoughts on Today's Verse...James always packs a lot of truth into short messages. Let's focus on the center of this call to holiness: "Submit yourselves, then, to God. ... Come near to God..." Let's […]

For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.—1 Thessalonians 4:7-8Thoughts on Today's Verse...The call to holiness is easy to ignore in a world that lives by very different standards than God's will revealed in the Scriptures. Satan gets us to compare our lifestyle with those […]

Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.—Galatians 4:6-7Thoughts on Today's Verse...The first vocalizations of many babies are the syllables "ab-ba, ab-ba, ab-ba." Not surprisingly, in Jesus' day, abba was the tender name babies […]

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.—Colossians 4:5-6Thoughts on Today's Verse...Jesus warned us that we will answer to God for every idle word we share with others (Matthew 12:36-37). In our time when social media echoes with mean-spirited, ugly, and divisive words, […]

But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.—Galatians 4:4Thoughts on Today's Verse...Wow! What a rich passage loaded with many wonderfully challenging ideas. God made history ready for the Savior, then sent his Son as that Savior. God's Son then dealt with all the difficulties of the […]

It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality...—1 Thessalonians 4:3Thoughts on Today's Verse...Sanctified sounds "churchy" and old-fashioned to many people today. However, sanctified is a powerful God-fashioned word that means to make someone or something special, holy, reserved, and prepared for God's use and glory, something or someone that is not common. We are called to be an uncommon people, holy, and set […]

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.—Ephesians 4:2-3Thoughts on Today's Verse...Effort, sweat, and dedication seem to have become the profanity of Western Christianity. To our age of grace-abusers and grace-cheapeners who don't see acts of obedient faith as necessary to authentic discipleship, the Holy Spirit reaches out with his […]

Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer.—Psalm 4:1Thoughts on Today's Verse...At first, this cry for help seems very demanding by those of us who are praying to God. Closer inspection shows that this is really a cry of desperation — Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear […]