Today's Verse - Romans 1:16

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

—Romans 1:16

Thoughts on Today's Verse...

Are you ashamed?
Culture tries to make us ashamed about our faith, portraying people of faith as stupid, insensitive, judgmental, and hypocritical.

Are you ashamed?
Or, because you reverence Jesus as LORD in your own heart and life, you are willing to share your faith humbly and gently with those who do not know Jesus as their LORD (1 Peter 3:15-16).

Are you ashamed?
Your hero left heaven to come to earth and risk everything so that you could go home to heaven with him. This Gospel is powerful. This Gospel is transformational. This Gospel, and the salvation it brings, are for all people. So let's not be ashamed; let's be joyous and generous with this incredible gift that we have received and share this grace with all peoples of the world!

My Prayer...

Father in heaven, please give me wisdom, sensitivity, humility, and courage to share your wonderful story of grace with those around me who do not know Jesus as their LORD and Savior. In Jesus' name. Amen.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.

Today's Verse - Matthew 1:22-23

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" — which means, "God with us."

—Matthew 1:22-23

Thoughts on Today's Verse...

God had repeatedly promised his people his presence. During the Wilderness wanderings, he was with them with the cloud during the day, the pillar of fire at night, and in the Holy of Holies above the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle. Men, women, and angels (1 Peter 1:10-12) had long anticipated our receiving God's presence close to us. Then, with Jesus' incarnation, his coming in human flesh, it happened. God came to us in his Son. Jesus is Immanuel - Immanu-El, God with us! We live on the visited planet, touched by the very presence of God the Creator among us, as one of us, who lived, died, and was raised from the dead for us (See John 1:1-18; Hebrews 1:1-3; and Colossians 1:15-23 for the declaration of these truths). And it was just as the prophets of old had said.

My Prayer...

LORD God, my heavenly Father, thank you for keeping your promises, especially when it was so incredibly costly for you to do so in Jesus. You came to us in Jesus, the Son, to reveal yourself to us and show us how to live. I want to know you better, O God, not just as someone I study in Scripture, but as someone I encounter in my daily life. Please make your presence known as I seek you and use the Holy Spirit to transform me and mold me into someone who is truly JESUShaped (2 Corinthians 3:18; Colossians 1:28-29)! In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, our Immanuel, we pray. Amen.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.

Today's Verse - Matthew 1:20-21

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

—Matthew 1:20-21

Thoughts on Today's Verse...

Jesus. Yeshua. Joshua of the spiritual world. Mary's boy, God's Son, comes to help us tear down the strongholds Satan has built in our lives. He comes to bring peace to our troubled spirits and joy to our nights of despair. He comes not only to minister to us and bless us, he comes to do what no one else could do: he comes to deliver us from our sins - our spiritual blemishes, neglects, rebellions, mistakes, transgressions, and failures. Praise God! A deliverer who actually conquered what we could not defeat to make us what we are not - pure, perfect, and holy children of God, like him (Colossians 1:22, 28-29).

My Prayer...

Thank you, Father, for your forgiveness, cleansing, and transformation given to me by Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit that the Son poured out on me to cleanse me and make me holy.* In Christ's name I pray. Amen.

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* See 1 Corinthians 6:11 and Titus 3:5-7 for these amazing truths!All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.