Today's Verse - Proverbs 16:16

How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver!

—Proverbs 16:16

Thoughts on Today's Verse...

What are the greatest riches in life? Well, surely they are not silver and gold. Of infinitely greater value is wisdom, which helps us understand what is valuable, what is true, what is worthy of our hearts, and what is not. Silver and gold can buy a lot of things, but they can't buy us favor with God, or wisdom and understanding. These only come when we seek God and rely on the gift of the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom that is spiritual and lasting, not something that is fleeting and selfish.

My Prayer...

Heavenly Father, God of the Ages and giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17), please bless me with holy and practical wisdom so that I can more fully know how you have blessed me and so that I can be the blessing to others in the ways that you want me to be. Please give me wisdom and understanding. In Jesus' name, I ask this. 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 - Romans 6:15

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

—Romans 6:15

Thoughts on Today's Verse...

This matching verse to Romans 6:1-2 serves as a great reminder that sin is no longer our master and no longer our choice (Romans 6:14). We choose to live for God with every fiber of our being and loathe the life of sin that once held us in bondage to defeat. So, with the Holy Spirit's power at work in us, our lives are being transformed to become like Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18).

My Prayer...

Dear God, my Father; precious Jesus my LORD; Holy Spirit, my inner companion and holy fire; please stir in me a holy passion to be the person of righteous grace you have created me and redeemed me to be in Jesus. I refuse to go back to the old way of sin. I choose to live in grace, by faith, empowered by the Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name, I rejoice in grace. 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 - Romans 6:14

For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

—Romans 6:14

Thoughts on Today's Verse...

As we called on Jesus' name in baptism and trusted him to be our Savior, we died to sin (Romans 6:3-4). By sharing in his death and resurrection, we died to dying (Romans 6:8-10; John 11:25-26). We passed from death to life because of our faith in Jesus and God's power (John 5:24). Our life is joined with Jesus, and his glorious future becomes our own (Colossians 2:12, 3:1-4). We are not under law, but grace. Let's respond to the gift of grace with passion and with zeal to be holy. Let's open ourselves to the transforming work of the Holy Spirit, who is daily at work transforming us to become more like Jesus with ever-increasing glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). We are grace-children. We don't earn our righteousness. We don't keep laws to be owed salvation. In fact, we could never succeed at such a venture. We are not in bondage to sin, but liberated by grace to be all that God has made us to be - his craftsmanship, his artistry created to do good works (Ephesians 2:1-10). So let's refuse to let sin be our master and live fully into the grace we have received!

My Prayer...

Purify my heart, dear LORD, and make it new and alive to your grace and dead to the sin that once entangled me. By grace I rejoice and choose to live by the power of your Spirit. In Jesus' name, I 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.