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.

—Romans 1:16

Thoughts on Today's Verse...

For the rich and poor, young and old, weak and strong, thin and heavy, there is still just one message, one name, and one story that makes the eternal difference. It's the good news of Jesus - the gospel. That one message, story, and name are announced in the gospel - God's good news to the world in Jesus Christ. God's good news of life in Jesus Christ is the story, message, and hope for us all. As Paul the apostle tells the Galatians:

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26-28).

Video Commentary...

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My Prayer...

Great Redeemer, please empower me to be bolder in proclaiming your good news. Please give me eyes to see people from all walks of life and all nations who are waiting to hear about your love and grace in Jesus. Please fill me up with your Spirit so that I will not be ashamed but will gladly and effectively proclaim your gift of Jesus. Please fill my life with the assured hope of Jesus' glorious and victorious return so that I might share your message - your good news, your gospel - with passion, and others will know of your redeeming grace. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Today's Verse - Colossians 2:9-10

In Christ, all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

—Colossians 2:9-10

Thoughts on Today's Verse...

If we had known Jesus' address when he was a boy in Nazareth, we would have found him apprenticing as a carpenter, and could have said, "That boy with wood shavings in his hair is God come to live among us!"
I believe that the doctrine of Jesus being fully God and fully man is impossible to grasp completely, yet it is taught in the New Testament and is something we must believe. Beautiful explanations, like our verse today, exist. Another is the beautiful Christ-Hymn Paul quotes in Philippians 2:5-7. This song reminds us that Jesus was equal with God, but emptied himself of divine prerogatives and became human and suffered death on the cross. God taking on human flesh and being Immanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23), is an awesome reality of grace. God chose to be like us because we could not make ourselves like him. God came to us because we could not go to him. In Jesus, God took on human flesh so we could be given fullness in Christ. By faith and in baptism, we were joined to Jesus in his death, burial, and resurrection (Colossians 2:12, 15). That faith experience means God's victory in Jesus over sin, death, demons, and hell, and also delivered us from these things as well (Colossians 1:13-14). What's more, our future glory with Christ is fully assured (Colossians 3:1-3). Jesus Christ is head over every power and authority for us!

My Prayer...

Almighty God, I acknowledge that you are too great for me to comprehend fully. You are far greater than my mind can grasp. Your grace amazes me. Thank you for sending Jesus so I can be forgiven, delivered from the evil one, and go home to you and live forever. In your name, Christ Jesus, I confidently pray. Amen.

Today's Verse - James 1:21

Get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

—James 1:21

Thoughts on Today's Verse...

Isn't it true! When we find ourselves caught in the clutches of the moral filth of our culture, we can find the Word of God boring and irrelevant. Yet even in those moments when the evil one uses sin to harden our hearts, God's Spirit calls us to change at a level deeper than just the mere understanding of the words of Scripture. James, the brother of Jesus (Matthew 13:55; John 7:2-5), reminds us we've got stuff we must get rid of, even though it is all around us in our culture. We need to go back to the seed of faith, the good news of Jesus, that was planted in us. Through the Spirit, this seed calls us back to righteous living, and this repentance can save us! Thank God for his Spirit, who uses the Word that he inspired like a surgeon's scalpel, and does the needed surgery on our hearts (Hebrews 4:12-13).

My Prayer...

Holy God, with the help of your Holy Spirit, today I willingly and decisively give up the immoral habits in my life. I recognize that these not only offend your holiness and grace, but they also harden me to your will, pull me away from your character, and blunt my witness to others. Please forgive me, please sustain me, as I seek to live a life wholly pleasing to you, empowered by the Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name, I promise and pray to get rid of the moral filth that is so prevalent around me, and to humbly accept the message you have given me, and that calls me home to you. Amen.