Category: Verse for the Day

Verse for the Day – Ephesians 6:10-12a

Carolyn

If yesterday told us we are in a race, today tells us we are in a battle!

This entire section in Ephesians 6:10-20 is worth reading in full, but I focus on the following:

Ephesians 6:10-12a:

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood,…” (ESV)

We saw yesterday that we are running a race and need to lay aside the weights and run with endurance. Some of the obstacles we face in our faith run are not just our own sin, but the schemes of the evil one. But God has given us a way that we can stand – by putting on the whole armor of God!

Last week, I read that entire passage and drew a picture of me with the parts of the armor labeled so I could remember what God gives us in order to stand! He tells us the pieces of armor to “put on” and “take up” so we are equipped for the unseen battle in the heavenly places that is real and that we surely face. But remember, too, in Whose strength we stand – the Lord’s! He is the powerful and mighty One who gives us all that we need, and He will fight for us and deliver us. The battle is His. Yet he calls us to stand firm in His strength and mighty power, to pray, to be watchful, to put on the whole armor of God.

PRAYER: Help us today, Lord, to put on your full armor that we can stand firm against the schemes of the devil. Please show us what those schemes are in our lives and the way he is against us, but remind us that you are for us. Let us confess to you our struggles and ask in prayer for help, and please rescue us in your strength and mighty power. Help us to continue to fix our eyes on You in prayer and faith and through the truth of your Word. We love you, Lord. Amen.

Verse for the Day – Hebrews 12:1-2

Carolyn

Did you know you are running a race today?!

After seeing Peter walking on the water and our need to look at Jesus, not the things around us, I am reminded of Hebrews 12:1-2:

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (ESV)

My Bible says “the cloud of witnesses” are the people of faith mentioned right before this in Hebrews 11.

These verses twice says “let us” — giving us actions to do:

  • “let us” lay aside every weight (putting off sin and things that entangle us) and
  • “let us” run with endurance the race before us.

How can we put off sin and run with endurance?

By looking to Jesus, our example. We can put off sin and run with endurance the same way Jesus did. He endured the cross by seeing beyond the moment to the eternal, by considering such suffering and doing His Father’s will a joy! And He is now at the right hand of the throne of God!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Help us to run with endurance the race of faith that is before us, putting aside everything that entangles and slows us down. Help us to fix our eyes on Jesus who not only will give us our example to follow, but will enable us to do this! And let us run in such a way as to win the prize (I Corinthians 9:24-25), looking to Jesus and knowing we will receive a reward and be blessed in this obedience. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Verse for the Day – Matthew 14:29-31

Carolyn
Our family went to see the movie Son of God last night. Today’s verses are selected as I considered my favorite scene from the movie: Jesus walking on the water and Peter coming out to Him.The verses then that I picked today are from Matthew 14:29-31:

“He [Jesus] said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me.’ 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’ (ESV)

I loved this picture because I think so often when Jesus calls us to Himself or to something He has for us, we can be like Peter and jump out of the boat enthusiastically to follow Jesus. But when adversity comes (like the storm and waves), if we don’t keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and believe what we know to be true about Him, we will fall.

We see this all throughout the Bible. John the Baptist, born to make the way for Jesus, baptized Him and was obediently and joyfully fulfilling the call on his life, but when he was arrested (adversity came), he asks of Jesus, “Are you the One?” (Matthew 11:3)  Suddenly, things don’t seem as clear.

We saw it in the movie. People would follow Jesus, but when other people would question whether He was really the Messiah, it was easy to doubt and wonder: “Wait, is he really the Messiah?” We saw Thomas doubt and Peter deny Jesus.

Perhaps the same people who said on Palm Sunday, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord,” would later cry out, “Crucify Him!”

We are human, and we can be fickle and easily swayed by the difficult circumstances or opinions around us.

In our own day, I see people (or sometimes myself) who enthusiastically follow a call Jesus gives them, and then when that call turns out to be really hard and costly (which we should expect), they (or I) wonder, “Wait, were we really supposed to do that?”

But let’s fix our eyes on Jesus and ask Him to increase our faith. Then when the waves come and we feel tossed about, we actually will stand firm in Christ who will steady and uphold us and prove Himself faithful, that He is indeed the One!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, please increase our faith. Make us ones who believe You and who don’t doubt, even when life’s storms come and our circumstances are hard. Help us to fix our eyes on You and not the things around us. And may we find You faithful, as you fully are. We love You, Lord Jesus, and thank and praise You that you would die a cruel death so that we might live. Let us then live for You, in full faith, believing You are the One and looking to you each day. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Verse for the Day – Colossians 3:23-24

Carolyn

I’ve started something new with my children – sending them a verse or two a day by email for reflection. These are verses that God brings to mind as I read and pray in the morning. I thought I would post them here as well to have a record of them, and to keep me accountable to the project daily.

Today, March 8, the verses God brought to mind were from Colossians 3:23-24:

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” (ESV)

Wherever we work (our places of employment, our schools, or in our home), we want to do our work for the Lord, not for men. The Lord will actually reward us for our faithful work done as unto Him.

I have found that sometimes this verse is an encouragement to me, when I haven’t always cared for the work I’m doing or enjoyed the people I’m working for – to give me a bigger vision that I am working and serving the Lord, so do it with my whole heart.

And sometimes, the verse has been a caution to me, when I’ve liked the work I’m doing so much and the people I’m working for so much that I start to want to impress them and do the work for their praise instead of the Lord’s!

So do your work, whatever it is (school, housework, etc.), to please the Lord, to do it with your whole heart, to believe that He will reward you for that, to be motivated by His approval rather than man’s. When this motivates us, we will want to give our very best at whatever we do, for Him!

Prayer: Lord, please give us hearts to do our work as unto You, knowing it is You that we serve, and You who will give us a reward. Please show us this and help us to remember the way you have designed this to work out, so that we don’t waste our time working for the praise of man or our selfish gain, but for You and Your glory. We love you, Lord. Amen.

This Day All His Mercies Are New

Carolyn

I’ll return to the series on calling soon, but as I watch the sun rise this morning, I’m again reminded, as I so often am at the beginning of the day, of God’s great love and mercy toward us.

When I see a sunrise, I think of hesed, the Hebrew word for God’s loyal love and covenantal kindness toward His people, so often expressed in the Old Testament when we see the “LORD” (the all caps LORD in the OT indicates a reference to Yahweh, the Hebrew name for God revealed to Moses by four consonants, YHWH, the tetragrammaton).

Read these well-known verses:

Lamentations 3:23-25 “Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. ‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘Therefore I hope in Him!’ The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.” (NKJV)

The sunrise reminds us again of the mercies, compassion, and unfailing love of the LORD that are new every morning. Praise the LORD! As I type, the sunlight rests on my hands, and I am praising the LORD for hope, a new day, His faithfulness, His steadfast love, His mercy, and His compassion toward us.

It also brings to mind the verses in Luke 1:78-79, where Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, is prophesying. The whole prophecy (verse 67-79) is worth reading, but I focus here on verse 78-79:

“Because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the Sunrise from on high will visit us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (NAS, emphasis mine)

What beautiful prophecy of the coming Messiah, Jesus, who was and is the “Sunrise from on high” – what a picture! – bringing light to darkness and guiding our feet in the way of peace.

As the sun rises and shines on me even now, I ponder His love and mercy and remember the Sunrise from on high who brought light to our dark world, salvation in His coming. Praise You this new day, Jesus! In You I hope and wait and receive with joy and thankfulness your love and mercy.