Daily Bible Verse

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John 16:13
King James Version
13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.


Insight from the Spirit

As the French soldier dug in the desert sand, reinforcing the defenses of his army’s encampment, he had no idea he would make a momentous discovery. Moving another shovelful of sand, he saw a stone. Not just any stone. It was the Rosetta Stone, containing a listing of the good things King Ptolemy V had done for his priests and the people of Egypt written in three scripts. That stone (now housed in the British Museum) would be one of the most important archaeological finds of the nineteenth century, helping to unlock the mysteries of the ancient Egyptian writing known as hieroglyphics.

For many of us, much of Scripture is also wrapped in deep mystery. Still, the night before the cross, Jesus promised His followers that He would send the Holy Spirit. He told them, “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come” (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit is, in a sense, our divine Rosetta Stone, shedding light on the truth—including truths behind the mysteries of the Bible.

While we’re not promised absolute understanding of everything given to us in the Scriptures, we can have confidence that by the Spirit we can comprehend everything necessary for us to follow Jesus. He will guide us into those vital truths.  


Reflect & Pray
What are some portions of the Bible you have found difficult? List them and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you into better understanding of those Scriptures.

God of all truth, help me to rest in the Spirit of truth that I might better understand the wisdom You’ve provided.


Insight
Before Jesus left the earth, He promised His disciples He would send “the Spirit of truth,” who would guide them “into all the truth” (John 16:13). The Spirit would relay what Jesus made known to Him. Jesus also told them that when they were arrested and brought to trial, they needn’t “worry beforehand about what to say.” Instead they were to speak whatever was given them to say because it would be “the Holy Spirit” speaking (Mark 13:11). In Luke, Jesus says something similar: “When you are brought before . . . authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say” (12:11–12; see John 14:26). In a season of persecution, the Holy Spirit will help and equip all believers in Jesus.
 

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Ecclesiastes 3:1 KJV
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:


A Time to Speak

For thirty long years, the African American woman worked faithfully for a large global ministry. Yet when she sought to talk with co-workers about racial injustice, she was met with silence. Finally, however, in the spring of 2020—as open discussions about racism expanded around the world—her ministry friends “started having some open dialogue.” With mixed feelings and pain, she was grateful discussions began.

Silence can be a virtue in some situations. As King Solomon wrote in the book of Ecclesiastes, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: . . . a time to be silent and a time to speak” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7).

Silence in the face of bigotry and injustice, however, only enables harm and hurt. Lutheran pastor Martin Niemoeller (jailed in Nazi Germany for speaking out) confessed that in a poem he penned after the war. “First they came for the Communists,” he wrote, “but I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist.” He added, “Then they came for” the Jews, the Catholics, and others, “but I didn’t speak up.” Finally, “they came for me—and by that time there was no one left to speak up.”

It takes courage—and love—to speak up against injustice. Seeking God’s help, however, we recognize the time to speak is now.


Reflect & Pray
Why is it important not to be silent during discussions about injustice? What hinders your willingness to engage in such dialogue?

Dear God, release my tongue and heart from the enemy’s grip. Equip me to see and feel the harm of injustice so that I may speak up for those hurt by this sin.


Insight
Ecclesiastes may seem pessimistic, and we might easily read today’s poem about time in a depressingly fatalistic light. After all, the poem begins by balancing the miracle of birth against the stony phrase “a time to die” (3:2). Essential to this elegantly honest lyric is the section that immediately follows (vv. 9–14). “[God] has made everything beautiful in its time,” wrote the wise author of Ecclesiastes (v. 11). Then he noted, “He has also set eternity in the human heart” (v. 11). This awareness of the eternal motivates us to look beyond ourselves (and beyond this time-bound earth) to discover true meaning. We find it only in the eternal One. “Everything God does will endure forever,” wrote the wise man (v. 14). We can live joyfully in the acknowledgment of this great eternal God, who gives us genuine meaning in this life and a forever future in the next.
 
 

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Galatians 5:22-23 KJV
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.


When to Sacrifice

In February 2020, as the COVID-19 crisis was just beginning, a newspaper columnist’s concerns struck me. Would we willingly self-isolate, she wondered, changing our work, travel, and shopping habits so others wouldn’t get sick? “This isn’t just a test of clinical resources,” she wrote, “but of our willingness to put ourselves out for others.” Suddenly, the need for virtue was front-page news.

It can be hard to consider others’ needs while we’re anxious about our own. Thankfully, we’re not left with willpower alone to meet the need. We can ask the Holy Spirit to give us love to replace our indifference, joy to counter sadness, peace to replace our anxiety, forbearance (patience) to push out our impulsiveness, kindness to care about others, goodness to see to their needs, faithfulness to keep our promises, gentleness instead of harshness, and self-control to lift us beyond self-centeredness (Galatians 5:22–23). While we won’t be perfect at all of this, we’re called to seek the Spirit’s gifts of virtue regularly (Ephesians 5:18).

Author Richard Foster once described holiness as the ability to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done. And such holiness is needed every day, not just in a pandemic. Do we have the capacity to make sacrifices for the sake of others? Holy Spirit, fill us with the power to do what needs to be done.   


Reflect & Pray
When have you made a sacrifice for the sake of others? What needs around you call for the Holy Spirit’s fruit today?

Holy Spirit, fill me afresh today and make me a person of virtue.   


Insight
The book of Galatians has been rightly referred to as a “short and fiery” work. Paul’s tone and word choices match the seriousness of the error that confronted the believers in Jesus in Galatia (a region in Asia Minor where Paul preached and established churches). What needed correction? False teachers were preaching a false gospel that required adhering to the demands of the law of Moses in addition to faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins.

Not only are we justified—made right with God—by faith in Christ alone (Galatians 2:15–21), but believers in Christ grow to be like Him (sanctification) by the same means—by faith apart from keeping the law (5:1–11). Through God’s Spirit, believers are empowered for godly living, including loving one’s neighbor as oneself (vv. 13–26).
 

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Psalm 32:5 KJV
I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.


Crumbled from Within

When I was a teenager, my mom painted a mural on our living room wall, which stayed there for several years. It showed an ancient Greek scene of a ruined temple with white columns lying on their sides, a crumbling fountain, and a broken statue. As I looked at the Hellenistic architecture that had once held great beauty, I tried to imagine what had destroyed it. I was curious, especially when I began studying about the tragedy of once great and thriving civilizations that had decayed and crumbled from within.

The sinful depravity and wanton destruction we see around us today can be troubling. It’s natural for us to try to explain it by pointing to people and nations that have rejected God. But shouldn’t we be casting our gaze inwardly as well? Scripture warns us about being hypocrites when we call out others to turn from their sinful ways without also taking a deeper look inside our own hearts (Matthew 7:1–5).

Psalm 32 challenges us to see and confess our own sin. It’s only when we recognize and confess our personal sin that we can experience freedom from guilt and the joy of true repentance (vv. 1–5). And as we rejoice in knowing that God offers us complete forgiveness, we can share that hope with others who are also struggling with sin.


Reflect & Pray
What’s the first step in identifying sin in your life? Why is it vital that you confess your sin to God?   

Father God, I thank You for the gift of Your forgiveness that eliminates the guilt of my sin. Help me to first examine my own heart before I concern myself with the sins of others.


Insight
As mentioned in Psalm 32, the confession of sin can set us free. David explains that his unconfessed sin had physical effects on his body: “my bones wasted away” (v. 3); “my strength was sapped” (v. 4). At the time, many believed physical pain, problems, and sickness were always the result of sin. Even though this isn’t the case, we know that our mental and emotional state can impact our physical well-being. The three words for sin this psalm presents—transgressions (disobedience), sins (missing the mark), and iniquity (distorted character)—are contrasted with three expressions of forgiveness—forgiven, covered, and not counted against. When we confess our sin, we’re forgiven and released from the emotional weight of a guilty conscience.
 

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John 5:39 KJV
Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.   


Studying the Scriptures

J. I. Packer (1926–2020), in his classic work Knowing God, spoke of four well-known believers in Christ whom he called “beavers for the Bible.” Not all were trained scholars, but each one exercised great care to know God by gnawing into the Scripture, like a beaver digs in and gnaws away at a tree. Packer further noted that knowing God through Bible study is not just for scholars. “A simple Bible reader and sermon hearer who is full of the Holy Spirit will develop a far deeper acquaintance with his God and Savior than a more learned scholar who is content with being theologically correct.”         

Unfortunately, not all who study the Bible do so with humble hearts with the goal of getting to know the Savior better and becoming more like Him. In Jesus’ day there were those who read the Old Testament Scriptures, yet they missed the very One they spoke of. “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life” (John 5:39–40).

Do you sometimes find yourself stumped as you read the Bible? Or have you given up studying the Scriptures altogether? Bible “beavers” are more than Bible readers. They prayerfully and carefully gnaw away at Scripture in ways that open their eyes and hearts to see and love Jesus—the One revealed in it.


Reflect & Pray
What are some Old Testament Scripture passages that you recognize as “testifying” about Jesus? What better habits do you need to develop to become a better student of the Scriptures?

Father, open my eyes to see Jesus in all of Scripture so that I might love, obey, and serve Him more.


Insight
In John 5:39, Jesus stresses the importance of studying Scripture because it points to Him. Both the Old and New Testaments declare Scripture’s impact. In 2 Timothy 3, Paul encourages Timothy to continue in the Scriptures, and he notes that “all Scripture is God-breathed” and trains and equips us for personal growth in holiness and to serve others (vv. 16–17). Before installing Joshua as the new Israelite leader, God urged him to “meditate on [the Law] day and night” so that he’d be obedient and successful (Joshua 1:8). In Psalm 19, David declares that the words of God refresh the soul, make wise the simple, and give joy to the heart and light to the eyes. By them we’re warned and find great reward (vv. 7–11). Through keeping and treasuring Scripture, we’re blessed, and God makes our way clear (Psalm 119:1–3, 105; Proverbs 2:1–5).
 

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1 Peter 4:10 KJV
As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.


Live to Serve

After ten-year-old Chelsea received an elaborate art set, she discovered that God used art to help her feel better when she was sad. When she found out that some kids didn’t have art supplies readily available, she wanted to help them. So when it was time for her birthday party, she asked her friends not to bring her gifts. Instead, she invited them to donate art supplies and help fill boxes for children in need.

Later, with her family’s help, she started Chelsea’s Charity. She began asking more people to help her fill boxes so she could help more kids. She has even taught art tips to groups who have received her boxes. After a local newscaster interviewed Chelsea, people started donating supplies from all over the country. As Chelsea’s Charity continues sending art supplies internationally, this young girl is demonstrating how God can use us when we’re willing to live to serve others.

Chelsea’s compassion and willingness to share reflects the heart of a faithful steward. The apostle Peter encourages all believers in Jesus to be faithful stewards as they “love each other deeply” by sharing the resources and talents God has given them (1 Peter 4:8–11).

Our small acts of love can inspire others to join us in giving. God can even rally supporters to serve alongside us. As we rely on Him, we can live to serve and give Him the glory He deserves.   


Reflect & Pray
How can you rely on God to help you serve others today? In what way has God been nudging you to serve Him that seems too big for you to handle alone?   

Faithful Father, please give me all I need to serve You by loving others with my words and actions today.   


Insight
Writing to believers in Jesus who are suffering because of persecution (1 Peter 4:12–16), Peter tells them not to be fearful but to remain faithful, to “revere Christ as Lord” (3:14–15), and to live in a way that honors God before a hostile and unbelieving world (2:11–12). In today’s passage (4:8–11), he encourages believers to “love each other deeply” (v. 8), which is demonstrated when we forgive one another, offer hospitality (v. 9), and unselfishly use our spiritual gifts to serve one another (v. 10). Believers aren’t to use their gifts for their own selfish ends but be “good managers of God’s diverse gifts” (ceb); we’re to responsibly use them to edify others and glorify God (v. 11). Elsewhere, the apostle Paul lists some of these spiritual gifts and how they’re to be used (Romans 12:3–8; 1 Corinthians 12:4–31; Ephesians 4:11–16).
 

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Luke 16:8 KJV
And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.


Wise Christians

The coronavirus pandemic resulted in canceled schools around the world. In China, teachers responded with DingTalk, a digital app that enabled class to be held online. Then their students figured out that if DingTalk’s rating fell too low, it might be removed from the App Store. Overnight, thousands of one-star reviews dropped DingTalk’s score.

Jesus wouldn’t be impressed with the students shirking their responsibilities, but He might admire their ingenuity. He told an unusual story about a fired manager who on his final day slashed the bills of his master’s debtors. Jesus didn’t praise the manager’s dishonesty. Rather He commended his cleverness and wished His followers would be equally shrewd: “I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings” (Luke 16:9).

When it comes to money, most people look at how much they might lose. Wise people look for what they can use. Jesus said giving to others “gain friends,” which provides safety and influence. Who is the leader in any group? The one who pays. Giving also gains “eternal dwellings,” for our willingness to part with our cash shows our trust is in Jesus.

Even if we don’t have money, we do have time, skills, or a listening ear. Let’s ask God to show us how to creatively serve others for Jesus.


Reflect & Pray
Who does Jesus want you to serve today? How might you creatively use your skills, money, or time to bless this person?

Jesus, I want to give to others for You.


Insight
The main character in the story Jesus told in Luke 16:1–8 is referred to as a “manager.” The word translated “manager” is oikonómos. Such persons were in charge of household affairs (to include finances, servants, children, flocks, and fields). Though English translations don’t necessarily reflect this, words derived from this root word appear seven times in this passage, including what’s translated “my job” in verses 3 and 4. In 1 Corinthians 4:1–2 and Titus 1:7, Paul uses oikonómos to refer to Christian leaders. Peter uses the term to refer to believers in Jesus in general (1 Peter 4:10). Each has been entrusted with gifts and responsibilities for which we’re accountable to God. Wisely using these gifts and responsibilities goes with good stewardship.
 

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Romans 8:15 KJV
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.


Talk, Trust, Feel

“Don’t talk, don’t trust, don’t feel was the law we lived by,” says Frederick Buechner in his powerful memoir Telling Secrets, “and woe to the one who broke it.” Buechner is describing his experience of what he calls the “unwritten law of families who for one reason or another have gone out of whack.” In his own family, that “law” meant Buechner was not allowed to talk about or grieve his father’s suicide, leaving him with no one he could trust with his pain.

Can you relate? Many of us in one way or another have learned to live with a warped version of love, one that demands dishonesty or silence about what’s harmed us. That kind of “love” relies on fear for control—and is a kind of slavery.

We can’t afford to forget just how different Jesus’ invitation to love is from the kind of conditional love we often experience—a kind of love we’re always afraid we could lose. As Paul explains, through Christ’s love we can finally understand what it means to not live in fear (Romans 8:15) and start to understand the kind of glorious freedom (v. 21) that’s possible when we know we’re deeply, truly, and unconditionally loved. We’re free to talk, to trust, and to feel once more—to learn what it means to live unafraid.


Reflect & Pray
Are there any unspoken “rules” you’ve learned as conditions for acceptance and love? How might you live differently if you believed you didn’t have to follow those rules to be loved?

Loving God, at times I’m afraid to live honestly with myself and with others—thinking that by doing so I’ll no longer be loved. Heal my heart, and help me believe in and live for the glory, freedom, and joy Your love makes possible.


Insight
Romans 7 deals with the conflict we face with sin and concludes by Paul saying, “I myself . . . am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin” (v. 25). In contrast, Romans 8 begins with this magnificent assurance: “Therefore, there is no now condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (v. 1). Believers in Jesus are now free to live out the joyous victory found by following Him. Verse 5 provides the key: “Those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” The work of the Holy Spirit in our lives is absolutely crucial. And so verse 14 appropriately says, “Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.” It’s this Spirit that “testifies with our spirit that we’re God’s children” (v. 16).
 

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Genesis 22:1 KJV
And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.


The Testing

The first time I took my sons to hike a Colorado Fourteener—a mountain with an elevation of a least 14,000 feet—they were nervous. Could they make it? Were they up to the challenge? My youngest stopped on the trail for extended breaks. “Dad, I can’t go any more,” he said repeatedly. But I believed this test would be good for them, and I wanted them to trust me. A mile from the peak, my son who’d insisted he could go no further caught his second wind and beat us to the summit. He was so glad he trusted me, even amid his fears.

I marvel at the trust Isaac had in his father as they climbed their mountain. Far more, I’m undone by the trust Abraham had in God as he raised his knife over his son (Genesis 22:10). Even with his confused and wrenching heart, Abraham obeyed. Mercifully, an angel stopped him. “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” God’s messenger declared (v. 12). God never intended for Isaac to die.

As we draw parallels from this unique story to our own with caution, it’s crucial to note the opening line: “God tested Abraham” (v. 1). Through his test, Abraham learned how much he trusted God. He discovered His loving heart and profound provision.

In our confusion, darkness, and testing, we learn truths about ourselves and about God. And we may even find that our testing leads to a deeper trust in Him.


Reflect & Pray
How do you believe you’ve been tested by God? What was that experience like, and what did you take away from it?

God, I don’t know if what I’m experiencing is Your testing or not, but either way, I want to trust You. I give my future to You.


Insight
Genesis 22:1, 15–18 make it clear that God tested Abraham to examine his heart. While God may test our faith and obedience (James 1:2–4), He never tempts us to do wrong (v. 13). The writer of Hebrews commended the patriarch’s deep faith: “Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again” (Hebrews 11:19 nlt). The apostle James said that “Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar. . . . His actions made his faith complete” (James 2:21–22 nlt).

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Romans 1:1 KJV
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,


Set Apart

The three-wheeled taxis of Sri Lanka, known as “tuk tuks,” are a convenient and delightful mode of transport for many. Lorraine, a resident of the capital of Colombo, also realized that they’re a mission field. Hopping onto a tuk tuk one day, she found the friendly driver more than happy to engage in conversation about religion. The next time, she told herself, she would talk to the driver about the good news.

The book of Romans starts with Paul declaring himself as “set apart for the gospel of God” (Romans 1:1). The Greek word for “gospel” is evangelion, which means “good news.” Paul was essentially saying that his main purpose was to tell God’s good news.

What is this good news? Romans 1:3 says that the gospel of God is “regarding his Son.” The good news is Jesus! It’s God who wants to tell the world that Jesus came to save us from sin and death, and He’s chosen us to be His mode of communication. What a humbling fact!

Sharing the good news is a privilege all believers in Jesus have been given. We’ve “received grace” to call others to this faith (vv. 5–6). God has set us apart to carry the exciting news of the gospel to those around us, whether on tuk tuks or wherever we are. May we, like Lorraine, look for opportunities in our daily life to tell others the good news that is Jesus.


Reflect & Pray
What barriers do you experience in sharing your faith? What talents or interests can you use to present the good news?

Jesus, thank You for making me Your mouthpiece for Your good news. May Your Spirit give me the courage and love to share about You today.

Insight
Paul wrote to the Roman church during his three-month stay in Corinth at the end of his third missionary journey (Acts 20:2–3). Telling them of his proposed visit and soliciting support for his future work in Spain (Romans 1:10–13, 15; 15:23–24, 28–29), he explained the theological foundation of the gospel (chs. 1–8). In chapters 1–3, Paul set out to show that all human beings are sinners, concluding that “all have sinned and fall short” of God’s standards (3:23). We aren’t saved by obeying the law but by God’s action of justifying us through faith in Jesus (1:16–17; 3:22–26). We’re justified (declared righteous and made right with God) by grace alone (sola gratia), through faith alone (sola fide), and in Christ alone (solus Christus).