Daily Bible Verse

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Isaiah 53:6 KJV
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.


Love’s Greatest Gift

My son Geoff was leaving a store when he saw an abandoned walking frame (a mobility aid) on the ground. I hope there isn’t a person back there who needs help, he thought. He glanced behind the building and found a homeless man unconscious on the pavement.

Geoff roused him and asked if he was okay. “I’m trying to drink myself to death,” he responded. “My tent broke in a storm, and I lost everything. I don’t want to live.”

Geoff called a Christian rehabilitation ministry, and while they waited for help, he ran home briefly and brought the man his own camping tent. “What’s your name?” Geoff asked. “Geoffrey,” the homeless man answered, “with a G.” Geoff hadn’t mentioned his own name or its uncommon spelling. “Dad,” he told me later, “that could have been me.”

Geoff once struggled with substance abuse himself, and he helped the man because of the kindness he’d received from God. Isaiah the prophet used these words to anticipate God’s mercy to us in Jesus: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).

Christ, our Savior, didn’t leave us lost, alone, and hopeless in despair. He chose to identify with us and lift us in love, so that we may be set free to live anew in Him. There’s no greater gift.


Reflect & Pray
Where would you be without Jesus? How can you be His hands and feet for someone in need?

Thank You, Jesus, for coming to rescue me. Help me to join in Your search-and-rescue mission and to share Your love with someone who needs You today.


Insight
Isaiah 53:1–6 is part of the “Song of the Suffering Servant” that begins in 52:13 and ends in 53:12. It was this song that the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:26–40 was reading. In that New Testament story, Philip the evangelist tells an Ethiopian official that Isaiah is speaking of Jesus the Messiah (Acts 8:32–35). Isaiah prophesied how the Messiah would be mistreated: “his appearance was . . . disfigured beyond that of any human being” (Isaiah 52:14). He would be “a man of suffering, and familiar with pain” (53:3). This was so Christ could pay the penalty for our sins: “he was pierced for our transgressions,” and “the punishment that brought us peace was on him” (v. 5). This is the elusive peace for which the human race yearns and is at the very heart of the gospel Philip shared with the Ethiopian.
 

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Matthew 26:41 KJV
Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.


Stay Awake!

A German bank employee was in the middle of transferring 62.40 euros from a customer’s bank account when he accidentally took a power nap at his desk. He dozed off while his finger was on the “2” key, resulting in a 222 million euro (300 million dollar) transfer into the customer’s account. The fallout from the mistake included the firing of the employee’s colleague who verified the transfer. Although the mistake was caught and corrected, because he hadn't been watchful, the sleepy employee’s lapse almost became a nightmare for the bank.

Jesus warned His disciples that if they didn’t remain alert, they too would make a costly mistake. He took them to a place called Gethsemane to spend some time in prayer. As He prayed, Jesus experienced a grief and sadness such as He’d never known in His earthly life. He asked Peter, James, and John to stay awake to pray and “keep watch” with Him (Matthew 26:38), but they fell asleep (vv. 40–41). Their failure to watch and pray would leave them defenseless when the real temptation of denying Him came calling. In the hour of Christ’s greatest need, the disciples lacked spiritual vigilance.

May we heed Jesus’ words to remain spiritually awake by being more devoted to spending time with Him in prayer. As we do, He’ll strengthen us to resist all kinds of temptations and avoid the costly mistake of denying Jesus.


Reflect & Pray

What part of your prayer life needs to be more devoted and disciplined? How can you intentionally spend more time alone with God this week?

Jesus, because I’ve been spiritually sleeping, I haven’t been praying. And because I haven’t been praying, I haven’t depended on You. I’m sorry. Please help me to spend more time with You.

Insight
Jesus’ final prayers before His arrest and crucifixion took place in Gethsemane, which means “oil press,” a garden area among the olive groves on the Mount of Olives. Like an olive in a press, Jesus faced extreme pressure. According to Baker’s Encyclopedia of the Bible, the Mount of Olives is the “prominent north-south ridge in the Judean mountains lying due east of Jerusalem and the Kidron Valley.” This mountain features three summits and two intervening valleys. The central hill is the traditional Mount of Olives (2,684 feet). Its western face collects rainfall from the Mediterranean that along with the decomposed limestone makes for fertile orchards.
 

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Proverbs 1:5 KJV
A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:


Love of Learning

When asked how he became a journalist, a man shared the story of his mother’s dedication to his pursuit of education. While traveling on the subway each day, she collected newspapers left behind on seats and gave them to him. While he especially enjoyed reading about sports, the papers also introduced him to knowledge about the world, which ultimately opened his mind to a vast range of interests.

Children are wired with natural curiosity and a love for learning, so introducing them to the Scriptures at an early age is of great value. They become intrigued by God’s extraordinary promises and exciting stories of biblical heroes. As their knowledge deepens, they can begin to comprehend the consequences of sin, their need of repentance, and the joy found in trusting God. The first chapter of Proverbs, for instance, is a great introduction to the benefits of wisdom (Proverbs 1:1–7). Nuggets of wisdom found here shine a light of understanding on real-life situations.

Developing a love of learning—especially about spiritual truths—helps us to grow stronger in our faith. And those who have walked in faith for decades can continue to pursue knowledge of God throughout their life. Proverbs 1:5 advises, “Let the wise listen and add to their learning.” God will never stop teaching us if we’re willing to open our heart and mind to His guidance and instruction.


Reflect & Pray
What fresh truth of Scripture have you added to your knowledge recently? How can you continually pursue a deeper understanding of God’s truth?

Father, please continue to open my mind and heart to grow in knowledge and wisdom as I read from the Scriptures.

Grow deeper in your understanding of faith.

Insight
A prominent characteristic of Hebrew poetry is parallelism. A second line either mirrors the first or contrasts it. In the case of Proverbs 1:5, the second line mirrors and develops the idea introduced in the first, which is called “synthetic” parallelism.

The first line of the couplet, “Let the wise listen and add to their learning,” says wisdom isn’t a once-and-done endeavor. The wise can always learn more. But the second line develops the idea further: “and let the discerning get guidance.” The word for “guidance” comes from the nautical world where shipmen would pull on ropes to steer a boat. In context, “guidance” has the sense of practical steering through life. The parallelism in the proverb highlights that continual learning is important, but also that it should lead to steering a better course through the waters of our lives.
 

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John 9:4 KJV
I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.


Give While You Live

A successful businessman spent the last few decades of his life doing all he could to give away his fortune. A multibillionaire, he donated cash to a variety of causes such as bringing peace to Northern Ireland and modernizing Vietnam’s health care system; and not long before he died, he spent $350 million to turn New York City’s Roosevelt Island into a technology hub. The man said, “I believe strongly in giving while living. I see little reason to delay giving. . . . Besides, it’s a lot more fun to give while you live than to give while you’re dead.” Give while you live—what an amazing attitude to have.

In John’s account of the man born blind, Jesus’ disciples were trying to determine “who sinned” (9:2). Jesus briefly addressed their question by saying, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned . . . but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me” (vv. 3–4). Though our work is very different from Jesus’ miracles, no matter how we give of ourselves, we’re to do so with a ready and loving spirit. Whether through our time, resources, or actions, our goal is that the works of God might be displayed.

For God so loved the world that He gave. In turn, let’s give while we live.


Reflect & Pray
When it comes to giving, what’s one thing you’ve been delaying? What would it mean for you to give while you live?

Giving God, please show me places where I can give today.


Insight
In John 9, we sense a great divide. Most of the religious leaders were in the process of rejecting Jesus. He wasn’t what they expected the Messiah to be. The man born blind, however, would become a genuine believer in Christ. The religious leaders indignantly argued over technicalities of the law, saying, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath” (v. 16). In contrast, the man who received his sight understood that the One who’d healed him must come from God (vv. 30–33). Soon he would tell Jesus, “Lord, I believe” (v. 38).
 

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Genesis 3:9 KJV
And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?


Hiding from God

I squeezed my eyes shut and started counting aloud. My fellow third-grade classmates tore out of the room to find a place to hide. After scouring every cabinet, trunk, and closet for what felt like hours, I still couldn’t find one of my friends. I felt ridiculous when she finally jumped out from behind a lacey, potted fern hanging from the ceiling. Only her head had been eclipsed by the plant—the rest of her body had been in plain sight the entire time!

Since God is all-knowing, when Adam and Eve “hid from [Him]” (Genesis 3:8) in the garden of Eden, they were always in “plain sight.” But they weren’t playing any childhood game; they were experiencing the sudden awareness—and shame—of their wrongdoing, having eaten from the tree God told them not to eat from.

Adam and Eve turned from God and His loving provision when they disobeyed His instructions. Instead of withdrawing from them in anger, however, He sought them out, asking, “Where are you?” (v. 9). It’s not that He didn’t know where they were, but He wanted them to know His compassionate concern for them.

I couldn’t see my friend hiding, but God always sees us and knows us—to Him we’re always in plain sight. Just as He pursued Adam and Eve, Jesus sought us out while we were “still sinners”—dying on the cross to demonstrate His love for us (Romans 5:8). We no longer need to hide.


Reflect & Pray
When have you tried to “hide” from God? How has He sought you out?

Father God, thank You for demonstrating Your love and care for me despite the ways I wrong You.

Insight
Revelation 12:9 and 20:2 identify the serpent in Genesis 3 as “the devil” (false accuser) or “Satan” (adversary). Jesus called Satan “a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Paul says that “Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning” (2 Corinthians 11:3). Adam and Eve were prohibited from eating from only one specific tree—“the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:16–17). But Satan twisted that prohibition to include “any tree in the garden” (3:1). “You will not certainly die” (v. 4) was Satan’s defiant challenge to God (2:17). Eve modified God’s clear instruction by adding “you must not touch it” (3:3).
 

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Acts 2:36 KJV
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.


This Is Grace

Les Misérables begins with paroled convict Jean Valjean stealing a priest’s silver. He’s caught, and he expects to be returned to the mines. But the priest shocks everyone when he claims he’d given the silver to Valjean. After the police leave, he turns to the thief, “You belong no longer to evil, but to good.”

Such extravagant love points to the love that flowed from the fountain from which all grace comes. On the day of Pentecost, Peter told his audience that less than two months before, in that very city, they had crucified Jesus. The crowd was crushed and asked what they must do. Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38). Jesus had endured the punishment they deserved. Now their penalty would be forgiven if they put their faith in Him.

Oh, the irony of grace. The people could only be forgiven because of Christ’s death—a death they were responsible for. How gracious and powerful is God! He’s used humanity’s greatest sin to accomplish our salvation. If God has already done this with the sin of crucifying Jesus, we may assume there’s nothing He can’t turn into something good. Trust the One who “in all things . . . works for the good of those who love him” (Romans 8:28).


Reflect & Pray
Have you given yourself to Jesus? If not, what’s holding you back? If you have, what will it mean for you to give your fears to Him as well?

Dear Father, thank You for Your extravagant love that rescued me from my sin. Please take all my fears and help me to trust You.

Insight
The significance of the apostle Peter’s preaching on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14–41) can’t be overstated. He was the first to publicly preach the gospel after Jesus’ return to heaven. His sermon established the pattern for the preaching we see in Acts, the rest of the New Testament, and subsequent preaching about Christ. What were the features of Peter’s public proclamation of Jesus? It was rooted in Scripture (Acts 2:17–20 [Joel 2]; Acts 2:25–28 [Psalm 16]; Acts 2:34–35 [Psalm 110:1]). He presented it in clear terms, explaining how God had made Jesus “both Lord and Messiah” (Acts 2:36). Finally, Peter’s preaching called for a response with the offer of forgiveness and the gift of God’s Spirit to all who would receive (v. 38).
 

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Jeremiah 18:4 KJV
And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.


The Potter’s Wheel

In 1952, in an effort to prevent clumsy or careless people from breaking items in a shop, a Miami Beach storeowner posted a sign that read: “You break it, you buy it.” The catchy phrase served as a warning to shoppers. This type of sign can now be seen in many boutiques.

Ironically, a different sign might be placed in a real potter’s shop. It would say: “If you break it, we’ll make it into something better.” And that’s exactly what’s revealed in Jeremiah 18.

Jeremiah visits a potter’s house and sees the potter shaping the “marred” clay with his hands, carefully handling the material and forming “it into another pot” (v. 4). The prophet reminds us that God is indeed a skillful potter, and we are the clay. He is sovereign and can use what He creates to both destroy evil and create beauty in us.

God can shape us even when we’re marred or broken. He, the masterful potter, can and is willing to create new and precious pottery from our shattered pieces. God doesn’t look at our broken lives, mistakes, and past sins as unusable material. Instead, He picks up our pieces and reshapes them as He sees best.

Even in our brokenness, we have immense value to our Master Potter. In His hands, the broken pieces of our lives can be reshaped into beautiful vessels that can be used by Him (v. 4).


Reflect & Pray
What comfort can you find in knowing God is a potter who can form something new from your broken pieces? How can you relax as the Potter reshapes you into a beautiful vessel?

God, You’re the Potter and I’m the clay. Mold me as You wish. Remind me that I’m in Your skillful and caring hands.

Insight
Jeremiah used the analogy of the potter and clay to illustrate God’s freedom to judge and restore His people. Even if God promised that a nation would be “built up and planted” (Jeremiah 18:9), that didn’t mean a nation should become complacent and arrogant, for God is free to respond to unrepentant sin with judgment (v. 10). At the same time, God’s judgment of Israel didn’t suggest their permanent destruction; for if Israel repented, God, like a potter reshaping clay, would freely reshape and rebuild Israel (v. 8).

The metaphor of the potter and clay also emphasizes God’s good purposes for His creation. A potter responds to defects in the clay (lack of moisture, a lump, or other issues) by further working the clay into a usable form. Likewise, God doesn’t throw away His creation but continues to work toward His good purposes.
 

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1 John 4:16 KJV
And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.


Loving God

The professor ended his online class in one of two ways each time. He’d say, “See you next time” or “Have a good weekend.” Some students would respond with “Thank you. You too!” But one day a student responded, “I love you.” Surprised, he replied, “I love you too!” That evening the classmates agreed to create an “I love you chain” for the next class time in appreciation for their professor who had to teach to a screen on his computer, not in-person teaching as he preferred. A few days later when he finished teaching, the professor said, “See you next time,” and one by one the students replied, “I love you.” They continued this practice for months. The teacher said this created a strong bond with his students, and he now feels they’re “family.”

In 1 John 4:10–21, we, as part of God’s family, find several reasons to say “I love you” to Him: He sent His Son as a sacrifice for our sin (v. 10). He gave us His Spirit to live in us (vv. 13, 15). His love is always reliable (v. 16), and we never need to fear judgment (v. 17). He enables us to love Him and others “because he first loved us” (v. 19).

The next time you gather with God’s people, take time to share your reasons for loving Him. Making an “I love you” chain for God will bring Him praise and bring you closer together.


Reflect & Pray
Why do you love God? How can you show others His love?

I’m grateful to know Your love and to be a part of Your family, Father. Show me ways to creatively express that love.


Insight
Scholars believe 1 John was written by the apostle John, the author of the fourth gospel. Some ten years after writing his gospel, John wrote this letter to teach believers how to “live as Jesus did” (1 John 2:6)—putting love into action. Reminiscent of the language of John 3:16–17, John reminds us that God “sent his one and only Son into the world . . . as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:9–10). “Atoning sacrifice” describes what Jesus did on the cross in “removing guilt and purifying sinners (expiation), and appeasing God’s anger toward sinners (propitiation)” (NIV Zondervan Study Bible).
 

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Ecclesiastes 3:12 KJV
I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.


True Happiness

In the tenth century, Abd al-Rahman III was the ruler of Cordoba, Spain. After fifty years of successful reign (“beloved by my subjects, dreaded by my enemies, and respected by my allies”), al-Rahman took a deeper look at his life. “Riches and honors, power and pleasure, have waited on my call,” he said of his privileges. But when he counted how many days of genuine happiness he’d had during that time, they amounted to just fourteen. How sobering.

The writer of Ecclesiastes was also a man of riches and honor (Ecclesiastes 2:7–9), power and pleasure (1:12; 2:1–3). And his own life evaluation was equally sobering. Riches, he realized, just led to a desire for more (5:10–11), while pleasures accomplished little (2:1–2), and success could be due to chance as much as ability (9:11). But his assessment didn’t end as bleakly as al-Rahman’s. Believing God was his ultimate source of happiness, he saw that eating, working, and doing good could all be enjoyed when done with Him (2:25; 3:12–13).

“O man!” al-Rahman concluded his reflections, “place not thy confidence in this present world!” The writer of Ecclesiastes would agree. Since we’ve been made for eternity (3:11), earthly pleasures and achievements won’t satisfy by themselves. But with Him in our lives, genuine happiness is possible in our eating, working, and living.         


Reflect & Pray
What do you turn to most to find happiness? How can you eat, work, and do good with God today?              

Heavenly Father, today I will do all things with You by my side.               



Insight
Ecclesiastes 3 emphasizes humanity’s inability to discern the ways in which God’s plan and purposes are at work, suggesting that this is often experienced by people as a “burden” (v. 10). For although God has “set eternity in the human heart . . . no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end” (v. 11). The word translated “eternity” (Hebrew ‘olam) can be translated in a variety of ways. Here, some scholars argue it means “the age to come,” some say it refers primarily to the future, and others believe it refers to how all of time is connected. Whatever the meaning, the teacher in Ecclesiastes suggests that trying too hard to understand life’s whys or the ways in which God’s purposes will be realized will make it impossible to find satisfaction in the ups and downs of daily life (v. 12).
 

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Leviticus 19:18 KJV
Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord.


Not Holding Grudges

During a promotional event in 2011, two seventy-three-year-old former Canadian Football League players got into a fistfight on stage. They had a “beef” (a grudge or feud) dating back to a controversial championship football game in 1963. After one man knocked the other off the stage, the crowd called out to him to “let it go!” They were telling him to “squash the beef.”

The Bible contains many examples of people “beefing.” Cain held a grudge against his brother Abel because God accepted Abel’s offering over his (Genesis 4:4–5). This grudge was so severe that it eventually led to murder as “Cain attacked his brother . . . and killed him” (v. 8). “Esau held a grudge against Jacob” because Jacob stole the birthright that was rightfully his (27:41). This grudge was so intense that it caused Jacob to run for his life in fear.

Not only does the Bible give us several examples of people who held grudges, but it also instructs us on how to “squash the beef”—how to seek forgiveness and reconciliation. God calls us to love others (Leviticus 19:18), pray for and forgive those who insult and injure us (Matthew 5:43–47), live peaceably with all people, leave revenge to God, and overcome evil with good (Romans 12:18–21). By His power, may we “squash the beef” today.


Reflect & Pray
Why is it vital for us to not hold grudges? How will you work to restore a broken or damaged relationship this week?   
Jesus, thank You that I can forgive others because You’ve forgiven me. 


Insight
In Romans 12, the apostle Paul encouraged believers in Jesus to act in ways contrary to our sinful nature. In verse 14, he wrote, “Bless those who persecute you” and added “bless and do not curse.” Not even the smallest bit of desire for divine vengeance was to interfere with our prayer that God bless our enemies. John Calvin wrote on this verse: “I have said that this is more difficult than to let go of revenge when anyone is injured; for though some restrain their hands and are not led away by the passion of doing harm, they yet wish that some calamity or loss would in some way happen to their enemies . . . . But God by his word not only restrains our hands from doing evil, but also subdues the bitter feelings within.”