Daily Bible Verse

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Psalm 63:1 KJV
O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;


Our Heart’s True Home

“Bobbie the Wonder Dog” was a collie mix separated from his family while they were on a summer vacation together more than 2,200 miles from home. The family searched everywhere for their beloved pet but returned heartbroken without him.

Six months later, toward the end of winter, a scraggly but determined Bobbie showed up at their door in Silverton, Oregon. Bobbie somehow made the long and dangerous trek, crossing rivers, desert, and snow-covered mountains to find his way home to those he loved.

Bobbie’s quest inspired books, movies, and a mural in his hometown. His devotion strikes a chord within, perhaps because God has placed an even deeper longing in our hearts. Ancient theologian Augustine described it this way: “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” This same longing was desperately yet eloquently expressed by David in a prayer as he hid from his pursuers in Judah’s wilderness: “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1).

David praised God because His “love is better than life” (v. 3). Nothing compares with knowing Him! Through Jesus, God has sought us out and made the way for us to come home to His perfect love—regardless of how distant we once were. As we turn to Him, we find our heart’s true home.


Reflect & Pray
What do you look forward to most about one day seeing Jesus? In what ways will you seek Him today?

Jesus, thank You for making the way for me to come to You through Your life, death on the cross, and resurrection. 


Insight
Though the superscription (information about authorship, occasion, and musical or liturgical instruction) of Psalm 63 includes the name of the songwriter, “David,” and the setting, “the Desert of Judah” (wilderness), we aren’t given the circumstances under which this psalm was written. The most likely situation was when David fled to the wilderness from his rebellious son Absalom (2 Samuel 15–18). “The whole countryside wept aloud as all the people passed by. The king also crossed the Kidron Valley, and all the people moved on toward the wilderness” (15:23; see vv. 27–29; 16:2; 17:16, 29). David was on the run from a son he loved dearly (13:37–39) and for whom, upon his death, he would weep bitterly and mourn deeply (18:31–19:4). Whatever the occasion, during a time of deep difficulty, David found strength to call upon and cling to God (Psalm 63:1, 8).   
 

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Job 1:21 KJV
And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.


Grieving and Grateful

After my mom died, one of her fellow cancer patients approached me. “Your mom was so kind to me," she said, sobbing. “I’m sorry she died . . . instead of me.”

“My mom loved you,” I said. “We prayed God would let you see your boys grow up.” Holding her hands, I wept with her and asked God to help her grieve peacefully. I also thanked Him for her remission that allowed her to continue loving her husband and two growing children.

The Bible reveals the complexity of grief when Job lost almost everything, including all his children. Job grieved and “fell to the ground in worship” (Job 1:20). With a heartbreaking and hopeful act of surrender and expression of gratitude, he declared, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” (v. 21). While Job would struggle mightily later through his grieving and God’s rebuilding of his life, in this moment he accepted and even rejoiced in His authority over the good and bad situations.

God understands the many ways we process and struggle with emotions. He invites us to grieve with honesty and vulnerability. Even when sorrow seems endless and unbearable, God affirms that He hasn’t and won’t change. With this promise, He comforts us and empowers us to be grateful for His presence.


Reflect & Pray
When have you experienced gratitude toward God while grieving a great loss? How has He revealed His presence when you felt alone or misunderstood in your grief?

Compassionate God, thank You for knowing me and carrying me through every step of my grieving process.


Insight
Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet, “When sorrowws come, they come not single spies but in battalions.” Job would certainly have understood. Perhaps any of those trials by themselves would have been devastating, but he experienced multiple trials at once as pictured in the phrase, “while he was still speaking, another messenger came and said” (vv. 16–18). Before even having time to process one tragedy, the next was upon him. The trials described in these events picture life in a broken world.
 

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Leviticus 25:35 KJV
And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee.


Envisioning a Different Future

The three hundred middle and high school students of the small town of Neodesha, Kansas, filed into a surprise school assembly. They then sat in disbelief upon hearing that a couple with ties to their town had decided to pay college tuition for every Neodesha student for the next twenty-five years. The students were stunned, overjoyed, and tearful.

Neodesha had been hard hit economically, which meant many families worried about how to cover college expenses. The gift was a generational game-changer, and the donors hoped it would immediately impact current families but also incentivize others to move to Neodesha. They envision their generosity igniting new jobs, new vitality—an entirely different future for the town.

God desired His people to be generous by not only tending to their own acute needs but also by envisioning a new future for their struggling neighbors. God’s directions were clear: “If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and are unable to support themselves among you, help them” (Leviticus 25:35). The generosity wasn’t only about meeting basic physical needs but also about considering what their future life together as a community would require. “Help them,” God said, “so they can continue to live among you” (v. 35).

The deepest forms of giving reimagine a different future. God’s immense, creative generosity encourages us toward that day when we’ll all live together in wholeness and plenty.


Reflect & Pray
How does generosity meet immediate needs? How can it encourage you to also look further?

Dear God, I struggle with being generous in the most basic ways. Help me to see and act.


Insight
In the Old Testament, the Israelites were commanded to be generous to their fellow Israelites (Deuteronomy 14:27; 15:7–11) and to foreigners and strangers (Leviticus 23:22; Deuteronomy 26:12). In the New Testament, believers in Jesus were likewise to be generous. The apostle Paul gave a good example of generosity to fellow believers in 2 Corinthians 8–9. The Macedonian church, despite their extreme poverty and during a severe trial, joyfully gave as much as they could to help the needy believers in Jerusalem. And Paul urged the Corinthians to willingly do the same, reminding them: “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously” (9:6). Today, we’re to extend that same generosity inside and outside the church: “Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased” (Hebrews 13:16).
 

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Matthew 6:25 KJV
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?


Birds of the Air

The summer sun was rising and my smiling neighbor, seeing me in my front yard, whispered for me to come look. “What?” I whispered back, intrigued. She pointed to a wind chime on her front porch, where a tiny teacup of straw rested atop a metal rung. “A hummingbird’s nest,” she whispered. “See the babies?” The two beaks, tiny as pinpricks, were barely visible as they pointed upward. “They’re waiting for the mother.” We stood there, marveling. I raised my cell phone to snap a picture. “Not too close,” my neighbor said. “Don’t want to scare away the mother.” And with that, we adopted—from afar—a family of hummingbirds.

But not for long. In another week, mother bird and babies were gone—as quietly as they had arrived. But who would care for them?

The Bible gives a glorious but familiar answer. It’s so familiar that we may forget all that it promises: “Do not worry about your life,” said Jesus (Matthew 6:25). A simple but beautiful instruction. “Look at the birds of the air,” He added. “They do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them” (v. 26).

Just as God cares for tiny birds, He cares for us—nurturing us in mind, body, soul, and spirit. It’s a magnificent promise. May we look to Him daily—without worry—and soar.


Reflect & Pray
What’s the difference between worry and planning—or worry and concern? As you look at your life, how is God daily providing?

Loving God, it’s humbling to know that You care for the needs of my life. Please help me to honor Your promise to provide by trusting You more each day.


Insight
In Matthew 6:25–33, Jesus used a principle for logic and interpretation sometimes called qal wahomer, Hebrew for “light and heavy.” Qal wahomer was one of the principles recorded by the revered Jewish teacher Hillel (who lived 110 bc–ad 10). The principle argues that if something is true for something less important (“light”), it’s also true for something more important (“heavy”).

Jesus used this principle to emphasize that if God cares for the birds, how much more must He care for His beloved children (v. 26). And if God “clothes” fields with breathtaking beauty, how much more must God care about clothing His children (v. 30). This principle strengthens Jesus’ emphasis on exchanging worry for trust (vv. 25–34). When we trust God, we can exchange our preoccupation on what’s less important for a devotion to what’s most important: His “kingdom and his righteousness” (v. 33).
 

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2 Peter 1:3 KJV
According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:


Self-Control in God’s Strength

A 1972 study known as the “marshmallow test” was developed to gauge children’s ability to delay gratification of their desires. The kids were each offered a single marshmallow to enjoy but were told if they could refrain from eating it for ten minutes, they’d be given a second one. About a third of the children were able to hold out for the larger reward. Another third gobbled it up within thirty seconds!

We might struggle to show self-control when offered something we desire, even if we know it would benefit us more in the future to wait. Yet Peter urged us to “add to [our] faith” many important virtues, including self-control (2 Peter 1:5–6). Having laid hold of faith in Jesus, Peter encouraged his readers, and us, to continue to grow in goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, affection, and love “in increasing measure” as evidence of that faith (vv. 5–8).

While these virtues don’t earn us God’s favor nor secure our place in heaven, they demonstrate—to ourselves as well as to all those with whom we interact—our need to exercise self-control as God provides the wisdom and strength to do so. And, best of all, He’s “given us everything we need [to live] a godly life,” one that pleases Him, through the power of the Holy Spirit (v. 3).


Reflect & Pray
In whom do you observe Christlike qualities? How might you cultivate those qualities in your own life as God provides what you need?

Holy Spirit, please grow in me the qualities that reflect Jesus so I might reveal Your goodness to the world around me.


Insight
We have little explicit background on the letter of 2 Peter. J. Daryl Charles, writing in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, says: “The absence of names and places renders it difficult to be conclusive about the identity of the recipients of 2 Peter and the context out of which the letter arose. While the provenance and destination of the letter elude any certainty, numerous textual indicators point to a particular social location in which the readership finds itself, making it likely that the letter is addressed to Christians in Greece or Asia Minor, where Paul’s letters had already circulated (3:15–16).” The general agreement among conservative scholars is that Peter wrote the letter from Rome prior to his death, which was anticipated in chapter 1 (v. 15). Second Peter focuses on several themes, including spiritual growth (1:4–8), Christ’s transfiguration (vv. 16–18), false teachers (ch. 2), and the coming day of the Lord (3:3–10).
 

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Hebrews 4:12 KJV
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.


The Power of Scripture

Stephen was an up-and-coming comedian, and a prodigal. Raised in a Christian family, he struggled with doubt after his dad and two brothers died in a plane crash. By his early twenties, he’d lost his faith. But he found it one night on the frigid streets of Chicago. A stranger gave him a pocket New Testament, and Stephen cracked open the pages. An index said those struggling with anxiety should read Matthew 6:27–34, from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

Stephen turned there, and the words kindled a fire in his heart. He recalls, “I was absolutely, immediately lightened. I stood on the street corner in the cold and read the sermon, and my life has never been the same.”

Such is the power of Scripture. The Bible is unlike any other book, for it’s alive. We don’t just read the Bible. The Bible reads us. “Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit . . . ; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

Scripture presents the most powerful force on the planet, a force that transforms and leads us toward spiritual maturity. Let’s open it and read it out loud, asking God to ignite our hearts. He promises that the words He’s spoken “will not return to [Him] empty, but will accomplish what [He desires] and achieve the purpose for which [He] sent it” (Isaiah 55:11). Our lives will never be the same.


Reflect & Pray
How has Scripture changed your life? What expectations do you have when you read it?

Heavenly Father, thank You for giving me the Bible. Please make it alive in my life.


Insight
The book of Hebrews begins by saying: “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:1–2). Moses, who enters the picture in chapter 3, was one of those messengers who called people to faith and trust in God—to enter into His rest. Hebrews 3:7–4:7 emphasizes the “today-ness” of the Scriptures (see 3:7, 13, 15; 4:7). The writer’s word choices in Hebrews 4:12 highlight the potency of the Word of God: it’s “alive and active”; it’s “sharper than any double-edged sword”; “it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” The invitation to believe God’s dynamic Word remains: “Therefore, since we have a great high priest . . . , Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess” (v. 14).
 

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Philippians 4:6 KJV
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.


Happy Thanksgiving

A study by psychologist Robert Emmons divided volunteers into three groups that each made weekly entries in journals. One group wrote five things they were grateful for. One described five daily hassles. And a control group listed five events that had impacted them in a small way. The results of the study revealed that those in the gratitude group felt better about their lives overall, were more optimistic about the future, and reported fewer health problems.

Giving thanks has a way of changing the way we look at life. Thanksgiving can even make us happier.

The Bible has long extolled the benefits of giving thanks to God, as doing so reminds us of His character. The Psalms repeatedly call God’s people to give Him thanks because “the Lord is good and his love endures forever” (Psalm 100:5) and to thank Him for His unfailing love and wonderful deeds (107:8, 15, 21, 31).

As the apostle Paul closed his letter to the Philippians—the letter itself a kind of thank-you note to a church that had supported him—he linked thankful prayers with the peace of God “which transcends all understanding” (4:7). When we focus on God and His goodness, we find that we can pray without anxiety, in every situation, with thanksgiving. Giving thanks brings us a peace that uniquely guards our hearts and minds and changes the way we look at life. A heart full of gratitude nurtures a spirit of joy.


Reflect & Pray
What threatens your sense of gratitude? How is God calling you to a “happy thanksgiving” as you bring your needs before Him?

Father in heaven, where I see problems, grant me a spirit of gratitude and grateful praise.


Insight
Paul frequently used a literary device in his writing known as asyndeton—a deliberate omission of conjunctions to be as concise and persuasive as possible. He employed this device at the end of his letter to the church in Philippi (Philippians 4:4–7), where he gives four admonitions: “rejoice” (twice); “let your gentleness be evident to all”; “do not be anxious,” and “present your requests to God.” While on the surface these instructions may seem disconnected, the meaning of the words gentleness and anxious points to the context of the persecution the Philippians were suffering. The use of asyndeton adds a motivating force to his words. From his own circumstances of being persecuted, Paul was writing with as much force and emphasis as he could muster to encourage the Philippian believers to hold on to Jesus and express their faith well.
 

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DAILY BIBLE VERSE

Your Part, God's Part

Genesis 12:1-4 KJV

Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:When my friend Janice was asked to manage her department at work after just a few years, she felt overwhelmed. Praying over it, she felt God was prompting her to accept the appointment—but still, she feared she couldn’t cope with the responsibility. “How can I lead with so little experience?” she asked God. “Why put me here if I’m going to be a failure?”Later, Janice was reading about God’s call of Abram in Genesis 12 and noted that his part was to “go . . . to the land [God] will show you. . . . So Abram went” (vv. 1, 4). This was a radical move, because nobody uprooted like this in the ancient world. But God was asking him to trust Him by leaving everything he knew behind, and He would do the rest. Identity? You’ll be a great nation. Provision? I’ll bless you. Reputation? A great name. Purpose? You’ll be a blessing to all peoples on earth. He made some big mistakes along the way, but “by faith Abraham . . . obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8).This realization took a big burden off Janice’s heart. “I don’t have to worry about ‘succeeding’ at my job,” she told me later. “I just have to focus on trusting God to enable me to do the work.” As God provides the faith we need, may we trust Him with all our lives.

Reflect & Pray
What worries do you have about your responsibilities? How is God asking you to trust Him in your present circumstances?
Dear God, I want to surrender to You my fears and worries about succeeding in my roles and responsibilities. Please help me to do my part as You do Yours.


Insight
The Hebrew phrase translated “go” (Genesis 12:1) is literally “go to yourself.” While difficult to translate, this emphatic command is perhaps captured more closely by the King James translation: “Get thee out.”
The promises given to Abraham—land, abundant children, and blessing (vv. 2–3, 7)—echo the consequences of Adam and Eve’s fall—exile from the garden, difficult childbirth, and difficulty cultivating the land (3:16–24). These parallels hint that God would begin His plan to undo the consequences of the fall through this couple, through whom “all peoples on earth” would “be blessed” (12:3).
 

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Psalm 90:4 KJV
For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.


Life Expectancy

In 1990, French researchers had a computer problem: a data error when processing the age of Jeanne Calment. She was 115 years old, an age outside the parameters of the software program. The programmers had assumed no one could possibly live that long! In fact, Jeanne lived until the age of 122.

The psalmist writes, “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures” (Psalm 90:10). This is a figurative way of saying that whatever age we live to, even to the age of Jeanne Calment, our lives on earth are indeed limited. Our lifetimes are in the sovereign hands of a loving God (v. 5). In the spiritual realm, however, we’re reminded of what “God time” really is: “A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by” (v. 4).

And in the person of Jesus Christ “life expectancy” has been given a whole new meaning: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life” (John 3:36). “Has” is in the present tense: right now, in our current physical moment of trouble and tears, our future is blessed, and our lifespan is limitless.

In this we rejoice and with the psalmist pray, “Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days” (Psalm 90:14).


Reflect & Pray
What worries do you have about your life and its limits? How are you comforted by the presence of Jesus?

Loving God, sometimes this life is hard, but—even so—I sing for joy in Your provision for me. Satisfy me today with Your unfailing love.


Insight
Moses’ authorship of Psalm 90, based on the superscription, makes it the oldest of the psalms whose authorship we know. In addition to this psalm, Moses is ascribed authorship of the first five books of the Bible—the Pentateuch or Torah—making him the most prolific Old Testament writer. Some scholars believe that the background to the writing of this psalm may have been Israel’s failure at Kadesh Barnea (Numbers 13–14), where they rejected the land of promise despite Joshua and Caleb’s glowing account of the magnificent new homeland God had promised them. That rejection resulted in the forty years of wilderness wanderings the Israelites endured.
 

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Romans 5:8
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.


Will You Still Love Me?

Ten-year-old Lyn-Lyn had finally been adopted, but she was afraid. In the orphanage where she’d grown up, she was punished over the slightest mistake. Lyn-Lyn asked her adoptive mom, who was a friend of mine: “Mommy, do you love me?” When my friend replied yes, Lyn-Lyn asked, “If I make a mistake, will you still love me?”

Although unspoken, some of us might ask that same question when we feel we’ve disappointed God: “Will You still love me?” We know that as long as we live in this world, we’ll fail and sin at times. And we wonder, Do my mistakes affect God’s love for me?

John 3:16 assures us of God’s love. He gave His Son, Jesus, to die on our behalf so that if we believe in Him, we’ll receive eternal life. But what if we fail Him even after we place our trust in Him? That’s when we need to remember that “Christ died for us” even when we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). If He could love us at our worst, how can we doubt His love today when we’re His children?

When we sin, our Father lovingly corrects and disciplines us. That’s not rejection (8:1); that’s love (Hebrews 12:6). Let’s live as God’s beloved children, resting in the blessed assurance that His love for us is steadfast and everlasting.


Reflect & Pray
How does understanding God’s love for you strengthen you to obey Him? How does it impact your view of sin?Heavenly Father, thank You for Your steadfast and unchanging love.


Insight
In Romans 5, the apostle Paul sets up one of the most beautiful pictures of Jesus’ work on the cross. Shortly after saying that God proved His love for humanity through Christ’s death, Paul turns his attention to our death. Death, he says, became a plague over all humanity because the first Adam chose rebellion over obedience. As a result, every human dies. But Jesus—the last Adam—chose obedience to the Father. As a result, He opened the path through death to eternal life for everyone who will believe in Him.

We were God’s enemies when He sent Jesus. We were doomed to die because of Adam’s and our own rebellion. But God didn’t give up on us. Instead, He showed us love through Jesus. And His faithfulness broke both the power of sin and death, leading us back to life.