Today’s Verse – Hebrews 12:2
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. —Hebrews 12:2 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… “He drives where he looks, he drives where he looks!” That statement by Nan, a wife disgruntled by her husband’s driving, absolutely spoke the truth. Vail invariably would turn the steering wheel in the direction he was looking, terrifying all of us who rode with him as he looked around. This principle is also true of each of us and our lives: “We live where we look!” What our hearts seek and what our minds focus on steer us toward our goal, like a heat-seeking missile following its target’s exhaust. That’s why we must “fix our eyes on Jesus.” We focus upon Jesus to both know him and become like him (2 Corinthians 3:18). Our lives will follow where we look. So let’s fix our gaze and focus our hearts on Jesus. Video Commentary… ToGather Worship Guide | More ToGather Videos My Prayer… Almighty and holy God, without your grace and the gift of your salvation, I could not approach you with the confidence that I have today. Thank you for sending Jesus! Thank you for his life, his death, his resurrection, his exaltation, and his intercession. I pledge this day to keep my eyes on him! Please guard me from distractions. Through his holy name I pray. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Today’s Verse – Matthew 20:17-19
Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!” —Matthew 20:17-19 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… One thing the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) make clear: Jesus’ death on the cross was no accident – it was no tragedy outside the will of God. Jesus knew the challenge that awaited him in Jerusalem, and he walked into his horrific challenge to deliver us from the same fate he suffered. His trust in the Father’s “third day solution” opened the doorway for God to secure victory for Jesus and all of us who build our futures through our faith in him (Colossians 2:12-15, 3:1-4). The question for us is straightforward: Will we face our challenges with a faith that the Father’s “third day solution” assures us of our triumph in the face of our mortality? My Prayer… Holy God and Loving Father, thank you for your plan to cover my sin with your grace by the death of your Son. Thank you, Jesus, for assuring me of my victory over sin, death, hell, and the evil one through your “third day” solution! May I live today aware of Jesus’ sacrifice and confident of his “third day” victory for me. May my life reflect that coming victory in the way I live each day. In the name of Jesus, my sacrificial and conquering Savior, I pray. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Today’s Verse – Psalm 14:1
The fool says in his heart there is no God. —Psalm 14:1 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… At one time or another, most of us raised an angry fist to fate and cursed the darkness. Each of these actions is equally ineffective. To deny the existence of God is something else altogether. To rob heaven of God is to rob ourselves of grace, hope, and future. How foolish to forget that behind a Creation of wonder, order, variety, beauty, power, and pattern is the Grand Creator. He is far greater than his handiwork, and we dare not ignore, deny, or dismiss him, for then we become our own gods, left to only worship ourselves and the beauty created for us. How small our world becomes when we do deny there is God (1 Corinthians 1:18-32). My Prayer… O LORD God Almighty, Creator and Sustainer, we thank you for not only being there always as the great “I AM,” (Exodus 3:13-15; Hebrews 13:5-6) but being with each of us this very day. Please use us, your children, to awaken our skeptical world to the wonder, glory, majesty, righteousness, grace, and love that is you! In Jesus name, we pray and praise you, O God. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Today’s Verse – Isaiah 53:5-6
He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 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 53:5-6 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… As we did yesterday, today we look at one of Isaiah’s four Servant Songs (Isaiah 42:1-9, 49:1-7, 50:4-9, 52:13-53:12) that speak of the coming of God’s servant Messiah, whom we know as Jesus, our LORD and Savior. I don’t know how Jesus could stand up under the weight of his divine assignment as Messiah and Suffering Servant, but he did for you and me. This servant song (Isaiah 52:13-53:12) emphasizes what Jesus endured and carried, along with the weight of his cross. He carried my sin, your sin, our sin with him to the cross. He allowed the weight of our sins to be placed upon him so that we would not have to bear the consequences of them. But in that sacrifice, as horrible as it was, we find ourselves healed – cured of the most awful disease a person can have, a sin-sick soul full of the rot and decay of death, evil, and hell. As we read two days ago: God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21) He was pierced, crushed, and punished for our sins. In the place of that putrification, he left us with his gracious love, transforming peace, and place with the Father in glory, where we will one day live with him, forever. Yes, “by his wounds, we are healed.” My Prayer… God of peace, fill my soul with the wonder of your grace, the enormity of Jesus’ sacrifice in coming to us, and the wonder of the glory we will share with him because of your love. Please remind me of the cost of your gracious love. Please stir in me the constant and abiding memory of your redemptive grace. Please awaken me to the mission that Jesus lived, died, and rose again, and the mission to share your love in Jesus with the world. Thank you. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Today’s Verse – Isaiah 53:3-4
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and he carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. —Isaiah 53:3-4 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… Jesus was everything, created everything, and gave up everything to become nothing for you and me (Philippians 2:5-8). Most of the people on earth he came to save didn’t recognize him or accept him when he was here. Many in the crowds just assumed he deserved what he got, crucifixion. Most did not repent. But there was something about Jesus’ self-sacrificing story, self-emptying story that grabs our hearts and calls us, God’s lost children, home. On our journey home, we not only find him to be our Savior but also the servant promised by God through Isaiah the prophet (Isaiah 42:1-9, 49:1-7, 50:4-9, 52:13-53:12), who is also God’s Son, the one who came to bring salvation to all humankind. My Prayer… God Almighty, your plan to redeem me takes my breath away. Why you chose to take your precious son and expose him to such public disgrace while he was on earth, I will never comprehend. But this I do know: you love me with an everlasting love, and so I will serve you with all of my strength in thanks for his great sacrifice. Thank you for your love. In the name of Jesus Christ, my LORD and Savior, I pray and praise you. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Today’s Verse – 2 Corinthians 5:21
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. —2 Corinthians 5:21 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… Righteousness! That’s what we are. We are not just righteous. No, it is much bigger than that. We are God’s righteousness. Before Jesus, and without Jesus, no one is righteous (Romans 3:21-24). Now, however, we find our righteousness in him (Philippians 3:9). We are the testimony of how holy and gracious God truly is because of Jesus (Ephesians 2:1-9). God provided the sacrifice for our sins, and now his righteousness has re-created us in Christ Jesus to do good works for him in our broken world (2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:10). Altogether, this is God’s righteousness, and that’s what he has made us, his righteousness in Jesus! My Prayer… Thank You, Almighty God, for making me righteous by the blood of your Son’s death. May people see a reflection of your holiness, justice, and mercy in me, as I try to share your grace with them. By the authority of Jesus and his sacrifice for my sins, I pray with confidence. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Today’s Verse – 1 Timothy 2:5-6
For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men — the testimony given in its proper time. —1 Timothy 2:5-6 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… We do not need to have another human, no matter how mighty, pious, or special, to intercede for us before God. As God’s children, we can go freely, knowing that God himself has provided the perfect mediator and intercessor between himself and us. That mediator is the Son, who is head of the Church, one with God himself, and our High Priest interceding before God on our behalf. His name is the man, Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, the Son, and our LORD, Savior, and brother, who ransomed us through the cross and who now lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews 2:11-14, 4:14-15, 7:25; Acts 3:6). My Prayer… O God, you are my God, and I praise you for making access to you so freely available. I know that if left to my own worthiness, I would have no strength or righteousness with which to approach you. Yet in your grace, you not only provided a ransom for my sin that makes me holy, but you also provided a mediator for my approach to you. Jesus, I thank you for paying the price on earth and now at the Father’s side to intercede and speak for me! Thank you, Jesus, for making this prayer known to the Father, as I pray in your name. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Today’s Verse – Psalm 62:7
My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. —Psalm 62:7 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… Who we are, what becomes of us in life, and what we accomplish of significance are all in God’s hands. We cannot achieve lasting honor for ourselves without his blessing. We cannot secure our future or our safety without his protection and blessing. The basis of all achievement and glory is dependent upon our willingly placing our lives in his care because he alone is permanent, eternal, and offers us life that is unending, with our future secure. Video Commentary… ToGather Worship Guide | More ToGather Videos My Prayer… O God, you are my Rock, the Fortress of my life. I place myself in your care, willingly and dependently. Please take charge of my future and use me for your glory in that future. In you I take refuge, and on your strength I rely to make my days worthwhile and my life to make a difference in the world for Jesus. I seek you and your Kingdom above all other entanglements, distractions, or goals. In the precious name of Jesus, I pray this. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Today’s Verse – James 1:12
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. —James 1:12 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… Only Christians win at life. That’s because none of us who are human has the power to hold back our greatest enemy, death (Hebrews 2:14-15; 1 Corinthians 15:26). But when we have persevered, we are given the ultimate victory: THE CROWN OF LIFE, life that will not end (Revelation 2:10). Because our lives are in the hands of the one who defeated death, death cannot separate us from our victory in Jesus Christ our LORD! As the apostle Paul emphatically proclaimed: When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:54-57) My Prayer… Thank you, Father, for giving me the assurance that when all is said and done, I will share in your life and Jesus’ victory over sin, death, hell, and the evil one, forever. Help me to live today confidently, knowing that I have your life and that the living part of me, united with Jesus, will never die (Colossians 3:1-4). In the name of Jesus, my conquering King, I pray. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Today’s Verse – Ephesians 6:10-11
Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. —Ephesians 6:10-11 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… Many of the struggles in our lives are not mere accidents! Many of them are not put there by God. Our challenges often come from the hand of our enemy, the evil one, the liar and murderer from the beginning (John 8:44). He is always prowling about looking for the best scheme (2 Corinthians 2:11) to knock us down and devour us as he weakens our commitment to and relationship with the LORD Jesus (1 Peter 5:8). We are in a war with this evil one – a struggle not with flesh and blood, but against spiritual powers (Ephesians 6:12). By placing ourselves firmly in the hands of the LORD and using his tools of warfare enables us overcome our enemy in the name of Jesus and by the blood of his cross (Colossians 1:20), because Jesus humiliated the evil one and his minions in the triumph over evil at the cross (Colossians 2:12-15). Be strong in the LORD because the strength is with him. My Prayer… Strengthen me, O God, that I may stand against my evil foe and triumph by the power of your Spirit. I want to bring honor and glory to my conquering Savior, Jesus, who will return one day and take me home in victory. In the name of Jesus, the victorious Rider on the White Horse (Revelation 6:1-2, 19:11-16), I pray. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.