Unjust Suffering
Note from Jesus Dear Disciple, Life sometimes is not fair. If you have any doubts about that, just remember what you celebrate when you take part in Communion. My body was pierced and abused. My blood was shed because I was condemned based on the lies, jealousy, and politics of evil men. I was sinless, yet crucified as a heinous criminal. When you face unjust suffering, persecution, harassment, or abuse because you wear My name, remember that I also faced unfair and unjust treatment. If you suffer for doing what is wrong, you are only getting what you deserve. However, if you suffer unjustly and unfairly, people will usually notice. People of faith will be empowered and emboldened. Unbelievers will recognize your holy behavior. Except for the most hardened hearts under hell’s influence, your godly behavior in the face of injustice and unfairness appeals to the hearts of those looking for truth. Don’t be discouraged. Your suffering will neither be wasted nor be forgotten by the Father. In the face of ridicule, harassment, and abuse, your righteous character and gracious compassion will win the hearts of those who witness your life. Some will even want to know what your reason is for having hope in Me. So be ready to give an explanation of your hope in Me. But remember, do this “humbly and respectfully” in a manner consistent with your way of life as My disciple. Your goal is not just to win your case, protect your freedom, and safeguard your rights. Your goal is also to win the hearts of the unbelievers by using the character and compassion of your life. Verses to Live I selected your verses today from 1 Peter chapters 2 and 3. They are connected by the theme of righteous and compassionate behavior while facing unjust suffering. The principles Peter shares in these verses show his maturity and mellowing. I transformed Peter from the arrogant and impetuous apostle who sometimes overstated things into the loving shepherd who faced tough times and wanted to equip others for their tough times. Whether you face persecution, ostracism, injustice, unfairness, or passive-aggressive hostility from those around you, Peter’s words in today’s verses need to grab your heart. I want Peter’s teaching to mold your behavior so that you can be an effective witness for Me. For the Lord’s sake, accept the decrees and laws of all the various human institutions, whether they come from the highest human ruler or agents he sends to punish those who do wrong and to reward those who do well. You see, it is God’s will that by doing what is right and good you should hush the gabbing ignorance of the foolish. Live as those who are free and not as those who use their freedom as a pretext for evil, but live as God’s servants. Respect everyone. Love the community of believers. Reverence God. Honor your ruler. If you are a slave, submit yourself to the master who has authority over you, whether he is kind and gentle or harsh as he deals with you. For grace is clearly at work when a person accepts undeserved pain and suffering and does so because he is mindful of God. For what credit is there in enduring punishment you deserve? But if you do what is right and yet are punished and endure it patiently, God will be pleased with you. For you were called to this kind of life, as Isaiah said, He did no wrong deed, and no evil word came from His mouth. The Anointed One suffered for us and left us His example so that we could follow in His steps. When He was verbally abused, He didn’t return the abuse; when He suffered, He didn’t make threats to cause suffering in return; instead, He trusted that all would be put right by the One Who is just when He judges. (1 Peter 2:13-23) Finally, all of you, be like-minded and show sympathy, love, compassion, and humility to and for each other — not paying back evil with evil or insult with insult, but repaying the bad with a blessing. It was this you were called to do, so that you might inherit a blessing. … Why would anyone harm you if you eagerly do good? Even if you should suffer for doing what is right, you will receive a blessing. Don’t let them frighten you. Don’t be intimidated, but exalt Him as Lord in your heart. Always be ready to offer a defense, humbly and respectfully, when someone asks why you live in hope. Keep your conscience clear so that those who ridicule your good conduct in the Anointed and say bad things about you will be put to shame. For if it is the will of God that you suffer, then it is better to suffer for doing what is right than for doing what is wrong. The Anointed One suffered for sins once for all time — the righteous suffering for the unrighteous — so that He might bring us to God. (1 Peter 3:8-9; 1 Peter 3:13-18) Response in Prayer Holy and compassionate Father, please give me the strength to be gracious as well as faithful in the face of injustice, unfairness, ostracism, and intolerance. I want to demonstrate Your righteous character and Your gracious compassion. I ask You to fill and empower me with the Holy Spirit. I offer myself to You as Your willing servant and witness. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. ‘A Year with Jesus’ is written by Phil Ware. © 1998-2024, Heartlight, Inc. ‘A Year with Jesus‘ is part of the Heartlight Network.All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Voice™. © 2008 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today’s Verse – Proverbs 10:30
The righteous will never be uprooted, but the wicked will not remain in the land. —Proverbs 10:30 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… This proverb’s promise to ancient Israel is even truer for those of us who live on this side of Calvary and the empty tomb! As the apostle Paul declared: …our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the LORD Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body (Philippians 3:20-21). The righteous will never be uprooted from their true homeland, heaven, for no one and no power can steal this promised land from us. Neither can they corrupt it or destroy it! My Prayer… Father, thank you for declaring me righteous because of Jesus’s atoning death and my obedient faith in him. Because of this gift of grace, I know I have been added to your eternal family and your homeland. Please have the Holy Spirit continually transform me to become more and more like him each day. I want to be righteous in all I say, think, and do for your glory as I await my promised home. In the name of Jesus, 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.
Be Holy!
Note from Jesus Dear Holy One, You are a saint! The term means “holy one.” That is what you are because of your redemption purchased with My blood. I have made you a “priest” and part of “a royal order of priests who offer up spiritual sacrifices.” Like “living stones” you are being “assembled” into the holy dwelling place for Us — Father, Son, and Spirit. Being a saint means that you have dedicated and set apart your life to live for the Father’s purpose in your world. I know a common saying in your world is, “I’m no saint!” However, if you have been reborn into My family, if you are truly My disciple, then you are not only a child of the Father, you are also a saint! You are a person living for God’s purposes and seeking to reflect God’s righteous character and gracious compassion in your life. You are part of My holy people who are a “royal order of priests, a holy nation… so that you may proclaim the wondrous acts of the One Who called you out of inky darkness into shimmering light.” Don’t downplay what I have made of you. Don’t shortchange the role I have asked you to fulfill in a world of darkness and decay. Peter’s point in the verses below is clear: Be holy! Live up to who you are! “Be holy in all you do” because of Who your Father is: He is holy, so you must reflect that holiness in all that you do. Be holy because you know a great “price was paid to redeem you” from your old life that led to destruction. Your redemption price was paid by My “precious blood” when I offered Myself as the “perfect and unblemished sacrificial lamb.” Be holy because you have been reborn through the living and enduring “word of God.” Be holy because “you have tasted and found the Lord to be good.” Be holy because you are part of “a holy order of priests who offer up spiritual sacrifices.” You are being “assembled into a spiritual” temple where We live. Be holy because you are “chosen” and “royal” and because you are designated to be “holy”! As Peter says it, you are “God’s own”! Be holy because “you don’t belong in this world. You are resident aliens living in exile” among people who don’t understand you or appreciate you. However, as they get to know you, as they see your honorable behavior, as they witness your holy life, and as you live obediently to My will, you will be light to their darkness and salt to their decay (Matthew 5:13-16). Your influence upon the world around you will matter. Be holy. Live up to who you are. Be who the Father has made you to be based on your faith and rebirth into Our family. Even if you suffer for your faith, be holy in the face of suffering knowing that your example and sacrifice will influence others to know Me and be ready for My return. Verses to Live The following collection of verses comes from 1 Peter chapters 1 and 2. Peter wrote to folks facing trials and persecutions. He knew their suffering, especially suffering for doing what was right, was unfair. His first answer about how they should deal with their situation, the answer that I shared in My note yesterday, focused on praise. The disciples needed to rejoice in their living hope they had in Me. Today’s verses are Peter’s reminder to them of their new and exalted identity as My people who were purchased by My sacrifice and called to a clear purpose — “so that you may proclaim the wondrous acts of the One Who called you out of inky darkness into shimmering light.” Tomorrow’s verses will emphasize that if they were going to suffer, they needed to make sure they suffered for doing what was right and not for doing what was wrong. So get yourselves ready, prepare your minds to act, control yourselves, and look forward in hope as you focus on the grace that comes when Jesus the Anointed returns and is completely revealed to you. Be like obedient children as you put aside the desires you used to pursue when you didn’t know better. Since the One Who called you is holy, be holy in all you do. For the Scripture says, “You are to be holy, for I am holy.” If you call on the Father Who judges everyone without partiality according to their actions, then you should live in reverence and awe while you live out the days of your exile. You know that a price was paid to redeem you from following the empty ways handed on to you by your ancestors; it was not paid with things that perish (like silver and gold), but with the precious blood of the Anointed, Who was like a perfect and unblemished sacrificial lamb. God determined to send Him before the world began, but He came into the world in these last days for your sake. Through Him, you’ve been brought to trust in God, Who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him for the very reason that your faith and hope are in Him. Now that you have taken care to purify your souls through your submission to the truth, you can experience real love for each other. So love each other deeply from a pure heart. You have been reborn — not from seed that eventually dies but from seed that is eternal — through the word of God that lives and endures forever (1 Peter 1:13-23) So get rid of hatefulness and deception, of insincerity and jealousy and slander. Be like newborn babies, crying out for spiritual milk that will help you grow into salvation if you have tasted and found the Lord to be good. Come to Him — the living stone — Who was rejected by people but accepted by
Today’s Verse – Hebrews 10:29
How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? —Hebrews 10:29 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… We often look at the swift and dramatic discipline and punishment God used with his people in the Old Testament and are struck by its severity. The Holy Spirit reminds us that while this was true, to spurn grace and ridicule the sacrificial death of Jesus are actions all the more worthy of God’s punishment. Grace is incredible. It is marvelous. But to reject Jesus and all he did to bring us God’s love and salvation is to court disaster and reject any source of grace. Rejecting Jesus has harsh consequences, so please, dear friend, don’t! Please don’t reject God’s offer of love, mercy, grace, hope, and salvation in Jesus. As the apostle Peter said while inspired by the Holy Spirit: Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). My Prayer… Holy and righteous Father, thank you for your painful and costly gift of grace. Please empower me to be a transmitter and sharer of that grace to others. Please bless me with the ability to share the message of Jesus in all its loveliness so others can know your salvation and not have to face your justice after having spurned your gracious gift to them in Jesus, in whose name I pray and plead. 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.
A Living Hope
Note from Jesus Dear Faithful One, Life is full of challenges when you are bound to the realities of mortality. I know, not just because I AM God, but also because I faced these realities in My physical body. I also know that many of My disciples have endured persecution and even faced martyrdom. As Peter addresses disciples facing imminent persecution and possible martyrdom, he doesn’t begin with kind words of encouragement. Rather, he starts his letter with an outburst of praise to the Father. He is overwhelmed with joy because of “a living hope” and “an eternal inheritance… that will never fade or fail.” Like the early disciples to whom Peter was writing, you did not witness My earthly life and ministry. As I promised Thomas, those who have not seen Me and yet still believe are blessed (John 20:29)! As Peter said, you are blessed because “you do believe in Him [Me] and celebrate with a joy that is glorious and beyond words. You are receiving the salvation of your souls as the result of your faith.” While you look back in faith on what I did, know that angels — the “heavenly messengers” — stood on tiptoe in anticipation of My coming (1 Peter 1:12). They knew their waiting and wondering about Me were to serve you and your fellow disciples, the very people on whom the end of ages has come. In times of trial and persecution, genuine encouragement always begins with Me and involves praise for what the Father has done through Me. Hope is built on faith in Me and on praise of My resurrection and glorification and the glory that you will share with Me! Platitudes and slogans will not sustain people through the storms of persecution and martyrdom; praise rooted in the things I have done for you and promised to you will sustain you! Verses to Live As you read these words of praise immediately following the opening salutation in the letter you call 1 Peter, I encourage you to read these words several times. Instead of being intimidated by your times, your enemies, or the threats against you, focus on the assurance of your hope — I have conquered what you face, and I will share My “praise, honor, and glory” when I AM “revealed at last”! Blessed is God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One! Because He has raised Jesus the Anointed from death, through His great mercy we have been reborn into a living hope — reborn for an eternal inheritance, held in reserve in heaven, that will never fade or fail. Through faith, God’s power is standing watch, protecting you for a salvation that you will see completely at the end of things. You should greatly rejoice in what is waiting for you, even if now for a little while you have to suffer various trials. Suffering tests your faith which is more valuable than gold (remember that gold, although it is perishable, is tested by fire) so that if it is found genuine, you can receive praise, honor, and glory when Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King, is revealed at last. Although you haven’t seen Jesus, you still love Him. Although you don’t yet see Him, you do believe in Him and celebrate with a joy that is glorious and beyond words. You are receiving the salvation of your souls as the result of your faith. The prophets who spoke of this outpouring of grace upon you diligently searched and inquired of the Lord about this salvation: to whom and to what time was the indwelling Spirit of the Anointed referring when He told them about the suffering of the Anointed and the honor that would follow it? The Spirit revealed to them they were not serving themselves but you. And you have learned from those who told you the good news by the Spirit that was sent down from heaven. Even the heavenly messengers would like to explore this news. (1 Peter 1:3-12) Response in Prayer O Father, thank You for my living hope, Jesus Christ, the Anointed One. Thank You for His victory over sin, death, and hell. Thank You for the character and compassion that He demonstrated while on earth. Thank You for the assurance of my victory over sin, death, and hell because I am united with Him. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen. ‘A Year with Jesus’ is written by Phil Ware. © 1998-2024, Heartlight, Inc. ‘A Year with Jesus‘ is part of the Heartlight Network.All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Voice™. © 2008 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today’s Verse – Proverbs 10:28
The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing. —Proverbs 10:28 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… Good news! When we seek righteousness, justice, holiness, mercy, and godliness — qualities of our Father in heaven — our future is with him and will be full of joy. Don’t let the darkness that may be around you now steal away the glorious dawn of joy that has already begun to appear but will dawn brighter than the sun with the return of our Savior in glory! My Prayer… Father, please forgive me for the times I’ve grown depressed and melancholy over the apparent condition of my world, the culture around me, or my current situation. Thank you, dear Father, for your promise of victory and the glorious blessings that lie ahead when Jesus returns to take me home in glory. Please continue your transformational work through the Holy Spirit as I keep my eyes on Jesus, in whose 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.
Worship in Your Daily World
Note from Jesus Dear Disciple, While involving yourself in Christian assembly and gathering together with believers for encouragement, exhortation and worship are important (Hebrews 10:19-25), your worship should be much more extensive than an hour or two of the week spent with other believers. We — Father, Son, and Spirit — want your whole life to be your worship. It must be much more than just a little sliver of your time offered one or two days of the week. I commanded you to love Us “with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). That means that everything you do should be done as part of your worship. Paul said it well when he wrote to Christians in Rome: Brothers and sisters, in light of all I have shared with you about God’s mercies, I urge you to offer your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice to God, a sacred offering that brings Him pleasure; this is your reasonable, essential worship. (Romans 12:1) As My writer of Hebrews comes to the end of his “word of exhortation” (Hebrews 13:22), he calls on his readers — and I’m calling on you — to worship in all of your daily world with head, heart, and hands. Unfortunately, the chapter divisions in your Bibles can sometimes lead you to miss the Holy Spirit’s message. With the chapter break, Hebrews chapter 12 ends with a call to worship with “awe and reverence.” Some mistakenly think this is talking about being reverent when you gather for Christian assembly. Now, of course, all worship needs to be approached with “awe and reverence.” However, this division between chapter 12 and chapter 13 in your Bibles may lead you to miss the main point being made by the Holy Spirit. This “awe and reverence” needs to be a part of your worship in the daily world. In fact, He tells how to worship in “awe and reverence” in the first 14 verses of chapter 13. He then returns to the thought He began at the end of chapter 12: “the praise of lips that confess His [My] name without ceasing” and doing “what is good” and sharing “what we [you] have.” These are the “sacrifices” that please Us! So what specifically is this worship in your daily world that is done with “awe and reverence”? Here are some exhortations from this section of Hebrews: Let your love continue toward each other. Extend hospitality, including to strangers. Don’t forget to care for those in prison for their faith. Value marriage and keep your marriage sexually pure and dedicated to the person to whom you are married. Stay away from greed and the love of money; be content with what you have. Trust that We will never forsake you. Follow your Godly leaders and live the kind of life they have lived. Stay away from new and strange teachings. Avoid the type of worship that values special foods. Join Me and My work, even if it means being pushed outside the acceptance of the crowd. This principle is valid even if your holy life leads to suffering for My cause. Remember that you have a better future with Me. This, My dear disciple, is true worship. Yes, I love it when you praise the Father and confess My name in word and song. However, don’t forget to do good to all people and share what you have, who you are, and what you believe with others. This, My dear disciple, is also real worship. These are things that you can do each day to worship Us with “awe and reverence”! Verses to Live Writers and speakers in the first century often signaled that material went together by using a technique called inclusio. Basically, they put verbal brackets or bookends around their teaching. These bookends used similar language to show that the spoken or written words between them went together. The writer of Hebrews used this technique to frame this section on worship. He began with an emphasis on worship (Hebrews 12:28-29) and ended with this same theme (Hebrews 13:15-16). In between these two verbal brackets, he shared what this worship looked like in the everyday world of the disciples. Focus on two things as you read this material with its bookends: Notice how this list from 2,000 years ago is still relevant, needed, and proper in your day. Ask yourself what other things you could add to this list about how to worship the Father in your daily world. Therefore, let us all be thankful that we are a part of an unshakable Kingdom and offer to God worship that pleases Him and reflects the awe and reverence we have toward Him, for He is like a fierce fire that consumes everything. Let love continue among you. Don’t forget to extend your hospitality to all — even to strangers — for as you know, some have unknowingly shown kindness to heavenly messengers in this way. Remember those imprisoned for their beliefs as if you were their cellmate; and care for any who suffer harsh treatment, as you are all one body. Hold marriage in high esteem, all of you, and keep the marriage bed pure because God will judge those who commit sexual sins. Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have because He has said, “I will never leave you; I will always be by your side.” Because of this promise, we may boldly say, The Lord is my help — I won’t be afraid of anything. How can anyone harm me? Listen to your leaders, who have spoken God’s word to you. Notice the fruits of their lives and mirror their faith. Jesus the Anointed One is always the same: yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be carried away by diverse and strange ways of believing or worshiping. It is good for the heart to be strengthened
Today’s Verse – 1 Samuel 10:27
But some troublemakers said, “How can this fellow save us?” They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent. —1 Samuel 10:27 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… Some folks didn’t want Saul to serve them as King because of his simple background and non-aristocratic family history. So often, we tend to do the same thing today — label people and discount their ability to lead God’s people or serve in God’s Kingdom because of their heritage or past. God, however, doesn’t look at a person’s pedigree. He searches their heart. So, dear leader, please stick close to the LORD, because you will be criticized. But please, don’t react to every little criticism or slight; devote yourself to serving the LORD boldly. And to those of us called to follow God’s leaders, let’s refuse to dismiss someone as God’s leader because she or he lacks some noble pedigree. Remember the vast variety of people God used in the stories we find in the Bible. Trust that our God will be just as creative in his choice of people he wants to lead us in our day. My Prayer… Dear God, please forgive me for the times I doubted your selection of leaders. Please give me, along with the congregation, the ability to discern who your leaders are in our midst and not judge them on surface issues. Please provide them with the courage to lead unselfishly and faithfully. In Jesus’ 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.
Encouragement Matters
Note from Jesus Dear Precious One, Encouragement matters! You were not created to do life alone. We — Father, Son, and Spirit — made Adam to need Eve and Eve to need Adam. We called Abraham to be the father of a nation, not a solo person of faith. That nation was Israel, and we formed Israel to be the redeeming influence on the world. Our intent was never that Israel would be a race that retreated from the world, but We called Israel to lead the world to faith in Us. Israel didn’t fulfill that mission, but then I came as God in the flesh, Jesus of Nazareth. I did not live My life alone or conduct My ministry alone; I had many disciples. I called twelve apostles to be close to Me. I even had three disciples who were very close to me. Their names were Peter, James, and John. I shared some very important moments with them and them alone. I had a group of women who were close to Me, who helped support My ministry, and who accompanied My apostles as they followed Me. The point is, My precious one, I did not do life alone. Even with My close relationship with the Father as the Son of God, I entered into fellowship and companionship with people. After My death and resurrection, I poured out the Holy Spirit on My disciples at Pentecost. Peter preached a message that called on people to turn to Me in repentance, to be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins, to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, and to be added to My new people of faith (Acts 2:38-47). Immediately this group of followers began to meet publicly in big groups and in homes as small groups. The point is that they knew they needed to do life together as My spiritual family. In your New Testament, you will see My church referred to as a family (Galatians 6:10; Hebrews 2:11) and as My bodily presence on earth (Romans 12:4-8; 1 Corinthians 12:12-30). These two images are more than symbolic as they speak to the truth of your need for each other and for your connectedness with each other. After the writer of Hebrews had finished his detailed explanation of the new covenant, he returned to his main purpose in writing his “word of exhortation” (Hebrews 13:22): he encouraged My disciples not to forsake meeting together. They needed each other, and they needed to encourage each other. Then he gave a series of examples of ordinary people with great faith. These were My people, and they are your spiritual ancestors. He used these great stories of faith to be the motivation for his target audience to be faithful. In fact, he emphasized that the faith of these great heroes of faith didn’t accomplish its clear objective if My disciples didn’t live out their faith in their day: These, though commended by God for their great faith, did not receive what was promised. That promise has awaited us, who receive the better thing that God has provided in these last days, so that with us, our forebears might finally see the promise completed. (Hebrews 11:39-40) Yesterday’s explanation of the better covenant emphasized My new covenant with you. This covenant is built on My better and once-forever sacrifice making Me a better High Priest. This teaching spoke to the disciples’ intellect, to their heads. Today’s examples and exhortations, however, appealed to their hearts, their emotions, and passions. After these examples and exhortations, the writer included these words: So since we stand surrounded by all those who have gone before, an enormous cloud of witnesses, let us drop every extra weight, every sin that clings to us and slackens our pace, and let us run with endurance the long race set before us. Now stay focused on Jesus, Who designed and perfected our faith. He endured the cross and ignored the shame of that death because He focused on the joy that was set before Him; and now He is seated beside God on the throne, a place of honor. Consider the life of the One Who endured such personal attacks and hostility from sinners so that you will not grow weary or lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3) Encouragement matters. You need it. Even in those few times in your life when you may not need encouragement to persevere, others around you will. So encourage each other. Be encouraged by your heroes of the faith — both living and those who have long been with Jesus. Don’t lose heart and don’t let your brothers and sisters in faith lose heart. Your encouragement of each other matters! Verses to Live As you read today’s verses, hear first the importance of getting together with other believers. Encourage each other to live My life before your watching world. Then, I want you to be blessed and encouraged by the great examples of faith in Hebrews chapter 11. Remember, these are not “Bible characters” who are somehow different from you. These are simply everyday folks, ordinary characters, who lived by faith to honor the Father. They are in the Bible because of that faith, not because they were somehow better than anyone else. You, too, can be in the Father’s faith hall of fame if you will stay connected with My other followers and encourage each other to live faithfully for Me! Since we have a great High Priest Who presides over the house of God, let us draw near with true hearts full of faith, with hearts rinsed clean of any evil conscience, and with bodies cleansed with pure water. Let us hold strong to the confession of our hope, never wavering, since the One Who promised it to us is faithful. Let us consider how to inspire each other to greater love and to righteous deeds, not forgetting to gather as a community, as some have forgotten, but encouraging each other, especially as the
Today’s Verse – 1 Corinthians 10:26
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. —1 Corinthians 10:26 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… When we talk about giving to God and the work of God, we must remember that all we have is his. He doesn’t need our gifts to do his work in the world — after all, he made all creation without us. On the other hand, we need to share the blessings he has entrusted to us because he commanded us to do so and because we are most like God when we give and forgive. What we ‘have’ isn’t really ours; it’s all his, entrusted to us to be put into useful service to others for God’s work and God’s glory, so others may see it and know: “Correct me, LORD, but only with justice — not in your anger, lest you reduce me to nothing.” My Prayer… Almighty God and Creator of the universe, we praise your creative genius revealed through the incredible variety found in your creation. Please be with us, your human children and Jesus’ disciples, as we seek to be faithful stewards of this beautiful gift and the many others you have lavished on us. We want to be the conduits of your blessing to those around us by being generous and reflecting your grace displayed in giving, forgiving, and creating. In Jesus’ name, we pray to grow in the grace of giving as we recognize your glory in the creation you have shared with us. 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.