Bible Verse for Today

Rejoice in the LORD, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name.
— Psalm 97:12 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...Joy! Rejoicing! When we think about the glory of God and the grace that he has shared with us to make us righteous, how can we not rejoice? God is gloriously holy and majestic. He is eternal and just. We, on the other hand, are flawed, mortal, limited, and sinful. Yet in his rich mercy, he has made us righteous by the sacrifice of Jesus so that we could share an eternal...

 

I am suffering ... Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.
— 2 Timothy 1:12 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...As Paul faced very difficult circumstances near the end of his life, many of those he had led to the Lord abandoned him. But he was confident that the Lord would not abandon him! He had committed his life to Jesus as Lord. That Lord would ensure that the investment Paul had...

 

I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.
— Philippians 1:20 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...Do you have ultimate goals by which you live? Paul certainly had at least these two: "I don't want to be ashamed but courageous" and "I want Christ to be exalted in my body, by life or by death." What are yours? Could you join Paul in his ultimate goals? How...

 

We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.
— Romans 15:1 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...Dear friend of Jesus, have patience with those around you who are not yet what God intends for them to be -- remembering also that we are not yet what God intends for us to be. In the process of "bearing with" their failings, you may just find that others are more patient with your failings and more thankful for your faithfulness. Of course, the...

 

We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing.
— 2 Thessalonians 1:3 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...When was the last time you found a new brother or sister in Christ and told that precious person all the things they were doing right? Don't you think that's too long, and that you should let them know today? Let's be more committed to encouraging and affirming...

 

I [Paul] thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you [Timothy] in my prayers.
— 2 Timothy 1:3 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...Paul is near the end of his life, facing persecution in a horrible prison. Many of the young men whom he had mentored have left the faith or have turned against him. How can he give thanks? Paul speaks of his confidence in his own victorious future with Jesus and in his son in the faith, Timothy...

 

In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
— Romans 8:37 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...Are we really conquerors despite the "trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword" that Paul mentioned two verses earlier? Yes! That is the ultimate Christian assurance. Nothing can separate us from God's love in Christ. The Evil One and his allies can ruin our finances, seek to destroy our relationships, wrack our bodies with pain...

 

Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.
— 2 Corinthians 2:14 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...What do you smell like today? Is that question too personal? Not to God! Paul says we are warriors returning from conquest with the smell of victory incense permeating our presence. To those who see us and know us, this aroma points them to God and his victory over our wills and his...

 

For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.
— Isaiah 44:3 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...Growing up in West Texas in part of my early years, I certainly know what "thirsty land" truly is. The black dirt shrinks, leaving deep cracks in the ground. All the grass turns yellow, then brown, and then dies. A wisp of breeze stirs swirls of dust over the barren land. When the...

 

God's voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding.
— Job 37:5 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...How does God help us know his will? Clearly God has given us the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit to help us understand the Scriptures. What about more subtle and less defined ways? Most of us have had a "cluster of divine coincidences" (several events in close proximity to prayer): a friend calls/writes at just the right time; we read an article or hear a...