Bible Verse for Today

"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven."
— Matthew 6:1 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...Compassion is not for personal glory, just as it is not a private internal emotion. Christian compassion must always motivate us to act in the best interest and for the greater good of those in need, without calling attention to ourselves or our sacrifices. God provides what we need to bless...

 

Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
— Luke 5:31-32 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...Jesus was often criticized for deliberately associating with people who were suspect in the eyes of the "religious." There was a reason for his behavior. He wasn't doing this to be popular, weird, bizarre, or hip. Jesus came to redeem the enslaved, find the lost, mend the broken, and reclaim the...

 

The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead -- whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree.
— Acts 5:30 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...Peter is making clear that his faith in Jesus didn't just begin with Jesus. It began with the Patriarchs, the great Jewish fathers. The God who blessed them also raised Jesus from the dead, even though Jesus had been executed in the most heinous and degrading way possible for a faithful Jew -- he was nailed to a cross, something that was both...

 

Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men!"
— Acts 5:29 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...Against a stern warning from the ruling council in Jerusalem, called the Sanhedrin, Peter and the other apostles proclaimed Jesus as Lord. They knew that Jesus had triumphed over the attempts of his enemies to extinguish him and his ministry. The apostles blatantly disobeyed the orders of the very same people who had Jesus crucified. By any standard, that is faithful...

 

But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
— Matthew 5:28 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...Living in a sexually supercharged world and facing the prevalence of pornography on the Internet and in today's media, how are you doing with this issue?

My Prayer...Loving Father, give me the strength to resist sexual temptation, the wisdom to stay away from it, and character to triumph over it. In the mighty name of Jesus I...

 

After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
— Luke 5:27 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...After capturing the hearts of the crowd, Jesus now calls another disciple, Levi (Matthew). Two things are significant about this calling. First, Jesus called someone no other religious leader would have chosen, a tax collector and Roman sympathizer -- to any Jew...

 

Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, "We have seen remarkable things today."
— Luke 5:26 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...Jesus forgave a man who was lame, then showed he had authority to forgive by healing him. As exciting and important as this healing was, the most important thing was the reaction of those who witnessed it; they praised God out of a sense of amazed awe. They recognized that Jesus had come to minister as God's very presence...

 

I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.
— John 5:25 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...Aren't you glad that not even death can stop us from hearing Jesus' promised words to us: "RISE!"? We will hear his voice and live with him forever. That sure puts a lift in my future plans; what about you?

My Prayer...Thank you, Almighty God, that Jesus' resurrection demonstrated your power to destroy...

 

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
— Galatians 5:24 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...When we became Christians, we died to the old person of sin and were raised up a new person. While we have many of the same battles with temptation, we also now have the power of the resurrection and the Holy Spirit at work within us to help us.

My Prayer...Righteous Father, help me keep the dead and cast-away sin of my past far away from...

 

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
— 1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...We know that true righteousness and holiness are qualities possessed perfectly by only God. Amazingly, God uses his Spirit to make those qualities a growing reality in our lives when we will yield to his leadership. Yesterday, we committed to let the Spirit work on...