Bible Verse for Today

Hear my prayer, O LORD; listen to my cry for mercy. In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me.
— Psalm 86:6-7 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...Sometimes there are no immediate answers. We have prayed and cried and tried and gone sleepless and mourned and shouted. Still there are no answers. The days roll by in an agonizing parade of pain. Still there are no answers we can identify. What do we do? We go to the Psalms. We let them raise up our heart's cry. We...

 

God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.
— Acts 2:36 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...More than titles, these two names of Jesus are the pillars around which we can build our new lives in God's Kingdom. Jesus is Lord! He is our Ruler and King. He is our Master and Teacher. Our hearts are yielded to his will and open to his leading. We hold no rival to Jesus in our hearts and lives. Jesus is the Christ! He is the Messiah, the promised Savior of the Old...

 

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect...
— 1 Peter 3:15 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...Having Jesus as our Lord does not mean that we bulldoze over others with this important eternal reality. Gentleness and respect are the character traits of those who have Jesus as their Lord. After all, Jesus loved others enough to die for...

 

The LORD will keep you from all harm - he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
— Psalm 121:7-8 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...One of my hardest challenges as a parent is knowing that I can't ultimately protect my children from some hurts and heartbreaks. Some of their pain is necessary to help them mature and grow. Some of it is just the agonizing result of living in a fallen world. But, we can be fully confident that if...

 

For by him [Jesus] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.
— Colossians 1:16 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse..."Jesus is Lord!" That doesn't just mean that we have yielded our lives to his will and trusted in his grace. "Jesus is Lord!" This means that everything that is created is his. All angels, demons, and spirits are below him and their purpose is to...

 

[The Lord said,] My righteousness draws near speedily, my salvation is on the way, and my arm will bring justice to the nations. The islands will look to me and wait in hope for my arm.
— Isaiah 51:5 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...God's promises stand through the ages. He has fulfilled them in many different ways. He has punished evil nations, he has redeemed Israel according to his promises, and he has sent Jesus as Savior and redeemer. But most importantly of all, Jesus stands at...

 

We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true -- even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
— 1 John 5:20 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...Jesus came to reveal God to us. He has given us the clearest picture yet of what God is really like. Because of Jesus, we can know God, the only one who is truly genuine. Because we are in Christ, we share that special bond with...

 

It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way.
— Proverbs 19:2 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...Maybe one of the most important things we can do to grow in spiritual maturity is to find the right things to get passionate about. We can get riled up about some of the most inconsequential issues. We can get wildly passionate about everything from sports to chocolate pie. But zeal, passion for an issue, must be anchored to spiritual wisdom and...

 

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
— Colossians 1:15 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...If we had been alive when Jesus worked in the carpentry shop in Nazareth or walked along the Sea of Galilee near Capernaum, we could have said, "There goes God," and been right. The amazing reality of Jesus is that he was God among us. Matthew calls him Immanuel, "God with us." In Colossians 1, Paul pours out every superlative he can use to describe Jesus'...

 

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.
— Acts 4:12 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...While many substitute-Messiahs have been offered, only the True Messiah saves. While we often live for many lords, only one Lord liberates and sets us free from sin and death. While many ways are claimed to bring us close to God, Jesus insists that he is the only way. So we're driven to one ultimate question: do we believe...