Bible Verse for Today

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
— Galatians 6:7 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...We're not going to fool God. While we might put up a facade for others, God knows our hearts. So, if we spend our wealth, time, and interest in other things and give God the crumbs, we need to know that we are not going to reap a bounteous spiritual harvest.

My Prayer...O LORD God Almighty, who sees all things and knows all hearts, please give me wisdom to see the...

 

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
— Matthew 6:6 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...Prayer is an incredible invitation from God to share with him what is on our hearts. Even when we don't have words to say, he helps us through his Spirit in those moments. This incredibly intimate conversation, sustained by the very precious Spirit of God within us, must never...

 

If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.
— Romans 6:5 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...So, here's the great news: if we have died with Christ, we've already died the only death that really matters. Our lives are joined with his and so we will share in his glory when he returns (Colossians 3:1-4). Even death cannot separate us from his presence in our lives (Romans 8:35-39) because we have been given the...

 

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
— Ephesians 6:4 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...Malachi 4:6 promised that fathers and children would be reunited in heart. Let's make that true in our homes by nurturing and correcting our children -- with a balance between nurture and correction. Let's not make our faith so full of rules and restrictions that it becomes impossible for our children to hear that they are...

 

Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
— Romans 6:3 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse...More than an outward symbol, baptism is coming to the core of the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) and sharing in it by grace (Romans 6:1-15). What an incredible blessing to be able to do what Jesus did at the beginning of his ministry to please God (Luke 3:21-22), and also know that through our faith in God's power to raise him from the...

 

Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
— Galatians 6:2 (NIV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse..."I didn't know Jesus had a law!" Well, he doesn't have a written one like we find in the Old Testament (2 Corinthians 3). No, his is Spirit-imprinted on our hearts and transforms our character. This law gives us liberty from written law (James 2:12-17) and emphasizes the undergirding principle that guided Jesus' life -- sacrifice and service for others...

 

"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...

 

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...