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Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. —James 5:16b (KJV) Thoughts on Today's Verse... So many hearts, hopes, and homes are broken by sin. This brokenness infects our culture and...

"What sorrow awaits my rebellious children," says the LORD. "You make plans that are contrary to mine. You make alliances not directed by my Spirit, thus piling up your sins." —Isaiah 30:1 NLT Key Thought In the time of Isaiah, God's people were in a very difficult predicament politically and...

Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD. —Ezekiel 38:23 (KJV) Thoughts on Today's Verse... "They will know that I am the LORD," is a familiar refrain in Ezekiel's prophecies. Here it is also a...

I still remember the feeling of holding my mouth perfectly still while she put lipstick on my lips, the smell of the old wig on my head making me want to sneeze. Special Note: These were words about Margaret Ware Jolly, whose life was celebrated yesterday at a gathering of friends, family...

[After the return of the people of Judah from Babylon, this is what the LORD said about them,] "They made their hearts as hard as stone, so they could not hear the instructions or the messages that the LORD of Heaven's Armies had sent them by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. That is why...

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. —James 4:7 (KJV) Thoughts on Today's Verse... Let's admit it. Most of us would like for spiritual growth to be easy. We want our ability to withstand tempation to require little effort. We want the Holy Spirit to...

Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. —Galatians 6:8 NLT Key Thought We have to make a choice. There are only two possibilities: Either...

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. —John 17:3 (KJV) Thoughts on Today's Verse... Eternal life begins, now! That is one of Jesus' messages in the Gospel of John. For sure, we don't get to enjoy all of the blessings that...

Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. —Galatians 6:1 NIV Key Thought Spiritual people are those who live under the influence of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:25). They...

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of . —Galatians 5:1 (KJV) Thoughts on Today's Verse... Paul wrote to help the new believers keep their true freedom in Christ: freedom from trying to earn their righteousness...

Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives. —Galatians 5:25 NLT Key Thought We are given new life — born again into a new kind of life (John 3:3-7; Titus 3:3-7) in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Since the Spirit is the...

The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom. —Proverbs 10:21 (KJV) Thoughts on Today's Verse... I have several friends who are very wise in the way they speak. When they do speak up, everyone listens attentively because their words are always wise, well-timed, and...

These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee... —John 17:1 (KJV) Thoughts on Today's Verse... John 17 is one of the most moving chapters in all the Bible. Jesus knows he is going to die. He...

Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. —Psalm 127:1 (KJV) Thoughts on Today's Verse... "It's all up to you!" That's the prevailing mindset for high achievers in our world. But it is wrong. Our efforts...

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. —Galatians 5:16 NLT Key Thought What has the most influence in my life? Who guides my steps? What determines the values by which I live? Whose voice and whose words are most important to...

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. —Matthew 6:33 (KJV) Thoughts on Today's Verse... Seek! That is the focus word in this verse. This word is a robust word, describing a passionate pursuit of something to make it our own...

For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. —Galatians 5:5 NIV Key Thought Waiting is hard. Waiting for something or someone special is incredibly hard. Waiting for our transformation to be like Jesus, full of righteousness and grace, is impossibly...

For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever... —Psalm 37:28 (KJV) Thoughts on Today's Verse... God is committed to his people. He loves justice, and those who pursue it. He will not forget his people, those who seek to honor him by displaying his...

In the days of Hagar and Sarah, the child who came from faithless connivance (Ishmael) harassed the child who came — empowered by the Spirit — from the faithful promise (Isaac). Isn't it clear that the harassment you are now experiencing from the Jerusalem heretics follows that old pattern...

Blessings are upon the head of the just: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. —Proverbs 10:6 (KJV) Thoughts on Today's Verse... Righteousness brings us great blessings. Violence becomes its own vile reward, bringing to those who use it what they have done to others. So what's our...