Archives: Daily Verse

Friday, October 1, 2021

Friday, October 1, 2021
The apostle Paul writes of the resources God has given His followers.

II Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. (NASB)

This letter from the apostle to his protégé Timothy is the last letter Paul wrote, calling for him not to be ashamed of the truth of God’s love. This call came when Nero was persecuting Christians. So how do you live in the 21st century when you are being unjustly persecuted for believing in traditional marriage? How do you live unashamed in Africa and the Middle East when Islamic radicals are hunting you down to convert or kill you?

Paul says you are to choose to live courageously! The most common command in Scripture is: fear not. If you are fearful, that is not from God! What is from God is power to do what He wants you to do – so choose to live courageously, and as you do, you will experience the courage that God has put within you by His Spirit. The same is true of love for others. Remember this self-control is produced in the Christ-follower – also — as a gift of the Holy Spirit!

Thursday, September 30, 2021

Thursday, September 30, 2021
The apostle Peter writes of how to live — in light of Christ’s coming.

I Peter 1:13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (NASB)

Peter is issuing a call to anticipate the glorious future promised by our Lord! He says prepare yourself for the Lord’s coming and don’t be tied to the present world – be heavenly minded . . . live expectantly. Don’t be addicted to worldly living and worldly tastes – realize your citizenship is in heaven!

Exercise self-control, oversee your priorities. All that Christ has done for us in providing so great a salvation, should create within us a hunger, a passion for what is yet unfulfilled until Christ comes again!

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Wednesday, September 29, 2021
The apostle Paul encourages Christ-followers to discipline themselves so they can live a life pleasing to God.

I Corinthians 9:25 Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. (NASB)
When athletes want to run in the Boston Marathon or the Olympics, they must first prepare themselves with a proper diet, building their endurance . . . strengthening themselves. They cannot live like people who don’t want to compete! If you want to compete and run a world-class race — you have to sacrifice and do hard things you don’t feel like doing. The same is true of the spiritual side of your life.
Living a life of impact for Christ requires self-control. For starters, you completely avoid all known sin. Period! Other aspects of self-control are more subtle and require more effort to identify. For example, things you enjoy doing that are innocent, but for someone else that activity could lead them to sin. Christ-followers must discipline themselves to be willing to, at times, give up good things for the sake of others! That kind of sacrifice will someday be rewarded with a crown that will last forever.

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Tuesday, September 28, 2021
The apostle Peter reviews the basic characteristics of a Christ-follower.

II Peter 1:5-6 . . . applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, (NASB)

Peter is writing to remind some Christians of a few things they had forgotten – some important things. It’s a little like the great NFL coach Vince Lombardi, who, when frustrated with the way his Packers were playing, said we’ve got to get back to the fundamentals. So, he gathered the players together and said, “This is a football!” Peter says, let’s begin with your faith – where the change for the better began. As a Christ-follower, you’ve been forgiven of sins, freed from their power to enslave you, and you have all the heavenly power you need, daily, to do what God wants you to do.

Now . . . Peter says, move on from the basics, and each day add to your faith, virtue. Virtue is goodness. But it’s more than that – it’s excellence. Seek to be all you can be as a Christ-follower. Be the best man or woman of God you can be – by being like Christ Himself! Strive for excellence. Next, add to your goodness, knowledge. Not just knowledge for knowledge’s sake – like a professional student but applied knowledge. Knowledge that changes the way you live! Finally, add to your knowledge – self-control. It means to control your desires and emotions, instead of being controlled by them.

Monday, September 27, 2021

Monday, September 27, 2021
King Solomon describes the virtues of not being vengeful, but rather forgiving.

Proverbs 16:32 He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city (NASB)

American culture does not exalt those who “turn the other cheek”. Yet recall the ripple that went across this country, first in 2006 when the Amish of Pennsylvania came to the mother of the Amish school shooter (who had killed 10 young girls before shooting himself), and asked her not to move, but to stay in the community. Some of the victim’s families even attended her son’s funeral.

The second instance of self-control was in 2015, after the shooting of 9 people by a racist fanatic at the Emmanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, S.C. Once the shooter was arrested, the victim’s families showed up at his arraignment not to rail and curse him, but to tell him they forgave him. You could hear a pin drop across America’s cultural landscape . . .

Ultimately, it’s not the words of those who follow Christ – but their actions that validate Scripture’s teachings.