Daily Bible Verse

No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, – Philippians 3:13

One of the keys to having a good attitude when things get tough is adjusting your focus. In life, where you choose to put your focus determines your attitude. If you focus on all the bad things going on around you, you’ll be upset and sad.

Paul is talking in this Bible verse about forgetting the past and looking forward to what is ahead. That is the key to being happy regardless of your circumstances. If you can look forward to the future, you’ll be much happier.

So instead of being upset about how this year at school is much harder than last year, or focusing on how your algebra teacher is always treating you unfairly, choose to adjust your focus. In the middle of difficult circumstances, you can find happiness by looking forward to what lies ahead. Maybe you get to switch classes next semester. Perhaps you get to go out for track in the spring. Whatever it is, find something in the future to look forward to. Having a goal and something to look forward to will help you find happiness in your current situation.

Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. – Acts 17:11 (NIV)

I remember many times in classes at school feeling silenced for my beliefs. A teacher would share in biology class about the origins of the world, and most of what was shared went against the creation account in Genesis. I was unsure what to say or do. Sometimes a friend would share about their beliefs as a Muslim or another religion and I simply didn’t know what to say to them.

A few years have gone by, and I realize now that there is power in knowing what you believe. Not only scripture, but real defense of why Christianity makes sense in the world. The more I study, the more I realize that the Biblical worldview does hold up to scrutiny.

The last few years, I’ve spent searching scripture, learning the history and the reasons for Christianity. And the more I learn, the more I realize that the Bible is true. The Bible makes the most sense of the world we live in. Without it, we can’t understand our world properly.

So, if you’re like I was a few years ago, and knew that Jesus was real and the son of God, but didn’t really know why you believed what you did, I’d challenge you to do what the Bereans did in our verse today. Begin to search the scriptures. Find out how to defend your faith in the realms of science, math, or any other area where you are challenged. Then you can begin to confidently know that the Bible is true and begin to share that truth with those around you.

Need some help? Check out this devotion.

Today’s Truth: Begin to study and search out what you believe.

Or do you despise the riches of His kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? – Romans 2:4 (HCSB)

I heard the story once of a teenager who had really disobeyed her dad. She had gone against his wishes, lied, disobeyed and deserved a great punishment. Her dad did something amazing. Instead of giving her the punishment she deserved, he spent some time with her and took her out for ice cream.

This isn’t the response we expect from our parents when we disobey. We usually expect grounding, time out or some sort of punishment. Instead of what she deserved, her dad showed her kindness. Her dad, being a Christian, wanted her to experience what God’s grace was like. It was a lesson the young lady really remembered. Instead of getting what she deserved, she got grace.

That reminds me a lot of today’s Bible verse. In the passage, we see that God’s kindness leads us to repentance. God treats us like that father with his daughter. We don’t deserve good things because of sin. And yet, God is kind to us. He loves us, and doesn’t give us what we deserve, but rather gives us kindness.

This kindness isn’t to give us an excuse to keep on sinning. The kindness helps draw us to God because when we’re aware of our sin and what we deserve, and realize what God did for us, we can’t help loving Him. We want to know Him more and understand what He did for us better.

So today, be encouraged, God loves you, He treats you with kindness and is on your side!

I assure you that whoever tells this hill to get up and throw itself in the sea and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.  – Mark 11:23

There’s power in your words. When you speak words of faith, awesome things can happen. But how do you begin speaking faith-filled words? How can you speak faith over a situation that seems hopeless or over something that seems dead? You do it by beginning to dream. Begin by dreaming and imagining what you’d like your situation to be like.

As you do that, you’ll find that you begin to have faith to see these things come to pass. When that happens, it’s easier to speak faith-filled words. As you speak faith and life over your situation, you begin to see results.

For example, let’s say doing well at school has always been hard for you. Maybe you have anxiety about taking tests. To overcome this, you’d want to begin to dream and imagine yourself successfully taking tests. Maybe you’d imagine yourself getting a good grade, or being really confident when it became time to take a test.

Once you see something in your mind’s eye, it’s a lot easier to speak faith over it. So if you can imagine it happening, you can speak it into existence. So today, begin to watch what you speak and expect God to help you in those difficult and even hopeless situations. He will give you the wisdom to get through whatever you face.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. – John 1:1 (NIV)

Do you ever feel like you don’t fit in? I know many times I’ve felt that way in my life. I never quite fit in at school, and I never quite fit in at church. As a result, I always felt a bit of an outsider. More than anything, I wanted to feel like I belonged.

When I read the book of John, I feel encouraged. I know that regardless of what I experience from humans here on earth, that with Jesus, I find love and belonging. That is much of the message of the book of John.

John is a unique book. When we read it, we see a very interesting picture of Jesus. John is showing us that Jesus was the son of God and the son of man. By reading John, we can get a really good idea of what makes the Christian faith special.

One of the first things we see is that Jesus is eternal, and was not created. Jesus existed from the beginning. And in the beginning there was fellowship between the trinity. We see that God the father, God the son, and God the Holy Spirit were all active in the beginning.

Out of their relationship, the world was made. The world that we know came into existence through Jesus.

Many other religions in the world today have an account of creation. However, where Christianity differs from them is that Jesus as the creator is a relational god. He had relationship with the members of the trinity at the beginning . It was from that relationship the world was created. In that relationship, we find our value, as we were created from a God who loves us. And from that love, we see the rest of the account in John unfold.

What excitement and meaning that should bring into our relationship with Jesus. We get to know the creator who is loving, knowable, and who created from a heart of love.

Today’s Truth: Jesus existed from the beginning and is a relational God.

If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up. – Daniel 3:17-18 (NIV)

“Even if….” Those two words say a lot. They suggest a situation that the speaker considers to be unlikely. They say that even in this unlikely scenario, nothing would change. They show the strength of conviction of the speaker.
Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego were faced with a difficult situation. King Nebuchadnezzar had set up a large golden statue in Babylon and ordered all people of every nation to bow down to it every time they heard the sound of music. If anyone refused, they were to be thrown into a blazing furnace. The three friends knew that bowing down to an idol was against God’s laws, but if they refused the king’s order, they would be put to death. Their situation was even more complicated because they had been put in a position of authority. The people of Babylon were watching everything they did, and the Israelites in the area would have been looking to them as an example of what to do.

These men chose to put their trust in God, confident that He would deliver them from the king’s punishment. When they were questioned about their refusal to serve the king’s gods or worship his image of gold, they told the king they didn’t need to defend themselves to him. They knew that only God’s judgement mattered, and they made sure the king knew their conviction was strong. “Even if he does not (deliver us from your hand), we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

As a result of their conviction, all three men emerged from the furnace completely unharmed. Even their clothes and hair were untouched, and there was no smell of fire on them- as if they had never been in there at all! King Nebuchadnezzar then recognized the power of God and promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to hold even more authority in Babylon!

Today’s Truth: Make sure your convictions reflect a complete surrender to God’s will.

Today’s devotion was written by Danni Manning. Danni grew up in a small, country church, where the members were like an extended family, and she helped her brother lead Sunday morning services in the local nursing home. As an adult, she works part time at a salon, and works as a freelance makeup artist. Danni is a craft-loving, book-reading, homeschooling mom of two, and is dedicated to raising a family who knows and loves God.