Daily Bible Verse and Devotion – Philippians 3:12

Posted on January 23, 2023

I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. – Philippians 3:12 (NLT)

Stop the anger. I keep telling myself. For some reason, I seem to get mad really easy. And as much as I tell myself that tomorrow I won’t get mad, I usually do. So what do I do?

Do you have an area that you struggle in? Maybe it’s not anger for you, perhaps you struggle with overeating, pornography, or some other area in your life. Sometimes, sin is a really hard thing to feel like you can overcome.

However, there is hope.

First of all, realize that becoming more Christlike is a process. You’re not there yet. So don’t have an idea of ideal in your head, and get mad at yourself if you aren’t there yet. Realize that you’re making progress. Maybe you lost your temper four times yesterday, but if a year ago, you would lose your temper ten times a day, you’re making progress. Don’t beat yourself up if you’re not there yet. Celebrate the little wins along the way and know if you’re trying, you’re making progress.

Secondly, don’t base your worth on how good of a Christian or not you are. Yes, you should be trying to be more like Christ, but here’s the thing: you’re not Jesus. You’re not perfect. You will never be perfect. And God’s love for you is not based on your perfection (thank goodness!). God’s love for you is based on Jesus’ perfection. That’s good news.

Today’s Truth: God’s Love for you is based on Jesus’ perfection.

So today, if you’re struggling with sin, know this. God loves you. Even in your imperfection. Also, it’s ok to not be perfect. Making progress each day is a good thing. Don’t forget that you’re making progress and you’re doing better than you probably give yourself credit for.

God's love for you

Daily Bible Verse and Devotion – Psalm 143:10

Posted on January 20, 2023

When I was about 12, I felt like God was showing me to hang out with one of my friends. So I asked her if she’d want to hang out. We walked around the park near my house, and talked a lot. I shared with her a few things about Jesus. She confided in me that she was considering suicide that day. My calling her and talking to her was just the encouragement she needed to keep going.

Now, you might not think that hanging out with a friend that God puts on your heart is a big deal. It would have been really easy for me to have ignored that leading of God. I could have watched TV instead or done something I wanted to do. However, I just chose to obey the leading of God. It turns out that God wanted to encourage her so she didn’t end her life.

Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. – Psalm 143:10 (NIV)

What is God calling you to do? There might be something that He keeps putting on your heart, but you never seem to move forward on it. I challenge you to step out and do it. It might be that you’re one of many that God has been speaking to, but be willing to do what God is asking of you. You don’t realize the difference it might make in the lives of those around you.

Today’s Truth: Are you willing to do what God is asking you to do?

Whether you know the impact you make for others or not, it’s always good to move forward in the things you feel that God is calling you to do. You might be the one who is able to help someone else.

Daily Bible Verse and Devotion – James 1:2

Posted on January 19, 2023

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. – James 1:2 (NLT)

One of the hardest things to do is to have joy during times of trouble. Maybe you feel like things are against you, you’ve got finals coming up and the pressures of keeping your grades up just feels like too much. When things are tough and life is pressing against you harder and harder it becomes difficult to keep your joy.

Often we think that if we can just get the pressure to go away, we’ll have joy. Maybe once finals are over and life is easier we will be happy. Or once school is out and there’s nothing to do but hang out with your friends all summer, then you’ll be happy. However, if we keep waiting for events, circumstances or people to change for us to have joy, we might be waiting a long time.

Instead, we are challenged in the Bible to do what this verse says. When trouble comes your way, consider it an opportunity for joy. It’s not that you’re happy that the trouble is in your life, but rather you realize that regardless of what is going on around you, you can choose to be at peace within.

Today’s Truth: No matter what is going on around you, you can choose peace within.

Things might be difficult, the pressures of life might be coming at you hard, but if you find your joy in knowing who Jesus is and that He is the source of your peace and contentment, it will allow you to find joy in the midst of trouble.

Daily Bible Verse and Devotion – Luke 16:10

Posted on January 18, 2023

Have you ever wanted to hear from God? Maybe you need direction on what to do for your future. Perhaps someone or something in your life is really bothering you, and you just need to know what to do. You wish that you just had an angel that would show up in your room and show you what to do.

I know I’ve wished that more times than I can count. It would be so much easier to know what God wants you to do if an angel showed up in your house. Most of the time, however, God doesn’t lead us through something spectacular like all those angels that showed up to the shepherds in the Christmas story. Instead, God will often lead us through His word, through peace, through a dream, or through prayer.

So how do you know for sure what to do?

Well, a lot of the time, it’s like learning anything else, it just takes some practice. Can you think back to when you learned how to ride a bike? More than likely you got on the bike, then fell off it. Then you got on it again, and after a few days of practice, you got good at balancing and riding the bike.

Today’s Truth: Hearing from God is easy – it just takes practice.

The same is true with hearing God’s voice. You’re not going to be perfect at it starting out. It takes some time and some practice to get good at it. The key is to start small. So try this: when you lose your phone this week, and I’m sure it will happen, ask God to help show you where it is. Get quiet and listen. You’ll probably get an idea of where to look. That’s God leading you. As you start to ask for God’s direction and help in the small things, like where you put your phone or your history homework, you’ll begin to see that you do hear God’s voice.

“If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. – Luke 16:10 (NLT)

So begin to trust that leading. As you begin in small areas, you’ll see that you can trust God to lead you in the bigger decisions too. Don’t wait. Begin to let God lead you today.

Daily Bible Verse and Devotion – Proverbs 29:25

Posted on January 17, 2023

Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety. – Proverbs 29:25

It’s easy to let what people think about you stop you from doing the right thing. When you spend all your time worrying about what others think, you can become trapped. Instead of letting the fear of others keep you from saying or doing the right thing, decide to put your trust in God.

When you put your trust in God, it brings you safety. You can trust that God will always provide the friendships you need.

Today’s Truth: Don’t let the fear of others stop you from doing what’s right

Even when it’s hard, decide to not let the fear of others determine the choices you make. Instead, choose today to do what you know is right. Put your trust in God and see how God can come through for you.

Fear of man

Daily Bible Verse and Devotion – Jeremiah 10:23

Posted on January 16, 2023

Have you ever thought much about obeying God? If you’re honest, it’s probably not something you like to think a lot about. We like the idea of God being our friend, helping us through the tough times of life, but when it comes to obeying Him, we’re not as excited.

That’s totally normal. None of us like being told what to do. But here’s the thing, when you really get to know God, you know that He’s so good. And when He asks you to do something, it’s for your own good. It will make you better, or it will help you in the future.

LORD, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps. – Jeremiah 10:23 (NIV)

So the next time you sense the leading of God, instead of being afraid, or maybe ignoring what He is trying to tell you, consider doing things differently. Choose to lay aside your opinions of what you think might be best, and be open to being directed by God.

It won’t always be seamless or without trouble, but the plans God has for you are for your good. Following God and being open to Him will help you each day. Don’t be afraid to let God direct your steps. His plans are always good for you in the end!

Today’s Truth: God’s plans always turn out for your good!

Daily Bible Verse and Devotion – Matthew 1:20

Posted on January 13, 2023

I remember a time I was listening to Spotify on my phone. Then a really loud person walked into the room. I had to keep turning the volume up on my phone to be able to hear. I didn’t want to hear the loud person, I wanted to finish my Podcast.

In the same way, our world is noisy. Distractions are everywhere. However, if we value God’s voice, we will do whatever it takes to turn up the volume on Him in our lives. His voice played at the loudest volume makes the difference in our lives.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. – Matthew 1:20 (NIV)

Joseph had to do this in his life. He had to hear the angel of the Lord. Joseph could have ignored God speaking. It would have probably been easier. Instead, he decided to value God speaking to him and obey what the angel said.

In the same way, you can decide to do whatever it takes to hear from God. Value what He has to say in your life. Sometimes that means turning off the TV or spending less time on your phone to hear His voice.

God wants to speak to you and tell you things about your future. He wants to help you in small things like where you left your missing History project and in large things like where to go to college. It’s just up to you to learn to listen to His voice. You start to do this by valuing what He has to say. As you spend time in prayer and reading your Bible, you’ll become more sensitive to what He has to say.

So decide to make prayer and Bible reading a priority in your life. As you spend time with God, it turns the volume up on His voice in your life.

Daily Bible Verse and Devotion – 1 Corinthians 2:5

Posted on January 12, 2023

Money is an interesting thing. It’s essentially paper or numbers on a computer or phone. Of itself, it isn’t really valuable. However, since we’ve chosen collectively to put value on it, it’s something that’s important to us. It’s so important that we choose to work a job to get more of it. We might even do a dumb dare a friend asks us to do simply to gain money from a dare.

As children of God, we should be putting value on His wisdom, maybe a little like the value we put on money. That’s not to say that God’s wisdom is worthless, but in the same way we’ve chosen to put value on pieces of paper and numbers on a phone, we should put value on God’s wisdom.

We should spend our time learning more from it. We should pursue it in the same way we pursue money. God’s wisdom should be something that we value and spend our time getting.

so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. – 1 Corinthians 2:5 (NIV)

God’s wisdom is important because it sees the end from the beginning. God, the creator of our world wishes to share His wisdom with us. His wisdom is greater than anything we could come up with on our own.

Today’s Truth: Value God’s Wisdom

It’s up to us to value that wisdom. So today, spend some time reading your Bible. As you get into God’s word, you begin to see His wisdom in action, and it will change your life, if you’ll let God be a part of the decisions you make each day.

value God' wisdom

Daily Bible Verse and Devotion – Galatians 6:9

Posted on January 11, 2023

So we must not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. – Gal 6:9 (HCSB)

How many times have you been mistreated or felt like life was treating you unfairly? Maybe you’ve been working hard at school and it feels like none of your teachers notice. Perhaps you’ve been going the extra mile in some area, and it just feels like it’s all been for nothing.

It’s so easy to want to give up when you feel that way. Especially when you’ve been working hard and pushing forward as hard as you can, and yet it feels like you haven’t reaped the results of your hard work.

Today’s Bible verse is an encouragement for you if you feel this way. It’s saying that we will reap in time, but the key is not to give up. If you can stay with it and not give up, you’ll be coming out ahead of most people. Many people give up when it gets hard and don’t see things through. However, if you can stick it out and finish well, that’s when you’ll see good results.

Today’s Truth: Stick With It, and You’ll See Good Results

So today be encouraged to keep going. Know that if you stick it out, you’ll see good results in your life.

Stick With It, and You'll See Good Results

Daily Bible Verse and Devotion – Psalm 121:2

Posted on January 10, 2023

My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. – Psalm 121:2 (NIV)

Where do you go when you need help? Do you type in some keywords in Google to find what you’re looking for? Or do you ask some friends for help? Googling or asking other people can be really helpful in situations. However, what happens when Google and your friends don’t have the answers that you’re looking for? Where do you turn?

About a year ago, I ran into a situation at my job where I had no idea what to do. I tried Googling the answer and found nothing helpful. After a few minutes, I kicked myself. It slipped my mind that I had something even better than Google. I could go to God when I needed help.

I asked God for His help and wisdom to know what to do. And guess what? God came through. He gave me an idea of what to do and shortly after that my problem was solved.

Today’s Truth: God wants to help you with everyday problems!

God wants to help you with your day to day life. He’s not just a God to know on Sunday at church. He wants to be involved and help you out in every situation you encounter. Choose today to go to God for help. Don’t try to live your life in your own strength and ability, but rather lean on God’s help.

God wants to help with everyday problems