For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
TO PONDER:
A wage is what a person deserves for the work they do. As applied to sin, it means that death is what sin deserves; it is not arbitrary. A person will receive what they deserve. That’s the reality which confronts every single person born into this world. What we deserve is death. The suffering continues even in hell and there is not a more fearful and terrible consideration than this.
On the other hand, God has eternal life as a gift for us. It is not what we earn or merit. It is not what we deserve but purely because of the mercy of God, that he gratuitously confers this gift on us because God is all about life.
The contrast is extreme. It’s either/or. The wages of sin, the life after the flesh, it ends in death. The gift of God, the life after the Spirit, ends in eternal life. We are either a servant of sin, or a servant of God. Do you want to receive what you deserve, or receive the gift that gives life now and forever?
May the Lord be with us and bless and keep us in His love. May we receive the gift of God and walk in the Spirit, that God might use our redeemed life as His instrument to do His work in this needy world.
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, thank you for the gift of life which I have done nothing to deserve or earn. Help me to live willingly for you in response to what you have given me. Amen.
Today’s Daily Verse is written by LifeWay’s Chinese Pastor, Francis Leung.
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
TO PONDER:
The work of Jesus Christ is to seek and to save those who are lost. In the way He delivers His people from sin, freedom from all the ills to which sin exposes humankind. The attainment of that perfect peace and joy which will be bestowed on the children of God in the heavens is also ours now. This deliverance has been accomplished by the power of and in the name of Jesus.
This is the gospel we hear, understand and accept. We are recipients of the mercies of life, and the blessing of salvation. This is also the gospel that God calls us to proclaim to those who remain on the sideline, who need to receive the freedom that life with Christ brings. If Christ thus prepares the way, then we should not remain inactive or lazy but go with boldness, zeal, and encouragement, to enter into the fields God sends that are ready to harvest.
PRAYER:
Lord, give us an eagerness to proclaim the salvation that is available in your name, that more and more may discover the life and freedom you alone give. Amen.
Today’s Daily Verse is written by LifeWay’s Chinese Pastor, Francis Leung.
And God spoke all these words:
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
“You shall have no other gods before me.
TO PONDER:
God made a covenant with His people by first recounting to his people what he had done for them out of His grace, that he alone was living and active in their lives. He alone was the only and true God; there was no other being or form that they should worship. These are the words of God addressed to the people whom He had redeemed, to those who had been in bondage, but were now free. We too, are now free from anything that stops us from glorying God and serving him, which is what we are first created for.
From the very beginning, people have been guilty of making their own gods. When we turn to things other than this one true God, it’s a sign that we are not living in the presence of God in our lives. It indicates that I have lost something vital in my relationship with God, something that will bind me and enslave me. Every day, I need to return to the relationship God has given to me in Jesus, to live consciously in the presence of God my Saviour.
PRAYER:
Almighty God, help me live today serving you the God who alone gives me freedom. Amen.
Today’s Daily Verse is written by LifeWay’s Chinese Pastor, Francis Leung.
And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”
TO PONDER:
We live in a world where voices are speaking all around – friends, family, parents, news, social media, the Church. Some have suggested that the average person hears around 30,000 words a day. We see and hear between 4,000 and 10,000 advertisements a day. We even have voices speaking with us, whether it is fear, shame, guilt or regret. It seems that everyone and everything has a voice and a message they want us to hear and act on.
So what are you listening to? How are you making the space to hear God’s voice in your life?
Luke’s version of the transfiguration, which is the broader text that our daily verse is couched in, is unique in what Luke tells us. The transfiguration of Jesus occurs in the context of prayer. Jesus is revealed in the context of prayer as the cloud of God’s presence envelops Jesus and the disciples. The disciples hear the voice of God speak to them in the context prayer. ‘Listen to him’, God says. He is the one, whose whole life, words, thoughts and actions will reveal the glory of God. He is the one who will show us what living in the presence of God is all about. He is the only one we need to look to and listen to in order to experience the powerful presence of God in our lives.
So what are you listening to? How are you making the space to hear God’s voice in your life today, to listen to him and follow him in obedience?
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, give me ears to hear your voice as I live in your presence in every moment today. Amen.
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.
TO PONDER:
The setting for today’s verse is Paul in the city of Athens. He’s talking to the intellectuals of his day after walking through their temples with a smorgasbord of altars dedicated to the gods. There’s Zeus, the leader of the gods, in charge of rain and the sky. Hera, Zeus's wife, was the goddess of marriage and childbirth. Poseidon, the god of the sea. Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Hades, the god of the Underworld, where the dead lived. Ares, god of war and battle. Each god had their own distinct personality and area of life that they covered. But as Paul walks among them he finds one with an inscription: ‘to an unknown God’. The Athenians want to cover all bases. But as Paul points out, this unknown God, that they don’t know is the only powerful God. He is the one who created the world and everything in it. This God is alive and ruling in heaven and earth – a God so powerful that he isn’t confined to the temples they worship in, but is active in the world today. A few verses later, Paul declares that in him, we live (are created), move (are active and alive) and have our being (have a reason for living). This all powerful God who is “knowable”, longs for a relationship with his creation. This all powerful God reveals himself to his creation in Jesus Christ. This all powerful God, is the only true God who can save his people in every domain of life. This all powerful God is the God who is to be worshipped! So how will you worship him today?
PRAYER:
Almighty God, you're the only God whose power none can contend, you're the only God whose name and praise will never end. You're the only God who's worthy of everything we can give, so we worship you today. Amen.
The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
TO PONDER:
Have you been wondering where God is in your life lately? Or does he appear to be silent?
I’m certain each of us have days when it feels as though God is far away and he can’t seem to hear us!
So, what is it we need to do to be near God?
Even if it feels as though God can’t hear us or maybe it’s like he’s not listening, he is with us - that's his promise. Just call on him and talk with him. It can be just like you’re having a conversation with your best friend. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy or pre planned. We can pray to him anytime and anywhere and he will hear us. Call on him and he will come near.
Where in your life do you need to call on his holy name through prayer and listen to him through his Word?
PRAYER:
Thank you, Lord, for the promise that you have given to me, thank you for being close to me when I call upon you. I pray that you will teach me, correct me, guide me, and inspire me so that I might call upon you in truth. Amen.
Today's Daily Verse written by Josi Weiss, LifeWay's Office and Visual Display's Coordinator
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place
TO PONDER:
So many times in our lives we face some real struggles. Even though we may not be familiar with putting on armour like a Roman soldier, Paul reminds us that as Christians we need to be prepared for the spiritual battle against Satan.
Without Gods armour, Satan’s arrows start flying at us. We start questioning things we wouldn’t normally question. Our words and thoughts are twisted. We start listening to lies and our eyes and heart are taken off Christ.
That’s why we need to stand firm with the ‘belt of truth’ buckled tightly, we need to remember the promises we have in him and that he will be with us always with the breast plate of righteousness in place.
PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, thankyou that you have clothed me with all I need to fight the daily battle. Help me to remember that Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life, and that through him you will never leave me to fight the battle against the evil one on my own. In Jesus name, Amen.
Today's Daily Verse written by Josi Weiss, LifeWay's Office and Visual Display's Coordinator
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
TO PONDER
“You don’t have to be the best – just make sure you do your best”. I remember my parents telling me this as I was growing up, and it’s a mantra that has carried me through many areas of my life. But it isn’t always easy to ‘do your best’ is it?
How about when it comes to faith? Do you ‘Do your best’? Today’s verse reminds us that we need to give God our best in all we do. As believers in Christ, we are already ‘approved’ by God, we are recipients of his amazing grace, but do we always act like it? I read recently that the trouble with many people is not that their best for God isn’t good enough, it’s that in reality they are not giving God their best.
Part of doing our best for God includes living and working each day and being unashamed of our faith in our daily life – someone who strives to live the truth that Jesus has laid out in his word and live accordingly.
So what areas of your faith life need a little fine tuning at the moment? How can you ‘do your best’ for God today?
PRAYER
Jesus, thank you that I am approved by God because of what you have done for me and the faith you have given me. I pray that what I believe and how I live line up with each other. Help me to really do my best for God each day, especially today. Amen.
Today's Daily Verse is written by Elysia McEwen, LifeWay's Graphic Designer and Communication's Coordinator.
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
TO PONDER
Have you ever had a close friend, or family member move far away from you? How did you feel when they told you the news? It is hard to imagine how the disciples must have felt when Jesus told them he was leaving them to go back to the Father in heaven. Their hearts must have been full of grief and their minds racing with endless questions. They still had so much more to learn from Jesus!
But as we read in today’s verse, Jesus reminded them that he would send the Spirit of truth – the Advocate – the Helper – the Holy Spirit to guide them into all truth and to tell them what is yet to come.
Do you think that would have immediately comforted them? It should have! But as we can likely relate to, it would probably have been a bit confusing and taken them a while to wrap their heads around. The disciples were only human after all!
The verses that follow further explain that the Spirit of truth speaks only what Jesus tells him. ‘..the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you’ (v15). What a wonderful gift that is.
So will you allow the Spirit of truth to speak into your life today? Will your ears hear his voice, and your heart be submitted to his guidance?
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Help my ears to be spiritually attuned to hear his voice, and my eyes be willing to see spiritual truths. Let my heart be submitted to the guidance of your Holy Spirit so that I may be guided into all truth. Amen.
Today's Daily Verse is written by Elysia McEwen, LifeWay's Graphic Designer and Communications Coordinator.