Verse of the Day
for Wednesday, April 19th, 2023

But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
-- Amos 5:24

Thoughts on Today's Verse...
While many attribute this quote to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., it was originally uttered by Amos, God's spokesman, over 2600 years earlier than Dr. King quoted it. God wanted his people to know that their religious pilgrimages, sacrificial offerings, and songs meant nothing to him if a life of compassion, character, and concern did not back them up. Northern Israel did not believe Amos and did not repent. Not too many years later, they were utterly destroyed because God found their hypocrisy, injustice, and abuse of the weak reprehensible. But we live now, and these words are as powerful and clear as they were then!

Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!
What will our response be?

My Prayer...
Almighty God, many of your children are ashamed today of the unrighteousness in our world and our nations. Please use us to lead a rebirth of character. And Father, as we seek to live holy lives, please keep our eyes on your righteous character, gracious compassion, and faithful love-based justice. Lord, help us demonstrate these same character qualities with those who need to know your love and receive your salvation. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

The Thoughts and Prayer on Today's Verse are written by Phil Ware.

T***h!!!

Verse of the Day
for Saturday, April 15th, 2023

“Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.” -- Romans 13:7

Thoughts on Today's Verse...
Wouldn't it be nice for God to let us off the hook at tax time? But he calls us to live his character in our world — to be good, honest, and holy. So we honor our responsibilities and commitments to others, paying our taxes, living up to our financial obligations, giving respect, or showing honor. By doing so, we honor our Father. In a fallen world that needs redemption, we must learn to live in this world as God's children but not possessed by it or conformed to it.

My Prayer...
Holy God, bless my government that it may use the taxes it collects from my fellow citizens and me more wisely. Please help me show respect and honor to those around me who deserve them. I want to live my obedience to your will in the public and private arenas of my life. Please, dear Father, give me the courage and wisdom to do so. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

The Thoughts and Prayer on Today's Verse are written by Phil Ware.

Verse of the Day
for Friday, April 14th, 2023

whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. -- James 4:14-15

Thoughts on Today's Verse...
"If the Lord wills!" Do you do short-term and long-range planning? I do. But my planning always has an invisible asterisk: "If Lord, this is your will and timing, please help me complete these plans." I don't know about you, but God has shown me time and again that if I am open to him, his timing is always better than my planning. Does that mean I quit planning? Nope. I plan with prayer, asking for wisdom and the Holy Spirit to help me find God's timing to know and do his will in his timing (James 1:5-6; Ephesians 5:15-18). Life is too short not to plan. Life is too important not to plan with prayer and seek to be led by the Holy Spirit!

My Prayer...
Not my will, Father, but yours be done... this day and all the days of my life that follow. I want to walk in your will and follow your timing. In Jesus' holy name, I ask this. Amen.

The Thoughts and Prayer on Today's Verse are written by Phil Ware.

Verse of the Day
for Thursday, April 13th, 2023

“Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.”
-- Psalm 144:4

Thoughts on Today's Verse...
Time is so precious — time with our families, children, parents, friends, and brothers and sisters in Christ. How do you invest your time? Where do you invest it? You know, our time is really more valuable than the money we invest. Once the present time and its opportunities are gone, they can't be reclaimed. So as you begin each day, ask God that you will be able to "know the time," to see it for what it is, and to use it for its greatest good. Time passes quickly, and like the shadows of early evening, it's not long before it is absorbed into the gathering darkness of night.

My Prayer...
Eternal God, please give me the wisdom to use the time given me today to do what is best, right, good, and profitable. I want to invest my time in what is truly enduring and redemptive. Please help me use my time to influence and bless all those with whom I interact so that they are brought closer to you. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

The Thoughts and Prayer on Today's Verse are written by Phil Ware.

You must be referring to the l***qlmnop...

Makes a great point.

There's a reason they lie...

https://youtu.be/Bn9EMOW1ac0

Verse of the Day
for Wednesday, April 12th, 2023

H**e the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.
-- Amos 5:15

Thoughts on Today's Verse...
While we rightfully teach our children that we must not h**e others, we also must teach them to loathe injustice, evil, prejudice, and the mistreatment of the vulnerable — the foreigner, widow, fatherless, and poor, as God defined them in the Torah. Amos reminded Israel that God demands justice to be administered fairly for both rich and poor, residents and foreigners, those in families as well as those left alone. Israel's repeated refusals of God's commands in these areas brought destruction upon their land despite their apparent affluence, military might, and political power in Amos' day.

My Prayer...
Holy God, I know you are furious at the injustice in so many lands and are enraged at the ethnic hatred setting our world ablaze. Please make your people, your Church, a place of justice, equity, compassion, love, racial healing, and hope. Please begin in my heart and with my hands to build this better world. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

The Thoughts and Prayer on Today's Verse are written by Phil Ware.

Verse of the Day
for Tuesday, April 11th, 2023

Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
-- Colossians 2:17

Thoughts on Today's Verse...
In the world of mysterious religious ideas, Paul reminded the Colossian Christians that while the shiny religions around them and the particular practices of those religions might feel like a more spiritual lifestyle, these religions are only a shadow of what God offers us in Jesus. In Jesus, we have reality: spiritual reality and human reality. God became one of us in Jesus so we could be one with him and share in his glory. What is real is what we find in Jesus.

My Prayer...
Give me focus, O Lord, to follow your Son with all my heart. I know so many other religious ideas are out there, but I also know that only Jesus showed how much you love me by dying for me and saving me from sin and death. I want to not only trust and follow him, but I also want my character to be conformed to his. I pray in the name of the only true Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Thoughts and Prayer on Today's Verse are written by Phil Ware.

Verse of the Day
for Monday, April 10th, 2023

As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
-- Colossians 2:6

Thoughts on Today's Verse...
"New and improved!" That's the strategic marketing tag to re-introduce an older product that has fallen out of public perception. Make a few changes, freshen the packaging, and re-market the old product as something new and improved. The apostle Paul wanted the Colossians to know that Jesus does not need to be updated or add some spiritually new ingredient. Instead, they needed to follow him as Lord, just as they did when they first became Christians. That is our need, too! Our lives need to be rooted and nurtured in Christ Jesus as Lord, full of thankfulness for God's incredible gift of grace in his Son. And we must realize Jesus is more than any additive-laden, updated, or new religious fad could ever be!

My Prayer...
Loving Father and Almighty God, thank you for the gift of your grace given to me in Jesus Christ. Forgive me when I get fascinated by what is flashy and new or wanderlust hits, and I desire something fresh and novel. Please make my walk with Jesus fresh each day. Strengthen my appreciation that his lordship in my life will help me face the difficult circumstances along the way and greet the exciting new opportunities each day with joy, strength, hope, and power. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

The Thoughts and Prayer on Today's Verse are written by Phil Ware.

Verse of the Day
for Sunday, April 9th, 2023

The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, And called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. -- Psalm 50:1

Thoughts on Today's Verse...
Some speak of Mother Nature, but the Scripture tells of The Mighty One, God the LORD, who controls our universe and sustains our world. He speaks, and they do his bidding. This is the LORD who listens to our prayers and who acts for our well-being. He is the God who sustained his people and sent Jesus to fulfill his promises. He is the God who will bring us home. We can have confidence in our future with this God, the LORD Almighty!

My Prayer...
Almighty God, Ruler of the Universe, you are incomparable. I cannot even begin to imagine your glory and power. Nevertheless, I know, God, that you are all-powerful and near us. Please be near some special friends for whom I pray today... (Include your friends' names at this point in our prayer.) In Jesus' mighty name, I pray. Amen.

The Thoughts and Prayer on Today's Verse are written by Phil Ware.

Verse of the Day
for Saturday, April 8th, 2023

Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: In thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.
-- Psalm 143:1

Thoughts on Today's Verse...
Some days are just very tough! Those we care about are hurting. Our plans are falling apart. Our prayers fell like BBs shot into a metal-walled room. They ricochet off the walls and ceiling only to fall at our feet and trip us up when we try to move out of our box full of worthless-feeling prayers. We cry out to God — sometimes in anger, sometimes in desperation, but especially begging for mercy. We need relief! We need hope! We need the Father to respond. So we join the psalmist in crying out to God:

O LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief.
And on our best days, we hang onto hope waiting for the LORD to answer!

My Prayer...
Faithful and righteous God, loving Father, please come to my aid and bring me relief from my struggles with sin, disease, discouragement, unfaithful friends, and enemies who work for my humiliation and destruction. I desperately need your help, O LORD. I need your mercy, dear Father. I need to know your presence and power in my life today, Lord God Almighty. In Jesus' sweet name, I pray. Amen.

The Thoughts and Prayer on Today's Verse are written by Phil Ware.

Verse of the Day
for Thursday, April 6th, 2023

Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul
1 Peter 2:11

Thoughts on Today's Verse...
This world is not our destination. This world is not our home. This world is the place of our journey! Many things here can distract us from our goal and destroy our desire to complete our journey. These kinds of distracting and sinful desires are actually at war with us. However, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can say "NO!" to them. Then we can live with confidence and character before our world which is trapped in darkness desperately needing God's light.

My Prayer...
Forgive me, holy God, for my failure with sin. Empower me, almighty God, so that I may grow closer to your character and holiness. Help me, loving God, to live a holy life attractive to my friends, family, and neighbors, so they may come to glorify you by living your life, too. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

The Thoughts and Prayer on Today's Verse are written by Phil Ware.

As you may already know, Satan is the father of all lies and he does his job well....
Here's a nice little compilation of how the whole world is a lie.
All we have in these times is God's Word, Jesus. and the Holy Spirit which when is in us will give us discernment...

https://youtu.be/9lhYDJ3QtOg