Jul 30 2024

Today's Bible Verse

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

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In this verse from Acts, Luke records the words of Peter, who is sharing the Gospel with someone. He describes Jesus as being anointed by God and having great power. He healed all who were oppressed because the Lord was with Him. Jesus did not show partiality, but instead healed everyone who came to Him.

Jesus did not act like He was too good for someone. He never rejected anyone who came to Him with a request; He was eager to see healing and restoration in people's lives. That shows us that we do not have to get our act together before coming to Jesus; the people who came to Him were literally possessed by the devil. In fact, it's impossible for us to ever be good enough to approach the Lord. We are not able to fix ourselves; we need Him to heal us first. And He welcomes all of us.

This verse also reminds us of the great power that the Lord has. Even the devil cannot resist Him; everything submits to His Word. This is a sweet reminder that nothing that we ask the Lord about is impossible for Him. He can—and will—do everything that He pleases.

Finally, we see that healing is the Lord's will. He does not want us to be oppressed by demonic forces or by our bodies. One day, we are promised total restoration, total freedom from our sin, and perfect, healthy bodies. This tells us the Lord cares about our day-to-day lives; He is not distant or far off, indifferent about our physical pain. Much to the contrary, He seeks us out and heals us according to His will. He wants us to experience total restoration in Him, once and for all.

Today, if you need healing, remember that the Lord cares for you. He does not want you to struggle on and suffer. While our healing might not come as soon as we like, we can trust and look forward to the day when it comes in full. The Lord's promises are good, and we can rest in His promise that one day, there will be healing for all.

Today's Prayer

Dear Lord, thank you for being a healer. Thank you for bringing healing to me, to my heart and my soul. Thank you for having a relationship with me, for reconciling me to you once and for all through Jesus. In His name, amen.

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Jul 29 2024

Yesterday's Bible Verse

He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends. :

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Yesterday's Bible study

In this verse from Proverbs, we are reminded of the importance of forgiveness. If we do not forgive others? Sins against us, and instead bring them up again and again, we can eventually lose valuable relationships in our lives. On the other hand, when we truly forgive each other, we are able to love each other well.

We are all pretty much guaranteed to be deeply hurt by another person. The converse is also true; we are very likely to hurt another person. We will often need to seek forgiveness and give forgiveness, as painful as the situation is. When we decide to offer forgiveness, we are seeking love. We are saying that we will overlook how someone has hurt us because we value them more than the pain they have caused us. Even more so, we recognize that we have been forgiven as well.

As Christians, we cannot rightly harbor unforgiveness in our hearts. This is because we have already been forgiven for so much. Jesus sees all our sins, and He went to the cross, carrying them on His back to Calvary. He decided to overlook how He was wronged so that we could have a chance at a relationship with the Lord. We live in the eternal promise of His forgiveness—we know that He will not hold anything back from us because He loves us so much.

When we don't forgive other people, it drives a wedge in that relationship and between us and the Lord. Refusing to forgive is, in essence, saying that what Jesus did on the cross was not enough for that person who hurt us. Jesus takes our pain seriously, and when He died on the cross, He was taking into account the many, specific ways that people would hurt us. Because of this, harboring unforgiveness is essentially rejecting the power of the cross to forgive all sin.

When we do forgive, however, we experience grace. We help the other person find relief from the pain that their own actions caused them, helping them get free from guilt and shame. We also get a tangible reminder of how the Lord forgave us. Forgiving other people lets us experience grace from the other side and frees us from anger, frustration, and bitterness that can fester and ruin our relationships. Forgiveness is an inevitable part of life, and it has made our relationships with the Lord possible in the first place. Because of this, we should be willing to forgive others.

Yesterday's Prayer

Dear Lord, thank you for covering my transgressions. Thank you for not holding them over my head or reminding me of them time after time. You are so good to me, Lord. Help me to show the same forgiveness and goodness to others. I do not want to hold anything against anyone when I know that I have been forgiven for so much. In Jesus' name, amen.
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