Oct 12 2024

Today's Bible Verse

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

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Today's verse comes from the Final Discourse: the last message that Jesus gave His disciples before the crucifixion. When He said today's verse, Jesus knew that He was about to lay down His life for His disciples. He was about to live out what He instructed them to do. When He went to the cross and died an innocent death, He was thinking of you and me. We could not have had a relationship with God with sin in our lives, and there was no way for us to atone for our sin. Jesus made both possible: His death wiped out our sin and made our relationship with God possible because it paid the price in full.

Jesus' resurrection, which we celebrate, was the final victory over sin and death. Because of what He did for us, we are no longer enslaved by sin and we have the promise of eternal life with God.

We can live in light of it every day. When we begin to feel discouraged or upset, we can remember that the greatest victory of all time happened on a cross more than two thousand years ago… and we are the unmerited, deeply blessed beneficiaries of it today and for all eternity.

Today's Prayer

Dear Lord, we celebrate the priceless gift of Jesus' resurrection. We may not be worthy of the life that Jesus has made possible, but you have blessed us with it anyway. We are so grateful for that, and for all that you do for us. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen.

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Oct 11 2024

Yesterday's Bible Verse

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.:

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Yesterday's Bible study

In this morning's verse, Paul writes about how the Lord has not answered one of his prayers. He wanted to be healed of something, but the Lord said no. Instead, He promises that His grace will be enough for Paul. Paul's response is that he will honor God in his weaknesses so that he can experience the power of Christ.

This verse might be a little hard to understand, much less accept. We're human, and humans want things. We might want a better place to live, or for our annoying neighbors to move away, or for our family life and career to be more settled. And, we may convince ourselves that God wants these same things for us. Surely it's His will for us to live comfortable lives, right?

But this verse gives us a very different picture. Paul was faithful to the Lord—the Lord did not withhold healing because of anything Paul did. Instead, it was the Lord's will that some degree of preventable suffering exist in Paul's life. The reason was not to test Paul's faith, but rather, so that God's strength might be made perfect in weakness.

God can work through our lives when we suffer to minister to other people. Our brokenness can be like a beacon demonstration of God's love and sustaining power. While it is perfectly natural and acceptable for us to pray for healing and for other wishes in our lives, we should also pray that the Lord would help us to honor Him before the healing comes.

We do not have to see suffering as futile. Every wound we've experienced becomes an opportunity to realize the sufficiency of Christ alone. Like Paul, we can begin to pray to that end, asking for God to be glorified in our weakness.

Yesterday's Prayer

Dear Lord, thank you for being such a loving God and caring about our pain. You don't want to see us suffer. You know the suffering that we face, and I ask that you would please redeem it and bring it to an end. In the midst, Lord, I believe that you are sufficient. I ask that your strength will be made perfect in our weakness. In Jesus' name, amen.
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