October 2021 week 4

Verse of the Day for Friday,

May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. — 1 Thessalonians 3:12

Thoughts on Today’s Verse

“I’m not sure I can love them any more! My supply of love is gone, my capacity to love is exhausted.” Yes, there are times when it seems others will exhaust our ability to love, either because of their need being so great or because of their unwillingness to love in return. How do we go on? We need a community of love; other believers who will support and love us. We need brothers and sisters in Christ who will pray for God to increase our capacity to love. We need to trust that in response to all of our prayers, God will pour more love into our hearts through his everflowing stream of grace, the Holy Spirit (cf. Rom. 5:5). When love is low, don’t withdraw or give up. Draw near to God and draw near to his people asking for his grace to help in your time of need (Heb. 4:16).

My Prayer

Dear Father, graciously pour your love into my heart and pour your love into the hearts of those in my family and church family. We need your help to love those around us more. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Verse of the Day for Thursday,

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. — 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Thoughts on Today’s Verse

We are comforted because we are heartbroken. We are comforted because we need a blessing. We are comforted because God loves us. We are comforted to comfort others. While each of the above statements is true, the last is the most crucial one. There is something about comfort that cannot be fully realized until it is shared with someone else. It is that final step in the healing process of grief, disappointment, hurt, and loss. Until we share the comfort we have received, until we pass it on to another, our comfort is weak and shallow and limited. Comfort — pass it on!

My Prayer

O LORD, God of heaven and earth, Creator of the universe, thank you for knowing my heart, caring about my concerns, and comforting me when I am wounded. Help me to share your grace, mercy, and comfort with someone else today. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Verse of the Day for Wednesday,

The LORD redeems his servants; no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him. — Psalm 34:22

Thoughts on Today’s Verse

God not only buys out our bondage and debt to sin, but he also assures us that he will provide refuge for those who trust in him. Our future is tied to him and not to our ability to provide and protect what we need.

My Prayer

O LORD, God of heaven and earth, I place my life and my future in your hands. Please use me to bless others as I do your will. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Verse of the Day for Tuesday,

Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned. — Psalm 34:21

Thoughts on Today’s Verse

God has promised a closing time, a reckoning where human power and influence cannot buy out the truth and where each person will have to face up to what he or she has done. Evil will overtake those who have been partners with evil. Those that hate good people, righteous people, will be condemned in their own hate. God’s righteousness, truth, and justice will not be short-circuited!

My Prayer

Father, thank you for making clean and whole by the purifying work of your Holy Spirit. Teach me to be righteous. Help me develop a revulsion for what is sinful and evil. Use me to help someone caught in the evil one’s work to find deliverance. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Verse of the Day for Monday,

A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all; he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken. — Psalm 34:19-20

Thoughts on Today’s Verse

We know that the righteous can have troubles, but how do we understand that God delivers us from them all? How do we understand that he protects all our bones, especially in light of recent tragedies and the persecution of believers in many places in the world? Paul demonstrates the answer: whatever happens to him will turn out for his deliverance — whether it is through his death to be with God or whether it is through his release from prison to continue ministry (Phil. 1:19-23). Our deliverance is secure. We are conquerors in Christ. Nothing Satan can do to us can steal us away from God’s love, not even death (Romans 8:32-39).

My Prayer

Father, please give me the faith I need to believe that whatever happens in my life will not steal me away from your love and deliverance for me. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen