One Verse Devotional

What is God’s will for my life? It’s kind of a big question, right? But the Bible lays out several ways that we can live in God’s will. Today’s One Verse makes it clear: Being thankful is God’s will for your life.

Being thankful is easy to put on the back burner and only focus on once a year. But the Bible lays out another way: living “with thanksgiving” in every situation of life.

[Week of Thanksgiving] We are weak, but He is strong. This is the power of God’s grace in our lives, and His grace is reaching more and more people. It is this Grace that allows Thanksgiving to overflow in our lives.

God is the Rock of our salvation, a firm foundation in the middle of life’s shifting sands. When life is unsure and we feel like we are walking on shifting sands, God is the foundation and the Rock that stands firm. When the wind is blowing and the storm is raging around us, we can take comfort and safety near the Rock. I encourage you to find the Rock. Find your safety in God. Then, grow closer to Him and build your life on HIs solid foundation.

“May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace…” -Romans 15:13

Today, we think of a minister as a pastor. But the original meaning of the word, minister, was servant of the king. As followers of Jesus, we are ALL called to be ministers of the Gospel. Servants of the Most High King.

As much as we want all the answers, we are simply called to go until God shows us the future He has for us

The greatest “wealth” we can achieve is growing deeper in our relationship with Jesus and being content with the blessing He has given us.

The closer we get to Jesus, the more we will realize and understand our gifts, passions, and purpose in this world! Yesterday, our One Verse was from Colossians 2 and reminded us that all of the power, glory, might, and fullness of God was in Jesus. That means we serve an awesome Savior! Well, today’s One Verse is a continuation of that thought. It is Colossians 2:10 and it says, “and in Christ you have been brought to fullness.” Wow! Christ is the fullness of God and then He passes that on to us! In other words, the closer we get to Jesus and the deeper we engage with Him in authentic relationship means the greater we will understand our gifts, skills, passion, and purpose in this world! Grow close to Jesus and He will show you amazing and wonderful things!

A simple reminder: Jesus is the TOTAL fullness of God in human form. In the Book of Colossians, Paul teaches us something simple, yet very critical: All the fullness of God was in Jesus in human form. For many of us, that is simply a reminder. Yes, we know Jesus is God. But there can be a big difference between “head knowledge” and “heart knowledge.” My desire is for you to have heart knowledge of Jesus and Who He is. Remember the stories of the Old Testament that we grew up with? When God parted the Red Sea through Moses or defeated Goliath through David? What about when He provided manna to the people of Israel when they were in the desert? Over and over again, God shows us His power. And it is THIS power that lives in Jesus. We serve a mighty God who loves us. We follow a powerful Savior who provides for us. I simply want to remind you, today, that Jesus IS God and God IS BIG!

As followers of Jesus, we can soar like eagles. But we need to learn how to trust and place our hope in God.

Happy Reformation Day! Romans 1:17 is the verse that inspired Martin Luther and kicked off the Protestant Reformation on October 31st, 1517

From political ads to Facebook posts, the negative talk in our culture is becoming unbearable. But it can only change if it starts with us.

Our world is filled with violence. This past weekend, a gunman filled with hate walked into a Jewish synagogue and murdered 11 worshippers. Throughout the Bible, God calls us to join Him in His mission of Love. The only way to stop evil in the world is for God’s people to get serious about spreading the Light and Love of our Savior, Jesus. Yes, violence will exist until Jesus returns and reconciles all things back to Himself. BUT…. We can still make a difference by spurring others to live a life of Love, as well. This is our God-given calling.

We are called to accept others. Those in the Church. Those outside of the Church. When will the Church get serious about this command?

Today’s One Verse is wisdom from John, the closest man to Jesus while on earth. Of everything that John could teach us, what would it be? To love others, not in words, but through our actions.

The disciples ask Jesus for a sign that they should follow Him. (BTW, this was AFTER Jesus fed the 5,000 and walked on water!) They “remind” Jesus that God sent Moses bread from heaven as a sign. Jesus uses their own illustration and teaches us an important lesson: He is the Bread of Life and the closer we grow to Him, the more fulfilled we will be.

It’s Monday, which means we are in the book of Psalms. (Wait! That doesn’t sound right.) Yes, normally we do Psalms on Friday, but today’s One Verse is perfect for kicking off a new week. Psalm 25:4 could be used as a weekly prayer to begin our weeks with God’s blessing. If we adopted this weekly prayer, I believe it could have a massive impact on our lives.

In Psalm 23, David says that he is walking through the “valley of the shadow of death”. Just a few pages later, in our One Verse today, David has confidence that He will see the goodness of God in the land of the living. No matter what you are going through right now--blessing or pain--we can all be confident that we will see the Goodness of God in the land of the living.

Even in the midst of storms in our lives, even when we don’t understand or can’t explain the storm, nothing is too hard for God. Today’s One Verse: Jeremiah 32:17