Monday
This is why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him. If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY'S VERSE ...
Owe! Tax day. Not my favorite, how about yours? But where would we be without government, order and laws? While we may not like how the system functions today, what if we had no system? Let's be redemptive in our living and obedient in our citizenship.
MY PRAYER ...
Holy God, I thank you that I am free in you and belong to no man or power. Yet because I want your name to be respected, I pledge to obey the laws of this land as long as they do not run directly in contradiction to your will. At the same time, I fervently pray that you heal our land. Through Jesus I pray. Amen.
Tuesday
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY'S VERSE ...
He paid a debt and I owe one. Thank God I don't owe the debt for my sin, but I owe others the same love, respect and grace with which God has treated me!
MY PRAYER ...
Holy God who owns all things, I thank you for not just owning me, but for having bought me out of slavery, sin, and death. Please kindle love in my heart through the Holy Spirit so I will love others as you do. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Wednesday
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY'S VERSE ...
Power! We love power. We love the sound and fury of power. We love the ability to change things that power brings. But the greatest power ever unleashed on this earth was the power displayed when the Almighty God held back his power while his Son was persecuted and murdered so we could be saved. Now that's an awesome display of power.
MY PRAYER ...
Holy and Majestic God on high, I praise you for your incredible might and power. But I also thank you for your love, which guides the release of that power. Thank you for knowing that I am but dust without your sustaining Spirit. Thank you for saving me by withholding your mighty power so I could be pardoned by your sacrificial power. Through Jesus' mercy I offer this prayer. Amen.
Thursday
If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY'S VERSE ...
Imagine Jesus being proud of you! He said if we confess him before others here on earth, he will speak up for us in heaven. Confessing that Jesus is Lord is simply acknowledging the truth. But for believers, it is more than that, since at the close of time every knee will bow and every tongue confess his name. For us, confessing Jesus is anticipating his triumph in which we will share.
MY PRAYER ...
Mighty God, your Son is my Lord. I love him and praise him for his redeeming sacrifice. I thank him for his conquest of the grave. I marvel at his sacrificial and triumphant grace. Jesus is Lord. I know it sounds sweet in your ears so I say it again, Jesus is my Lord. Thank you for being so great that you would be so sacrificial. Through my Lord and Savior I offer this thanks. Amen.
Friday
Christ has indeed been raised, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY'S VERSE ...
Being eternal is nothing new. Being like Jesus, completely, immortally will be new. But when the moment of glory hung in the balance as Jesus was revived from his death sleep, we too were given the assurance that death no longer claims us. The only death that really matters is our death to sin with Jesus in baptism. If we have shared in that death, we will most certainly share in his resurrection (see Romans 6:1-14).
MY PRAYER ...
Almighty, Most Powerful God. Because of your grace and the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, I know I will see you face to face. Help me now, however, to live that resurrected life being more like Jesus today than any day ever before. Through my Risen Lord I pray. Amen.
Saturday
Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY'S VERSE ...
Victory! Ultimate Victory!! If you don't have the answer for life's biggest test, death, then you have no victory. The Super Bowl and World Series are played every year. The champion is a victor for only one year. But a Christian is a champion forever because of Jesus. A Christian has victory over death.
MY PRAYER ...
Thank you God for giving me victory in Jesus Christ. Make his will triumphant in my daily struggles with sin. Through my Triumphant King I ask it. Amen.
Sunday
Jesus said, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one."
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY'S VERSE ...
"He's got the whole world in his hand." God holds his children of faith in his hand. As long as they place their lives in him, no one or nothing can steal them away.
MY PRAYER ...
O Lord, thank you for your steadfast and secure love. Thank you for the assurance that my future rests in your hands. Thank you for holding me in your protective grace. May I live today with confidence and joy knowing that no matter where I find myself, you are there to uphold and sustain me. For this grace, I thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.
