A Verse, A Comment, A Prayer, A Blessing

A Verse Exodus 20:4-6 You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of thos...

A Verse Exodus 20:1-3 And God spoke all these words: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land ofslavery. You shall have no other gods before me.” A Comment We will spend the next ten episodes of this podcast reflecting on each of the Ten Commandments. This morning, we begin with the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me.” The first commandment dea...

A Verse Psalm 34:18 The Lord is close to the brokenheartedand saves those who are crushed in spirit. A Comment Today’s passage reminds us that our brokenheartedness does not drive the Lord away from us. He draws near to those who are feeling crushed in spirit. Our struggles do not scare him away. As Psalm 73 tells us, the nearness of God is our good. I’m not sure what you may be going through this...

A Verse Psalm 111:2-3 Great are the works of the LORD;they are pondered by all who delight in them. Glorious and majestic are his deeds,and his righteousness endures forever. A Comment Over the past three weeks, I have been studying prayer with my congregation. We have been working through a study on child-like prayer. One of the most important practices from that study has been the practice of wr...

A Verse Luke 7:36-50 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped t...

A Verse Psalm 4:8 In peace I will lie down and sleep,for you alone, LORD,make me dwell in safety. A Comment Psalm 4 is a psalm of David. It begins with a confession of David’s distress and a cry for mercy to the LORD. Yet, it ends with a declaration of confidence in the LORD to make David lie down and sleep in peace and safety. When I reflect on this psalm, I am reminded of the importance of balan...

A Verse Genesis 2:16-17 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” A Comment When we consider Genesis 2:16-17, we see the benefits of God’s boundaries. When God prohibits man from eating of the one tree in the garden, it is because He de...

A Verse Colossians 3:15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. A Comment We live in a society that is marked by near-constant conflict. Peaceful is not the way most people would describe our world. Whether it is a global conflict between countries or internal conflicts within an organization or a family, we long for peac...

A Verse Psalm 63:1 You, God, are my God,earnestly I seek you;I thirst for you,my whole being longs for you,in a dry and parched land where there is no water. A Comment I can only remember a few times in my life when I felt like I was dying of thirst. It was when I was younger and ended up severely dehydrated after a stomach virus. I was hospitalized for a day due to the severity of my dehydration....

A Verse 1 Timothy 6:11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. A Comment In this morning’s verse, we see that as we turn away from pride, arrogance, and the love of money (verses 1-10), we are called to turn toward righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. The temptation we often face is to believ...

A Verse Psalm 145:18 The LORD is near to all who call on him,to all who call on him in truth. A Comment For as long as I can remember, I have understood this verse to mean that to call upon the LORD, we must know certain truths about him. That is how I understood the word “truth” at the end of the verse. To be sure, knowing certain truths about the LORD is vitally important. We ought to desire to...

A Verse Proverbs 8:13 To fear the LORD is to hate evil;I hate pride and arrogance,evil behavior and perverse speech. A Comment The title of this morning’s meditation may have thrown you off a little. Christians are called to be known by their love. So why is there a need to cultivate something like “hate?” Well, I hope you can already see from Proverbs 8:13 that this is no ordinary hate. This is a...

A Verse Psalm 5:3 In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice;in the morning I lay my request before you and wait expectantly. A Comment This morning’s meditation is short and simple. When we “lay our requests” before the LORD, we must “wait expectantly.” This does not meet that we wait with presumption, but rather, we wait with an expectation that is rooted in God’s character and power. God reveals H...

A Verse Romans 3:23-24 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” A Comment Many people are familiar with Romans 3:23, but not as many people are familiar with Romans 3:24. Yet, the apostle Paul intended for these verses to be understood together. While it is certainly true that “all have sinne...

A Verse Mark 6:31-32 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. A Comment We live and move in a busy society. When we think about spending time with God, we are often tempted to believe that we “just do...

A Verse Romans 8:35, 37 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. A Comment Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. If we are in him, if we belong to him, there is no power of hell or scheme of man that could ever pluck us f...

A Verse 1 John 3:1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! A Comment While I doubt my children would feel loved just because they are called mine, with God as our Father, to be his children is to be loved by him. While earthly fathers are sure to fail and disappoint at times, our heavenly Father never fails. He lavishes...

A Verse Lamentations 3:22-23 Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. A Comment What a thought? That the compassions of the LORD never fail. They are new every morning. As you woke this morning, you were greeted by new mercies because our God is more faithful than even the rising and the setting of...

A Verse Zephaniah 3:17 The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing. A Comment Zephaniah 3:17 gives a beautiful image of the Lord’s joy over his children. The prophet aims to have us hear the Lord’s song of rejoicing over us with the ears of faith. He wants us to unde...

A Verse John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. A Comment This week, we are focusing on God’s love. This morning’s passage is one of, if not the most well-known, Bible verses in all of Scripture. While some have debated its meaning, my hope is that you will join me in slowing down and reflecting on...

A Verse Hebrews 6:19-20a We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. A Comment What a great verse! I love the imagery of an anchor for the soul. An anchor holds the ship in place so that it does not drift. Though the storms batter the ship, the anchor holds strong. The author...

A Verse Isaiah 40:31 But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. A Comment We are looking at hope again this morning from Isaiah 40. In this well-known passage, we see that it is the LORD who renews our strength. I don’t know about you, but this passage is particularly encouraging...

A Verse Ephesians 1:18 “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people.” A Comment God intends for his people to know and reflect on our inheritance as his children in Christ. This is what Paul prays for the church in Ephesus in this morning’s passage. That we might know...

A Verse Psalm 149:4 For the LORD takes delight in his people;he crowns the humble with victory. A Comment This morning’s passage somewhat resembles yesterday’s passage regarding the people in whom the LORD takes delight. We are reminded again that it is not just a matter of what we do as the LORD’s people but also how we do them. In today’s passage, the stress is on our humility. I like what C. S....

A Verse Psalm 147:10-11 His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,nor his delight in the legs of the warrior;the LORD delights in those who fear himwho put their hope in his unfailing love. A Comment I must admit that this morning’s passage challenges me. My heart tends to believe that God is more pleased with me when I “perform well” instead of “depend well” on him. Yet, these verses serve...