Exploring Scripture

Today's thought: when life revolves around me, somehow I am out of sync with heaven.

Today's thought: God has not left us to ourselves to muddle through as best as we can. Within us, and around us, and therefore available to us, are the unbelievably boundless stores of grace.

Today's thought: Jesus talked about the possibility of the seed of God that has been planted in us being “choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life...” (Luke 8:14) Are there any weeds and thorns in the garden of your soul that need pulling out? Would you let the Lord show them to you?

Today's thought: who or what has the greatest tug on your heartstrings? Remember, God is a jealous lover.

Today's thought: unconquered and ungoverned areas within us are the source of much distress and defeat. Maybe we need to ask the Holy Spirit to do a deep cleansing and to bring under his, and our, control certain troublesome areas of our lives.

Today's thought: we do not want the wisdom of God for ourselves only; that is spiritually selfish. We seek the wisdom of God also to be a blessing to others, creatively beautifying their worlds.

Today's thought: what will we leave in our trail today? At the end of the day, will people be thanking God for the influence that we have had upon them, or will they be in pain?

Today's thought: it is a good thing to think about the character of wisdom. Sharpness in our words of wisdom will cut and fragment things, whereas the pure, gentle and peaceful wisdom of God will cleanse, reassure and settle things.

Today's thought: the eternal wisdom of God is always relevant simply because it issues from a divine perspective. Don’t be earthbound in your thinking.

Today's thought: the proverb says that “a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver”. (Prov.25:11) A ‘fitly spoken word’ is a word that constructs and moves thing along, adding to and inspiring any conversation. Do my words do that, or do they deconstruct and bring the conversation to a jarring stop?

Today's thought: an ambition that climbs over, disregards and hurts other individuals is totally incongruent with the ways of the kingdom of heaven. We are either serving Christ and each other, or we are serving ourselves.

Today's thought: in Hebrew thought, God himself was to be sought after. After that, wisdom was the one thing to be chased after, and with a holy passion! The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.

Today's thought: Jesus epitomized the beautiful life, not so much by the things he said and the things he did, but the way in which he spoke and acted. It was with gentle compassion. It was with profound love.

Today's thought: in relationships, consistency breeds confidence and trust; incon- sistency results in lack of confidence and distrust. Can we be trusted?

Today's thought: today, I am going to leash my tongue, and I am going to look for someone to whom I can bring a word of restorative grace.

Today's thought: "The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences." What consequences would you like to see today out there in your world? You choose.

Today's thought: speak to your brothers and sisters in Christ as you would speak to Jesus himself, and you won’t go far wrong.

Today's thought: in the darkest and most traumatic moment of his life, the Lord Jesus spoke the Scriptures into a prayer. Now there’s a goal to aim for.

Today's thought: knowing also how precious people are to God, and knowing how powerful our words can be, we ought to become both thoughtful and skilful in our use of them.

Today's thought: we need to teach in order to shape and construct souls, not to distort and tear them apart. Be careful how you use your words today.

Today's thought: the grace and mercy of God is always larger than our concepts of both. He sees far more than we do.

Today's thought: when the fruit of our faith becomes the focus of our faith, then it will turn bad on us. Don’t let the vision become an idol. Keep your eyes on the Lord.

Today's thought: use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?

Today's thought: God has planned this day already for you to walk into. He has things for you to do.

Today's thought: “Where mercy, love, and pity dwell, there God is dwelling too.” (William Blake, The Divine Image) Is he dwelling with you?