Category: Verse for the day

“Mark well, then, the parable of the sower.” –Matthew 13:18 God’s Word is fruitful, powerful, life-changing, and earthshaking. Therefore, our enemy, the devil, tries to prevent us from ever hearing it or at least from taking it to heart (see Mt 13:19). A second enemy opposing our living of God’s Word is our lack of depth or roots (see Mt 13:21). When our relationship with the Lord is shallow, why would we suffer to obey His Word? Our third enemy against living God’s Word is “worldly anxiety” (Mt 13:22). When we are worried about what we are to eat, drink,...

“Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them which says: ‘Listen as you will, you shall not understand, look intently as you will, you shall not see. Sluggish indeed is this people’s heart. They have scarcely heard with their ears, they have firmly closed their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn back to Me, and I should heal them.’ ” –Matthew 13:14-15 The above passage is a Scripture quote from Isaiah 6:9-10. Isaiah had seen a vision of God, was purified, and accepted God’s call to be His...

“Who are My brothers?” –Matthew 12:48 Jesus transformed motherhood when He commanded His mother Mary to be the mother of all His disciples (Jn 19:26-27). Jesus transformed the meaning of fatherhood, sonship, and daughterhood when He told us to call God our Abba, that is, Father (Mt 6:9). This made us brothers and sisters of Jesus and of each other. Jesus said: “Whoever does the will of My heavenly Father is brother and sister and mother to Me” (Mt 12:50). When we were baptized, we were baptized into a radically transformed brotherhood and sisterhood. Paul spoke of those who bear...

“O My people, what have I done to you, or how have I wearied you? Answer Me!” –Micah 6:3 There’s no excuse for us to love the Lord with anything less than everything. He has loved us with an everlasting love (Jer 31:3). He has set us free from slavery (Mi 6:4). He alone has been perfectly faithful to us. He even died on the cross for us. What more can He do? Greater love than this no man has (Jn 15:13). The Lord loves us more than we love ourselves. He is willing to forgive us before we ask...