Tagged: verse for the day

“When the day comes that the Groom is taken away, then they will fast.” –Matthew 9:15 We are on the third day of forty days of fasting in imitation of Jesus. Fasting is one of the major ways we defeat the devil (Mt 17:21, NAB). It is one of the most important means the Lord has chosen to convert the world to His Gospel. The international effects of fasting begin with its individual, personal effects. When we change, the world begins to change. Fasting brings to the surface those things in the deep recesses of our hearts. Fasting does not...

“I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life.” –Deuteronomy 30:19 On this second day of Lent, the Church challenges us to choose life, Lent, and salvation. If we don’t want Lent, we can easily ignore it. If we don’t want life and salvation, we can refuse them. We can either lose our life but gain everlasting life, or gain the whole world and lose our soul (Lk 9:24-25). The choice is ours, whether or not we want to choose. Many Christians don’t reject Lent but don’t accept it either. They’re neither hot nor...

“For our sakes God made Him Who did not know sin, to be sin, so that in Him we might become the very holiness of God.”–2 Corinthians 5:21 How humbling of the immortal, all-holy Jesus to be mortal and to be, as it were, sin. God made Jesus to be sin — sin that was cursed, sin that was to be vanquished. And He did this “for our sake,” so that we might become the very holiness of God (2 Cor 5:21). Now, for His sake, we become humbled so that others might become the holiness of God. The key...

“Do you still not understand?” –Mark 8:21 When I heard today’s Gospel ending with the above question, I had to respond, “No, Lord, I still do not understand.” Often we are lost in the flood of misunderstanding. Therefore, the Lord recommends that we rely not on our own understanding (Prv 3:5-6). God reminds us rather to rely daily on His mercy and His providence. This is life in the Holy Spirit, to follow the Spirit’s lead (Gal 5:25). We may not know the future, but we know Who holds the future. We may not know everything, but we do know...

“I must avoid Your presence.” –Genesis 4:14 In accepting Abel’s sacrifice and rejecting that of Cain, God must have manifested His presence to Cain and Abel in some way. How else could Cain have known that God accepted Abel’s offering and not his own? (Gn 4:4-5) Perhaps God sent fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice, as He did with that of Elijah (see 1 Kgs 18:24ff). Perhaps God simply appeared or sent an angel to communicate His acceptance of Abel’s sacrifice. It’s incredible that God’s presence did not induce Cain to repent. In Scripture, the holy ones often fell...