One Verse Devotional

It is by Grace we are saved. Our faith unlocks this Grace in our lives. It is not because of any good works on our part. Otherwise, we could brag about how great we are. No, it is ALL about God, His Love, and how great He is! By His grace, alone, we are saved!

Jesus says something surprising in this passage in Matthew: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” Doesn’t God want us to follow all the rules and live perfect lives? Jesus says, “No.” That is not the main thing. We’ve made it the main thing. It is not an excuse to sin. Instead, it paints a beautiful picture of Grace. Jesus is most interested in the work of His Love in our lives!

When Jesus called Matthew, a tax collector, to become a disciple, the Pharisees could not handle it. They rebuked Jesus for hanging out with sinners. But Jesus has a different view. Jesus is the benefactor of Grace. And through this story, Jesus reminds us of something key… It is the sick who need a doctor.

Sometimes our faith can become stale. The world can beat us down. Our past can beat us down. David understood that better than anyone. He gives a great prayer in Psalm 51: “Lord, restore to me the joy of your salvation.” We all need to pray this from time to time. I know I do.

Isaiah reminds us to trust in the Lord forever. Why? Because He is the Rock eternal. In the storms of life, I want to be anchored to that Rock!

Jesus made it clear in the Gospel of John: If the Son (Jesus, Himself) has set you free, you are truly free, indeed!

Yesterday, we learned that we are to walk in the way of love after the example of Jesus. Today, Hebrews 10:24 teaches us that we can actually encourage and inspire others to also walk in love.

Ephesians 5:2 teaches us to walk in the way of love, just as Jesus loved us and gave His life for us.

“As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him” -Psalm 103:13 I love being a dad. My family is my greatest calling before ANYTHING else (btw, that’s totally biblical!). I love being a husband and father. But I have a confession. I have four children. And especially with our last two girls, I questioned if I would have the same level of love for our new baby as I did for our other children. I loved my kids so much that I was afraid of how I would feel about another child. Would I love them as much? Can I love them as much? But every time we had a new baby, my love grew greater and deeper than what I even knew I was capable of. Love doesn’t follow the rules of percentages. It doesn’t stop at 100. As parents, our capacity for love is infinite. I love each of my children more than I thought I could love anything or anyone. I believe God give parents this gift to show us just a glimpse of how much God loves us. A mother’s love is so pure, and yet it still pales in com

Love always protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres. It sees others and treats others as sons and daughters of God. Today is our last day that we have been look at the definition and qualities of God-Love laid out in 1 Corinthians 13. This Love is more than human love. Human love can be temporary or even selfish. We try our best, but since we are imperfect humans, our love is imperfect, as well. But there is good news. As children of God, we are tapped into the power of His perfect Love! This is why we have been unpacking 1 Corinthians 13 this week. It is the goal. It provides the targets for us to aim for. But we have to remember that we can’t do it on our own. In order to love like God, we have to stay close to Him. His Love never fails. My hope and prayer is that we all live with God-Love in our lives. That we put others first and see them as the children of God that they are. Let us always protect, trust, and hope. Love doesn’t give up. Love always wins. About One Verse One Verse is a short, free podcast

True Love, God-Love, does not rejoice when someone else fails or becomes jealous when someone else succeeds. Love rejoices. Have you ever been in a situation where you are working hard at chasing your dreams only to see someone else reach theirs much quicker? We don’t know what it took them to get there. We don’t know the sacrifice or work they invested. But from our perspective, it sure looks like it was a lot easier and a lot faster than what we have experienced! Have you been there? I have. In those times, it’s easy to get jealous. It’s easy to (secretly!) wish that something bad would happen or that they would hit an obstacle like we have been hitting. But that’s not how Love works, at least not God-Love. Our One Verse today comes from 1 Corinthians 13:6 and teaches us that Love never rejoices in evil. It doesn’t secretly hope that something bad happens to someone else. God-Love rejoices. It rejoices with others. It rejoices in Truth. We need to constantly remind ourselves that God’s Love is not scarce. B

God-Love lives from an abundance mindset, not scarcity. If someone else is blessed, it doesn’t mean there is less for me. Much of our culture operates from a scarcity mindset. This mindset sees life as one giant piece of pie. If someone else gets a big piece of pie, that means you either get a smaller piece of pie or fight hard so you get a big piece, too. This is the “look out for #1” attitude. But God operates out of abundance. See, we are all fighting for a piece of the pie and we don’t realize that there are countless other pies that are available! God’s blessings know no end. This is key to understand when we look at a passage like 1 Corinthians 13. A scarcity mindset doesn’t understand God Love. When Paul tells us not to push others down in order to get ahead, it flies in the face of scarcity. The Christian life and followers of Jesus live from the abundance of God’s blessings. When we truly understand that, we will be able to be slow to anger and not push others down. We will be closer to living out Go

1 Corinthians 13 is for more than just wedding ceremonies. It gives us the definition and qualities of perfect God-love. I attended a wedding this weekend. Actually, it was my sister’s wedding. And I had the opportunity to officiate it. During the ceremony, I read from 1 Corinthians 13. It is a beautiful passage, but it is meant for so much more than just weddings. 1 Corinthians chapter 13 lays out the definitions and qualities of perfect “God Love.” See, true love is impossible to do on our own. We can try. We can get close. But our love will fail. But there is hope! The closer we get to God, the more His Love becomes a part of who we are! Love it patient and kind. It doesn’t envy or boast. It does not and cannot come out of a proud heart. But we can only live out this Love by growing closer  and closer to God! About One Verse One Verse is a short, free podcast devotional designed to help you grow closer to God through less than 5 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Consistency trumps intensity. When it comes to w

When we come to a point in life where we need help, the Maker of heaven and earth should be the first place we turn! When I come to a place in life that I need help--you know, that bill that needs to be paid, a decision that needs to be made, or that phone call that just came in--I always seem to try and work it out on paper. I look at my own checking account and try to make a plan on my own. In today’s One Verse, the psalmist reminds us of one important thing: our help comes from the Lord. It is God who can offer the ultimate help. He is the Maker of heaven and earth. Our problems are not too big for Him. I challenge you, the next time you need help, turn to God FIRST. It may save you a lot of anxiety and heartache. About One Verse One Verse is a short, free podcast devotional designed to help you grow closer to God through less than 5 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Consistency trumps intensity. When it comes to working out, eating healthy, or managing our finances, consistency always trumps intensity. We rea

Our country is in the middle of a serious crisis, and it is up to Christians to lead a movement of Love #Charlotte #BlackLivesMatter #AllLivesMatter God is Love. This means His followers should be leading the charge in Love. Our country is hurting. It is filled with anger and fear. 1 John makes it clear that True Love drives away fear. It may sound silly, but we need Love now more than ever. It is the only thing that can bring healing. Hater, anger, fear, violence. The only weapon against these is Love. It is the only force in the universe that is stronger. I truly believe, then, that it is up to the followers of Jesus, the true Light Bearers, to lead the charge and show Love. It is only getting worse. Week after week, another incident happens. It is time for true followers of Jesus, who have experienced REAL LOVE, to turn around and freely share that Love whenever and wherever we can. Only a movement of Love can stop fear from taking over. About One Verse One Verse is a short, free podcast devotional designe

Confession may not be fun, but it is the best way to allow God to cleanse us from impurities and stay in tune with our Savior. I love coffee. I make it every morning. When I have more time, I will probably do some fancy pour-over method for every cup. But life is busy with three kids at home (also adding to the need for coffee!), so a good old automatic drip coffee maker will have to do. Every once in awhile, it starts to get yucky on the inside. I can tell because it will take longer to make the coffee, to perform the job it was created to do. My last coffee maker was the worst. Or, at least, it got that way after I didn’t clean it for months. It took over an hour to make a pot of coffee! Well, these coffee makers are a great illustration of our spiritual lives. We all mess up and make mistakes. We need to cleanse our lives from time to time, otherwise we won’t be able to complete the purpose we were created to do. Our One Verse today is 1 John 1:9. It is all about confession. Usually, people think this vers

The Truth will set you free. Jesus said He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The more we know Jesus, the greater freedom we will experience. Freedom. It’s a word that gets thrown around a lot, today. But what is it really? Does it simply mean you can do whatever you want? No. Otherwise, we would have no laws in this country. That isn’t freedom. That is anarchy. So what is freedom? For me, freedom is breaking free of bondage. When it comes to our spiritual lives, it is freedom to break free of the bondage of our past, our sin, our guilt, our shame, and our regrets. It is the freedom to discover a new life filled with promise. The ability to live according to God’s promises and discover my purpose and use my special gifts. That is freedom. And how do we find freedom? John 8:32 makes it clear. The Truth will set you free. Other verses in John tell us that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The closer we get to Jesus, the more we will find freedom--true freedom!--in our lives. About One Verse One Verse

When we look back on our past, we can see God working in our lives time after time. So, why do we have such a hard time trusting Him for the future? In the Old Testament book of Numbers, Moses sent 12 spies or scouts into the Promised Land. The report was great. It is filled with milk and honey. The fruit is amazing. But… there is a problem. There are giants in the land. Joshua and Caleb then stand in front of the people and tell them that God can do it. But the people want to kill them! They want to return to their old life of slavery in Egypt. This is the context for our One Verse today. In Numbers 14:11, God asks Moses when will the people finally trust Him. What else does He have to do? And as I read that passage, it hit me. How many times am I Joshua and Caleb, and how many times am I the rest of the spies? Normally, I am probably in with the 10. Do you struggle with this? When a new situation or decision or problem arises in our lives, we get worried and we wonder if God will come through. I think that

God isn’t out to get you. He isn’t angry. He isn’t ready to snap. He is loving and forgiving and good! God loves us. He is our Father. The Bible is clear on that time after time. Yet, many of us think that God is angry. That He is just waiting for us to screw up. Or if we have screwed up in life (who hasn’t!), that God holds a grudge. But He hasn’t. God is loving and good and forgiving. That is what we learn in Psalm 86:5. David tells us this. And if anyone would know of the love and forgiveness of God, it would be David! God loves you. He isn’t angry. He has forgiven you. He it truly a Good God! About One Verse One Verse is a short, free podcast devotional designed to help you grow closer to God through less than 5 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Consistency trumps intensity. When it comes to working out, eating healthy, or managing our finances, consistency always trumps intensity. We reach our major life goals through small, purposeful steps taken daily. The same is true in our spiritual lives. I truly belie

We all struggle with temptation. ALL struggle. BUT… there is a cure. Galatians 5:16 gives us the super simple answer. We make mistakes. We fall. We fail. We sin. In some ways, it’s a part of life. We are broken and imperfect people. But God is good. He wants to help us. Our One Verse today is Galatians 5:16 and teaches one simple concept: The closer we get to God through His Spirit, the more we can overcome temptation in our lives. The problem is, we think we need to come to God already fixed and perfect. But only God can do that in our lives. Come to God BROKEN and let Him heal you! About One Verse One Verse is a short, free podcast devotional designed to help you grow closer to God through less than 5 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Consistency trumps intensity. When it comes to working out, eating healthy, or managing our finances, consistency always trumps intensity. We reach our major life goals through small, purposeful steps taken daily. The same is true in our spiritual lives. I truly believe you will g