Key Thought

Today's Prayer

Lord God Almighty, challenge me, stir me, move me, motivate me to live by faith and not by sight. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Today's Verses in Context

Jesus said to his followers, "Things will surely happen that will make people sin. But it will be very bad for the person that makes this happen. It will be very bad for a person if he makes one of these weak persons sin. It would be better for him to have a millstone tied around his neck and be drowned in the sea. So be careful! "If your brother sins, tell him he is wrong. If he is sorry {and stops sinning}, forgive him. If your brother does something wrong to you seven times in one day, but he says that he is sorry each time, then you should forgive him." The apostles said to the Lord (Jesus), "Give us more faith!" The Lord said, "If your faith is as big as a mustard seed, then you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Dig yourself up and plant yourself in the ocean!' And the tree will obey you. "Suppose one of you has a servant that has been working in the field. The servant has been plowing the ground or caring for the sheep. When he comes in from work, what would you say to him? Would you say, 'Come in and sit down to eat'? No! You would say to your servant, 'Prepare something for me to eat. Then get dressed and serve me. When I finish eating and drinking, then you can eat.' The servant should not get any special thanks for doing his job. He is only doing what his master told him to do. It is the same with you. When you do all the things you are told to do, you should say, 'We are not worthy of any special thanks. We have only done the work we should do.'"

Related Scripture Readings

We know that {our body}—the tent we live in here on earth—will be destroyed. But when that happens, God will have a home for us to live in. It will not be a home made by men. It will be a home in heaven that will continue forever. But now we are tired of this body. We want God to give us our heavenly home. It will clothe us and we will not be naked. While we live in this tent (body), we have burdens and we complain. I don't mean that we want to remove this tent (body). But we want to be clothed {with our heavenly home}. Then this body that dies will be fully covered with life. This is what God made us for. And he has given us the Spirit to be a guarantee—a proof {that he will give us this new life}. So we always have courage (confidence). We know that while we live in this body, we are away from the Lord. We live by what we believe, not by what we can see.

The Holy Spirit clearly says that in the later times some people will stop believing the {true} faith (teaching). Those people will obey spirits that tell lies. And those people will follow the teachings of demons. Those teachings come through people that tell lies and trick other people. Those bad people cannot see what is right and what is wrong. It is like their understanding was destroyed by a hot iron. Those bad people say that it is wrong to marry. And they say that there are some foods that people must not eat. But God made those foods. And the people who believe and who know the truth can eat those foods with thanks. Everything that God made is good. Nothing that God made should be refused if it is accepted with thanks to God.

The person who is right with me (God) will have life because of his faith. But if that person turns back {in fear}, I will not be pleased with him."