Tag: Rev. Dr. Ken Crawford

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
– Psalm 1:1-2 (NIV)

I get to choose which sources of information I feed my mind. But this privilege and freedom is also a responsibility. God longs to bless me, but that blessing remains dormant until my heart delights in knowing and doing his will.

Wondrous Creator, just as you fashioned such a beautiful world and put me together in my mother’s womb, I also ask that you create in me a desire to know your truth and an insight in how to live that truth. I know your Holy Spirit is in me to help me in this journey, but I want so much to please you and bless you because of all the ways you have blessed me. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
– John 17:17 (NIV)

God’s promises, God’s Scripture, and God’s clearest message of all, his Son, are truth. But only the last of these is truth, grace, deliverer, friend, Lord, Savior, brother, Redeemer. Looking for something that is missing in your life? Troubled by circumstances that seem to be beyond control? Your answers are in the page of scripture awaiting your discovery.

Father God, give me a holy passion to know your truth and live it in both word and deed. Make my life a reflection of your Word, who both proclaimed and lived your truth. In the name of Jesus, your ultimate Word, I pray. Amen.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
– Psalm 119:105 (NIV)

God’s promises and God’s Scripture, helps us find our way in a pluralistic world of competing voices and lights our path in time so given to cynicism and despair. What such great grace we have to know God’s will in our own words! Now if we will only walk in the light!

Loving Father, thank you for giving me your truth in Scripture. To know that you love me enough to communicate in language so I can hear and read your message is truly awe inspiring to me. Make my heart hunger for your truth revealed in your Word. I want to grow to be a righteous and gracious child in your family. With all my love I pray to you in the name of my Savior, Jesus. Amen.

Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.
– 1 Peter 3:18 (NIV)

Having stood over the open graves of friends, family, and strangers, I know the appearance and feel of death’s finality and our human frailty. But Christ’s death is that great reminder that death is a matter of perspective and faith. I believe God raised Jesus from the dead and that Jesus is the first fruits of those of us who believe in him. He is alive, not just in Spirit, but in bodily form. Because Jesus lives, so will we!

Almighty God, thank you for the gifts of your grace, Spirit, forgiveness and life. Most of all, thanks for the gift of your Son, who brought life and immortality to life in me through your salvation. While I have no great desire to die, I know I can look through death to you and your victory in me through Jesus. Please give me the courage to live for you every day until that day you take me home. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

It is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.
– 1 Peter 2:15-16 (NIV)

What does the world most need to hear from me today? A life tuned to the melody of grace that I claim I believe. Doing good, being like Christ, is Peter’s answer to opposition, cynicism, and even persecution. We are free in Jesus, but being free means that we don’t have to pretentiously prove we are free. Instead, we can live for him who died to conquer death and renounced absolute heavenly freedom so we could find it. We are free to serve others, and most of all to serve God.

Holy Father, my Great Emancipator, you have freed me from sin, law, and death at the cost of your precious Son. I open my heart to you today to say I love you. I and want to thank you for this gift of incredible redemption. Please accept the actions of my life and the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my mind and the emotions of my heart today as my offering of thanks. In the name of Jesus, my Sacrifice and your holy Son, I pray. Amen.

Since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
– Colossians 1:9 (NIV)

In a world where we can feel so isolated and alone at times, it is so important for us to know that someone is praying for us and for our spiritual needs. As I think of the thousands who are a part of the Today’s Verse ministry, I cannot help but pray that each of them, that you, are blessed by knowing that you share a spiritual journey with people all over the world, and that today, we will praying for each other. And of course there can be no better prayer than the one that Paul prayed for the Colossian friends he had never met — “I ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” Let’s pray that for each other today.

Precious and Divine Father, today I pray for the other believers who come before you and seek to live for you. I pray especially for those who share the Today’s Verse journey with me. Even though we live all over the world and have all sorts of needs, we all know that our deepest need is to know and live your will and to be confident that we are known and loved by you. Please fill all of us with the knowledge of your will through Spirit-led wisdom and understanding. We want to know you, honor you, serve you, and ultimately see you face to face. In the name of our older brother Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.
We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream.
It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.
– Ronald Reagan

Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the seven-fold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth.
– Revelation 5:6

I have lived my life sheltered from the most severe persecutions of the church. Sure, we face a more covert pressure and ridicule, but I’ve never faced death or bodily harm because of my faith. Yet I know many followers of Jesus do every day. I also know that Jesus sees and cares about his followers and his churches. He knows when we are facing ongoing attack, incessant ridicule, and covert attempts to silence the faithful. The Holy Spirit goes into all places and knows all that is happening to Jesus’ followers. The Spirit empowers us and makes known our challenges and problems to the Lord, no matter where we live. Our job is not to just survive, but to proclaim Jesus until we are called to heaven’s version of One Nation Under God.

Father, Thank you for all the faithful saints who have gone before to add to the foundations of your present day church. Thank you for sending Jesus to save me and the Spirit to empower me and be your presence within me. I trust the Holy Spirit to not only know my circumstances, but to also communicate my concerns in those circumstances in sighs too deep for words. May my witness add to the foundation for future generations.  In Jesus’ name I thank you. Amen.

 

But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as first-fruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
– 2 Thessalonians 2:13

Our salvation is based on God’s never ending loop of grace. Our hearts respond with trust in God’s message about Jesus. God’s grace releases the power of the Holy Spirit into our lives to make each of us completely, and totally, holy. Our faith, our trust, is part of the gift we receive in the message of the gospel. So our salvation is, from first to last, a gift of grace. God sent Jesus. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings new life, new creation, new power, and new hope.

Almighty God, I thank you for your grace demonstrated to me in so many ways. Today, I am especially thankful for the grace of Jesus being sent to me and the grace of the Holy Spirit cleansing and indwelling me. I want to live out that grace in a life that reflects the character and compassion of Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen.

I urge, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
– 1 Timothy 2:1-2 NIV

God wants us to be a praying people. But more than that, God wants us to pray for people. The blessing of that kind of prayerful life is that we get to live peaceful and quiet lives full of godliness and holiness. So pray, dear friend in Jesus, pray as if world peace depends upon it, because it does!

Majestic and Holy God, your greatness is beyond my mind to grasp but your grace reaches me and teaches in a new way each day. Forgive me when my prayer life has not been passionate. Forgive me for letting my prayers focus only on what is wrong. Use your Spirit, O God, to ignite a hunger in my soul so that I come to find satisfaction only in you and your presence. In the name of Jesus Christ and through the intercession of the Holy Spirit, I pray. Amen.

As you come to him, the living Stone — rejected by human beings but chosen by God and precious to him — you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
– 1 Peter 2:4-5

The church is the temple of the living God. God lives in us through the Holy Spirit. But unlike the many temples built during this time, God’s true temple must not be allowed to crumble or suffer decay due to lack of interest or disrespect by God’s people. We are not lifeless stones. We are God’s living temple. We are still being put together by Jesus, perfectly formed and joined together, and made acceptable to God through his efforts.

Father God, form us into your temple. Make us holy. Purify our hearts. Draw us ever closer to your character and compassion. As we offer our individual bodies to you as living sacrifices, please draw us closer to each other and build us into the people you want us to be. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.