Verse from Psalm

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Psalm 119:103

The psalmist’s delight is expressed in verse 97, where he summarizes his sentiments: “Oh, how I love your law!” The psalm highlights several advantages of engagement with the Bible: “Your commands . . . make me wiser than my enemies. I have more insight than all my teachers . . . . I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts” (vv. 98-100). 

Not only are the words of Scripture sweet to the taste, they strengthen and enrich our lives and help us to honor God.

Verse from Colossians

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Colossians 1:17

Trees in cold climates prepare for winter through a process called “hardening.” Water drains from cells so they won’t freeze, expand, and burst the tree. The water that remains between the cells is too pure for ice crystals to attach. Its temperature may now drop to forty degrees below zero without cracking the tree. Trees harden at the same time each year because they take their cues from the fixed calendar of shortening days. They don't stake their lives on the weather, which may be unseasonably mild. They trust the sun, their one sure thing.

The Son who made the sun is surer yet. He is “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created,” and “in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:15-17). Who tells trees when to harden each year? The same Son who makes the sun rise each morning and puts it to bed each night, pulls tides with the moon, whirls electrons in every cell, pumps your heart and inflates your lungs, and holds you when your heart is broken.

What holds the world together isn’t a force within nature but a person outside it. A person who entered the world He’d made so he could “reconcile to himself all things,” including you (v. 20). In this unpredictable world, you’ve got one sure thing. Jesus will “present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation” (v. 22).

Verse from Matthew

With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Matthew 19:26

Jesus shared with His followers that faith in God was the only way, because “with God all things are possible” (v. 26).

Faith is rooted in a belief in God and His abilities. Faith prompts us to believe in the possibility of things we don’t see yet (see Hebrews 11:1)—like a dream of a school for the underprivileged or an eternal home for those who accept Christ. May God help us see what He sees.

Verse from Exodus

When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant. Exodus 34:30

The Bible tells of the breathtaking moments when Moses came down from Mount Sinai after spending days in God’s presence. Moses “was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord,” so radiant that the people “were afraid to come near him” (Exodus 34:29-30). To avoid frightening them further, Moses “put a veil over his face” and removed it when “he went in to speak with the Lord” (vv. 33, 35).

Moses was of course literally speaking with God “face to face” (33:11), a unique moment in the Bible. But Scripture also reminds us that we who know God through Christ “are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18). His presence within us can be winsome to others—a work of God’s love. Our faces may not shine like Moses’ did, but as we spend time in God’s presence, He’ll become increasingly evident in us.

Verses from Galatians

In Galatians 5, Paul contrasts two ways of life: “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (v. 16). Eugene Petersen paraphrases it this way: “Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit. Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness” (The Message). A few verses later, Paul describes what a flourishing life in Christ looks like: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (vv. 22-23).

Many voices in this world compel us to grasp our desires with both hands. The life we long for, though, is not one we earn but one we receive as we yield to the Holy Spirit—freely walking with Him—rather than striving desperately to grasp blessing on our own terms.

Verse from Psalm

I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress. Psalm 91:2

When the storms of life come, where can we run? Sorrow, worry, illness, and confusion can make us fearful and in need of refuge. We need a strong shelter that’ll protect us. Psalm 91 reminds us that God has promised to rescue us and to be with us in trouble. “Because he loves me . . . I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name” (v. 14). When we need help, we can call on His name and He “will answer” us (v. 15).

When our courage fails us, we can lean into His strength. He’s our shelter in any storm.

Verse from Job

To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his. Job 12:13

Zophar, a friend of Job’s, sounded wise in his assessment of Job’s difficulties. “Can you fathom the mysteries of God?” Zophar asked him (Job 11:7). “They are higher than the heavens above” (v. 8). Who can argue with that? But then Zophar dared speak of something he couldn’t know: Job’s heart. Without evidence, he proclaimed, “If you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, then . . . you will stand firm and without fear” (vv. 14-15). 

Job responded sarcastically, “Wisdom will die with you! But I have a mind as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know all these things?” (12:2-3). Job’s reality was so complex that even he didn’t know what was taking place (see Job 1-2). He correctly said, “To God belong wisdom and power” (12:13). It didn’t come from Zophar, who presumed to have authority and insight that weren’t his.

Our friends may need our loving counsel from time to time. But usually friends in crisis need us to bring their names in prayer to the one who truly does know them.