thoughts by Phil Ware Archives - Daily Devotionals by Thoughts about God

Published September 23, 2023

He Knows the Way I Take

“He knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside.” Job 23:10-11

Thought

How we long for this to be our true confession. We are not yet gold, but long to be. We are not yet fully following his steps, but are trying. We have tried to not turn aside, but we sometimes falter. Thank God for his grace until our intentions and desires are fulfilled in our discipleship!

Prayer

Magnificent Creator and Sustainer of the Universe, I confess my sin and my inadequacy in following your paths. Forgive me as I commit my life to serve you in holiness and joy. Thank you for your grace which covers my sin and perfect in me the character of Jesus. Through him I pray. Amen.

By Phil Ware
Used by Permission

From: http://www.verseoftheday.com

I Am Made by God

“You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” — Psalm 139:13-14

Thought

I am made by God! You are made by God. Just as surely as ANYone has been made by God, we have been made by God. He knew us before anyone knew we were there. He had plans for us before anyone planned our arrival. And he made us well! How do we know? Look at all God has made.

Prayer

God Almighty, my Savior and Redeemer, thank you for knowing me before I was able to know. Thank you for choosing my life and giving it to me. Thank you for giving me the gifts, abilities and talents that you have given me. Now please help me live as if I was made special by you, because I am! Through Jesus I pray. Amen.

By Phil Ware
Used by Permission

Phil’s daily devotionals on http://www.verseoftheday.com

Show Me Your Ways

“Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” Psalm 25:4-5

Life can be so confusing. We have many choices as we decide the values governing our lives. So how will we find the best way ? and much more importantly, God’s way ? to live? We ask God to show us! Our hope is in him. Our salvation is in him. So why not ask him to guide us and teach us his truth? Why not expect that he will make his will known to us? If our hearts are open to his truth and we seek his path, he will make his will known. So, as we seek the answers to our questions, and as we seek to know God’s truth from the Scriptures, let’s invite God to help us:

O mighty God, the only accurate guide to life, please help me know your will more completely. I want to live for you and to please you. I want others to know of my allegiance to you not just through the words I speak but also through the character of my conduct. I want my life to demonstrate that you are guiding me, and my hope is in you! In Jesus’ name, I ask this. Amen.

By Phil Ware
Used by Permission
You can also follow Phil’s daily devotionals on http://www.verseoftheday.com

Secret of Contentment

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” Philippians 4:12

Thought

Contentment! Mmmm, I’d like to have a little of that! How about you? Paul was in prison when he wrote those words. I want the peace and joy from Jesus that assures contentment in any situation! However, I find it hard to be contented about almost anything. My performance is not up to par. My weight isn’t where it should be. My words were a little insensitive in the last conversation. No one seems to recognize I am even a part of the conversation. It’s easy for me, and also bet for you, to slip into recognizing what we don’t have financially and then pursue that instead of thanking God for our blessings. But before money, possessions, health, or any other thing can be truly enjoyed, we first must learn that contentment is not based on our circumstances but on our salvation and the presence of Jesus in our lives and futures.

Prayer

Almighty and generous God, you are the giver of all good gifts, so now I want your help to find my contentment in Jesus. Deep in my heart, I believe no blessing can compare to being your child, lovingly known personally by you, and having my future secure with you in Jesus! I thank you in Jesus’ name and look forward to this contentment. Amen.

By Phil Ware
Used by Permission

You can also follow Phil’s daily devotionals on http://www.verseoftheday.com

Let Us Bow Down

“Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care.” Psalm 95:6-7

Thoughts on today’s verse

Worship is more than our heart, soul, and words offered to God. It’s our posture. When we understand the grace he has given us to be called his children, what else can we do but bow down. We come to him as a conquering ruler in full submission, and he chooses to treat us tenderly, like a loving shepherd.

Prayer:

Pastor of my soul, I come to you seeking your protection and rest as one of your sheep, often harried and driven by life’s pressures and temptations. But I come to you, not demanding, but submitting myself to be used for your glory — not just today, but for the rest of my life. In Jesus I pray. Amen.

by Phil Ware
used by permission

By Phil Ware from http://www.heartlight.org

In Everything You Do

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 7:12

Thought

Ah! The “Golden Rule” is so straightforward, isn’t it? Sometimes we make things, especially religious things, far too complicated and complex. I love the Bible because it is so often practical and plain when God deals with our behavior. You want to know how to treat someone? Then do for them what would be a blessing if it was done to you! If it wouldn’t bless, encourage, build up, support, comfort, or help you, then don’t do it to them. If it would hurt, wound, depress, spite, or discourage you, then don’t do it to them. Treat others with the same dignity, kindness, love, respect, and tenderness with which you would like to be treated. Simple to understand; revolutionary to do!

Prayer

Almighty God, thank you for making some things so simple to understand. Please fill my heart with your love as I try to live the “Golden Rule” in my relationships. In the name of the Lord Jesus I pray. Amen.

By Phil Ware
Used by Permission

Reflect Jesus

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Luke 19:10

Thought
Jesus came so that the last could be first, the sick could be healed, the sinners could be saved, and the lost could be found. That was his purpose: to fix that which was broken — not just us, but our world, our humanity, and all that goes with it. So how can we wear the name of Jesus and not live with his passion and purpose toward what we see lost in our world?

Prayer
O loving Father and Almighty God, please stir a holy passion in your people, and especially in me, so that we may more nearly reflect Jesus’ purpose in our lives, our families, and our churches. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

By Phil Ware
used by permission.

Daily devotionals on http://www.verseoftheday.com

Our Confidence

“Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” Hebrews 10:35-36

Thoughts on today’s verse

Boy there are some tough times in life! They’re inescapable. That’s when our confidence in the Lord’s salvation and our relationship with him get tested! It is one thing to sing “it is well with my soul” at the end of a peel-the-paint worship service, but it is quite another to be able to sing it when they auction your house off at the courthouse steps or you’ve lost a child to death. That’s when the commitment to be who we want to be overrides the weakness of what we feel. Faith can’t take a holiday when we travel through the suburbs of hell or we’ll never find our way out. So don’t throw it away. Be like Job or Jeremiah who both argued and complained to God. Just don’t quit.

Prayer:

Holy and Almighty God, today is a good day. But I am profoundly aware that some of those I love are wrestling with throwing away their confidence in your love, mercy, grace, peace, and deliverance. Please use me, but even more I pray that you use your Holy Spirit to renew their hearts. I pray that you intervene directly to change the course of events and give them relief. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

by Phil Ware
Used by Permission

You can also follow Phil’s daily devotionals on http://www.verseoftheday.com

Trust the Lord

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought.” Jeremiah 17:7-8

Thoughts on today’s verse

Trust. Can we trust in God? Is the Lord faithful? While we may wish to have been alive when Jesus walked the earth or Jeremiah spoke fearlessly God’s hard truth, we are especially blessed to be alive today. We stand at the end of an incredible stream of God work and know him to be profoundly faithful to his people. We can launch out into the future with boldness because we know, as Psalm 139 says, God is there!

Prayer:

Holy God, I know you are there! In the morning, in the evening, in the long nights, I know I am not alone. Thank you for knowing me and going with me through all my days. Please make your presence known to me this day as I seek to honor you in what I do and say. Through Jesus my Lord I ask this. Amen.

By Phil Ware
Used by permission.

You can also follow Phil’s daily devotionals on http://www.verseoftheday.com.

Good and Pleasing to God

“Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Thought

While Paul’s exhortation here is excellent, it is the style of the exhortation we should especially notice. We live in an age where we are constantly pressured to emphasize the novel, new, or improved versions of things. But in our lives as Christians, we need to remind each other of what we are doing right and just simply say, “Hey, you’re doing well, just keep doing what you’re doing!”

Prayer:

Faithful Father, thank you for noticing and keeping record of the things I’ve done that are good and pleasing to you. Please help me to keep doing those things that please you, only do them better, that you may be pleased and glorified. In Jesus name. Amen.

By Phil Ware
Used by Permission

From: Phil’s daily devotionals on http://www.verseoftheday.com

The Lord will Keep You

“The Lord will keep you from all harm — he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” Psalms 121:7-8

Thoughts on today’s verse

Our lives are not lived alone. The Lord is with us personally. He holds each of futures and our safety in his hands. We live to serve him and go to be with him when we die. The Lord will keep us from all harm!

Prayer:

Mighty Protector, Rock of my salvation. Thank you that my future is secure with you. Make this assurance the convicting power in my life to turn over my future and my life to you. Through Jesus I ask this. Amen.

by Phil Ware
Used by Permission
from http://www.heartlight.org

The Deceitful Heart

“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.” Jeremiah 17:9-10

Thoughts on today’s verse

Jesus told us that what is in our heart ultimately works its way out into our activities. The great wise man told us to guard our heart because it is the spring well of our life. Jeremiah wants us to know that God knows our heart. We want to stress the importance of what goes into our hearts because it really makes a difference in what goes on inside our heart. Invite the Lord in to what you do, think, read, watch, and hear and ask him to remove those things that are not worthy of your time and interest.

Prayer:

Righteous Father, please help me guard my heart and be wise enough not to place things into it that would rob it of its devotion to you. I want to be pure through and through. Please search me and help me remove everything that would steal my devotion from you and ruin my influence with others. Through Jesus I pray. Amen.

By Phil Ware
Used by Permission

A Blessing to Everyone

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” Philemon 1:25

Thought

Have you noticed how words of blessing are in such short supply? There is something about our fallen state that makes sarcasm and ridicule easier to use than blessing. But, in God’s family, words are always to be used for the benefit and blessing of others. What simpler or kinder words do we need to use to bless others than these words Paul sent to Philemon? Let’s find a way to say them … and say them again … and again …

Prayer

Loving Father, you have blessed me so much with your grace. Please use me to be a blessing to everyone I meet today. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

By Phil Ware
used with permission.
You can also follow Phil’s daily devotionals on http://www.verseoftheday.com

Through the Eyes of Jesus

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” John 9:3

Thought

Let’s ask God to help us view people through the eyes of Jesus so that we will see them as people in whom the work of God needs to be done. And just what is this work of God? Well, Jesus answered that question this way: To believe in the One he has sent! (John 6:28-29)

Prayer

Father, please help me see the people around me as Jesus does. I want to see your work done in their lives, so please give me patience with those who are rude, tenderness with those who are hurting, and boldness with those who are ready to hear the Good News of Jesus. In the name of Christ Jesus I pray. Amen.

By Phil Ware
Used by Permission

From: http://www.heartlight.org

What We Hope For

“Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see”. — Hebrews 11:1

Thought

While the road ahead of us may be clouded with questions and concerns, we can look back and see the many ways God has acted in our behalf to get us to the places we need to be. But more than just us, we see his work through history and we can take assurance that his promises are true and his victory in us is assured.

Prayer

Almighty God, I believe that before there was a world, you existed. I trust that even now you sustain our world with your word of grace. I am confident that before the future arrives you are already there preparing it for us. Help me in those moments when I am not so confident to remember my faith today and to press on trusting that you are there waiting with your grace. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

By Phil Ware
Used by Permission
From: http://www.verseoftheday.com

He Knows the Way I Take

Further Reading

I Am Made by God

Further Reading

Show Me Your Ways

“Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” Psalm 25:4-5

Further Reading

Secret of Contentment

Thought

Prayer

Further Reading

Let Us Bow Down

Further Reading

In Everything You Do

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 7:12

Further Reading

Reflect Jesus

Further Reading

Our Confidence

Further Reading

Trust the Lord

Further Reading

Good and Pleasing to God

“Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Further Reading

The Lord will Keep You

“The Lord will keep you from all harm — he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” Psalms 121:7-8

FURTHER READING

The Deceitful Heart

Further Reading

A Blessing to Everyone

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” Philemon 1:25

FURTHER READING

Through the Eyes of Jesus

Thought

FURTHER READING

What We Hope For

“Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see”. — Hebrews 11:1

Further Reading

Category: <span>thoughts by Phil Ware</span>

Further Reading

Further Reading

“Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” Psalm 25:4-5

Further Reading

Thought

Prayer

Further Reading

Further Reading

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 7:12

Further Reading

Further Reading

Further Reading

Further Reading

“Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Further Reading

“The Lord will keep you from all harm — he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” Psalms 121:7-8

FURTHER READING

Further Reading

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” Philemon 1:25

FURTHER READING

Thought

FURTHER READING

“Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see”. — Hebrews 11:1

Further Reading