Jesus said, “He who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” (John 8:29, ESV)

Paul said, “I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.” (Galatians 1:10, NLT)

Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts. (1 Thessalonians 2:4, NLT)

By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:5-6, NIV)

We can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him. And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. (1 John 3:21-24, NLT)

We all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. (James 3:2, NLT)

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. (Ephesians 4:29-30, NIV)

Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. (Psalm 141:3, NIV)

I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth. (Psalm 39:1, NIV)

Jesus said, “The things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them.” (Matthew 15:18, NIV)

Father, set a guard over my lips and help me to speak only words that are pleasing to You. Free me from defensive, angry, foolish, sensual, or impure speech. Keep me from quenching the Spirit with my words. I set my heart not to sin with my speech that I may sustain unbroken communion with you.

                                                                — Mike Bickle

One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. (Psalm 27:4, NIV)

Jesus said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42, NLT)

I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. (Psalm 16:8, ESV)

Dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. (Philippians 3:13-14, NLT)

Do not try to evaluate any day, just make the most of it. What seems a dry and tedious interval, a desert stretch between here and yonder, while you burn with a fever to be into the middle of next week, may afford greater opportunity to know God and glorify Him than the glamorous day you are burning to reach.

                                                                            — Vance Havner

Great is his faithfulness; his loving-kindness begins afresh each day. My soul claims the Lord as my inheritance; therefore I will hope in him. The Lord is wonderfully good to those who wait for him, to those who seek for him. It is good both to hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. (Lamentations 3:23-26, TLB)

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12, NIV)

I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you today: I place before you Life and Death, Blessing and Curse. Choose life so that you and your children will live. And love God, your God, listening obediently to him, firmly embracing him. Oh yes, he is life itself. (Deuteronomy 30:19-20, MSG)

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I [Jesus] have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10, NIV)

You have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. (Colossians 3:1-4, NLT)

Today
By Ryan M. Roberts

Distance lends enchantment.
Anticipation exceeds fulfillment.
Oh, how we pine for the “good old days,”
and idealize the weekend, vacation . . . retirement.
In the disillusion of the past
and the distraction of the future,
we miss the reality right before us—
the joy of Jesus, Today.

This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.
(Psalm 118:24, NLT)

All things are shadows of the shining true:
Sun, sea, and air--close, potent, hurtless fire--
Flowers from their mother's prison--dove, and dew--
Every thing holds a slender guiding clue
Back to the mighty oneness:--hearts of faith
Know thee than light, than heat, endlessly nigher,
Our life's life, carpenter of Nazareth.
                                — George MacDonald

[Jesus, the carpenter] is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:17, NIV)

The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps. (Proverbs 16:9, ESV)

Too eager I must not be to understand.
How should the work the master goes about
Fit the vague sketch my compasses have planned?
I am his house—for him to go in and out.
He builds me now—and if I cannot see
At any time what he is doing with me,
'Tis that he makes the house for me too grand.
                        — George MacDonald

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55: 8-9, NIV)

The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; … Wait for the Lord and keep his way. (Psalm 37: 23, 34, ESV)