“He passed away, to no one’s regret, and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings” (2 Chronicles 21:20).

The person being spoken of in our verse of the day is King Jehoram of Judah. You can read about him in 2 Chronicles 21. He did some terrible things. But, so did a whole bunch of kings of Israel and Judah. But no one else gets something like that written about them!

Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he ruled for eight years. In that time:

• He murdered all of his brothers along with some of the officials of Israel
• He lost the territories of Edom and Libnah
• He built up the high places of Judah and caused his people to worship idols
• Philistines and Arabs attacked Judah and carried off all the goods found in the king’s palace, along with his wives and sons

Ok. This is bad. But, unfortunately, it’s on par with a bunch of other kings that you can read about in 1 & 2 Kings, and 1 & 2 Chronicles.

I am not sure what Jehoram did that made him so hated by his people. Golly. This is written about Jehoram in the Bible! That’s like forever.

Jehoram died to no one’s regret.

You know, I’ve had to do some memorials like that. Not a lot. Just a few, thank God.

It’s rough when no one can say a kind word about someone. It’s rough when the people closest to the deceased are glad that they are deceased.

Friends, you get one chance at this thing called life.

• Be kind to the people around you.
• Be a blessing wherever you are.
• Make the place better because you showed up with the love and the presence of Jesus Christ.
• Everywhere you are, Christ shows up because Christ lives in you. And, because Christ shows up, everywhere you are ought to be better.

God bless you as you seek to be a blessing to those around you!

“He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).

Who knew that when I started writing these Verse of the Day entries that I would be at it for a couple of years! Starting on Monday of next week, Pastor Brad and I will take turns writing the Verse of the Day every other week.

We are committed to doing our part to keep you connected with God and his word. Thank you for your faithfulness in spending a few moments with God with us every day.

Now for the Verse of the Day.

Whatever you are facing today, whatever you’re going through in your life, know this: God did not bring you this far only to bring you this far.

God is at work in you. God is not done with you. Whatever is happening today is not how your story ends. God is still writing your life story through your obedience. God is not done working through you.

The ending of your story, the lives you will touch, the impact you will make for the kingdom of God is still yet to be determined. God is at work in and through you. Trust God and keep obeying God to see where he is taking you.

God did not bring you this far to only bring you this far. The God who began a good work in you, he will bring to completion what he has started.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin” (John 8:11).

God is love. God loves me just the way I am.

That’s absolutely true. God is love, and God does love us just the way we are.

The reason for this is that we cannot do anything to earn or deserve God’s love. God’s love is all grace. It’s all mercy. It’s all God. God loves us just the way we are because God is a God of love.

Because of this, many people understand this to mean that God approves and validates us just the way we are. Since God loves us just the way we are, that must mean that God approves us just the way we are.

That is absolutely false. Because God loves us, God cannot leave us in sin. In fact, the reason why Jesus is called Savior is precisely because he saves us from sin. Jesus did not come to die on the cross to approve or validate sin. He came to rescue us from sin.

Because God is love, God cannot leave us in sin. God cannot leave us in darkness, depression, addictions, oppression, and in bondage to sin. That Jesus is Savior means that Jesus frees us from all that once bound and enslaved us.

That’s why Jesus commands us, “Leave your life of sin.”

So, here is what we can declare with certainty:

• God is love. God loves us just the way we are.
• And, because God loves us, God cannot leave us just the way we are.

God’s grace does not mean we have permission to do as we please. God’s grace gives us the power to do what pleases God. No, we cannot do this perfectly, but we can do it better today than we did yesterday.