{"id":19422,"date":"2026-04-17T01:00:52","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T05:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mybibleverseoftheday.com\/blog\/?p=19422"},"modified":"2026-05-11T10:50:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T14:50:07","slug":"bible-verse-of-the-day-4-17-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mybibleverseoftheday.com\/blog\/bible-verse-of-the-day-4-17-26\/","title":{"rendered":"Bible Verse of The Day – 4-17-26"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

James 4:8 (LSB) 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.<\/p>\n

We have a question for you today.<\/p>\n

What’s stopping you?<\/p>\n

What is the basis for that question?<\/p>\n

It is the fact that most people, if asked, would readily state that they wish their relationship with God was stronger.<\/p>\n

Yet, despite willingly and readily speaking those words, few will actually do<\/strong> what is needed to make it stronger.<\/p>\n

You see, just like anything else that\u2019s worth pursuing, our walk with God is no different. It requires deliberate effort to make it happen and to strengthen it.<\/p>\n

None of this will happen by chance, without our willingness to \u201cput in the work\u201d.<\/p>\n

No, we are not saved by our works.<\/p>\n

Ephesians 2:8 (LSB) 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;<\/p>\n

But \u201cwork\u201d is required if we are to grow and mature as a believer and climb past the infant stage of our growth.<\/p>\n

You may ask, \u201cwhy should I want to grow?\u201d.<\/p>\n

The answer is simple; because Jesus told us to do so.<\/p>\n

John 15:5 (LSB) 5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing<\/span>.<\/p>\n

We can make excuses as to why we aren\u2019t growing, or why our relationship with God is weak.<\/p>\n

In the end, no excuse holds water or validity.<\/p>\n

But there is hope!<\/p>\n

Each day is a new day. And this very day is the one on which you can \u201ctake the bull by the horns\u201d and make the change that has been put off for so long.<\/p>\n

Let us do the hard work.<\/p>\n

Put in the time and effort, setting aside the things that distract us and suck up our time day after day, focusing instead on the One who loves us enough to offer redemption despite our sinful selves.<\/p>\n

Hebrews 12:1-2 (LSB) 1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, laying aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.<\/p>\n

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie<\/p>\n

Seven Seas Ministries
\n49 N Lamplighters Walk
\nHampstead, NC 28443<\/p>\n

401-439-3780<\/p>\n

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!<\/p>\n

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please\u00a0Click Here<\/a>\u00a0and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Please consider making a\u00a0Donation.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James 4:8 (LSB) 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. We have a question for you today. What’s stopping you? What is the basis for that question? It is the fact that most people, if asked, would readily state … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[937],"tags":[5501,3099,3098,3095],"class_list":["post-19422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-growing-in-god","tag-bible-verses-about-growing-and-maturing-as-a-believer","tag-bible-verses-about-growing-as-a-believer","tag-bible-verses-about-growing-in-christ","tag-bible-verses-about-growing-in-god"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mybibleverseoftheday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mybibleverseoftheday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mybibleverseoftheday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mybibleverseoftheday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mybibleverseoftheday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19422"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.mybibleverseoftheday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19424,"href":"https:\/\/www.mybibleverseoftheday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19422\/revisions\/19424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mybibleverseoftheday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mybibleverseoftheday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mybibleverseoftheday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}