Read: Isaiah 25:1-9

Bible in a Year: Psalms 94-96; Romans 15:14-33

I will praise Your name, for You have done wonderful things. —Isaiah 25:1

The discovery of penicillin revolutionized health care. Prior to the 1940s, bacterial infections were often fatal. Since then, penicillin has saved countless lives by killing harmful bacteria. The men who recognized its potential and developed it for widespread use won a Nobel Prize in 1945.

Long before the discovery of penicillin, other silent killers were at work saving lives by destroying bacteria. These silent killers are white blood cells. These hard workers are God’s way of protecting us from disease. No one knows how many invasions they have stopped or how many lives they have saved. They receive little recognition for all the good they do.

The Lord gets similar treatment. He often gets blamed when something goes wrong, but He seldom gets credit for all the things that go right. Every day people get up, get dressed, drive to work or school or the grocery store, and return safely to their families. No one knows how many times God has protected us from harm. But when there is a tragedy, we ask, “Where was God?”

When I consider all the wonderful things that God does silently on my behalf each day (Isa. 25:1), I see that my list of praises is much longer than my list of petitions. —Julie Ackerman Link

In what ways does God’s goodness undergird your life? What are you thanking Him for today?

God keeps giving us reasons to praise Him.

INSIGHT: Isaiah 25 opens with a call to worship and praise God. Interestingly, the motivation behind this praise is God’s work of judgment and destruction. Normally we praise Him for His rescue and salvation, but here praise is offered for acts of judgment. Bill Crowder

Read: Romans 15:1-7

Bible in a Year: Psalms 91-93; Romans 15:1-13

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. —Romans 15:7

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, a familiar sight greeted ships as they pulled into the port of Savannah, Georgia. That sight was Florence Martus, “The Waving Girl.” For 44 years, Florence greeted the great ships from around the world, waving a handkerchief by day or a lantern by night. Today, a statue of Florence and her faithful dog stands in Savannah’s Morrell Park, permanently welcoming incoming vessels.

There is something in a warm welcome that speaks of acceptance. In Romans 15:7, Paul urged his readers: “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you” (niv). Paul had in view our treatment of each other as followers of Christ, for in verses 5-6 he challenged us to live in harmony with one another. The key is to have “the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (niv).

Our acceptance of our fellow believers in Christ demonstrates more than just our love for each other—it reflects the great love of the One who has permanently welcomed us into His family. —Bill Crowder

Father, give me a heart for my brothers and sisters in Christ. Please give us, together, a heart for one another, so that we will love and honor You in all we do.Share this prayer from our Facebook page with your friends. facebook.com/ourdailybread

The closer Christians get to Christ, the closer they get to one another.

INSIGHT: In Romans 14:1-15:7 Paul addressed a conflict between “strong” believers and “weak” believers that threatened the unity of the Roman church. The dispute was not over any core doctrines, but over some Old Testament laws (Rom. 14:1-6). The “strong”—or mature in faith—were those who believed that Christians no longer needed to observe these laws (vv. 2,15). Paul asked the mature believers not to despise the less mature, and the weak not to condemn the strong (v. 3). He called for tolerance and acceptance of each other’s convictions and practices. In today’s passage he lays the responsibility on the mature to be sensitive to the convictions of those weaker in faith and to help build them up (15:1-2). Sim Kay Tee-+-+-+

Read: James 1:19-27

Bible in a Year: Psalms 79-80; Romans 11:1-18

Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. —James 1:22

Reporter Jacob Riis’s vivid descriptions of poverty in 19th-century New York City horrified a generally complacent public. His book How the Other Half Lives combined his writing with his own photographs to paint a picture so vivid that the public could not escape the certainty of poverty’s desperate existence. The third of fifteen children himself, Riis wrote so effectively because he had lived in that world of terrible despair.

Shortly after the release of his book, he received a card from a young man just beginning his political career. The note read simply, “I have read your book, and I have come to help. Theodore Roosevelt.” (This politician later became a US President.)

True faith responds to the needs of others, according to James (1:19-27). May our hearts be moved from inaction to action, from words alone to deeds that back them up. Compassionate action not only aids those mired in life’s difficulties, but it may also make them open to the greater message from our Savior who sees their need and can do so much more for them. —Randy Kilgore

O Lord, it is so easy to be overwhelmed, or to judge and therefore to refrain from helping others. Lift our eyes above our own thoughts and circumstances, and let us care as You care.

Others will know what the words “God is love” mean when they see it in our lives.

INSIGHT: James’s letter was written to people enduring difficult times. In James 1:1 we read, “James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings.” The “twelve tribes which are scattered abroad” were Jewish followers of Christ who had been driven from their homes in Jerusalem by persecution. Many of them had lost everything because of their faith in Christ, and they were struggling. Perhaps that is why James spoke so passionately about caring for orphans and widows (1:27) and the poor (ch.2). Because the believers had suffered so much themselves, they should have understood the importance of responding to the needs of others. Bill Crowder

Read: Romans 6:16-23

Bible in a Year: Psalms 63-65; Romans 6

Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. —John 8:34

There’s an underground lava tube south of Kuna, Idaho, that has gained a certain amount of local notoriety. The only entrance, as far as I know, is a yawning shaft that plunges straight down into darkness.

Some years ago I stood at the edge of that shaft and looked down. I was drawn to venture closer and almost lost my balance. I felt a moment of heart-pounding terror and stepped away from the opening.

Sin is like that: Curiosity can draw us toward the darkness. How often have men and women gotten too close to the edge, lost their balance, and fallen into the darkness? They’ve destroyed their families, reputations, and careers through adulterous affairs that began with a “mere” flirtation but then progressed to thoughts and actions. Looking back they almost always say, “I never thought it would come to this.”

We think we can flirt with temptation, get very close to the edge, and walk away, but that’s a fool’s dream. We know an action is wrong and yet we toy with it. Then, inescapably, we are drawn into deeper and darker perversions. Jesus put it simply: “Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin” (John 8:34).

And so, seeing our own need for God’s help, we pray as David did in Psalm 19:13, “Keep back Your servant also from [deliberate] sins; let them not have dominion over me.” —David H. Roper

Heavenly Father, whether we are being tempted now, or have fallen, we thank You that You are always there, and You love us with relentless love. We have nowhere to turn but to You.

A big fall begins with a little stumble.

INSIGHT: Having proven that all people are sinners and having shown how sinners are justified through faith in Jesus (Rom. 1-4), Paul now describes the new life we can have because of what Jesus did (chs. 5-8). We can live differently, we can choose not to sin, and we can live holy lives (6:1-14). In today’s passage, Paul warns that we become the slave of whatever we choose to obey (vv. 16-20). Rather than give ourselves to sin, we are to give ourselves to God (vv. 22-23). When we do sin, we bear the consequences of our sins and experience a lack of fellowship with God (Gal. 6:7-8). Sim Kay Tee

Read: Romans 5:1-11

Bible in a Year: Psalms 60-62; Romans 5

Count it all joy when you fall into various trials. —James 1:2

Roger had been through a lot. He had open-heart surgery to repair a leaky valve. Then, within just a couple of weeks, doctors had to perform the surgery again because of complications. He had just begun to heal with physical therapy when he had a biking accident and broke his collarbone. Added to this, Roger also experienced the heartbreak of losing his mother during this time. He became very discouraged. When a friend asked him if he had seen God at work in any small ways, he confessed that he really didn’t feel he had.

I appreciate Roger’s honesty. Feelings of discouragement or doubt are part of my life too. In Romans, the apostle Paul says, “We can rejoice . . . when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation” (5:3-4 nlt). But that doesn’t mean we always feel the joy. We may just need someone to sit down and listen to us pour out our hearts to them, and to talk with God. Sometimes it takes looking back on the situation before we see how our faith has grown during trials and doubts.

Knowing that God wants to use our difficulties to strengthen our faith can help us to trust His good heart for us. —Anne Cetas

In what ways has God used trials in your life? Are you learning to trust Him more?

God may lead us into troubled waters to deepen our trust in Him.

INSIGHT: In the letter to the Romans, Paul discusses what salvation means. Today’s passage twice mentions that we are justified, which means to be made right with God. In verse 1 Paul says that this happens by faith, and in verse 9 he writes that the blood of Christ justifies us. The sacrifice of Christ’s blood for us is what makes justification possible, and faith is how we receive that justification. Hebrews 9:22 tells us: “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (niv)