Category Archives: Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Leap The Wall

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Our Daily Bread

Romans 12:14-21

If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. —Proverbs 25:21

Sgt. Richard Kirkland was a Confederate soldier in the US Civil War (1861–1865). When the Union’s failed charge at Marye’s Heights during the Battle of Fredericksburg left wounded soldiers abandoned in no-man’s land, Kirkland got permission to help them. Collecting canteens, he leaped the stone wall and bent over the first soldier to lend assistance. At great personal risk, the “Angel of Marye’s Heights” extended the mercy of Christ to enemy soldiers.

While few of us will face an enemy on the battlefield, those who suffer can be found all around us—people struggling against loneliness, loss, health issues, and sin. Their cries, muted by our many distractions, plead for mercy and comfort, for hope and help.

Kirkland’s example of Christlike compassion put action to Jesus’ command to “love your enemies” (Matt. 5:44). Paul expanded on that theme when he quotes Proverbs 25:21, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink” (Rom. 12:20). “Do not be overcome by evil,” he instructed us, “but overcome evil with good” (v.21).

Paul’s challenge compels us to emulate Sgt. Kirkland. Today is the day for us to “leap the wall” of safety to lend comfort from God to those in need. —Randy Kilgore

Father, give me the courage to reach out to those

I may not want to reach. Show Your love

through me in ways that will bring glory to You

and true peace in my corner of the world.

Kindness is in our power even when fondness is not. —Samuel Johnson

Bible in a year: Jeremiah 32-33; Hebrews 1

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Be Still

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Our Daily Bread

Psalm 46

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! —Psalm 46:10

Eric Liddell, memorialized in the film Chariots of Fire, won a gold medal in the 1924 Paris Olympics before going to China as a missionary. Some years later, with the outbreak of World War II, Liddell sent his family to safety in Canada, but he remained in China. Soon Liddell and other foreign missionaries were interned in a Japanese detainment camp. After months of captivity, he developed what doctors feared was a brain tumor.

Every Sunday afternoon a band would play near the hospital, so one day Liddell requested they play the hymn “Be Still, My Soul.” As he listened, I wonder if Eric pondered these words from the song: Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on / When we shall be forever with the Lord. / When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone, / Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored. / Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past / All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

That beautiful hymn, so comforting to Eric as he faced an illness that led to his death 3 days later, expresses a great reality of Scripture. In Psalm 46:10, David wrote, “Be still, and know that I am God.” In our darkest moments, we can rest, for our Lord conquered death on our behalf. Be still, and allow Him to calm your greatest fears. —Bill Crowder

Teach me, Lord, to still my soul before You. Help

me to bear patiently the trials I face, and to

leave everything to You to direct and provide.

I know that You will always remain faithful.

God’s whisper of comfort quiets the noise of our trials.

Bible in a year: Jeremiah 30-31; Philemon

 

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Who’s Telling The Truth?

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Our Daily Bread

John 8:31-47

Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? —John 8:46

During the 2012 US presidential campaign, television coverage of speeches and debates often included “fact checking” by analysts who compared the candidates’ statements with their actual records. Were they telling the truth or manipulating the facts to their advantage?

The apostle John recorded a debate between Jesus and a group of people who believed He was making false claims about Himself. Jesus told them, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32). They told Him that they had never been in bondage to anyone and asked, “How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?” (v.33).

As the debate continued, Jesus kept saying that He was telling them the truth (vv.34,40,45-46,51). Some believed Him, but others remained angry at Him and unconvinced.

In a sense, that debate goes on today. Those who oppose Jesus seek to discredit His statements and twist them into lies. Jesus says, “I am telling you the truth,” and promises that He will give us a freedom we can find nowhere else.

The Bible record of Jesus’ life is worth “fact checking” as we determine who we will follow. All of us have a choice to make. —David McCasland

Faith is believing, the promise is true,

Trusting in Jesus your strength to renew;

Resting so sweetly, secure on His Word,

Shielded from danger with Jesus the Lord. —Teasley

God’s truth stands any test.

Bible in a year: Jeremiah 27-29; Titus 3

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Loved To Love

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Our Daily Bread

Deuteronomy 10:12-22

What does the LORD your God require of you, but . . . to walk in all His ways and to love Him. —Deuteronomy 10:12

“A heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others.” I saw this quotation, attributed to the Wizard of Oz, on a wall plaque in a gift shop.

The Wizard of Oz may be a good story, but it’s not a reliable source of spiritual information. God said something quite different. According to Him, the greatest commandment is to love—to love Him first and then others (Mark 12:29-31). Scripture says nothing about expecting to be loved in return. In fact, Jesus stated the opposite in His most famous sermon: “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven” (Matt. 5:11-12).

When it comes to love, the important thing we need to know is this: All love starts with God (1 John 4:19). As Moses told the Israelites, God delighted in them to love them (Deut. 10:15), and because of that they were to love others, even strangers (v.19). God’s intent is that the people who receive His love will become the conduit of His love to others.

Apart from God—who Himself is love—none of us could truly love or be loved (1 John 4:7-8). —Julie Ackerman Link

“Love seeketh not her own,” and so

He did not stay as God above,

But chose a manger and a cross

To show that He was Love. —Wilmshurst

He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. —1 John 4:8

Bible in a year: Jeremiah 24-26; Titus 2

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Eyes Of Love

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Our Daily Bread

Mark 10:17-27

Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him. —Mark 10:21

Many people who come to Marc Salem’s stage shows think he can read minds. But he makes no such claim, saying he is not a psychic or magician, but a close observer of people. He told writer Jennifer Mulson, “We live in a world that’s mostly invisible to us because we’re not paying attention to things . . . . I’m very sensitive to what people give off” (The Gazette, Colorado Springs).

It’s interesting to note what Jesus saw as He met people. His encounter with a wealthy young man seeking eternal life is recorded in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Mark includes this telling detail, “Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him” (Mark 10:21). Some people may have seen this young man as an arrogant person (vv.19-20) while others might have envied his wealth, but Jesus looked at him with love.

We often focus on the man’s sad departure and apparent unwillingness to give up his riches and follow Jesus (v.22). When the disciples wondered aloud about the difficulty of a rich man entering the kingdom of God (v.26), “Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible’” (v.27).

Today, Jesus sees us through eyes of love and invites us to follow Him. —David McCasland

Down from His splendor in glory He came,

Into a world of woe;

Took on Himself all my guilt and my shame,

Why should He love me so? —Roth

God has both an all-seeing eye and all-forgiving heart.

Bible in a year: eremiah 22-23; Titus 1

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — The Last Chapter

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Our Daily Bread

Revelation 22:6-20

Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. —Philippians 4:5

I have a friend who reads the last chapter first when she starts a new thriller. “Takes the anxiety out of reading,” she claims. So with Christians: Because we know the end of the story, we can be centers of peace in the midst of utter chaos, calm in the face of disaster.

The apostle Paul calls this attitude “moderation” in Philippians 4:5 (KJV). It’s a term that implies “peace under pressure.” It refers to the calm and deliberate strength with which we meet the disquieting circumstances of our days. Kingdoms may fall, friends may falter, churches may fold, oceans may rise, and mountains may crumble, but we can be at peace.

How do we maintain such composure? By remembering that “the Lord is at hand” (Phil. 4:5); He is near. Our Lord is standing just outside the door ready to burst through and turn everything that’s wrong right-side up. Then this world and all its troubles will become the kingdom of our Lord, and “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Hab. 2:14).

Jesus said, “Surely I am coming quickly” (Rev. 22:20). Today could be the day! It’s the very last thing He said in the very last chapter of His book. —David Roper

Lord, thank You for dispelling the fear from our lives

by letting us know the end of the story. We can rest

in the assurance that as Your followers we will one

day be with You in Your glorious, eternal kingdom.

No doctrine is more closely linked to practical daily living than that of the Lord’s return.

Bible in a year: Jeremiah 20-21; 2 Timothy 4

 

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Wonderful!

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Our Daily Bread

Job 42:1-6

I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. —Job 42:3

As our plane began its descent, the flight attendant read the long list of arrival information as if she were reading it for the thousandth time that day—no emotion or interest as she droned on about our impending arrival. Then, with the same tired, disinterested voice, she finished by saying, “Have a wonderful day.” The dryness of her tone contrasted with her words. She said “wonderful” but in a manner completely absent of any sense of wonder.

Sometimes I fear that we approach our relationship with God in the same way: Routine. Bored. Apathetic. Disinterested. Through Christ, we have the privilege of being adopted into the family of the living God, yet often there seems to be little of the sense of wonder that should accompany that remarkable reality.

Job questioned God about his suffering, but when challenged by Him, Job was humbled by the wonder of his Creator and His creation. Job replied, “You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know” (Job 42:3).

I long for the wonder of God to take hold of my heart. Adopted by God—what a wonderful reality! —Bill Crowder

How marvelous! How wonderful!

And my song shall ever be:

How marvelous! How wonderful

Is my Savior’s love for me! —Gabriel

Nothing can fill our hearts more than the wonder of our God and His love.

Bible in a year: Jeremiah 18-19; 2 Timothy 3

 

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Wait On The Lord

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Our Daily Bread

Psalm 27

I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. —Psalm 40:1

With so many instantaneous forms of communication today, our impatience with hearing a reply from others is sometimes laughable. Someone I know sent an e-mail to his wife and then called her by cell phone because he couldn’t wait for a reply!

Sometimes we feel that God has let us down because He does not provide an immediate answer to a prayer. Often our attitude becomes, “Answer me speedily, O LORD; my spirit fails!” (Ps. 143:7).

But waiting for the Lord can transform us into a people of growing faith. King David spent many years waiting to be crowned king and fleeing from Saul’s wrath. David wrote, “Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart” (Ps. 27:14). And in another psalm he encourages us with these words, “I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He . . . set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps” (40:1-2). David grew into “a man after [God’s] own heart” by waiting on the Lord (Acts 13:22; see 1 Sam. 13:14).

When we become frustrated with God’s apparent delay in answering our prayer, it is good to remember that He is interested in developing faith and perseverance in our character (James 1:2-4). Wait on the Lord! —Dennis Fisher

Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer!

Thy wings shall my petition bear

To Him whose truth and faithfulness

Engage the waiting soul to bless. —Walford

God stretches our patience to enlarge our soul.

Bible in a year: Jeremiah 15-17; 2 Timothy 2

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — God In The Storm

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Our Daily Bread

Job 37:14-24

He is excellent in power. —Job 37:23

Early one morning the wind began to blow and raindrops hit my house like small stones. I peered outside at the yellow-gray sky and watched as trees thrashed in the wind. Veins of lightning lit the sky accompanied by bone-rattling thunder. The power blinked on and off, and I wondered how long the bad weather would continue.

After the storm passed, I opened my Bible to begin my day with reading Scripture. I read a passage in Job that compared the Lord’s power to the atmospheric muscle of a storm. Job’s friend, Elihu said, “God thunders marvelously with His voice” (37:5). And, “He covers His hands with lightning, and commands it to strike” (36:32). Indeed, God is “excellent in power” (37:23).

Compared to God, we humans are feeble. We’re unable to help ourselves spiritually, heal our hearts, or fix the injustice we often endure. Fortunately, the God of the storm cares about weaklings like us; He “remembers that we are dust” (Ps. 103:14). What’s more, God “gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength” (Isa. 40:29). Because God is strong, He can help us in our weakness. —Jennifer Benson Schuldt

I sing the mighty power of God

That made the mountains rise,

That spread the flowing seas abroad

And built the lofty skies. —Watts

God is the source of our strength.

Bible in a year: Jeremiah 12-14; 2 Timothy 1

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Healthy Ingredients

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Our Daily Bread

Proverbs 4:14-27

Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. —Proverbs 4:23

My wife, Martie, is a careful shopper when it comes to buying healthy and nutritious food. No matter how attractive the packaging looks, she checks the list of ingredients on the back of the box. Lots of difficult-to-pronounce words usually announce the presence of preservatives that work against good nutrition. She always puts those items back on the shelf and continues to look for labels with lists of natural food products that contribute to good health.

I’ve often thought that her shopping habits are a lot like what God is looking for in our lives: It’s what’s on the inside that counts, regardless of how attractive the outside might be. It’s no wonder that the wisdom-teller of Proverbs warns us to guard what goes into our hearts, “for out of it spring the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23). Wearing the right fashions and keeping ourselves looking young are of little importance if our hearts harbor greed, hatred, grumpiness, self-pity, and other counter-productive contents.

So, ask yourself: When others get past the packaging of my life, do they experience a heart full of healthy, Christ-honoring ingredients? By putting in grace, kindness, patience, and compassion, we’ll reflect the wonderful nature of Christ. —Joe Stowell

Lord, teach me to value my heart more than the

externals. Grant me the wisdom to cultivate internal

ingredients that will make my heart a wellspring of

life to those whom I come in contact with today.

The contents in your heart are more important than the outer packaging.

Bible in a year: Jeremiah 9-11; 1 Timothy 6

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Loving And Knowing

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Our Daily Bread

Romans 5:6-11

God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. —Romans 5:8

In a novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, one of the characters, speaking of New York’s Empire State Building, said, “I know this building because I love this building.”

That statement caused me to think about the relationship between love and knowledge. Whenever we love something, we want to know everything about it. When we love a place, we want to explore every inch of it. When we love a person, we want to know every detail of his or her life. We want to know what he likes, how she spends her time, where he grew up, who her friends are, what he believes. The list is endless. But some of us want to be loved without allowing ourselves to be known. We’re afraid that we won’t be loved if we are truly known.

We don’t have to worry about that with God. His love is far superior to ours: “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Furthermore, He makes Himself known to us. Through creation, Scripture, and Christ, God reveals His character and His love. Because God loves us in spite of our imperfections, we can safely confess our faults to Him. With God, we need not fear being known. That’s why to know God is to love Him. —Julie Ackerman Link

Be still and know that He is God

For pathways steep and rough,

Not what He brings, but what He is

Will always be enough. —Anon.

There is no greater joy than to know that God loves us.

Bible in a year: Jeremiah 6-8; 1 Timothy 5

 

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Re-Creation

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Our Daily Bread

2 Corinthians 5:12-21

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. —2 Corinthians 5:17

Chris Simpson’s life used to be consumed by hate. After he and his wife lost their first child, he was confused and angry. He directed that anger toward various ethnic groups and covered his body with hate-filled tattoos.

After listening to his son mimic his hatred, though, Simpson knew he needed to change. He watched a Christian movie about courage and began attending church. One month later he was baptized as a follower of Jesus Christ. Simpson is now a new person and is leaving the hate behind him, which includes the painful and expensive process of having his tattoos removed.

The apostle Paul knew something about this kind of deep transformation. He hated Jesus and persecuted His followers (Acts 22:4-5; 1 Cor. 15:9). But a personal encounter and spiritual union with Christ (Acts 9:1-20) changed all of that, causing him to reevaluate his life in light of what Jesus accomplished on the cross. This union with Christ made Paul a new person. The old order of sin, death, and selfishness was gone and a new beginning, a new covenant, a new perspective and way of living had come.

Following Jesus is not turning over a new leaf; it is beginning a new life under a new Master. —Marvin Williams

FOR FURTHER THOUGHT

What is the evidence that my union with Christ

has transformed my old humanity? Are there

indicators that I am not the me I used to be?

Being in Christ is not rehabilitation, it’s re-creation.

Bible in a year: Jeremiah 3-5; 1 Timothy 4

 

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Losing And Finding Our Lives In Him

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Our Daily Bread

Luke 9:18-27

For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. —Luke 9:24

When Mother Teresa died in 1997, people marveled again at her example of humble service to Christ and to people in great need. She had spent 50 years ministering to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying through the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India.

After extensive interviews with her, British journalist Malcolm Muggeridge wrote: “There is much talk today about discovering an identity, as though it were something to be looked for, like a winning number in a lottery; then, once found, to be hoarded and treasured. Actually, . . . the more it is spent the richer it becomes. So, with Mother Teresa, in effacing herself, she becomes herself. I never met anyone more memorable.”

I suspect that many of us may be afraid of what will happen if we obey Jesus’ words: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it” (Luke 9:23-24).

Our Savior reminded His followers that He came to give us life abundantly (John 10:10). We are called to lose our lives for Christ, and in so doing discover the fullness of life in Him. —David McCasland

“Take up thy cross and follow Me,”

I hear the blessed Savior call;

How can I make a lesser sacrifice

When Jesus gave His all? —Ackley

As we lose our lives for Christ, we find fullness of life in Him.

Bible in a year: Jeremiah 1-2; 1 Timothy 3

 

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — The Campaign

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Our Daily Bread

Romans 15:1-7

Let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. —Romans 14:19

Each year young people in our community participate in a “Be Nice” campaign spearheaded by a mental health organization. In one of the events in 2012, 6,000 students spelled out the words BE NICE with their bodies on their schools’ sports fields. One principal said, “We want students to come to school and learn without the distraction of fear or sadness or uneasiness around their peers. We are working hard to make sure students are lifting each other up, rather than tearing each other down.”

Paul desired that the people in the church at Rome would have an even higher standard of love. Both the strong and weak in the faith were judging and showing contempt for each other (Rom. 14:1-12). They despised one another as they argued about what foods were permissible to eat (vv.2-3) and what holidays they should observe (vv.5-6). Paul challenged them: “Let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another” (v.19). He reminded them that their hearts should be concerned with pleasing others, not pleasing themselves. He said, “Even Christ did not please Himself” (15:3); He served.

Join the campaign that loves others despite our differences—you’ll bring praise to God (v.7). —Anne Cetas

Dear Lord, I want to be a person who is

kind and loving to others. Please help me

to use words that will build others up

and bring praise and glory to Your name.

Kindness is simply love flowing out in little gentlenesses.

Bible in a year: Isaiah 65-66; 1 Timothy 2

 

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — O Glorious Day!

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Our Daily Bread

Matthew 27:27-31;28:1-6

He is not here; for He is risen. —Matthew 28:6

It was the day after. My favorite team had just lost its final game and the dream of a championship was now over. It was cold out and a bit gloomy as I got in the car to go to work. None of this should have mattered much, but it was shaping up to be a blue Monday.

But then a song came on the radio that transformed my perspective. It was Casting Crowns singing “Glorious Day.” “One day they led [Christ] up Calvary’s mountain, one day they nailed Him to die on a tree.” Nothing encouraging yet. “Suffering anguish, despised and rejected”—more bad news. But then the song describes the good news of Christ’s resurrection and His victory over death.

Out of that worst of days—out of the noontime darkness on that Jerusalem hillside—has come the only true hope for mankind. Because Jesus “took the nails for me,” as the song says, “He carried my sins far away.” And one day He’s coming back—“O glorious day!”

Perhaps today did not start out well for you. Maybe you face a host of trouble that threatens to turn this into a day of despair. Turn your attention to Jesus. Review what He did for you at Calvary and how He conquered death by His resurrection: “He is not here; for He is risen”! (Matt. 28:6). That can make any day a glorious day! —Dave Branon

Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;

Buried, He carried my sins far away;

Rising, He justified freely forever;

One day He’s coming—O glorious day! —Chapman

Christ’s empty tomb fills us with hope.

Bible in a year: Isaiah 62-64; 1 Timothy 1

 

 

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Stray Hearts

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Our Daily Bread

Exodus 32:21-35

These people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! —Exodus 32:31

Last fall, an expressway in my city was shut down for several hours because a cattle truck had overturned. The cattle had escaped and were roaming across the highway. Seeing this news story about stray cattle made me think of something I had recently studied in Exodus 32 about the people of God who strayed from Him.

In the divided kingdom of ancient Israel, King Jeroboam erected two golden calves for the people to worship (1 Kings 12:25-32). But the idea of worshiping hunks of gold had not originated with him. Even after escaping brutal slavery and having seen the Lord’s power and glory mightily displayed, the Israelites had quickly allowed their hearts to stray from Him (Ex. 32). While Moses was on Mt. Sinai receiving the law from the Lord, his brother Aaron helped God’s people stray by constructing an idol in the shape of a golden calf. The writer of Hebrews reminds us of God’s anger over this idolatry and those who “go astray in their heart” (Heb. 3:10).

God knows that our hearts have a tendency to stray. His Word makes it clear that He is the Lord and that we are to worship “no other gods” (Ex. 20:2-6).

“The LORD is the great God, and the great King above all gods” (Ps. 95:3). He is the one true God! —Cindy Hess Kasper

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

Prone to leave the God I love;

Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,

Seal it for Thy courts above. —Robinson

As long as you want anything very much, especially more than you want God, it is an idol. —A. B. Simpson

Bible in a year: Isaiah 59-61; 2 Thessalonians 3

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — How Long?

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Our Daily Bread

Psalm 13

How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? —Psalm 13:1

For 9 long years, Saul hounded David as “one hunts a partridge in the mountains” (1 Sam. 26:20). “How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever?” David prayed. “How long will You hide Your face from me? . . . How long will my enemy be exalted over me?” (Ps. 13:1-2).

Prolonged affliction often vexes us as well. We want a sudden solution, a quick fix. But some things can’t be fixed. They can only be borne.

But we can complain to God in our troubles. We have a heavenly Father who wants us to engage with Him in our struggles. He understands His children as no one else can.

When we turn to Him with our complaints, we come to our senses. In David’s case, his thoughts went back to life’s certainty: God’s love. David reminded himself: “I have trusted in Your mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because He has dealt bountifully with me” (vv.5-6). Sufferings may persist, but David could sing in the midst of his trials, for he was God’s beloved child. That’s all he needed to know.

A. W. Thorold writes, “The highest pinnacle of the spiritual life is not happy joy in unbroken sunshine, but absolute and undoubting trust in the love of God.”

Even in our troubles, God’s love can be trusted. —David Roper

O yes, He cares; I know He cares,

His heart is touched with my grief;

When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,

I know my Savior cares! —Graeff

God’s love stands when all else fails.

Bible in a year: Isaiah 56-58; 2 Thessalonians 2

 

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — The End?

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Our Daily Bread

1 Corinthians 15:50-58

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. —1 Corinthians 15:57

Everything in this world eventually comes to an end, which at times can be disheartening. It’s the feeling you get when you read a book that’s so good you don’t want it to end. Or when you watch a movie that you wish would go on a little while longer.

But all things—good and bad—do come to “The End.” In fact, life ultimately does come to the end—sometimes sooner than we expect. All of us who have stood by the casket of a loved one know the painful emptiness of a heart that wishes it wasn’t over yet.

Thankfully, Jesus steps into the fray of terminal disappointments, and, through His death and resurrection, He interjects hope for us. In Him “the end” is a prelude to a death-free eternity, and words like “it’s over” are replaced by a joy-filled “forever.” Since our bodies are not an eternal reality, Paul assures us that “we shall all be changed” (1 Cor. 15:51) and reminds us that because of Christ’s conquering work we can confidently say, “O Death, . . . where is your victory?” (v.55).

So let not your heart be troubled. Our sorrow is real, but we can be filled with gratitude because God “gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (v.57). —Joe Stowell

Lord, keep our eyes and hearts fixed not on the

temporary joys or disappointments but on the victorious

realities of eternity. Thank You for Your death and

resurrection that guarantee our forever future.

In Christ, the end is only the beginning.

Bible in a year: Isaiah 53-55; 2 Thessalonians 1

 

 

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Barrier-Free Love

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Our Daily Bread

Matthew 23:37-39

O Jerusalem . . . ! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! —Matthew 23:37

Not long ago I heard the distressed chirping of a bird coming from the side of my neighbor’s house. I discovered that a nest of baby birds was inside a vent covered by a screen, placing a barrier between the mother bird who was trying to feed her hungry chicks. After I told the neighbors, they removed the screen and took the nest and chicks to a safe place to be cared for.

Few things are as heartbreaking as a barrier to love. Christ, the long-awaited Messiah of Israel, experienced a barrier to His love when His chosen people rejected Him. He used the word picture of a hen and her baby chicks to describe their unwillingness to receive it: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem . . . ! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Matt. 23:37).

Our sin is a barrier that separates us from God (Isa. 59:2). But “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Jesus took care of the barrier to God’s love by His sacrificial death on the cross and His resurrection (Rom. 5:8-17; 8:11). Now He longs for us to experience His love and accept this gift. —Dennis Fisher

My heart is stirred whene’er I think of Jesus,

That blessed Name that sets the captive free;

The only Name through which I find salvation,

No name on earth has meant so much to me. —Eliason

Through His cross, Jesus rescues and redeems.

Bible in a year: Isaiah 50-52; 1 Thessalonians 5

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Coade Stone

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Our Daily Bread

1 Peter 2:1-10

Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious. —1 Peter 2:4

Throughout London, there are statues and other items made from a unique building material called Coade stone. Developed by Eleanor Coade for her family business in the late 1700s, this artificial stone is virtually indestructible and has the capacity to withstand time, weather, and man-made pollution. Though it was a marvel during the Industrial Revolution, Coade stone was phased out in the 1840s following Eleanor’s death, and it was replaced by Portland cement as a building material. In spite of that, however, there remain today dozens of examples of this sturdy, ceramic-like stone that have withstood the harsh London environment for over 150 years.

The apostle Peter described Jesus as a living stone. He wrote, “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:4-5). Precious in the eyes of the Father is the sacrifice of the Rock of our salvation. Christ is the enduring stone upon which the Father has built our salvation and the only foundation for meaningful life (1 Cor. 3:11).

It is only as our lives are built upon His strength that we will be able to endure the harshness of life in a fallen world. —Bill Crowder

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

But wholly lean on Jesus’ name. —Mote

We have nothing to fear if we stay close to the Rock of Ages.

Bible in a year: Isaiah 47-49; 1 Thessalonians 4