by dailyd | Oct 27, 2018 | More
Topic: Unexpected Kindness
Read: Ephesians 2:1–10, Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 12–14; 2 Timothy 1
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works. Ephesians 2:10
My friend was waiting to pay for her groceries when the man in front of her turned around and handed her a voucher for £10 ($14) off her bill. Short on sleep, she burst into tears because of his kind act; then she started laughing at herself for crying. This unexpected kindness touched her heart and gave her hope during a period of exhaustion. She gave thanks to the Lord for His goodness extended to her through another person.
The theme of giving was one the apostle Paul wrote about in his letter to gentile Christians in Ephesus. He called them to leave their old lives behind and embrace the new, saying that they were saved by grace. Out of this saving grace, he explained, flows our desire to “do good works,” for we have been created in God’s image and are His “handiwork” (2:10). We, like the man at the supermarket, can spread God’s love through our everyday actions.
Of course, we don’t have to give material things to share God’s grace; we can show His love through many other actions. We can take the time to listen to someone when they speak to us. We can ask someone who is serving us how they are. We can stop to help someone in need. As we give to others, we’ll receive joy in return (Acts 20:35).
Prayer: Dear Father, You created us in Your image, and we rejoice that we can share Your love and life. Help us to see the opportunities to give to others today.
We’ve been created to share God’s love through giving His gifts.
INSIGHT
For believers, the foundation for loving others is because we’ve been loved by God. But loving others like Christ loved us doesn’t come naturally to many of us. In fact, aren’t we sometimes much harder on others than we are on ourselves? Knowing all of us share a common fallen human nature, however, can help us be more patient.
On our own, we’d all naturally live out the empty “ways of this world”—the kind of selfish, ugly lives that deserve God’s condemnation (Ephesians 2:2–3). This means none of us can take credit for any good in our lives (vv. 8–9). And it means that whomever we encounter, we can offer not only God’s truth but His love and grace.
Monica Brands
This message was written By Amy Boucher Pye [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]
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OUR DAILY BREAD 26 OCTOBER 2018 DEVOTIONAL
by dailyd | Oct 26, 2018 | More
TOPIC: THE GREAT CRESCENDO
Read: 1 John 4:14–21, Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 9–11; 1 Timothy 6
The Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 1 John 4:14
My parents taught me to love all sorts of music—from country to classical. So my heart beat rapidly as I walked into the Moscow Conservatory, one of Russia’s great music halls, to hear the Moscow National Symphony. As the conductor drove the musicians through a masterful Tchaikovsky piece, themes developed that gradually built to a powerful crescendo—a profound and dramatic musical climax. It was a magical moment, and the audience stood to roar its approval.
The Scriptures move toward the most powerful crescendo of history: the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the moments following Adam and Eve’s fall into sin in the garden of Eden, God promised that a Redeemer would come (Genesis 3:15), and throughout the Old Testament that theme moved forward. The promise rang out in the Passover lamb (Exodus 12:21), the hopes of the prophets (1 Peter 1:10), and the longings of the people of God.
First John 4:14 confirms where that story had been going: “We have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.” How? God accomplished His promised rescue of His broken world when Jesus died and rose again to forgive us and restore us to our Creator. And one day He will come again and restore His whole creation.
As we remember what God’s Son has done for us, we celebrate the great crescendo of God’s grace and rescue for us and His world—Jesus!
Prayer: Father, Your Son has impacted Your world like nothing else. I’m grateful He has come for my rescue and will come again to restore Your world.
Celebrate the gift of Jesus!
INSIGHT:
First John 4:14 declares that Christ is the “Savior of the world.” Our response to His sacrificial death on the cross so we might be saved puts us in one of two categories: We’re either among “those who are perishing” or “[those] who are being saved” (1 Corinthians 1:18). The apostle Paul says the Greeks laughed at the ludicrousness of a dead man giving eternal life to others (vv. 22–23). But to all who believe in Jesus, the cross is “the power of God and the wisdom of God” (v. 24). The Scriptures tell us, “This Good News about Christ . . . is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16 nlt), for “Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin” (1 Corinthians 1:30 nlt).
K. T. Sim
This message was written By Bill Crowder [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]
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Our Daily Bread 25 October 2018 Devotional – Where Is Peace?
by dailyd | Oct 25, 2018 | More
Topic: Where Is Peace?
Read: Jeremiah 8:8–15
Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 6–8; 1 Timothy 5
Scripture: We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1
Message: “Do you still hope for peace?” a journalist asked Bob Dylan in 1984.
“There is not going to be any peace,” Dylan replied. His response drew criticism, yet there’s no denying that peace remains ever elusive.
About 600 years before Christ, most prophets were predicting peace. God’s prophet wasn’t one of them. Jeremiah reminded the people that God had said, “Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people” (Jeremiah 7:23). Yet they repeatedly ignored the Lord and His commands. Their false prophets said, “Peace, peace” (8:11), but Jeremiah predicted disaster. Jerusalem fell in 586 bc.
Peace is rare. But amid Jeremiah’s book of dire prophecies we discover a God who loves relentlessly. “I have loved you with an everlasting love,” the Lord told His rebellious people. “I will build you up again” (31:3–4).
God is a God of love and peace. Conflict comes because of our rebellion against Him. Sin destroys the world’s peace and robs each of us of inner peace. Jesus came to this planet to reconcile us to God and give us that inner peace. “Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” wrote the apostle Paul (Romans 5:1). His words are among the most hope-filled ever written.
Whether we live in a combat zone or dwell in a serene neighborhood with nary a whisper of war, Christ invites us into His peace.
Thought for the Day: God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. C. S. Lewis
INSIGHT
Jeremiah delivers a devastating message of coming punishment to the people of Judah. God’s judgment of sin includes loss of spouse and property (Jeremiah 8:10), failed crops (v. 13), and overwhelming terror (v. 15). Why such a devastating punishment? They have mishandled the law of the Lord (v. 8). Jeremiah continues by saying that they have no wisdom since they have rejected the word of the Lord (v. 9). Scripture is not something to be treated lightly. In the Bible God reveals Himself and His plan for humanity’s redemption. It’s a story to be treated with the utmost respect. (J.R. Hudberg)
Our Daily Bread 25 October 2018 Devotional was written by Tim Gustafson
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Our Daily Bread 24 October 2018 Devotional – Impossible to Hold
by dailyd | Oct 24, 2018 | More
Topic: Impossible to Hold
Read: Acts 2:22–36, Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 3–5; 1 Timothy 4
It was impossible for death to keep its hold on [Jesus]. Acts 2:24
Swimming with friends in the Gulf of Mexico, Caitlyn encountered a shark, which grabbed her legs and pulled at her body. To counter the attack, Caitlyn punched the shark in the nose. The predator unclenched its jaws and swam away in defeat. Although its bite caused multiple wounds, which required over 100 stitches, the shark was unable to keep Caitlyn in its grasp.
This story reminds me of the fact that Jesus delivered a blow to death, ending its power to intimidate and defeat His followers. According to Peter, “It was impossible for death to keep its hold on [Jesus]” (Acts 2:24).
Peter said these words to a crowd in Jerusalem. Perhaps many of them had been the ones yelling out, “Crucify him!” to condemn Jesus (Matthew 27:22). As a result, Roman soldiers fastened Him to a cross where He hung until they confirmed He was dead. Jesus’s body was carried to a tomb where it stayed for three days until God resurrected Him. After His resurrection, Peter and others spoke and ate with Him, and after forty days they watched Him ascend into heaven (Acts 1:9).
Jesus’s life on Earth ended amidst physical suffering and mental anguish, yet God’s power defeated the grave. Because of this, death—or any other struggle—lacks the ability to keep us in its grip forever. One day all believers will experience everlasting life and wholeness in God’s presence. Focusing on this future can help us find freedom today.
Prayer: Dear Jesus, Your victory over death gives me hope! I praise You as the resurrected One who died so that I could have eternal life.
The grip of the grave is no match for the power of God.
This message was written By Jennifer Benson Schuldt [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]
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Our Daily Bread 23 October 2018 Devotional – Choosing the Trail
by dailyd | Oct 23, 2018 | More
Topic: Choosing the Trail
Read: Matthew 7:13–14, Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 1–2; 1 Timothy 3
Small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:14
I have a beautiful autumn photograph of a young man on horseback in the Colorado mountains as he contemplates which trail ahead to follow. It reminds me of Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken.” In it, Frost ponders two pathways that lie before him. Both are equally inviting, but he doubts he will return to this place again, and he must choose one. Frost wrote, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”
In Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), the Lord told His listeners, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (7:13–14).
On our journey through life, we face many choices about which road to travel. Many pathways seem promising and attractive but only one is the pathway of life. Jesus calls us to travel the road of discipleship and obedience to God’s Word—to follow Him instead of the crowd.
As we ponder the road ahead, may God give us wisdom and courage to follow His way—the road of life. It will make all the difference for us and those we love!
Prayer: Lord, as we go through this day, give us eyes to see the narrow road that leads to life and the courage to follow it.
Choose to walk the road of life with Jesus.
INSIGHT
Life is all about choices—and their consequences. As author Robert Louis Stevenson put it, “Sooner or later everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences.” We see this throughout the Scriptures as our first parents hid from God in the ancient garden (Genesis 3:8), Moses was forbidden to enter the promised land (Deuteronomy 32:52), David was confronted by the prophet Nathan (2 Samuel 12), and after denying his Lord, Peter wept bitterly (Luke 22:62). By the same token, Moses counseled the Israelites to choose the things of life (Deuteronomy 30:19), and Solomon warned those who do not choose to fear the Lord (Proverbs 1:28–29). Why is this so important? In Psalm 25:12, David sang, “Who, then, are those who fear the Lord? He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.” When the wisdom of God guides us in our choices, we have less reason to fear the consequences those choices might bring.
For more on choices and their consequences, check out the Discovery Series booklet Eve and Rahab: Learning to Make Better Choices at discoveryseries.org/hp031.
Bill Crowder
This message was written By David C. McCasland [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]
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Our Daily Bread 22 October 2018 Devotional – Treasure in a Pumpkin
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