Our Daily Bread
January 16
... View MoreOur Daily Bread
January 16
Mighty
Winn Collier
[Goliath] looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy.�1 Samuel 17:42
1 Samuel 17:32, 41�47
Genesis 39�40; Matthew 11
Baby Saybie, born as a �micro-preemie� at 23 weeks, weighed only 8.6 ounces. Doctors doubted Saybie would live and told her parents they�d likely have only an hour with their daughter. However, Saybie kept fighting. A pink card near her crib declared �Tiny but Mighty.� After five months in the hospital, Saybie miraculously went home as a healthy five-pound baby. And she took a world record with her: the world�s tiniest surviving baby.
It�s powerful to hear stories of those who beat the odds. The Bible tells one of these stories. David, a shepherd boy, volunteered to fight Goliath�a mammoth warrior who defamed God and threatened Israel. King Saul thought David was ridiculous: �You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth� (1 Samuel 17:33). And when the boy David stepped onto the battlefield, Goliath �looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy� (v. 42). However, David didn�t step into battle alone. He came �in the name of the�Lord�Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel� (v. 45). And when the day was done, a victorious David stood above a dead Goliath.
No matter how enormous the problem, when God is with us there�s nothing that we need to fear. With His strength, we�re also mighty.
When do you feel small and insignificant? How can you see God present with you and strengthening you despite insurmountable odds?
God, I feel tiny today. Left to myself, there�s no way forward. But I trust You to be with me and guide me. I�m trusting in Your strength. �
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January 15
All Roads?
Dave Branon... View MoreJanuary 15
All Roads?
Dave Branon
Jesus answered, �I am the way and the truth and the life.��John 14:6
John 14:1�7
Genesis 36�38; Matthew 10:21�42
�Don�t get on the expressway!� That text came from my daughter one day as I was leaving work. The highway home had become a virtual parking lot. I began trying alternate routes, but after experiencing gridlock on other roads, I gave up. The trip home would have to wait till later in the day, so I drove in the opposite direction to an athletic event my granddaughter was involved in.
Discovering that no roads would lead me home made me think about people who say that all roads lead to an eternal relationship with God. Some believe the road of kindness and good behavior will get you there. Others choose the road of doing religious things.
Relying on those roads, however, leads to a dead end. There�s only one road to take to God�s eternal presence. Jesus clarified this when He said, �I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me� (John 14:6). He was revealing that He was going to die to open the way for us to enter His Father�s house�to His presence and the real life He provides for today and eternity.
Skip the blocked highways that don�t lead to God�s presence. Instead, trust Jesus as Savior, for �whoever believes in the Son has eternal life� (3:36). And for those who already believe in Him, rest in the way He�s provided.
Why is it vital to know that only Jesus can save us? Why are we prone to try to add to what it takes to be welcomed into His family?
Dear God, I want to trust You for eternity. Thank You for the salvation found in Jesus alone.
Read about the difference between relationship with Jesus and religion at�DiscoverySeries.org/Q0215.
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January 14
Our Compassionate God
Patricia Raybon... View MoreJanuary 14
Our Compassionate God
Patricia Raybon
You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes.�Psalm 138:7
Psalm 138
Genesis 33�35; Matthew 10:1�20
The winter night was cold when someone threw a large stone through a Jewish child�s bedroom window. A star of David had been displayed in the window, along with a menorah to celebrate Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. In the child�s town of Billings, Montana, thousands of people�many of them believers in Jesus�responded to the hateful act with compassion. Choosing to identify with the hurt and fear of their Jewish neighbors, they pasted pictures of menorahs in their own windows.
As believers in Jesus, we too receive great compassion. Our Savior humbled Himself to live among us (John 1:14), identifying with us. On our behalf, He, �being in very nature God . . . made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant� (Philippians 2:6�7). Then, feeling as we feel and weeping as we weep, He died on a cross, sacrificing His life�to save ours.
Nothing we struggle with is beyond our Savior�s concern. If someone �throws rocks� at our lives, He comforts us. If life brings disappointments, He walks with us through despair. �Though the�Lord�is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly; though lofty, he sees them�from afar� (Psalm 138:6). In our troubles, He preserves us, stretching out His hand against both �the anger of [our] foes� (v. 7) and our own deepest fears. Thank You, God, for Your compassionate love.
In what areas of your life do you need God�s compassion? How can you show His care and love to others?�
O God, I thank You for understanding my struggles and comforting me with loving care. Remind me always to share Your compassion with others.
Learn to love like Jesus at�DiscoverySeries.org/Q0208.
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