Daily Bread

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Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn


Read: Isaiah 53:1-6

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. —Isaiah 53:4

Bible in a Year:
Numbers 20-22; Mark 7:1-13

During the turbulent years of the 1960s, popular music in America was a strange mixture of protest and patriotism. Some songs lashed out against war, greed, and injustice in society, while others affirmed duty to country and traditional values. But “Pack Up Your Sorrows,” written by Richard Farina and Pauline Baez Marden, seemed to fit all of the categories with its focus on the quest for personal peace. The refrain said the following:

Well, if somehow you could pack up your sorrows,
And give them all to me
You would lose them, I know how to use them,
Give them all to me.

Perhaps everyone hoped that someone really could bring them peace.

The good news is that there is Someone who can! Isaiah 53 is a prophetic picture of Israel’s promised Messiah. Christians see its fulfillment in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows . . . . He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed” (vv.4-5).

Jesus took our sins and sorrows on Himself so that we could be forgiven and have peace with God. Will you give Him your sorrows today?
Never a burden that He does not carry;Never a sorrow that He does not share;Whether the days may be sunny or dreary,Jesus is always there.
—Bertha Lillenas. ©1934 Homer A. Rodeheaver.

No sorrow is too heavy for our Savior to bear.

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Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn


Read: Titus 3:1-8

Speak evil of no one, . . . be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. —Titus 3:2

Bible in a Year:
Numbers 31-33; Mark 9:1-29

It’s been several decades since a high school event devastated me. Playing sports was hugely important to me. I zeroed in on basketball and spent hundreds of hours practicing my game. So when I didn’t make the varsity team in my last year after being on the team since junior high, I was crushed.

Disappointed and confused, I carried on. I became a stats guy for the team, going to games and keeping track of my friends’ rebounds and shots as they got within one game of the state championship without me. To be honest, I never thought of how they were viewing my response. I just muddled through. That’s why I was surprised recently to hear that several of my classmates told my brother that they saw in my response a lesson in Christianity—a picture of Christ. My point is not to tell you to do as I did, because I’m not sure what I did. My point is this: Whether we know it or not, people are watching us.

In Titus 3:1-8, Paul explains the life God enables us to live—a life of respect, obedience, and kindness that results from being reborn through Jesus and renewed by the Holy Spirit who has been poured out on us.

As we live a Spirit-guided life, God will show the reality of His presence to others through us.
Dear Father, You know how inadequate I am.Please equip me through the Spirit to show loveand respect in my life so that others will seethrough me and see You.
A Christian is a living sermon whether or not he preaches a word.

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Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn


Read: Zephaniah 3:14-20

The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing. —Zephaniah 3:17

Bible in a Year:
Numbers 34-36; Mark 9:30-50

Just before Christmas one year, a friend was diagnosed with leukemia and was told she must begin chemotherapy immediately. Just a few weeks earlier, Kim had told friends how blessed and content she felt with a loving family, a comfortable home, and a new grandson. As she entered the hospital, Kim asked Jesus to make His presence known to her and to stay close.

The next 7 months of treatments followed by recovery in partial isolation became a season she calls “forced leisure.” She says she learned how to slow down, reflect quietly, and rest in God’s goodness, love, and perfect plan—regardless of whether or not she would be healed.

One of God’s promises to His people Israel became personal to Kim: “The Lord your God . . . will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing” (Zeph. 3:17).

Kim is in remission after a journey she says changed her life for the better. Now back in her busy routine, she often pauses to recapture the lessons of “forced leisure.”

How important that we—in good times or times of challenge—draw near to God’s loving heart to hear His voice and place our lives in His hands.
A troubled heart, a wearied mindAre burdens hard to bear;A lack of peace, a heavy loadAre lifted by God’s care. —Fitzhugh
People are at the heart of God’s heart.

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Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn


Read: Matthew 18:23-35

Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times? —Matthew 18:21

Bible in a Year:
Deuteronomy 1-2; Mark 10:1-31

Life is a lot like “bumper cars” at an amusement park. You get in your car, knowing that you will get hit . . . you just don’t know how hard. And when you get hit, you step on the gas pedal, chase the one who has hit you, and hope to bump that person harder than they have bumped you.

That may be a fun strategy for bumper cars, but it’s a terrible strategy for life. When you get bumped in life, bumping back only escalates matters and in the end everyone suffers damage.

Jesus had a better strategy: Forgive those who have “bumped” us. Like Peter, we may wonder how many times we have to forgive. When Peter asked Jesus, “Up to seven times?” Jesus answered “Up to seventy times seven” (Matt. 18:21-22). In other words, there are no limits to grace. We should always extend a spirit of forgiveness. Why? In the story of the forgiving master, Jesus explained that we forgive not because our offenders deserve it but because we’ve been forgiven. He says, “I forgave you . . . because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?” (vv.32-33).

Since we are among those who’ve been forgiven much, let’s stop the damage and share that blessing with others.
Lord, remind us of how deeply we have offended Youand how often You have extended the grace offorgiveness to us. Teach us to forgive others and to trustYou to deal with those who sin against us.
Forgiveness is God’s grace in action through us.

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Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn


Read: Philippians 4:10-20

God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. —Philippians 4:19

Bible in a Year:
Deuteronomy 3-4; Mark 10:32-52

When butterflies hatch at Frederik Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, Michigan, they do so in an indoor tropical paradise perfectly suited to meet their every need. The temperature is perfect. The humidity is perfect. The food is a perfect balance of calories and nutrition to keep them healthy. No need to go elsewhere. Yet some butterflies see the bright blue sky outside the conservatory and spend their days fluttering near the glass ceiling far away from the plentiful food supply.

I want to say to those butterflies, “Don’t you know everything you need is inside? The outside is cold and harsh, and you will die within minutes if you get what you are longing to have.”

I wonder if that is the message God has for me. So I ask myself, Do I look longingly at things that would harm me? Do I use my energy to gain what I don’t need and shouldn’t have? Do I ignore God’s plentiful provision because I imagine that something just beyond my reach is better? Do I spend my time on the fringes of faith?

God supplies all our needs from His riches (Phil. 4:19). So instead of striving for what we don’t have, may we open our hearts to gratefully receive everything we’ve already been given by Him.
All that I want is in Jesus;He satisfies, joy He supplies;Life would be worthless without Him,All things in Jesus I find. —Loes
Our needs will never exhaust God’s supply.

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Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn


Read: Luke 5:27-35

He . . . saw a tax collector named Levi . . . . And He said to him, “Follow Me.” —Luke 5:27

Bible in a Year:
Deuteronomy 5-7; Mark 11:1-18

In 2002 the Oakland Athletics built a winning baseball team in an unorthodox way. They had lost three top players after 2001, and the team didn’t have money to sign any stars. So Oakland’s general manager, Billy Beane, used some often-neglected statistics to assemble a group of lesser-known players either “past their prime” or seen by other teams as not skilled enough. That ragtag team ran off a 20-game winning streak on the way to winning their division and 103 games.

This reminds me a little of the way Jesus put together His “team” of disciples. He included rough Galilean fishermen, a zealot, and even a despised tax collector named Levi (Matthew). This reminds me that “God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty” (1 Cor. 1:27). God used those dedicated men (minus Judas) to ignite a movement that affected the world so dramatically it has never been the same.

There’s a lesson here for us. Sometimes we seek out the familiar, the influential, and the rich. And we tend to ignore people with less status or those with physical limitations.

Jesus put some of society’s less desirable people on His team—treating everyone the same. With the Spirit’s power and guidance, we too can honor all people equally.
In Jesus Christ we all are equal,For God’s Spirit makes us one;As we give each other honor,We give glory to His Son. —Fitzhugh
There are no unimportant people in the body of Christ.

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Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn


Read: Galatians 6:1-10

Let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. —Galatians 6:4

Bible in a Year:
Deuteronomy 32-34; Mark 15:26-47

Four-year-old Eliana was helping her mom pick up some of Eliana’s things before bedtime. When Mommy told her to put away the clothes on her bed, Eliana hit her limit. She turned around, put her little hands on her hips, and said, “I can’t do everything!”

Do you ever feel that way with the tasks God has called you to do? It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with church involvement, witnessing, and raising a family. We might sigh in exasperation and pray, “Lord, I can’t do everything!”

Yet God’s instructions indicate that His expectations are not overwhelming. For instance, as we deal with others, He gives us this qualifier: “As much as depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Rom. 12:18). God understands our limitations. Or this: “Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord” (Col. 3:23). He’s not asking for perfection that we might impress people, but simply to honor Him with the work we do. And one more: “Let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another” (Gal. 6:4). We are not doing our work as a competition with others, but simply to carry our own load.

In wisdom, God has equipped us to do just what He wants us to do—and that’s certainly not everything!
He gives me work that I may seek His rest,He gives me strength to meet the hardest test;And as I walk in providential grace,I find that joy goes with me, at God’s pace. —Gustafson
When God gives an assignment, it comes with His enablement.

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Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn


Read: 1 Chronicles 28:5-10

Know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind. —1 Chronicles 28:9

Bible in a Year:
Joshua 1-3; Mark 16

When our granddaughter Sarah was very young, she told us she wanted to be a basketball coach like her daddy when she grew up. But she couldn’t be one yet, she said, because first she had to be a player; and a player has to be able to tie her shoelaces, and she couldn’t tie hers yet!

First things first, we say. And the first thing in all of life is to know God and enjoy Him.

Acknowledging and knowing God helps us to become what we were meant to be. Here is King David’s counsel to his son Solomon: “Know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind” (1 Chron. 28:9).

Remember, God can be known. He is a Person, not a logical or theological concept. He thinks, wills, enjoys, feels, loves, and desires as any person does. A. W. Tozer writes, “He is a person and can be known in increasing degrees of intimacy as we prepare our hearts for the wonder of it.” Ah, there’s the rub: We must “prepare our hearts.”

The Lord is not playing hard to know; those who want to know Him can. He will not foist His love on us, but He does wait patiently, for He wants to be known by you. Knowing Him is the first thing in life.
He walks with me, and He talks with me,And He tells me I am His own;And the joys we share as we tarry thereNone other has ever known.—C. Austin Miles © Renewal 1940. The Rodeheaver Company
The thought of God staggers the mind but to know Him satisfies the heart.

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Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn


Read: Matthew 5:38-48

He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. —Matthew 5:45

Bible in a Year:
Joshua 4-6; Luke 1:1-20

When torrential downpours beat on the heads of my newly planted petunias, I felt bad for them. I wanted to bring them inside to shelter them from the storm. By the time the rain stopped, their little faces were bowed to the ground from the weight of the water. They looked sad and weak. Within a few hours, however, they perked up and turned their heads skyward. By the next day, they were standing straight and strong.

What a transformation! After pounding them on the head, the rain dripped from their leaves, soaked into the soil, and came up through their stalks, giving them the strength to stand straight.

Because I prefer sunshine, I get annoyed when rain spoils my outdoor plans. I sometimes wrongly think of rain as something negative. But anyone who has experienced drought knows that rain is a blessing. It nourishes the earth for the benefit of both the just and the unjust (Matt. 5:45).

Even when the storms of life hit so hard that we nearly break from the force, the “rain” is not an enemy. Our loving God has allowed it to make us stronger. He uses the water that batters us on the outside to build us up on the inside, so we may stand straight and strong.
Lord, we know that we don’t need to fear the stormsof life. Because You are good, we can trust Youto use even our hard times to build our faith in You.We lean on You now.
The storms that threaten to destroy us God will use to strengthen us.

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Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn


Read: 1 Peter 4:1-8

Since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind. —1 Peter 4:1

Bible in a Year:
Joshua 7-9; Luke 1:21-38

In his battle with cancer, Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc., said: “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything—all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.” His suffering influenced the choices he made.

In contrast, the apostle Peter wanted to motivate his readers to use their suffering to make their lives count for eternity. And he wanted Jesus’ suffering and death to inspire them to accept the spiritual conflict and persecution that would result from bearing the name of Jesus. Because they loved Jesus, suffering was going to be normative. Jesus’ suffering was to serve as motivation to give up sinful passions and to be obedient to the will of God (1 Peter 4:1-2). If their lives were going to count for eternity, they needed to stop indulging in fleeting pleasures and instead exhaust their lives on what pleased God.

Remembering that Jesus suffered and died to forgive our sins is the most important thought we have to inspire us to make godly choices today and to make our lives count for eternity.
Jesus, You have suffered and died to forgive our sin;may Your death and resurrection inspire us to neverreturn to where we’ve been. Help us in our resolveto live for Your will alone.
Jesus’ death forgave my past sins and inspires my present obedience.

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Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn


Read: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Everyone who competes for the prize . . . [does] it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. —1 Corinthians 9:25

Bible in a Year:
Joshua 10-12; Luke 1:39-56

Every March, the Iditarod Trail Race is held in Alaska. Sled dogs and their drivers, called “mushers,” race across a 1,049-mile route from Anchorage to Nome. The competing teams cover this great distance in anywhere from 8 to 15 days. In 2011, a record time was set by musher John Baker who covered the entire route in 8 days, 19 hours, 46 minutes, and 39 seconds. The teamwork between dogs and driver is remarkable, and those who compete are tenacious in their efforts to win. The first-place winner receives a cash prize and a new pickup truck. But after so much perseverance in extreme weather conditions, the accolades and prizes may seem insignificant and transient.

The excitement of a race was a familiar concept to the apostle Paul, but he used competition to illustrate something eternal. He wrote, “Everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown” (1 Cor. 9:25).

Sometimes we are tempted to place our emphasis on temporal rewards, which perish with the passing of time. The Scriptures, however, encourage us to focus on something more permanent. We honor God by seeking spiritual impact that will be rewarded in eternity.
Here we labor, here we pray,Here we wrestle night and day;There we lay our burdens down,There we wear the victor’s crown. —Anon.
Run the race with eternity in view.

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Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn


Read: Psalm 32:1-6; Matthew 11:28-30

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. —Matthew 11:28

Bible in a Year:
Joshua 19-21; Luke 2:25-52

As I started up my car in the dark hours of early morning, I noticed a seatbelt light on the dashboard. I checked my door, opening and pulling it shut again. I tugged on my seatbelt to test it. But the sensor light still beamed. Then, in slow realization, I reached over and lifted my purse a few inches above the passenger seat. The light clicked off.

Apparently, a cell phone, three rolls of quarters, a hardcover book, and my lunch stuffed in my very large purse had equaled the weight of a small passenger, thus setting off the sensor!

While I can easily empty out a handbag, other weights are not so easy to shed. Those burdens of life involve a heaviness of spirit.

Whether the burden that weighs us down is one of guilt such as the one that consumed David’s thoughts (Ps. 32:1-6), the fear Peter experienced (Matt. 26:20-35), or the doubt Thomas carried (John 20:24-29), Jesus has invited us to bring them all to Him: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).

We are not built to bear burdens alone. When we cast them on the One who wants to bear our burdens (Ps. 68:19; 1 Peter 5:7), He replaces them with forgiveness, healing, and restoration. No burden is too heavy for Him.
Lord, thank You for lovingly carrying our burdens.In times of trouble, help us to leave those burdensin Your strong hands and to find our rest in You.In Jesus’ name, amen.
Burden God with what burdens you.

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Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn


Read: Genesis 1:26-28

The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. —Psalm 24:1

Bible in a Year:
Joshua 22-24; Luke 3

When Amanda Benavides was a sophomore at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, California, she began to rethink her views on Christian stewardship of the earth. Amanda had grown up thinking that being conscious of the environment had nothing to do with her relationship with Jesus. All this changed when she was challenged to consider the Christian’s role in caring for the planet—especially how that relates to reaching the most needy in the world.

Our stewardship of the beautiful world God gave us, and our care for the people in it, express our reverence for God and is grounded in two biblical principles.

First, the earth belongs to God (Ps. 24:1-2). The psalmist praised the Lord for His creation and His ownership of it. The heavens, the earth, and all that are in it are His. He created it, He is sovereign over it (93:1-2), and He cares for it (Matt. 6:26-30). Second, God delegated the responsibility for the well-being of His earth to us (Gen. 1:26-28). This includes appreciation of and care for both nature (Lev. 25:2-5,11; Prov. 12:10) and people (Rom. 15:2).

This is our Father’s world. Let’s show Him how much we love Him by respecting it and caring for the people who populate it.
The natural world that God has madeMust not be used at whim;We serve as stewards of His earth,Responsible to Him. —D. DeHaan
To mistreat God’s creation is to offend the Creator.

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Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn


Read: Luke 4:1-13

Your Word is truth. —John 17:17

Bible in a Year:
Judges 1-3; Luke 4:1-30

When a friend started making random despairing statements, people were concerned for him and started giving advice and offering encouragement. As it turned out, he was simply having fun by quoting song lyrics out of context to start a conversation. Friends who tried to help wasted their time by offering help he didn’t need and advice he didn’t want. The consequences of my friend’s misleading statements were not serious, but they could have been. In taking time to respond to his false need, someone could have neglected someone else’s truly serious need.

Some people who take words out of context just want to gain attention or win an argument. But others are more sinister. They twist truth to gain power over others. They endanger not only lives but also souls.

When people use words to manipulate others to behave in certain ways—or worse, when they quote the Bible out of context to convince others to do wrong—there’s only one defense: We need to know what God truly says in His Word. Jesus was able to resist temptation with the truth (Luke 4). We have the same resource. God has given us His Word and Spirit to guide us and keep us from being deceived or misled.
Your words of pure, eternal truthShall yet unshaken stay,When all that man has thought or plannedLike chaff shall pass away. —Anon.
If we hold on to God’s truth, we won’t be trapped by Satan’s lies.

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Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn


Read: John 13:21-30

Having received the piece of bread, [Judas] then went out immediately. And it was night. —John 13:30

Bible in a Year:
Judges 4-6; Luke 4:31-44

During a business trip to Philadelphia, I attended an evening service on the Thursday before Easter—a service of Communion and Tenebrae (darkness) held in a small chapel lit by candles. Following the bread and the cup, a passage was read aloud from the gospel of John, one candle was extinguished, and we sang a verse from a hymn about Jesus’ journey to the cross. This was repeated 14 times until the chapel was completely dark. In silence we knelt in prayer and then left one by one without speaking.

The darkness of this type of service can remind us of the dark elements surrounding Jesus’ death. Think of His last meal with the disciples (John 13:21-30) as He explained that one of them would betray Him. Only Jesus knew it was Judas. “Having received the piece of bread, [Judas] then went out immediately. And it was night” (v.30).

On the darkest evening of Jesus’ life, He agonized in prayer in the Garden, faced a wrongful arrest, endured humiliation at the hands of religious leaders, and winced at Peter’s denials. Yet He moved faithfully toward the cross where He would die for our sins.

Jesus endured darkness and death to give us light and life. Praise Him for what He went through for us!
See, from His head, His hands, His feet,Sorrow and love flow mingled down;Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,Or thorns compose so rich a crown? —Watts
Calvary reveals the vileness of our sin and the vastness of God’s love.

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Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn


Read: Psalm 139:1-12

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? —Psalm 139:7

Bible in a Year:
Judges 13-15; Luke 6:27-49

While I was visiting my son in San Diego, we decided to go to Shadow Mountain Church to hear Dr. David Jeremiah preach. Steve and I got up early on Sunday morning and took the hour-long drive to the church. But our anticipation turned to disappointment when we discovered that Dr. Jeremiah was not there that day. “Some other guy”—a substitute—was preaching.

A couple of weeks later, I was scheduled to preach at the church in Grand Rapids where my wife and I attend. As I stood in front of the congregation, I realized that now I was “some other guy” and they might be disappointed because they had come to hear our pastor—not me—speak.

While we find comfort in the familiarity of those we depend on in life, we have to recognize that at times they can be substituted. But the One we need most—the One on whom we depend for life itself—is always present (Ps. 139:7-8). When we desire to enter God’s presence in prayer, He is always there: “Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice” (55:17).

Looking for God? He’s always right there. No substitute needed.
Dear Lord, I am so thankful that You are always present.I never need to make an appointment to speak to You,the God of the universe. No matter where I go or whattime it is, I can depend on Your presence.
When you come to the Lord, there is no waiting line—His ears are always open to your cry.

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Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn


Read: 1 Samuel 23:14-18

A friend loves at all times. —Proverbs 17:17

Bible in a Year:
Judges 16-18; Luke 7:1-30

Friendship is one of life’s greatest gifts. True friends seek a special kind of good for their friends: the highest good, which is that they might know God and love Him with all of their heart, soul, and mind. German pastor and martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “The aim of friendship is exclusively determined by what God’s will is for the other person.”

Jonathan, David’s friend, is a sterling example of true friendship. David was in exile, hiding in the Desert of Ziph, when he learned that “Saul had come out to seek his life” (1 Sam. 23:15). Jonathan went to Horesh to find David. The significance of this scene lies in Jonathan’s intent: He helped David find strength in God or, as the text puts it, he “strengthened his hand [grip] in God” (v.16).

That is the essence of Christian friendship. Beyond common interests, beyond affection, beyond wit and laughter is the ultimate aim of sowing in others the words of eternal life, leaving them with reminders of God’s wisdom, refreshing their spirit with words of His love, and strengthening their grip on God.

Pray for your friends and ask God to give you a word “in season” to help them find renewed strength in our God and His Word.
Dear Lord, thank You for loving us. May Your lovecompel us to show love to others. Give ussensitivity to Your Spirit that we might know howto encourage them in their walk with You.
A true friend is a gift from God and one who points us back to Him.

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Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn


Read: 1 John 4:7-21

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. —1 John 4:11

Bible in a Year:
Judges 19-21; Luke 7:31-50

Love is the centerpiece of thriving relationships. Scripture makes it clear that we need to be people who love—love God with all our hearts, love our neighbor as ourselves, and love our enemies. But it’s hard to love when we don’t feel loved. Neglected children, spouses who feel ignored by their mates, and parents who are alienated from their children all know the heartache of a life that lacks love.

So, for everyone who longs to be loved, welcome to the pleasure of knowing that you are richly loved by God. Think of the profound impact of His love that was poured out for you at the cross. Meditate on the fact that if you’ve trusted in Him, His love covers your faults and failures and that you are clothed with His spotless righteousness (Rom. 3:22-24). Revel in the fact that nothing can separate you from His love (8:39). Embrace His loving provision of a future secured for you where you will be eternally loved (John 3:16).

When John tells us that we “ought to love one another,” he calls us the “beloved” (1 John 4:11; see also 3:1-2). Once you embrace how wonderfully loved you are by God, it will be much easier to be the loving person God calls you to be—even toward those who don’t show you love.
Were the whole realm of nature mine,That were a present far too small:Love so amazing, so divine,Demands my soul, my life, my all. —Watts
Embracing God’s love for us is the key to loving others.

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Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn


Read: Matthew 6:1-6,16-18

Your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. —Matthew 6:18

Bible in a Year:
Ruth 1-4; Luke 8:1-25

Not far from my house, authorities have rigged a camera to snap pictures of drivers who race through red lights. The offenders later receive in the mail a ticket along with a “red-light photo,” which is visual proof of their traffic violation.

Sometimes I think of God in the same way I think of that camera—He’s up there, just waiting to catch me doing the wrong thing. While God does see our sin (Heb. 4:13), He sees and takes interest in our good deeds as well. Due to His supernatural surveillance, God sees the size of our sacrifice when we give money to the church or to those in need (Mark 12:41-44). He hears our private prayers (Matt. 6:6). And when we fast, we can carry on as usual being assured that our “Father . . . sees in secret” (v.18).

Knowing that God sees everything frees us from thinking about the watchful eyes of others. When we do what is right, we need no applause from onlookers; when we sin, we do not need to worry about our reputation once we settle the issue with God and anyone we’ve harmed. We can rest knowing that “the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him” (2 Chron. 16:9).
Lord, thank You for Your all-seeing nature. You knoweverything I think and do. Help me to value Yourapproval and live according to Your standards,no matter what anyone else may think.
Others see what we do, but God sees why we do it.

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Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn


Read: Deuteronomy 30:11-20

For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. —Deuteronomy 30:11

Bible in a Year:
1 Samuel 1-3; Luke 8:26-56

Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Missy Sullivan noted that many user agreements, warranties, and disclaimers that come with products are nearly unreadable. Intentionally set in very small type, they actually discourage people from understanding them. Because of this, many people don’t read all the terms of contracts before signing them. A university professor of graphic communication pointed to a 32-page user agreement that came with his new smartphone, and said of the company, “They don’t want you to read it.”

In contrast, the Lord is always seeking to communicate with His people in clear and compelling ways, with no attempt to confuse or deceive. When Moses spoke to the Israelites just before they entered the Promised Land, he said, “For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. . . . I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live” (Deut. 30:11,19).

The Lord wants us to understand His plan and purpose clearly, so that we may love, obey, and cling to Him—for He is our “life and the length of [our] days” (v.20). That’s plain to see.
Father, we want to learn and experience more of whoYou are in our relationship with You. Teach us so thatwe will grow in our understanding of You andYour plan for our lives.
There is no fine print in God’s communication with us.