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OUR DAILY BREAD September 5, Sunday HELP FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT Bible in a Year: Psalms 146–147   1 Corinthians 15:1–28 Return, faithless people. I will cure you of backsliding. Jeremiah 3:22 Today's Scripture & Insight: Jeremiah 3:11–15, 22 While my classmates and I used to skip the occasional lecture in university, everyone always made sure to attend Professor Chris’ lecture the week before the year-end exams. That was when he would unfailingly drop big hints about the exam questions he’d set. I always wondered why he did that, until I realized that Prof. Chris genuinely wanted us to do well. He had high standards, but he would help us meet them. All we had to do was show up and listen so we could prepare properly. It struck me that God is like that too. God can’t compromise His standards, but because He deeply desires us to be like He is, He’s given us the Holy Spirit to help us meet those standards. In  Jeremiah 3:11–14 , God urged unfaithful Israel to acknowledge their guilt
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O UR DAILY BREAD September 3, Friday EMPTY HANDS Bible in a Year: Psalms 140–142   1 Corinthians 14:1–20 His father saw him and was filled with compassion for him. Luke 15:20 Today's Scripture & Insight: Luke 15:17–24 Robert was embarrassed when he showed up for a breakfast meeting and realized he’d forgotten his wallet. It bothered him to the point that he pondered whether he should eat at all or simply get something to drink. After some convincing from his friend, he relaxed his resistance. He and his friend enjoyed their entrees, and his friend gladly paid the bill. Perhaps you can identify with this dilemma or some other situation that puts you on the receiving end. Wanting to pay our own way is normal, but there are occasions when we must humbly receive what’s graciously being given. Some kind of payback may have been what the younger son had in mind in  Luke 15:17–24  as he contemplated what he would say to his father. “I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me
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OUR DAILY BREAD September 2 THE BIG STORY OF THE BIBLE Bible in a Year: Psalms 137–139   1 Corinthians 13 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16 Today's Scripture & Insight: Genesis 11:26–32 When Colin opened the box of stained-glass pieces he’d purchased, instead of finding the fragments he’d ordered for a project, he discovered intact, whole windows. He sleuthed out the windows’ origin and learned they’d been removed from a church to protect them from World War II bombings. Colin marveled at the quality of work and how the “fragments” formed a beautiful picture. If I’m honest, there are times when I open particular passages of the Bible—such as chapters containing lists of genealogies—and I don’t immediately see how they fit within the bigger picture of Scripture. Such is the case with  Genesis 11 —a chapter that contains a repetitive cadence of unfamiliar names and their families, such as S
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OUR DAILY BREAD September 1, Wednesday FIX UP TIME Bible in a Year: Psalms 135–136   1 Corinthians 12 Be made new in the attitude of your minds. Ephesians 4:23 Today's Scripture & Insight: Ephesians 4:20–32 It was time to give the inside of our home a fresh, new look. But just as I’d begun prepping a room for painting, our state government announced it would be halting the sale of many home improvement items due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As soon as I heard the announcement, I rushed to the store and purchased the essential materials. You simply can’t remodel without the proper supplies. Paul had a bit of a remodeling project in mind when he wrote  Ephesians 4 . But the changes he was talking about went far beyond superficial alterations. Even though trusting Jesus as Savior makes us a new creation, there’s still some ongoing work the Spirit needs to do. And it takes time and work for Him to accomplish “true righteousness and holiness” ( Ephesians 4:24 ). The presence of the Spi
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OUR DAILY BREAD August 31, Tuesday SHARING JESUS Bible in a Year: Psalms 132–134   1 Corinthians 11:17–34 Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Isaiah 12:4 Today's Scripture & Insight: Isaiah 12 Shortly after Dwight Moody (1837–99) came to faith in Christ, the evangelist resolved not to let a day pass without sharing God’s good news with at least one person. On busy days, he’d sometimes forget his resolution until late. One night, he was in bed before he remembered. As he stepped outside, he thought,  No one will be out in this pouring rain . Just then he saw a man walking down the street. Moody rushed over and asked to stand under his umbrella to avoid the rain. When granted permission, he asked, “Have you any shelter in the time of storm? Could I tell you about Jesus?” Moody embodied a readiness to share how God saves us from the consequences of our sins. He obeyed God’s instructions to the Israelites to proclaim His name a
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OUR DAILY BREAD August 30, Monday MERCY AND GRACE Bible in a Year: Psalms 129–131   1 Corinthians 11:1–16 [Josiah] began to seek the God of his father David. 2 Chronicles 34:3 Today's Scripture & Insight: 2 Chronicles 34:1–8 A stately sunflower stood on its own in the center of a lonely stretch of national highway, just a few feet from the fast lane. As I drove past, I wondered how it had grown there with no other sunflowers visible for miles. Only God could create a plant so hardy it could thrive so close to the roadway in the gray gravel lining the median. There it was, thriving, swaying gently in the breeze and cheerfully greeting travelers as they hurried by. The Old Testament tells the story of a faithful king of Judah who also showed up unexpectedly. His father and grandfather had enthusiastically served other gods; but after Josiah had been in power for eight years, “while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David” ( 2 Chronicles 34:3 ). He sent wo
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OUR DAILY BREAD August 29, Sunday THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL Bible in a Year: Psalms 126–128   1 Corinthians 10:19–33 I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome. Romans 1:15 Today's Scripture & Insight: Romans 1:1–7, 14–17 Ancient Rome had its own version of “the gospel”—the good news. According to the poet Virgil, Zeus, king of the gods, had decreed for the Romans a kingdom without end or boundaries. The gods had chosen Augustus as divine son and savior of the world by ushering in a golden age of peace and prosperity. This, however, wasn’t everyone’s idea of good news. For many it was an unwelcome reality enforced by the heavy hand of the emperor’s army and executioners. The glory of the empire was built on the backs of enslaved people who served without legal personhood or property at the pleasure of masters who ruled over them. This was the world in which Paul introduced himself as a servant of Christ ( Romans 1:1 ). Jesus—how Paul had once hated that name.
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