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OUR DAILY BREAD June 4, Friday PERFECT JUSTICE Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 21–22   John 14 All [God’s] ways are just. Deuteronomy 32:4 Today's Scripture & Insight: Deuteronomy 32:1–4 In 1983, three teens were arrested for the murder of a fourteen-year-old. According to news reports, the younger teen was “shot . . . because of his [athletic] jacket.” Sentenced to life in prison, the three spent thirty-six years behind bars before evidence surfaced that revealed their innocence. Another man had committed the crime. Before the judge released them as free men, he issued an apology. No matter how hard we try (and no matter how much good is done by our officials), human justice is often flawed. We never have all the information. Sometimes dishonest people manipulate the facts. Sometimes we’re just wrong. And often, evils may take years to be righted, if they ever are in our lifetime. Thankfully, unlike fickle humans, God wields perfect justice. “His works are perfect,” says Moses, ...

OUR DAILY BREAD June 3, Thursday IT’S OKAY TO LAMENT Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 19–20   John 13:21–38 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him. Lamentations 3:25 Today's Scripture & Insight: Lamentations 3:19–26 I dropped to my knees and let my tears fall to the floor. “God, why aren’t you taking care of me?” I cried. It was during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. I’d been laid-off for almost a month, and something had gone wrong with my unemployment application. I hadn’t received any money yet, and the stimulus check the US government had promised hadn’t arrived. Deep down, I trusted that God would work out everything. I believed He truly loved me and would take care of me, but in that moment, I felt abandoned. The book of Lamentations reminds us it’s okay to lament. The book was likely written during or soon after the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem in 587  bc.  It describes the affliction (3:1, 19), oppression (1:18), and starvation (2:20; 4:10) the people f...

OUR DAILY BREAD June 2, Wednesday A REMARKABLE LIFE Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 17–18 John 13:1–20 Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. 1 Peter 2:12 nlt Today's Scripture & Insight: 1 Peter 2:9–12 I came to learn about Catherine Hamlin, a remarkable Australian surgeon, through reading her obituary. In Ethiopia, Catherine and her husband established the world’s only hospital dedicated to curing women from the devastating physical and emotional trauma of obstetric fistulas, a common injury in the developing world that can occur during childbirth. Catherine is credited with overseeing the treatment of more than 60,000 women. Still operating at the hospital when she was ninety-two years old, and still beginning each day with a cup of tea and Bible study, Hamlin told curious questioners that she was an ordinary believer in Jesus who was simply doing the job God had given her to do. I was grateful to learn about her remarkable life because she powerfully ex...

OUR DAILY BREAD June 1, Tuesday GOD OF JUSTICE Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 15–16   John 12:27–50 I trust in your unfailing love. Psalm 13:5 Today's Scripture & Insight: Psalm 13 She was perhaps the greatest “scapecow” in history. We don’t know if her name was Daisy, Madeline, or Gwendolyn (each name has been suggested), but Mrs. O’Leary’s cow was blamed for the 1871 Great Chicago Fire that left every third resident of the city homeless. Carried by strong winds through wooden structures, the fire burned for three days and took the lives of nearly three hundred people. For years, many believed the fire began when the cow knocked over a lantern left burning in a shed. After further investigation—126 years later—the city’s Committee on Police and Fire passed a resolution exonerating the cow and her owners and suggesting the activities of a neighbor warranted scrutiny. Justice often takes time, and Scripture acknowledges how difficult that can be. The refrain, “How long?” is repea...

OUR DAILY BREAD May 31, Monday SECRET GIVER Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 13–14 John 12:1–26 Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. Matthew 6:1 Today's Scripture & Insight: Matthew 6:1–4 For Christopher, a physically disabled veteran, everyday activities had become more challenging, took longer to finish, and increased his pain. Still, he did his best to serve his wife and child. Passersby would see him using a push-mower to cut his lawn every week. One day, Christopher received a letter—and an expensive riding lawnmower—from an anonymous donor. The secret giver’s satisfaction came through the privilege of helping someone in need. Jesus doesn’t say that all our giving should be in secret, but He does remind us to check our motives when we give (Matthew 6:1). He also said: “When you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others” (v. 2). While Go...

OUR DAILY BREAD May 30, Sunday WORTH IT, OR WORTHY? Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 10–12   John 11:30–57 Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain. Revelation 5:12 Today's Scripture & Insight: Revelation 5:6–12 Helen Roseveare, an English missionary physician in the African Congo, was taken prisoner by rebels during the Simba Rebellion in 1964. Beaten and abused by her captors, she suffered terribly. In the days that followed, she found herself asking, “Is it worth it?” As she began to ponder the cost of following Jesus, she sensed God speaking to her about it. Years later she explained to an interviewer, “When the awful moments came during the rebellion and the price seemed too high to pay, the Lord seemed to say to me, ‘Change the question. It’s not, ‘Is it worth it?’ It’s ‘Am I worthy?’ ” She concluded that in spite of the pain she had endured, “Always the answer is ‘Yes, He is worthy.’ ” Through God’s grace at work within her during her harrowing ordeal, Helen Roseveare decided that...

OUR DAILY BREAD May 29, Saturday DEATH ZONE Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 7–9 John 11:1–29 But David remained in Jerusalem. 2 Samuel 11:1 Today's Scripture & Insight: 2 Samuel 11:1–6, 12–15 In 2019, a climber saw his last sunrise from the peak of Mount Everest. He survived the dangerous ascent, but the high altitude squeezed his heart, and he passed away on the trek down. One medical expert warns climbers not to think of the summit as their journey’s end. They must get up and down quickly, remembering “they’re in the death zone.” David survived his dangerous climb to the top. He killed lions and bears, slew Goliath, dodged Saul’s spear and pursuing army, and conquered Philistines and Ammonites to become king of the mountain. But David forgot he was in the death zone. At the peak of his success, as “the Lord gave David victory wherever he went” (2 Samuel 8:6), he committed adultery and murder. His initial mistake? He lingered on the mountaintop. When his army set out for new cha...