OUR DAILY BREAD DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY
Our Daily Bread for today is here. Give us this day our daily bread (Matthew 6:11).
The word of God is food to the spirit man. “Eat and digest” the word of the Lord for today and let its unchanging power nuture your faith and help in your daily walk to Christ.
Bible in a Year: Psalms 79-80; Romans 11:1-18
Memory Verse: 2 Samuel 23:10
Eleazar stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired.
Today’s Scripture & Insight: 2 Samuel 23:8-12
Second Samuel 23 highlights events from David’s life, including some of the exploits of his three mighty men (vv. 8-12) and thirty chief men (vv. 13-39). His later years were peaceful as far as international affairs were concerned. But it was a turbulent time for his family, when problems originating years before continued to escalate, and he witnessed a heartbreaking and life-threatening struggle for power among his own sons. His son Absalom had attempted to usurp David from the throne (ch. 15). Now his fourth son, Adonijah (3:4), tried to set himself up as king (1 Kings 1).
David’s story reveals a far-from-perfect man. He was an adulterer and murderer (2 Samuel 11) and an inept disciplinarian of his children (chs. 13-14). Yet he had a heart for God and was loyal to Him, and he repented when he realized his sin (Psalms 32, 51).
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ODB MESSAGE FOR TODAY
When Joni Eareckson Tada speaks of Rika, she highlights her friend’s “deep, time-tested faith in God” and the endurance she’s developed while living with a debilitating chronic condition. For more than fifteen years, Rika has been bedbound, unable even to see the moon from her room’s tiny window. But she hasn’t lost hope; she trusts in God, reads and studies the Bible, and as Joni describes it, she “knows how to stand firm during fierce battles against discouragement.”
Joni likens Rika’s tenacity and persistence to that of Eleazar, a soldier at the time of King David who refused to flee the Philistines. Instead of joining the troops who took off, “Eleazar stood his ground . . . till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword” (2 Samuel 23:10). Through God’s power, “The Lord brought about a great victory that day” (v. 10). As Joni observes, even as Eleazar hung on to the sword with determination, so too does Rika cling to “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). And there, in God, she finds her strength.
Whether in glowing good health or battling discouragement over a chronic condition, we too can look to God to deepen our stores of hope and to help us to endure. In Christ we find our strength.
Reflect & Pray
What examples of tenacity and endurance have you witnessed? How does God restore and renew you when you feel spent and wrung out?
God of all power, thank You for loving me and helping me to endure. Please help me to focus on You that I might continue to trust and love You.
Our Daily Bread 2024 Devotional is written by Con Campbell and published by Our Daily Bread Ministries. Read more
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