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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.
The Topic of Our Daily Bread For 22nd December 2024 is “Tangible Love”
Bible in a Year: Micah 6-7; Revelation 13
Memory Verse: 1 John 4:19
We love because he first loved us.
Today’s Scripture & Insight: 1 John 4:13-21
The night before Jesus was betrayed, He commanded His followers to “love one another” (John 13:34) as He had loved them. Such sacrificial and unconditional love would be the irrefutable proof that they were truly His disciples (v. 35). The author of 1 John (traditionally believed to be the same John who wrote the fourth gospel), says that Christ’s disciples must “live as Jesus did” (2:6)—living a life of loving God and loving others. John reminds us that “God is love” and we must “rely on the love God has for us” (4:16). Reminiscent of the language of John 3:16, the author reminds us that God loves us in this way: “He sent his one and only Son into the world . . . as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10). “He has given us of his Spirit” to help us live and love (v. 13).
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ODB MESSAGE FOR TODAY
As I sat next to my friend Margaret, who was lying in her hospital bed, I took in the bustle and activity of the other patients, medical staff, and visitors. A young woman sitting nearby with her ailing mother asked Margaret, “Who are all the people who keep visiting you?” She responded, “They’re members of my church family!” The young woman remarked that she’d never seen anything like it; she felt as if the many visitors were “like tangible love poured out.” Margaret replied, smiling, “It all comes down to our love of God through His Son Jesus Christ!”
In her response, Margaret echoed the disciple John, who in his final years wrote three letters brimming with love. In his first letter, he said, “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them” (1 John 4:16). That is, those who acknowledge “that Jesus is the Son of God” (v. 15) have God living in them through “his Spirit” (v. 13). How can we lovingly care for others? “We love because he first loved us” (v. 19).
Because of the gift of God’s love, visiting Margaret hadn’t felt like a hardship to me or others in our church. I received more than I gave, not only from Margaret, but through observing her gentle witness about her Savior, Jesus. How might God love others through you today?
Reflect & Pray
When have you been surprised by someone noticing God’s love in your life? How does His love spur you on to serve others?
Loving God, I love because You first loved me. Please keep increasing my love so Your Spirit will shine through me.
Our Daily Bread 2024 Devotional is written by Con Campbell and published by Our Daily Bread Ministries. Read more
Visit the ODB official website here: www.odb.org
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