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.
The Topic of Our Daily Bread For 20th March 2025 is “Joy in Jesus”
Bible in a Year: Joshua 4-6; Luke 1:1-20
Memory Verse: John 16:20, 22
Your grief will turn to joy . . . and no one will take away your joy.
Today’s Scripture & Insight: John 16:16-24
The Upper Room Discourse (John 14-16) is the main teaching focus of John’s gospel. The night before Jesus went to the cross, He was preparing His disciples for His crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and return. He told them that their “grief [would] turn to joy” (John 16:20). One of the main features of Jesus’ teaching in these chapters is the promise of the coming Holy Spirit—Christ’s provision for His people after His departure. This promise was eventually fulfilled on the day of Pentecost (see Acts 2), some ten days after Jesus’ ascension to heaven when the Spirit came to indwell believers in Christ.
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ODB MESSAGE FOR TODAY
“I have the right to be happy,” said a teenager as she spoke before a legislature. Yet she could have been anyone, anywhere, speaking for everybody. It’s our human cry. One self-help guru even said, “God wants you to be happy.”
Is that true? It’s not wrong to pursue happiness. That desirable state of mind, however, ebbs and flows with our moment-by-moment circumstances, and the fulfillment of one person’s desires can crush the happiness of another.
Jesus points us to something better. He knew He was about to be nailed to a Roman cross, where He would bear the weight of the world’s sin. Yet His concern was for His disciples. He told them, “You will weep and mourn while the world rejoices.” But He also said, “Your grief will turn to joy” (John 16:20). Then He promised, “No one will take away your joy” (v. 22).
This kind of joy is more than a good feeling based on desirable things happening to us. It grows out of doing the will of our Father in heaven. Jesus also said, “Seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).
Happiness can slip away with the next unpleasant circumstance. The joy that comes from following Jesus can thrive despite those circumstances.
Reflect & Pray
How does chasing what you want ultimately leave you unhappy? What’s the difference between happiness and joy?
Dear Father, please teach me to learn the difference between temporary happiness and lasting joy.
Our Daily Bread 2025 Devotional is written by Con Campbell and published by Our Daily Bread Ministries. Read more
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