FOCUS OF THE MONTH (FOM)
WE ARE CHOSEN OF GOD
SCRIPTURE OF THE WEEK (SOW)
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. — Jeremiah 1:5 KJV
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” — Jeremiah 1:5 ESV
Wednesday Corporate Fasting Scripture – Isaiah 58 (ESV); Isaiah 58 (KJV)
Friday End of Week Scripture – Ephesians 3:20-21 (KJV)
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ESV Translation Philosophy
The ESV is an “essentially literal” translation that seeks as far as possible to reproduce the precise wording of the original text and the personal style of each Bible writer. As such, its emphasis is on “word-for-word” correspondence, at the same time taking full account of differences in grammar, syntax, and idiom between current literary English and the original languages. Thus it seeks to be transparent to the original text, letting the reader see as directly as possible the structure and exact force of the original.
In contrast to the ESV, some Bible versions have followed a “thought-for-thought” rather than “word-for-word” translation philosophy, emphasizing “dynamic equivalence” rather than the “essentially literal” meaning of the original. A “thought-for-thought” translation is of necessity more inclined to reflect the interpretive views of the translator and the influences of contemporary culture.
Every translation is at many points a trade-off between literal precision and readability, between “formal equivalence” in expression and “functional equivalence” in communication, and the ESV is no exception. Within this framework, we have sought to be “as literal as possible” while maintaining clarity of expression and literary excellence. Therefore, to the extent that plain English permits and the meaning in each case allows, we have sought to use the same English word for important recurring words in the original; and, as far as grammar and syntax allow, we have rendered Old Testament passages cited in the New in ways that show their correspondence. Thus in each of these areas, as well as throughout the Bible as a whole, we have sought to capture all the echoes and overtones of meaning that are so abundantly present in the original texts.
As an essentially literal translation, taking into account grammar and syntax, the ESV thus seeks to carry over every possible nuance of meaning in the original words of Scripture into our own language. As such, the ESV is ideally suited for in-depth study of the Bible. Indeed, with its commitment to literary excellence, the ESV is equally well suited for public reading and preaching, for private reading and reflection, for both academic and devotional study, and for Scripture memorization.
PRAISE & WORSHIP
DAILY DEVOTIONALS
Sunday, May 11, 2025 – A MOM LOOKS BACK – Genesis 29:31-35
Our Daily Bread Focus(es): Suffering; Trust in God; Worry
Today’s Insights
The story of Leah is one of the saddest in Scripture (see Genesis 29:15-36). In ancient times, women had virtually no voice in what happened to them. When Leah’s father, Laban, deceived Jacob into sleeping with her instead of her sister Rachel, she was a helpless pawn in that scheme. When Jacob later married Rachel as well, Leah was moved to secondary status in the home. When she began to have sons, she thought she’d been justified by God, but that feeling seemed to carry with it some resentment and bitterness, which we discover in the names she gave her boys (vv. 32-34). That changed, however, with the birth of her fourth son, from whose line Jesus would come. She named him Judah saying, “This time I will praise the Lord” (v. 35). This name revealed a heart of trust in God. We too can learn to trust Him through difficult times.
Today’s Devotional
“I really didn’t like Mother’s Day,” said Donna, a mom of three. “It brought back to me all the inadequacies and failures I felt and feel as a mother.”
Donna started her parenting life with high expectations. Reality lowered the bar. “Being a mother was really the hardest thing I ever did,” she said. And one particular child “pushed every button I had.”
When God chose Leah to be a matriarch of Israel, no doubt she had high expectations for each of her children. She gave her first four sons names with relevance to her difficult situation (Genesis 29:32-35). Yet when it comes to dark stories in the Bible, these sons have starring roles as the bad guys. Some were guilty as murderers (34:24-30) and slavers (37:17-28). Leah’s son Judah is the villain in one of the uglier accounts in Scripture (ch. 38).
How like God to bring the Messiah through Leah’s descendants—including Judah. In the most difficult circumstances and through the most unexpected people, God works out redemption.
Donna learned this too. As she faced all her parenting challenges, she never found an answer “except to keep going and keep praying.” And that kid who pushed all her buttons? He’s grown now, and he loves and respects his mom. Looking back, Donna says, “Perhaps he was sent to me to teach me something about myself and something about my God.”
Reflect & Pray
Where have you sensed the keenest disappointments in your life? What do you find you’re learning about God through this?
Heavenly Father, please help me to trust You in everything.
Find out how to share in God’s joy by reading Learning the Joy of the Lord by Reclaim Today.
Today’s Insights
Jesus’ warnings against “all kinds of greed” (Luke 12:15) connect to a broader emphasis in Luke’s gospel on the dangers of wealth, as well as God’s concern for the poor. In Mary’s song in Luke 1:46-55, she praises God as the one who “filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty” (v. 53). In chapter 6, Christ says, “Woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry” (vv. 24-25).
In Jesus’ parable of a wealthy farmer building larger barns to store excess produce, we’re given a look into the man’s inner thoughts (12:18-19). There we find someone with no concern for those around him who were in need; his only plans were for himself—to “take life easy; eat, drink and be merry” (v. 19). God can help us live wisely without regret.
Today’s Devotional
There was no mention made of the stuff we often spend our lives chasing. That’s what palliative care nurse Bronnie Ware discovered as she sat with the dying. She intentionally questioned them: “Would you do anything differently if you could do it again?” Common themes surfaced, and she compiled a list of the top five regrets of the dying: (1) I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself. (2) I wish I hadn’t worked so hard. (3) I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings. (4) I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends. And (5) I wish I’d let myself be happier.
Ware’s list brings to mind the parable Jesus tells in Luke 12. A rich man decides to build bigger barns to store his great harvest, after which he tells himself he’ll retire in style, sit back and relax, and live until he dies (vv. 18-19). But in that moment, God demands his life with a rather harsh address: “You fool!”—followed by a haunting question: in essence, “And what will become of all your stuff?” (v. 20).
Is it possible to die with zero regrets? That’s hard to know for certain. But what we do know is clearly expressed in Scripture—storing up stuff for ourselves is a dead end. True riches come from a life invested in God.
Reflect & Pray
What if your life was demanded of you today? Would wise or foolish be applied to you? Why?
Dear Jesus, when the time comes, I want to have as few regrets as possible. Please help me to live wisely, building a life rich in You.
For further study, read Die First, Then Comes the End.
Learn to store up heavenly treasures instead of earthly treasures by reading The Fool’s Greed and God’s Generosity.
Today’s Insights
Every seven years, the people of Israel and all who lived with them were to stop their agricultural pursuits and live off only what the ground yielded (Leviticus 25:1-7). This was called the Sabbath Year. They let the land rest and enjoyed the fruit of that rest for a full year as they depended on God to provide for them.
In addition, every fifty years (after the seventh sabbath year), they observed the Year of Jubilee (vv. 8-55). Not only were the people to let the land rest, but they were also to cancel all debts across the nation and return all ancestral property to the families and tribes to whom it originally belonged. The Year of Jubilee compassionately prevented families from getting stuck in cycles of poverty so that all God’s people could enjoy the blessings of the land that He alone had given them.
Today’s Devotional
In the early 1900s, laws restricted Black people and immigrants in the United States from renting or buying property in Coronado, California. A Black man named Gus Thompson (who’d been born into slavery) had purchased land earlier and built a boarding home in Coronado before the discriminating laws were passed. In 1939, Gus rented to an Asian family, and eventually sold the land to them. Nearly eighty-five years later, after selling the property, some members of the Asian family are donating their proceeds from the sale to help Black college students. They’re also working to name a center at San Diego State University after Gus and his wife, Emma.
Leviticus also speaks of what it means to treat others well. God instructed His people, “Help [the poor] as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you” (25:35). He instructed the people to treat each other well and fairly, especially those in need. Out of reverent “fear” (v. 36) for Him, they were to help those who’d fallen on hard times and weren’t able to take care of themselves. They were to treat them just as they would treat a “foreigner and stranger” (v. 35)—with hospitality and love.
Gus Thompson and his wife helped a family that didn’t look like them. In return, that family is blessing many other people. Let’s extend God’s compassion to those in need as He helps us reveal His love for them.
Reflect & Pray
Who needs help in your community? How can you extend care to them?
Caring Father, please open my eyes so I can see how to help others.
For further study, read Going the Extra Mile: Learning to Serve Like Jesus.
Today’s Insights
We learn much about Hezekiah from 2 Kings 18. At age twenty-five, Hezekiah, son of Ahaz and Abijah (daughter of Zechariah), began his reign as king of Judah (the Southern Kingdom) during Hoshea’s third year as king of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) (vv. 1-2). Hezekiah reigned twenty-nine years, and during this time he “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord” (v. 3).
This included removing the high places where the people offered sacrifices to pagan gods; cutting down Asherah poles used in the worship of the pagan goddess Asherah; and destroying the bronze snake made by Moses, which the people had begun to worship (v. 4; see Numbers 21:4-9). He “trusted in” and “held fast” to God and kept His commandments (2 Kings 18:5-6). He revolted against the king of Assyria and conquered the Philistines (18:7-8). And he sought God in prayer (19:14-19). God also invites us to spread out our concerns before Him in prayer.
Today’s Devotional
Brian had been with the heart specialist for more than an hour. His friend remained in the waiting room, praying for wisdom and healing for his ailing friend. When Brian finally returned to the waiting room, he showed him the pile of papers he’d received. As he spread them out on a table, he discussed the various options being considered to treat his threatening condition. The two discussed the need to pray and ask God for wisdom for next steps. And then Brian said, “Whatever lies ahead, I’m in God’s hands.”
King Hezekiah “spread [a letter] out before the Lord” (2 Kings 19:14). The words in the letter didn’t address a threatening medical condition but the threat of a powerful enemy—Assyria—that had seized all the fortified cities of Judah and was preparing to attack Jerusalem, its capital. Hezekiah prayed, “You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. . . . Now, Lord our God, deliver us” (vv. 15, 19). Soon the prophet Isaiah sent a message to Hezekiah, telling him, “The Lord . . . says: I have heard your prayer” (v. 20). And “that night” God destroyed the Assyrian army (v. 35).
Whatever you face today, spread it out before God. As you “present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6), He hears you and is with you. You can rest in His hands as you experience His wisdom, love, and hope.
Reflect & Pray
What will it mean for you to spread out before God the concerns on your heart today? How can you choose to rest in His power and presence?
Loving God, thank You for hearing me when I bring my concerns to You.
Thursday, May 15, 2025 – SUCH GLORIOUS KNOWLEDGE – 2 Corinthians 12:1-10
Daily Bread Focuses: God’s character; Union with Christ
Scripture(s): Philippians 4:13; Joshua 1:9; Proverbs 2:6-7
Today’s Insights
Paul doesn’t explicitly name what “thorn” (2 Corinthians 12:7) plagued him, but we know it caused distress, even though it didn’t prevent him from preaching and traveling. New Testament scholar Ben Witherington III has argued that an eye disease is a plausible candidate for what afflicted him.
In Galatians 4:13-15, Paul describes the onset of an illness that the Galatians responded to with such kindness that, if they could, they “would have torn out [their] eyes and given them to [him]” (v. 15). Whatever his condition was, he experienced “Christ’s power” through his weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). By God’s grace, we can do the same.
Today’s Devotional
Medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas endured much to dedicate himself to a life of seeking God. His family imprisoned him for a year in an attempt to discourage him from joining the Dominican Order, a monastic group dedicated to a life of simplicity, study, and preaching. After a lifetime of studying Scripture and creation, and writing nearly one hundred volumes, Aquinas had such an intense experience of God that he wrote, “I can no longer write, for God has given me such glorious knowledge that all contained in my works are as straw.” He died only three months later.
The apostle Paul also described an experience from God so overwhelming that it was impossible to put into words, when he was “caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell” (2 Corinthians 12:4). “Because of these surpassingly great revelations,” Paul was given an unidentified “thorn in [his] flesh” (v. 7) to keep him humble and reliant on God. He was told, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (v. 9).
The more we understand about God, the more we understand how impossible it is for us to capture who He is in words. Yet in our weakness and in our loss for what to say, Christ’s grace and beauty shines clearly through.
Reflect & Pray
What experiences from God do you find impossible to put into words? How have these experiences changed you?
Thank You, God, for Your beauty and the way it changes me. Please help me humbly rest in You.
Today’s Insights
Mark begins his gospel account declaring that Jesus is “the Son of God” (1:1). Then he moves to introducing the Messiah’s promised forerunner, John the Baptist (vv. 2-4). In contrast to the gospel of Matthew, which was written to a Jewish audience and is filled with messianic prophecy, Mark wrote to a gentile audience and offers fewer Old Testament references or allusions.
One of the few Old Testament quotes in Mark (1:2-3) is from Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3 and establishes from the outset that Mark’s story of Christ lines up with Israel’s story and how it would find fulfillment in its promised Messiah. Mark also tells the reader up front that John the Baptist wasn’t the Messiah but was preparing the way for one “more powerful” than himself (Mark 1:7). John the Baptist’s self-awareness is fleshed out more fully in the gospel of John (see 1:20; 3:22-36). He knew his role as one pointing to the Messiah who had come—Jesus.
Today’s Devotional
Recently, my brother Scott acquired our dad’s military service records from World War II. As I studied the pages, there was nothing startling or shocking—nothing about who Dad was. There were mere facts. Data. It was interesting to read but ultimately dissatisfying because I didn’t come away feeling like I learned anything new about Dad.
Thankfully, in giving us a record of the life and work of Jesus, the four gospels are much more than just data. They are descriptions that reveal who Jesus was in His time on this earth as well as what He did and said. In Mark’s gospel, that record was for the purpose of proving Mark’s thesis statement: “The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (1:1). Immediately, Mark tells us how John the Baptist testified about this Messiah. John said, “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie” (v. 7). Mark’s account makes it clear that Jesus is the Son of God. As John the disciple adds in his own account of Jesus’ life, “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).
The evidence of Jesus’ life is abundant. These questions remain: What does He mean to you? How has He changed your life?
Reflect & Pray
What do you think of the evidence of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection? How might you tell someone about your response to it?
Father, thank You for the clear record of Your Son’s life.
Learn more here: ODB.org/personal-relationship-with-god.
Saturday, May 17, 2025 – FOLLOWING GOD – Proverbs 3:1-8
Our Daily Bread Focus(es): Holy Spirit; Trust in God
Today’s Insights
The book of Proverbs is presented as a life manual from a father to his sons (see 1:8; 3:1; 4:1; 23:15; 31:2) to teach them how to live a life that honors God. He instructs them to trust (3:5; see 22:19), obey (3:6; see 8:32-33), and fear Him (3:7; see 1:7; 14:16). Living a God-honoring life means seeking His ways and doing His will. There will be times when we won’t understand His ways (Isaiah 55:6, 8-9), but we’re to trust Him because He’s God and therefore trustworthy (Deuteronomy 7:9). Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, warns that our human intelligence is never enough: “Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil” (Proverbs 3:7 nlt). We’re not to trust in our own wisdom because “those who trust in themselves are fools” (28:26).
Visit ODBU.org/OT021 for further study on wisdom in this course on Proverbs.
Today’s Devotional
On my free day in Paris during a visit a few years ago, I had some time to roam around the famed city by myself before meeting a friend by the Eiffel Tower for dinner. All was fine until my phone’s battery died. I didn’t have a map, so I wasn’t sure where I was going, but this city girl didn’t panic. I just continued to walk along the Seine River and kept my eyes on the towering Eiffel Tower. My plan worked until I got closer to the landmark, which somehow disappeared behind the surrounding buildings.
I was astonished that such a large structure could be hidden in plain sight! I finally realized I needed help, so I asked for directions and found my friend.
Life can be so unpredictable. As we face obstacles and challenges in life, we can ask God for help and direction. Asking Him helps us not get lost along our journey or be tempted to take detours or to quit. Especially when life seems hard or confusing, we can turn to God for guidance.
In Proverbs 3:5-6, Solomon encourages his readers by telling them to “trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
As we seek God’s wisdom through prayer and reading the Bible, He’ll guide us. Let’s continue to trust Him and follow His lead.
Reflect & Pray
Why is it sometimes hard to follow God? How can you stay better connected to Him?
Dear God, thank You for leading and guiding me.
Are you walking in the Spirit? Learn more by reading this excerpt from Guided by the Spirit.
THIS WEEK’S INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHT BY SISTER CLOVIA
PUT IT IN GOD’S HANDS
Put it in the hand of our Lord,
And live in a brand new way,
Don’t let old memories hold you back,
For He makes a better day.
Bad thoughts are past,
With God on hand we need to let it go,
Because He can handle anything,
Your faith will let you know.
Live your present life, my friend,
The past isn’t coming again,
Putting it in the hands of God,
Will make you a better man.
There will be a challenge you will overcome,
Because you gave it all to Christ,
Just tell it to get behind you,
For the Lord gives the best advice.
Let it go with no need to cry,
Worry won’t do any good,
Put it all where it belongs,
And move on like a good man should.
As mentioned before, give it to God,
Live with a positive change,
He brings to your life all that is good,
A challenge will make you gain.
Go ahead on down the road,
But remember the words of the Lord,
For He is there to deal with life’s challenge,
To give you a brand new start.
— Brenda Mixon
Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands;
thy walls are continually before me. — Isaiah 49:16
CHRISTIAN-BASED MOVIE OF THE MONTH
***The Daily Devotionals are taken from Our Daily Bread Ministries and the Scriptures are from the BibleGateway.***
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