FOCUS OF THE MONTH (FOM)
PLANTING GODLY SEEDS
SCRIPTURE OF THE WEEK (SOW)
And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred. — Mark 4:20 KJV
But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” — Mark 4:20 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, March 30, 2025 – BEAUTY FROM INFIRMITY – Galatians 4:13-15
Our Daily Bread Focus(es): Evangelism; Life Struggles; Spiritual Gifts; Trust in God
Today’s Insights
Christianity was birthed from Judaism. As more and more gentiles became believers in Jesus, the role of Judaism in the Christian faith became an issue. Judaizers, a group of Jewish teachers, taught that believers in Jesus must convert to Judaism and be circumcised to be saved (Galatians 5:2-6; 6:12). Paul wrote the letter to the Galatians to counter and condemn this false gospel (1:8-9), reminding them that “a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ.”
He said, “No one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law” (2:16 nlt) because “the righteous will live by faith” (3:11). Paul makes a personal appeal, reminding them how they had lovingly welcomed him and embraced his teachings fully when he first brought the gospel to them (4:13-14). The apostle warns them of the evil intentions of these false teachers in drawing them away from the true gospel (v. 17).
Today’s Devotional
The artist Degas suffered retina disease for the last fifty years of his life, switching from paint to pastel because the chalk lines were easier to see. Renoir had to have brushes placed between his fingers when arthritis made them clench like claws. And when surgery left Matisse immobile, he turned to collage, directing assistants to attach colored pieces of paper to a larger sheet on the wall. What followed in each case was a creative breakthrough: Degas’ Blue Dancers, Renoir’s Girls at the Piano, Matisse’s The Sorrows of the King, and other masterpieces. By adapting to their trial, beauty emerged from their infirmity.
In a similar way, Paul wasn’t planning to visit Galatia during his early missionary journeys. An illness forced him there (Galatians 4:13). Apparently, Paul sought a different climate, wound up in Galatia and, even though he was ill, started preaching. Ironically, the Holy Spirit performed miracles through him (3:2-5) and the Galatian church was born. This surprising outcome may never have happened without Paul’s illness.
What trial have you faced, and how did it change the direction of your life? By refocusing your gifts, you too may see God bring beauty out of your infirmity.
Reflect & Pray
How have you seen God turn illness and other trials into opportunities for service? How are both Paul and those artists examples to follow in times of trial?
Dear God, You are genius at bringing beauty out of infirmity. Here are my trials and my talents.
How does faith grow through trials? Join the conversation here!
Today’s Insights
The apostle Paul (Saul) was there at the very beginning of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1-4), but at the time, he held no love or loyalty for Jesus and His people. Instead, he approved of the murder of Stephen, a leader in the new church (6:1-6; 7:57–8:1) and then actively hunted down believers in Christ in Jerusalem and “put them in prison” (8:3).
He requested letters to travel around the area with the full intention of murdering any believer he could get his hands on or—at the very least—imprisoning them (9:1-2). It’s that very violence—something Paul thought he was doing in the name of God—that the apostle said made him the “worst of sinners” (1 Timothy 1:16). Jesus took a violent, angry man and turned him into someone who would lay down his own life for the salvation of the very people he once sought to murder (Romans 9:3).
Today’s Devotional
Eric’s childhood challenges included a severe skin rash, difficulties in school, and getting high on alcohol or drugs daily from a very early age. Yet the one who dubbed himself as the “king of bad” found that he excelled on the baseball field—until he abandoned baseball after becoming discouraged by discrimination. This allowed him even more time for using and dealing drugs.
Things changed for Eric, however, when he had a life-altering encounter with Jesus while attending a church service. At his job the next day, a dedicated believer in Jesus invited Eric to attend yet another church service, where he heard these words that encouraged him in his newfound faith: “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17 kjv). Eric’s life has never been the same.
Like Eric, Saul of Tarsus (also known as Paul) would’ve been classified as a “tough case.” He said, “I am the worst” of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). He was “once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man” (v. 13). Like Saul, Eric was just right for Jesus. And so are we, even if we don’t view ourselves in the same league as Saul or Eric, for “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We’re all just right for Jesus.
Reflect & Pray
How do Eric and Saul’s stories help you to see God as a forgiving God? What does it mean for you to be just right for Jesus?
Dear God in heaven, please help me to see that the blood of Jesus cleanses from “big” and “little” sins.
Read more about overcoming sin.
Today’s Insights
In 1 Peter 3:10-12, Peter strengthens his point on how to respond to suffering by quoting from Psalm 34:12-16, a psalm that came out of one of David’s frightening experiences. Having escaped King Saul’s murderous pursuit, David ended up in Gath—the home of his former Philistine opponent, Goliath. When David’s identity is exposed, he pretends to be insane (1 Samuel 21:10-15) and escapes from Gath.
The account in 1 Samuel focuses on David’s apparent ingenuity in cleverly escaping danger, but in Psalm 34, as he reflects on the event, he sees that his rescue came from God, not his own scheme (v. 17). Peter’s use of this psalm captures the hopeful optimism of David, whose trust in God’s kind protection and care had been rewarded in his escape from Gath.
Today’s Devotional
When Jackie Robinson, the first Black player in modern-day Major League Baseball, played at Shibe Park in Philadelphia on May 9, 1947, ten-year-old Doris was in the upper-deck stands with her father. When an elderly Black man made his way down the aisle to a seat next to them, her father led the way in getting acquainted. Doris said their conversation about scorekeeping made her feel “grown up.” She later reflected, “I’ve never forgotten that man and his smiling face.” The delightful interaction between Doris, a young White girl, and the kind, elderly man, who was the son of slaves, was a bright spot that day.
This was in stark contrast, however, to the hateful conduct Robinson had experienced at another game that season. He recounted that “in terms of race, they yelled everything at me; it was quite vicious.”
Vicious conduct isn’t limited to sports fields. Homes, neighborhoods, workspaces, and even our churches can be places where ugliness wins. Those who believe in the God who displayed kindness through His Son (see Titus 3:4), however, are called to do the same. Peter writes: “Be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult” (1 Peter 3:8-9). Kindness triumphs when those who’ve received it from God share it generously with others as the Spirit helps them.
Reflect & Pray
When are you tempted to be unkind? How have you been the recipient of kindness?
Dear Father, I’m grateful for the kindness You’ve given through Jesus.
Today’s Insights
Luke 15 contains three related parables: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. The common theme in all is God’s great love for the lost. Why were these parables told in this sequence? Some have suggested it’s a matter of proportion (from smallest to largest): First, one out of a hundred sheep is lost; second, one out of ten coins; lastly, one out of two sons. No matter the reason, the last parable is the longest and most moving.
Later in Luke, we read: “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (19:10). The message is clear: God pursues and longs for us to turn to Him and be saved—to receive the forgiveness and salvation He offers through His Son’s sacrifice for our sins. Why? Because He loves us: “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).
Today’s Devotional
In one of his short stories, Ernest Hemingway tells a tale about a Spanish father who longs to reunite with his estranged son. He places an advertisement in a local newspaper: Paco, meet me at Hotel Montana at noon Tuesday. All is forgiven. When the father arrives, he finds a crowd waiting. Eight hundred Pacos had responded to his advertisement, longing to be forgiven by their fathers.
It’s a touching story that speaks to our own deep desire for forgiveness, and it reminds me of a story Jesus told. There, a young man leaves his father on a hunt for “wild living” but soon finds himself in trouble (Luke 15:13-14). When he “[comes] to his senses” and returns home (v. 17), his estranged father rushes to embrace him before he’s even had a chance to apologize (v. 20). “This son of mine was dead and is alive again,” the father cries in joy; “he was lost and is found” (v. 24). In this story, the father represents God, the son represents us, and heaven’s joy is glimpsed when we too return to our heavenly Father.
Forgiveness lifts a weight off a guilty soul. But like a gift, what’s offered to us must be received. Hemingway never tells us if the father in this story finds his own Paco. Will the Father in Jesus’ story have His sons and daughters return? His arms are outstretched, awaiting our response.
Reflect & Pray
How would you feel if you were Paco’s father? What can hold you back from receiving divine forgiveness?
Father, knowing what I’ve done, Your offer of forgiveness is overwhelming. I receive it, thank You!
For further study, read A Child’s Compassion.
Thursday, April 3, 2025 – NOT GRUMBLING AGAINST GOD – Exodus 15:22-27
Daily Bread Focuses: God’s love and care; Trust in God
Scripture(s): Exodus 16:8; James 1:12-18; Numbers 11:1-4; Hebrews 1:1-4
Today’s Insights
In the early phases of the exodus, God reintroduced Himself to His chosen people, who’d clearly drifted from Him after more than four hundred years in slavery in Egypt. In the miracle plagues, God had shown His superiority over the gods of Egypt, and at the Red Sea, He’d displayed His superiority over Pharaoh and his armies.
Now, in the wilderness between the Red Sea and Mount Sinai, God showed His superiority over the harsh desert conditions by cleansing the bitter waters of Marah for the people. In the piece of wood mentioned in Exodus 15:25 (translated as “tree” or “log” in some versions), some see a picture of the cross, which can sweeten a bitter life. At Mount Sinai, God would continue revealing Himself to His grumbling people through signs, wonders, and the law, but His ultimate revelation would come many centuries later in Jesus (Hebrews 1:1-4).
Today’s Devotional
As an answer to prayer, unexpected funds from Alex’s insurance had already paid for his dental treatment. Now, another treatment was necessary. Where will I get the money for that? Alex grumbled. Resentful thoughts of heavy expenses filled his mind.
At the time when a deposit to the dentist was due, however, a cash gift from a relative suddenly arrived. “I felt ashamed,” Alex said. “I’d already seen how God had provided for me with the insurance payment. I shouldn’t have grumbled but asked Him for help instead.”
When the Israelites entered the Desert of Shur, they’d just experienced God’s deliverance at the Red Sea (Exodus 14). His miraculous help, however, now seemed forgotten as they grumbled over the absence of drinkable water in the desert (15:22-24). The Hebrew word for “grumbling” refers to rebellion against God. The resentful response of the Israelites was very different from Moses’, who asked God for help (v. 25). Later, God graciously provided water for His people (vv. 25-27).
In times of need, we can avoid grumbling by asking God for help as Moses did. Whether His help comes in miraculous ways, practical provision, people’s assistance, or the strength to endure, we can trust that He hears us and cares for us.
Reflect & Pray
In the past, what may have caused you to grumble in times of need? How can you remind yourself to always turn to God for help just as Moses did?
Faithful God, You’re my provider. Please help me to look to You in trust and to rely on You in times of need.
Find comfort and strength in this deep dive into Moses’s struggles in Exodus.
Today’s Insights
In Revelation 4, the apostle John heard a voice that said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place” (v. 1). Immediately, he was taken to heaven “in the Spirit” (v. 2), where he saw an incredible vision of heaven’s throne room (vv. 3-11). In chapter 5, Christ is introduced as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” (v. 5). Almost immediately, though, He’s described as “a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain” (v. 6). This one who lovingly receives our prayers will also one day open the scroll we read of in today’s passage (vv. 7-14).
Today’s Devotional
It’s just an old pocketknife, worn and tarnished with time. The blade is chipped and the handle notched, but it was one of my father’s treasures, kept in a box on his dresser until he gave it to me. “It’s one of the few things I have from your grandfather,” he told me. My grandfather died when my father was young, and Dad treasured the knife because he treasured his father.
The Bible tells us that God also has an unlikely treasure, something we might not expect. In Revelation, we see a throne in heaven encircled by “four living creatures” and “twenty-four elders,” bowing before Jesus in worship (chs. 4-5). Each one is holding “golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people” (5:8). In ancient times, incense was something precious, used by kings (think of the gold, frankincense, and myrrh offered to Jesus in Matthew 2:11). Our prayers may not seem like much to us at times, but God wants them lifted before Him always.
Revelation 5 emphasizes the worthiness of Jesus because of His sinless life and loving death for us. Jesus’ worthiness points us to why God values our prayers. Our prayers are precious to God because we’re precious to Him. Because He loves us with such selfless, priceless, and merciful love, He longs for us to stay close to Him in prayer.
Reflect & Pray
How will you love God with your prayers today? Who and what can you bring before Him in loving prayer?
Loving Savior, You’re worthy “to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” (Revelation 5:12).
Discover more about the life-enriching power of prayer.
Saturday, April 5, 2025 – A SPIRITUAL DILEMMA – Psalm 145:1-8
Our Daily Bread Focus(es): Living for Christ; Spiritual disciplines
Today’s Insights
In Psalm 145, the psalmist David extols the name and character of God, who is “worthy of praise” (v. 3). He praises His mighty acts, glorious splendor, wonderful and awesome works, great deeds, abundant goodness, and righteousness (vv. 4-7). And in verse 8, he lists characteristics of God that are repeated throughout the Old Testament: “The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love” (see Exodus 34:6; 2 Chronicles 30:9; Nehemiah 9:17; Psalm 86:15; 103:8; 111:4; 112:4; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2).
David concludes, “I will praise the Lord, and may everyone on earth bless his holy name forever and ever” (Psalm 145:21 nlt). One day, “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them” will join in praise “to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb” (Revelation 5:13). We praise Him today as we anticipate what’s to come!
Visit ODBU.org/OT020 to discover more about the book of Psalms.
Today’s Devotional
The average person checks his or her phone 150 times a day. Let that sink in a minute. Something has our attention, and it may not be for our good. Tristan Harris believes this. He’s one of the voices in a film that features some of the top names in technology, people who ushered us into “social media.” But instead of praise, their voices are sounding an alarm, calling our reality (and the film) The Social Dilemma. “We’re the product. Our attention is the product being sold to advertisers.” We give our attention to what we believe is valuable or worthy. And in a very real sense, what we give attention to, we can find ourselves worshiping.
That word dilemma indicates a situation where a choice has to be made. Believe it or not, we face such a dilemma in our spiritual lives, a choice we have to make daily: Who or what will I give my attention to? In other words, Who or what will I worship? The psalmist clearly made his choice: “Every day I will praise you [God] and extol your name for ever and ever” (Psalm 145:2). The verse that follows gives his rationale: “Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom” (v. 3).
The psalmist believed nothing compares to God’s greatness, and so he focused his attention there. God and God alone is worthy of our praise.
Reflect & Pray
In contrast to time for praying or reading Scripture, what vies for your attention? What changes can you make to keep technology from becoming an idol?
Dear God, You alone are worthy of my praise. Nothing compares to You.
THIS WEEK’S INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHT BY SISTER CLOVIA
GOD’S ANSWER TO PRAYER
I asked God for strength that I might achieve
I was made weak, that I might learn humility to obey
I asked for health, that I might do great things
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things
I asked for riches, that I might be happy
I was given poverty that I might be wise
I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things
I got nothing I asked for – but everything I hoped for
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered
I am among all men, most richly blessed! —
written by Marlin and Laura Hum
“And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” — Isaiah 65:24
Isaiah 65:24 suggests that God is not simply waiting for us to ask for help but is actively engaged in our lives, anticipating our needs and responding with grace and favor. God speaks to those who take time to listen and listen to those who take time to pray.
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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