John 20:16-31, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE LORD HE IS GOD - September 4, 2026

Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to a duel on Mt. Carmel. He dared them to call on Baal to send fire. From morning to evening they cried. Satan had no response. With the prophets of Baal exhausted and defeated, Elijah “repaired the altar of the Lord” (1 Kings 18:30 NASB).

Twelve stones symbolizing the twelve tribes of Israel. They saturated the altar with water three times so that everything was soaked. Then Elijah prayed. He didn’t even request fire. But the Lord sent it. A blaze from heaven consumed the water, the rocks, the wood, even the dust. For the first time in three generations, the nation of Israel cried to Jehovah, “The Lord, He is God!” (1 Kings 18:39 NASB).

Is it time for our generation to rebuild the altar?

Unbreakable Courage

John 20:16-31

Jesus said, “Mary.”

Turning to face him, she said in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” meaning “Teacher!”

17  Jesus said, “Don’t cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I ascend to my Father and your Father, my God and your God.’ ”

18  Mary Magdalene went, telling the news to the disciples: “I saw the Master!” And she told them everything he said to her.

To Believe

19–20  Later on that day, the disciples had gathered together, but, fearful of the Jews, had locked all the doors in the house. Jesus entered, stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.” Then he showed them his hands and side.

20–21  The disciples, seeing the Master with their own eyes, were exuberant. Jesus repeated his greeting: “Peace to you. Just as the Father sent me, I send you.”

22–23  Then he took a deep breath and breathed into them. “Receive the Holy Spirit,” he said. “If you forgive someone’s sins, they’re gone for good. If you don’t forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?”

24–25  But Thomas, sometimes called the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We saw the Master.”

But he said, “Unless I see the nail holes in his hands, put my finger in the nail holes, and stick my hand in his side, I won’t believe it.”

26  Eight days later, his disciples were again in the room. This time Thomas was with them. Jesus came through the locked doors, stood among them, and said, “Peace to you.”

27  Then he focused his attention on Thomas. “Take your finger and examine my hands. Take your hand and stick it in my side. Don’t be unbelieving. Believe.”

28  Thomas said, “My Master! My God!”

29  Jesus said, “So, you believe because you’ve seen with your own eyes. Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing.”

30–31  Jesus provided far more God-revealing signs than are written down in this book. These are written down so you will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and in the act of believing, have real and eternal life in the way he personally revealed it.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, September 04, 2026

By Adam R. Holz

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Hebrews 12:1-7, 10, 14

Discipline in a Long-Distance Race

1–3  12 Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

4–11  In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through—all that bloodshed! So don’t feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children?

My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline,

but don’t be crushed by it either.

It’s the child he loves that he disciplines;

the child he embraces, he also corrects.

God is educating you; that’s why you must never drop out. He’s treating you as dear children. This trouble you’re in isn’t punishment; it’s training,

While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God’s holy best.

Hebrews 12:14

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language

14–17  Work at getting along with each other and with God. Otherwise you’ll never get so much as a glimpse of God.

Today's Insights

The original audience of the letter to the Hebrews were Jewish believers in Jesus who may have considered reverting back to Judaism or were straying toward false teachings (see 2:1-4; 3:1-4). Many scholars believe the book was written before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in ad 70 because it includes references to Jewish ceremonies and sacrifices. Hebrews encourages believers to endure and hold fast to Christ (2:1-4; 3:7–4:13; 5:11–6:2). In chapter 11, known as the “Hall of Faith,” the author commends the many men and women of the Bible who lived by faith and sometimes died because of it. Therefore, because of their witness and example, believers in Jesus are prompted to “throw off everything that hinders” us—including sin—and “run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (12:1). 

For further study, read: Sin is Awful, God is Gracious

Junk Files

Let us throw off everything that hinders ?and the sin that so easily entangles. Hebrews 12:1

My smartphone occasionally reminds me I’m not good at digital housekeeping. “Junk files are taking up space,” the message reads. “Delete 675MB of junk files.” Now, I dislike being nagged by my phone. But if I clean out those files, I’ve got more space for things that really matter. Then, when I’m at my daughter’s swim meet, for instance, I’ll have enough digital storage to actually shoot a video of her winning a race instead of unexpectedly realizing that those pesky “junk files” have sabotaged my ability to capture the moment.

Junk files on our phones are easy to delete. But what about the “junk files” in our souls? Like our phones, our souls can be clogged with stuff that keeps us from flourishing spiritually. The author of Hebrews understood this reality, encouraging us to pay close attention to anything that trips us up in our walk with God. “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles,” he writes, followed by this challenge: “And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1).

What weighs you down? What trips you up? Hebrews encourages us to fix “our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (v. 2), who alone can help us identify and delete the “junk files” that hinder our abundant life in Him.

Reflect & Pray

What most trips you up in your relationship with God? How does your faith help you identify and throw off sinful influences?

Dear Father, please give me the wisdom and courage to “throw off . . . the sin that so easily entangles” me.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, September 04, 2026

His

They were yours; you gave them to me. — John 17:6

A disciple is one in whom the Holy Spirit has forged this realization: “I am not my own.” To say “I am not my own” is to have reached a point of great spiritual nobility. If I am a disciple, I make a sovereign decision to give myself over to Jesus Christ. Then the Holy Spirit comes in to teach me his nature. He teaches me this not so that I’ll hold myself apart from others, like a showroom exhibit of holiness, but in order to make me one with my Lord. Until I am made one with him, he won’t send me out. Jesus Christ waited until after the resurrection to send his disciples to preach the gospel, because only then did the power of the Holy Spirit come upon them, enabling them to perceive who Jesus Christ was and to become one with him.

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children . . . such a person cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). Jesus doesn’t say, “Such a person cannot be a good and moral individual.” He says, “Such a person cannot be one over whom I write the word mine.” Any of the relationships Jesus mentions may be a competitive relationship. I may prefer to belong to my father or my mother, to my spouse or to myself. If I do, Jesus says I cannot be his disciple. This doesn’t mean I won’t be saved; it simply means I won’t be his.

“You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). Our Lord makes his disciples his own possessions. He becomes responsible for them. The spirit the disciple receives isn’t the spirit of hard work or of doing practical things for Jesus. It’s the spirit of love and devotion, of being a perfect delight to him. The secret of the disciple is “I am entirely his, and he is carrying out his work through me.”

Be entirely his.

Psalms 143-145; 1 Corinthians 14:21-40

 

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The great word of Jesus to His disciples is Abandon. When God has brought us into the relationship of disciples, we have to venture on His word; trust entirely to Him and watch that when He brings us to the venture, we take it.

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, September 04, 2026

Orphan in Your Heart - #10345

Scripture:  John 14:18

As your parents get older, they love to tell those stories again, and again, and again. We’ve enjoyed hearing some of the family stories that my wife’s dad had to tell. And, you know what? It filled in a lot of blanks, as we tried to put together the history of the last couple of generations. We asked him once about that little girl named Ada. My wife’s grandfather, Granddad Glenn, had one child – her dad. And he wanted a sister! So, Granddad Glenn traveled from their small town to a major city to check out the adoption possibilities at an orphanage there. I don’t know if he was prepared for the reception he got there. Everywhere he went, children asked him if they could go home with him. But there was this one dark-haired, dark-eyed little girl who just would not leave his side. Her name was Ada. She wouldn’t let go of Granddad’s hand, and she kept looking up at him with her big brown eyes and begging him, “Please let me go home with you. Please take me.” He did. And my wife’s dad got his sister.

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Orphan in Your Heart.”

The heart of an orphan desperately reaching for someone to love and take care of her. Maybe that’s a feeling you know even though you’re not physically an orphan. But life can get pretty lonely; relationships that were supposed to bring you love and happiness ended up bringing disappointment and hurt. You live enough years, there’s a good chance you end up feeling abandoned at some point, left out, rejected, alone – even with a lot of people around you.

And the biggest mistakes we make in our life are often mistakes we make for love. We keep reaching for a hand that might offer love and saying, “Take me. If you do, I’ll be OK.” But we’ve never really been totally OK. No love has ever been enough love, and sometimes we’ve paid too high a price to get someone to take us.

It’s this orphan feeling in the human heart that Jesus Christ speaks to in our word for today from the Word of God, recorded in John 14:18. He says, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” Jesus says, “I can give you the ‘never leave you’ love that your heart's always been hungry for.’” Actually, He’s the only one who can finally bring us spiritual orphans home.

The loneliness we just keep feeling is ultimately cosmic loneliness. We’re lonely for God. Why? Well, He made us for His love and we’ve left Him. It isn’t that we don’t have a Father. We feel like emotional and spiritual orphans because we’ve never begun a relationship with this Father who loves us so very much.

In Isaiah 53:6, God describes how we have missed His love. It says, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way.” Our sin – our "my way" living has cut us off from the love we were made for, and only Jesus could bring us back. The rest of that verse says, “The Lord laid on him (that’s Jesus) the wrongdoing of us all.”

In other words, Jesus died on the cross, carrying all the guilt and all the hell of all your sin and mine. That’s why He cried out from the cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) Reason: He was cut off from His Father so you would never have to be cut off from Him again.

And now He’s reaching out His hand for you to offer you the relationship – the love you were made for. The question is, “Are you going to reach back?” Won't you grab the hand of Jesus and tell Him, “Lord, take me. You’re this orphan’s only hope. You died for me. I am yours. I want to be a child of the Heavenly Father, born into His family this day because of what You did on the cross for me.”

Listen, if that’s where your heart is, go to our website. It has all the information you need to confirm that you belong to God through Jesus. That website is ANewStory.com.

Your Heavenly Father has come to where you are today to bring you into His family, to bring you home to His love. Like a little orphan many years ago, reach up and say, “Take me.” Oh He will. And you will be an orphan no more.

Proverbs 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: TATTOOED ON GOD’S HAND - September 3, 2026

On the second day of the D-Day invasion, Leon was taken captive by the Nazis. While being marched to a POW camp, he and another soldier escaped. A farmer found them and put them in touch with the French underground. They took his US credentials and created a French ID card for him.

He made it back to the Allied camp. Yet with no American ID, he was suspected of being a spy. He rolled up his sleeve and said, “Would this prove I’m an American?” It was a tattoo of an eagle, and on its breast was an American flag with the word Mother written across it. That convinced them.

Sound familiar? God says, “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands” (Isaiah 49:16 NIV). Satan is vicious, but he will not be victorious. Why? Your name is tattooed on God’s hand.

Unbreakable Courage

Proverbs 1

WISE SAYINGS OF SOLOMON

A Manual for Living

1–6  1 These are the wise sayings of Solomon,

David’s son, Israel’s king—

Written down so we’ll know how to live well and right,

to understand what life means and where it’s going;

A manual for living,

for learning what’s right and just and fair;

To teach the inexperienced the ropes

and give our young people a grasp on reality.

There’s something here also for seasoned men and women,

still a thing or two for the experienced to learn—

Fresh wisdom to probe and penetrate,

the rhymes and reasons of wise men and women.

Start with God

7  Start with God—the first step in learning is bowing down to God;

only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning.

8–19  Pay close attention, friend, to what your father tells you;

never forget what you learned at your mother’s knee.

Wear their counsel like flowers in your hair,

like rings on your fingers.

Dear friend, if bad companions tempt you,

don’t go along with them.

If they say—“Let’s go out and raise some hell.

Let’s beat up some old man, mug some old woman.

Let’s pick them clean

and get them ready for their funerals.

We’ll load up on top-quality loot.

We’ll haul it home by the truckload.

Join us for the time of your life!

With us, it’s share and share alike!”—

Oh, friend, don’t give them a second look;

don’t listen to them for a minute.

They’re racing to a very bad end,

hurrying to ruin everything they lay hands on.

Nobody robs a bank

with everyone watching,

Yet that’s what these people are doing—

they’re doing themselves in.

When you grab all you can get, that’s what happens:

the more you get, the less you are.

Lady Wisdom

20–21  Lady Wisdom goes out in the street and shouts.

At the town center she makes her speech.

In the middle of the traffic she takes her stand.

At the busiest corner she calls out:

22–24  “Simpletons! How long will you wallow in ignorance?

Cynics! How long will you feed your cynicism?

Idiots! How long will you refuse to learn?

About face! I can revise your life.

Look, I’m ready to pour out my spirit on you;

I’m ready to tell you all I know.

As it is, I’ve called, but you’ve turned a deaf ear;

I’ve reached out to you, but you’ve ignored me.

25–28  “Since you laugh at my counsel

and make a joke of my advice,

How can I take you seriously?

I’ll turn the tables and joke about your troubles!

What if the roof falls in,

and your whole life goes to pieces?

What if catastrophe strikes and there’s nothing

to show for your life but rubble and ashes?

You’ll need me then. You’ll call for me, but don’t expect an answer.

No matter how hard you look, you won’t find me.

29–33  “Because you hated Knowledge

and had nothing to do with the Fear-of-God,

Because you wouldn’t take my advice

and brushed aside all my offers to train you,

Well, you’ve made your bed—now lie in it;

you wanted your own way—now, how do you like it?

Don’t you see what happens, you simpletons, you idiots?

Carelessness kills; complacency is murder.

First pay attention to me, and then relax.

Now you can take it easy—you’re in good hands.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, September 03, 2026

By Karen Huang

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Deuteronomy 10:12-15

So now Israel, what do you think God expects from you? Just this: Live in his presence in holy reverence, follow the road he sets out for you, love him, serve God, your God, with everything you have in you, obey the commandments and regulations of God that I’m commanding you today—live a good life.

14–18  Look around you: Everything you see is God’s—the heavens above and beyond, the Earth, and everything on it. But it was your ancestors who God fell in love with; he picked their children—that’s you!—out of all the other peoples. That’s where we are right now.

Today's Insights

“Moses summoned all Israel” (Deuteronomy 5:1), and he began to publicly review the covenant God had made with His people. They were about to cross the Jordan River (Joshua 3), and Moses would soon step across a “metaphorical” Jordan into eternity (Deuteronomy 34:7). Much of his speech recounts Israel’s rebellion during their meandering forty-year journey out of Egypt (9:7-24). Even as he assured them of their future success in inhabiting the promised land, Moses warned, “It is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess” (v. 6). It was because God had chosen them, in spite of their failure: “They are your people, your inheritance that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm” (v. 29). Because God was their God, Israel was to follow Him. Although His holiness can’t tolerate sin, His Spirit enables believers in Jesus today to “fear” Him, “[obey]” Him, and worship Him (10:12).

For further study, read: The Fear of the Lord

Reverent Fear of God

Fear the Lord your God. Deuteronomy 10:12

“I killed people in the past,” Tanitan said, “but ever since I chose to believe in Jesus Christ, He will not allow me to commit such practices anymore.” Tanitan, a member of the Ilongot tribe from the Sierra Madre mountains in the Philippines, came from a culture of head-hunting—the practice of hunting humans and severing their heads. In comparing his life before he knew God to his life now, Tanitan said, “Before, I was afraid to die but not afraid to kill. Now, I am afraid to kill but not afraid to die.”

As I read Tanitan’s story in the book To the Headhunters of Sierra Madre by Florentino Santos, I thought of how his newfound fear of or reverence toward God developed his desire to obey Him. I remembered Moses’ words to the Israelites before they entered the land God promised them: “What does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 10:2). Reverence toward God was to be reflected in obedience to Him. God’s people were to “walk in obedience to Him, to love Him . . . and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees” (vv. 12-13).

As believers in Jesus, our deep respect for God’s holiness compels us to hate evil and do what pleases Him (Proverbs 8:13). Let’s ask Him to help us make reverence toward God a way of life.

Reflect & Pray

From today’s Scripture, how would you describe the “fear [of] the Lord”? Where do you find obeying God difficult, and how can the command to fear Him help you?

Holy God, please help me to experience reverent fear in Your presence.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, September 03, 2026

The Waters of Satisfaction Scattered

The three mighty warriors . . . drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out before the Lord. — 2 Samuel 23:16

Have you recently received something that is like water from the well near Bethlehem? Has God given you love? Friendship? Spiritual blessings? It’s at the peril of your soul’s well-being that you use his gift to satisfy yourself. If you do, you cannot pour it out before the Lord. Remember that you can never sacrifice to God that with which you long to satisfy yourself. Satisfy yourself with one of his blessings and it will corrupt you. Rather, you must do what common sense says is an absurd waste and pour it out.

How am I to pour out before the Lord the love I receive from others? There’s only one way: through the determination of my mind. People may do certain things for me which are humanly impossible to repay, things I could never accept if I didn’t know God. Since I do know him, I am able to accept others’ loving acts because I know that God will repay them—so long as I give the thing back to him in my mind. I do this by saying, “This is too great and worthy for me; it’s not meant for a human being at all. I must pour it out.” The moment I commit something to the Lord, it will begin to flow in rivers of living water all around. If instead I hoard the love others give me, it will turn to poison. Love has to be transfigured by being poured out before the Lord.

Have you become bitter and sour because you have clutched one of God’s blessings for yourself? If instead you had poured it out to him, you would have been the sweetest person on earth. God wants to use you to enlarge other people’s horizons. Get into the habit of immediately giving back to him everything he gives to you, and he will make you an immeasurable blessing to others.

Psalms 140-142; 1 Corinthians 14:1-20 

 

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

“When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” We all have faith in good principles, in good management, in good common sense, but who amongst us has faith in Jesus Christ? Physical courage is grand, moral courage is grander, but the man who trusts Jesus Christ in the face of the terrific problems of life is worth a whole crowd of heroes.

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, September 03, 2026

Spiritual Spectators - #10344

Scripture:  John 9:13

I guess I’m just too sensitive. I feel guilty when I walk in a store, knowing I’m not going to buy anything. And some bored salesperson sees me come in, and then you see that look of hope, that look of expectancy on their face, “At last I can justify my existence. At last I’ve got a customer! At last I can accomplish something. At last I can sell something.” And so they very pleasantly ask, “May I help you?” And then come those two most hated words to the ears of a salesperson, “Just looking.” Suddenly they lose all interest in me and they retire dejectedly back to their corner. Did I say I’m too sensitive? Well, I’ll tell you this, nobody ever gets very excited about someone who is just looking.

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Spiritual Spectators.”

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from John 9. I’ll begin reading at verse 13. It’s the story of the man who had been born blind who Jesus healed. Now, Jesus has always been troubled by people who are just looking. For example in this passage, “They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was the Sabbath. Therefore, the Pharisees also asked Him how he had received his sight. ‘He put mud on my eyes’ the man replied, ‘and I washed and now I see.’ Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God for he does not keep the Sabbath.’”

This is amazing! You want to say to the Pharisees, “Guys, wake up! A man who could never see before was just healed! Do you understand what just happened?” And they are busy doing their theological analysis of the situation. They have no intention of buying into what Jesus is doing. They’re just looking. Everywhere Jesus performed miracles it seemed that there were two groups of people: the "expectors" who had faith, who wanted to get in on the supernatural and who did, and the "dissectors" who stood off with their arms folded and said, “What shall we call this? Where does this fit in our theology?” And they saw no miracle.

What bothers me is that the dissectors were the religious folks, the spiritual veterans, the Bible people. That’s me. That might be you. And they were always so busy analyzing

the miracle, they missed the miracle. You know, as you get more settled into Christian things and you know more Christian ideas, and hold more Christian jobs, a subtle numbness can start to grow inside of you. You go to church to watch God speak to others. You make spiritual events happen, but you stop letting them happen to you. You start to become a discusser of God’s working rather than an experiencer of His working. You used to have an experience now you just have knowledge.

You start to become critical of His leaders and their methods. Can you see that creeping sleep in your soul? Somewhere you stepped out of the middle of God’s life-changing work and you moved to the edges to watch, to analyze, to categorize, to criticize. Hey, it’s cold out there. You show up at God’s store, you look around, but you don’t buy into the wonder of it all. Why don’t you get back into the mainstream where the miracles are? Let God happen to you again, not just happen around you.

When Jesus is offering such supernatural merchandise, it would be a shame if you were just on the edges and just looking.

1 Kings 4, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: ONE PLUS GOD - September 2, 2026

The devil knows your name. He has a wrecking ball with your name on it. As General Eisenhower wrote to US troops on the eve of the great D-Day invasion, “Your enemy is well-trained, well-equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely.”

But the steadfast soul does not fear Satan. Elijah didn’t. Elijah entered Scriptures talking about the living God. He served and obeyed the living God. He sought the living God. And because he did, the 850+ prophets of Baal meant nothing to him. The equation is never 850 to 1. It is 850 to 1 plus God.

F. B. Meyer said, “God will never fail the man who trusts him utterly….Be sure that you are on God’s plan, then go forward in God’s name.”

Unbreakable Courage

1 Kings 4

King Solomon was off to a good start ruling Israel.

These were the leaders in his government:

2–6  Azariah son of Zadok—the priest;

Elihoreph and Ahijah, sons of Shisha—secretaries;

Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud—historian;

Benaiah son of Jehoiada—commander of the army;

Zadok and Abiathar—priests;

Azariah son of Nathan—in charge of the regional managers;

Zabud son of Nathan—priest and friend to the king;

Ahishar—manager of the palace;

Adoniram son of Abda—manager of the slave labor.

7–19  Solomon had twelve regional managers distributed throughout Israel. They were responsible for supplying provisions for the king and his administration. Each was in charge of bringing supplies for one month of the year. These are the names:

Ben-Hur in the Ephraim hills;

Ben-Deker in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, and Elon Bethhanan;

Ben-Hesed in Arubboth—this included Socoh and all of Hepher;

Ben-Abinadab in Naphoth Dor (he was married to Solomon’s daughter Taphath);

Baana son of Ahilud in Taanach and Megiddo, all of Beth Shan next to Zarethan below Jezreel, and from Beth Shan to Abel Meholah over to Jokmeam;

Ben-Geber in Ramoth Gilead—this included the villages of Jair son of Manasseh in Gilead and the region of Argob in Bashan with its sixty large walled cities with bronze-studded gates;

Ahinadab son of Iddo in Mahanaim;

Ahimaaz in Naphtali (he was married to Solomon’s daughter Basemath);

Baana son of Hushai in Asher and Aloth;

Jehoshaphat son of Paruah in Issachar;

Shimei son of Ela in Ben-jamin;

Geber son of Uri in Gilead—this was the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and also of Og king of Bashan; he managed the whole district by himself.

Solomon’s Prosperity

20–21  Judah and Israel were densely populated—like sand on an ocean beach! All their needs were met; they ate and drank and were happy. Solomon was sovereign over all the kingdoms from the River Euphrates in the east to the country of the Philistines in the west, all the way to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and were vassals of Solomon all his life.

22–23  One day’s food supply for Solomon’s household was:

185 bushels of fine flour

375 bushels of meal

10 grain-fed cattle

20 range cattle

100 sheep

and miscellaneous deer, gazelles, roebucks, and choice fowl.

24–25  Solomon was sovereign over everything, countries and kings, west of the River Euphrates from Tiphsah to Gaza. Peace reigned everywhere. Throughout Solomon’s life, everyone in Israel and Judah lived safe and sound, all of them from Dan in the north to Beer-sheba in the south—content with what they had.

26–28  Solomon had forty thousand stalls for chariot horses and twelve thousand horsemen. The district managers, each according to his assigned month, delivered food supplies for King Solomon and all who sat at the king’s table; there was always plenty. They also brought to the designated place their assigned quota of barley and straw for the horses.

29–34  God gave Solomon wisdom—the deepest of understanding and the largest of hearts. There was nothing beyond him, nothing he couldn’t handle. Solomon’s wisdom outclassed the vaunted wisdom of wise men of the East, outshone the famous wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than anyone—wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, wiser than Heman, wiser than Calcol and Darda the sons of Mahol. He became famous among all the surrounding nations. He created 3,000 proverbs; his songs added up to 1,005. He knew all about plants, from the huge cedar that grows in Lebanon to the tiny hyssop that grows in the cracks of a wall. He understood everything about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. Sent by kings from all over the earth who had heard of his reputation, people came from far and near to listen to the wisdom of Solomon.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, September 02, 2026

by Kenneth Petersen

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

2 Corinthians 4:7-18

If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best!

13–15  We’re not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who wrote, “I believed it, so I said it,” we say what we believe. And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive. Every detail works to your advantage and to God’s glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise!

16–18  So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.

Today's Insights

The encouragement about suffering that the apostle Paul expresses in 2 Corinthians 4:7-18 is similarly noted in Romans 8: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (v. 18). How encouraging it is to know that as believers in Jesus in a fallen world, we’ve been given God’s Spirit (v. 23) to be with us as we traverse life’s pleasant and unpleasant territory. When we face trials, the Bible reminds us that they’re “achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

For further study, read: Paul's Pain and His Passion 

The Ultimate Snapshot

Therefore we do not lose heart. 2 Corinthians 4:16

Before our trip to Switzerland, my mental snapshot was of snowy Alps, goats grazing, and mountain farmers blowing alpine horns. However, as we drove south from Zurich, the landscape was the same drab tangle of highways we saw in any city. When we got close to our lodging, we had to drive up a precarious one-lane dirt road. At our rental place, we hauled our suitcases up steep stone stairways. Exhausted and disappointed, we finally made our way onto the patio. And there, opening up before us, stretched an extraordinary vista: the Alps rising up majestically over the blue expanse of Lake Lucerne, with small towns glittering like fireflies below us. The ordeal was worth it.

I recalled the verse, “Therefore we do not lose heart” (2 Corinthians 4:16). The apostle Paul writes of his own struggles: “We are hard pressed on every side, but . . . not in despair” (v. 8). He reveals his positive outlook: “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (v. 17). He advises us to “fix our eyes . . . on what is unseen” (v. 18), to hope for that eternal landscape.

Sometimes our journey is drab and difficult. But in Christ, we’re assured that we’ll witness the ultimate snapshot. The ordeal will be worth it: His eternal glory far surpasses anything we can imagine.

Reflect & Pray

What are the difficult roads in your life these days? What does “eternal glory” mean to you?

Loving God, I need encouragement through this tough journey. I pray for assurance of Your eternal glory.?For further study, read Paul’s Pain and His Passion: 2 Corinthians 5 at odbm.org.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, September 02, 2026

The Sacrament of Sacrifice

Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. — John 7:38

Jesus didn’t say, “Whoever believes in me, every blessing they receive will be theirs to keep.” He said, “Whoever believes in me, every blessing they receive will escape from them.” Our Lord’s teaching is always anti-self-realization. His purpose isn’t to develop our personal qualities. It’s to make us exactly like him—and his chief characteristic is self-sacrifice.

If we believe in Jesus, it isn’t what we gain but what he pours through us that counts. God doesn’t turn us into beautifully rounded grapes; he squeezes sweetness out of us. Spiritually, we can’t measure our lives by success. We can only measure them by what God pours through us—and we can’t measure that at all.

When Mary of Bethany broke a box of precious perfume and poured it over Jesus’s head, no one else thought the act necessary. Even the disciples were scornful. “‘Why this waste?’ they asked” (Matthew 26:8). But Jesus commended Mary for her extravagant act of devotion. He said that wherever his gospel was preached, “what she has done will also be told, in memory of her” (v. 13). Our Lord is carried away by joy whenever he sees any of us acting as Mary did, abandoning ourselves to him with no thought of the cost.

“Whoever believes in me . . .” If we believe in Jesus, hundreds of lives will continually be refreshed through us. It’s time to break our ceaseless craving for personal satisfaction. God poured out the life of his Son so that the world might be saved. Are we ready to pour out our lives for him?

Psalms 137-139; 1 Corinthians 13 

 

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

We are all based on a conception of importance, either our own importance, or the importance of someone else; Jesus tells us to go and teach based on the revelation of His importance. “All power is given unto Me.… Go ye therefore ….” 

So Send I You, 1325 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, September 02, 2026

Running Out of Ammo in the Battle for Lives - #10343

For many years, it was an inspiring book. Then it became a hit Broadway musical. Then it was made into a movie several times. The story is Victor Hugo’s classic, Lés Misérables. One of the many dramas in the book portrays the efforts of this group of valiant young men and women to fight to free their fellow Frenchmen from a tyrannical government. They make their stand against a massive French army at a makeshift wall they have constructed. They call it the “barricade of freedom.” They fight bravely, but their cause is threatened by a major problem that develops. They begin to run out of ammunition. Well, this one little boy realizes that their fight for freedom can only continue if they can find more ammunition. So, he risks his own life to crawl across the battle zone, picking up bullets from wounded and dying French soldiers. Because you can’t win the battle when you’re running out of bullets.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Running Out of Ammo in the Battle for Lives.”

Right now, there’s an ammunition shortage in the most decisive battle of all—that would be the battle for human souls, the battle for human lives. It began at the cross where Jesus died to make eternal life possible. It moved out across the planet at Jesus’ command and in the power of His resurrection, and it continues this very day in cities and towns across this country and in every country of the world. It is a fight to liberate people Jesus died for from the penalty and the power of their sin, from an unspeakable eternity, and from Satan’s chains.

But on so many fronts in the battle, Jesus’ forces are running out of bullets. In many places God’s soldiers are beating back the enemy, taking prisoners from the enemy and pushing back the darkness. But they’re running short of bullets. The money just isn’t there to keep pressing the battle.

All those letters and appeals you get asking for money for ministry—they’re about a lot more than money. For ministries that are really making a difference, it’s all about ammunition to keep fighting the battle for lives. But something’s gone wrong. It can’t be that God isn’t giving the money to people through whom He wants to meet these needs. It must be that some of us are sitting on the ammunition instead of sending it to the front lines. And when we lose one of these battles, it’s lives we lose—maybe forever.

Our word for today from the Word of God lays out how the supply line for God’s army is supposed to work. And thinking of the economic battles and struggles and sometimes the downturns of our time, it seems particularly relevant to go back to those Macedonian believers that Paul cited as an example for all of us. Here’s what Paul says, “Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity…they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability” (2 Corinthians 8:2-3).

It was sacrificial giving so the believers in Jerusalem would have the ammunition they needed to fight their battles. Why? It goes on to say, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that through His poverty we might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Jesus impoverished Himself to make us rich, and He’s the Son of God. So, how can we hang onto what He’s given us so we can stay in our comfort zone? The battle for a lost and dying world is every believer’s battle, not just the battle for a few spiritual daredevils who take all the risks, exercise all the faith, and make all the sacrifices.

For those who are fighting on the front lines, it’s our responsibility to make every bullet count, to stay on mission, to always take the high road of integrity, and put our faith in Jehovah Jireh, not in our contributors. And for every one of us, we need to hear the cries from the front lines, “We’re winning, but we’re running out of ammunition!” Listen, while there's time, let’s throw everything we can into this battle for which Jesus gave everything He had!

1 Kings 3, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: BOUND BY SOVEREIGNTY - September 1, 2026

Do you recall the day God sent fire from heaven? The display of power occurred on Mount Carmel in the days of Elijah. The prophet laid the ground rules for the event: Your team has 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah; my team has me. You ask Baal for fire, and I’ll ask Jehovah for fire “…and the God who answers by fire, He is God” (1 Kings 18:24 NASB).

And when it came time to blast a fire, the devil was powerless. No spark, no flames. In the decisive moment Baal was shown to be no match for the living God. Satan is impotent to defy the plans of God. He is bound by the ropes of God’s sovereignty, gagged by God’s righteous plan.

Unbreakable Courage

1 Kings 3

Solomon arranged a marriage contract with Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He married Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her to the City of David until he had completed building his royal palace and God’s Temple and the wall around Jerusalem. Meanwhile, the people were worshiping at local shrines because at that time no temple had yet been built to the Name of God. Solomon loved God and continued to live in the God-honoring ways of David his father, except that he also worshiped at the local shrines, offering sacrifices and burning incense.

4–5  The king went to Gibeon, the most prestigious of the local shrines, to worship. He sacrificed a thousand Whole-Burnt-Offerings on that altar. That night, there in Gibeon, God appeared to Solomon in a dream: God said, “What can I give you? Ask.”

6  Solomon said, “You were extravagantly generous in love with David my father, and he lived faithfully in your presence, his relationships were just and his heart right. And you have persisted in this great and generous love by giving him—and this very day!—a son to sit on his throne.

7–8  “And now here I am: God, my God, you have made me, your servant, ruler of the kingdom in place of David my father. I’m too young for this, a mere child! I don’t know the ropes, hardly know the ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ of this job. And here I am, set down in the middle of the people you’ve chosen, a great people—far too many to ever count.

9  “Here’s what I want: Give me a God-listening heart so I can lead your people well, discerning the difference between good and evil. For who on their own is capable of leading your glorious people?”

10–14  God, the Master, was delighted with Solomon’s response. And God said to him, “Because you have asked for this and haven’t grasped after a long life, or riches, or the doom of your enemies, but you have asked for the ability to lead and govern well, I’ll give you what you’ve asked for—I’m giving you a wise and mature heart. There’s never been one like you before; and there’ll be no one after. As a bonus, I’m giving you both the wealth and glory you didn’t ask for—there’s not a king anywhere who will come up to your mark. And if you stay on course, keeping your eye on the life-map and the God-signs as your father David did, I’ll also give you a long life.”

15  Solomon woke up—what a dream! He returned to Jerusalem, took his place before the Chest of the Covenant of God, and worshiped by sacrificing Whole-Burnt-Offerings and Peace-Offerings. Then he laid out a banquet for everyone in his service.

16–21  The very next thing, two prostitutes showed up before the king. The one woman said, “My master, this woman and I live in the same house. While we were living together, I had a baby. Three days after I gave birth, this woman also had a baby. We were alone—there wasn’t anyone else in the house except for the two of us. The infant son of this woman died one night when she rolled over on him in her sleep. She got up in the middle of the night and took my son—I was sound asleep, mind you!—and put him at her breast and put her dead son at my breast. When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, here was this dead baby! But when I looked at him in the morning light, I saw immediately that he wasn’t my baby.”

22  “Not so!” said the other woman. “The living one’s mine; the dead one’s yours.”

The first woman countered, “No! Your son’s the dead one; mine’s the living one.”

They went back and forth this way in front of the king.

23  The king said, “What are we to do? This woman says, ‘The living son is mine and the dead one is yours,’ and this woman says, ‘No, the dead one’s yours and the living one’s mine.’ ”

24  After a moment the king said, “Bring me a sword.” They brought the sword to the king.

25  Then he said, “Cut the living baby in two—give half to one and half to the other.”

26  The real mother of the living baby was overcome with emotion for her son and said, “Oh no, master! Give her the whole baby alive; don’t kill him!”

But the other one said, “If I can’t have him, you can’t have him—cut away!”

27  The king gave his decision: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Nobody is going to kill this baby. She is the real mother.”

28  The word got around—everyone in Israel heard of the king’s judgment. They were all in awe of the king, realizing that it was God’s wisdom that enabled him to judge truly.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, September 01, 2026

by Xochitl Dixon

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Acts 2:1-6, 36-37

A Sound Like a Strong Wind

1–4  2 When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.

5–11  There were many Jews staying in Jerusalem just then, devout pilgrims from all over the world. When they heard the sound, they came on the run. Then when they heard, one after another, their own mother tongues being spoken, they were thunderstruck.

“All Israel, then, know this: There’s no longer room for doubt—God made him Master and Messiah, this Jesus whom you killed on a cross.”

37  Cut to the quick, those who were there listening asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers! Brothers! So now what do we do?”

Today's Insights

The Feasts of Weeks (Leviticus 23:15-22), known as the day of Pentecost in the New Testament (Acts 2:1), is one of the seven feasts or festivals God commanded His people to commemorate (see Leviticus 23). The Feast of Weeks, a spring harvest festival, is also one of the three major feasts where the worshipers were required to come to the temple in Jerusalem to offer their sacrifices (Deuteronomy 16:1-16). In the New Testament, the day of Pentecost was celebrated fifty days after Passover, the day Jesus died (John 18:28). It’s remembered as the birthday of the church, the day God gave the Holy Spirit to indwell believers in Christ and bonded His children into His family (Romans 8:15-16). Imitating the practices of the early church today, God’s people continue to grow as a community, fellowship together, joyfully worship Him, earnestly study the Bible, lovingly care for one another, and boldly proclaim Jesus as Savior to the unbelieving world (Acts 2:42-48).

For further study, read: I Have Jesus - Why Do I Need the Church

Gathering to Grow in Christ

[The believers] devoted themselves to ?the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, ?to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Acts 2:42

In Monterey Bay, California, a boat captain saw fifteen Pacific white-sided dolphins join a super pod of more than two thousand dolphins. Various types and ages of dolphins gather in pods to fend off predators, feed, and socialize. Still, the size and diversity of this super pod was a rare sight to behold.

The Bible records a rare gathering of diverse people that’s foundational in our faith history. As the disciples celebrated Pentecost in Jerusalem, “a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting” (Acts 2:2). They were “filled with the Holy Spirit,” who enabled them to speak in different languages (v. 4). People God created “from every nation under heaven” had also gathered for Pentecost (v. 5). When they investigated the loud noise, each person “heard their own language being spoken” by the disciples (v. 6). Then Peter proclaimed Jesus as “both Lord and Messiah” (v. 36). About three thousand believed and were baptized (v. 41). As God’s people lived in community like never before, He “added to their number daily those who were being saved” (v. 47).

By the power of the Holy Spirit, God’s people around the world still gather to grow in community and proclaim Jesus as Lord. Through us, He will continue expanding His kingdom.

Reflect & Pray

How are you gathering to grow with God’s diverse people? How has He used people who are different from you to grow your faith and His church?

Dear God, please grow Your church as I gather to grow with others.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, September 01, 2026

Destiny of Holiness

Be holy, because I am holy. — 1 Peter 1:16

Continually restate to yourself the purpose of your life: God’s destiny for humanity isn’t happiness or wealth; it’s holiness. His one aim, for all men and women, is to turn us into his sons and daughters. God isn’t an eternal blessing machine, and he didn’t come to save humanity out of pity. He came to save humanity because he created us to be holy. The atonement means that through the death of Jesus Christ, God can put each of us back into perfect union with himself, without a shadow in between.

Do I believe I need to be holy? Do I believe God can come into me and make me holy? If a preacher, by preaching the gospel, convinces me that I am unholy, I will resent it. The preaching of the gospel always awakens intense resentment, because it reveals that I am unholy. Yet it also awakens an intense craving: the craving to realize the destiny God has for me.

Today, far too many things are calling to us. Some of these things aren’t inherently bad; they’re good and noble and morally justifiable things. But if they are distracting us from our relationship with God, he will take them away until we get right with him. What matters is that we accept the God who will make us holy. At all costs, we must be rightly related to him.

Never adopt any practice that isn’t in keeping with a holy God. Guard against any sympathy for yourself or for others that causes you to tolerate unholy thoughts or deeds. Holiness means keeping every detail of your life under God’s scrutiny. It means unsullied thinking with the mind, unsullied talking with the tongue, and unsullied walking with the feet. Holiness is not only what God gives; it’s manifesting what God gives: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

Psalms 135-136; 1 Corinthians 12

 

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

It is perilously possible to make our conceptions of God like molten lead poured into a specially designed mould, and when it is cold and hard we fling it at the heads of the religious people who don’t agree with us.

Disciples Indeed, 388 R

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, September 01, 2026

Why We're Restless - #10342

Scripture:  2 Chronicles 7:14

It’s not my habit usually to go home for lunch but sometime ago my travels had me at the right place at the right time. I had an early breakfast that morning, and I usually do get up that early. Finally, I got around to lunch, I was really hungry. I came in ready for a major lunch. I grilled a hot dog in the toaster oven. That was a good start, and then my wife went to cook some more things on the stove for me. Would you believe that the stove decided not to work at that point? And she said, “Wait a minute! Nothing’s heating up.” I said, “Well, that’s okay. I know there are some chips here. I’ll just load up on potato chips.” So, I went to get the chips out of the cabinet. What chips? My son had fed them to his friends. So, I enjoyed my lonesome hot dog very slowly. I ate everything I was served. I was still hungry.

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Why We're Restless.”

I’ve spoken in different congregations over the years and I’ve often told them, "I’m a restless Christian. I keep feeling like there’s got to be something more than I’ve experienced.” You should see the reaction. I don’t think I’ve been in a place where there haven’t been a number of people who have come up and said, “You too? Well, restless, that’s what I am.”

I’m still discovering believers all across this country who are feeling as I did after my little lunch. They’re eating everything they’re being served spiritually. They go to the meetings, they’re going to the activities, they’re serving in their places that they need to serve, but they’re still not satisfied. Are you like that? You say, “I’ve eaten everything I’ve been given and I’m not satisfied.” Good! That kind of unsatisfied appetite sets the stage for a banquet that God wants to feed His people, and He calls it revival.

It’s time for our word for today from the Word of God, 2 Chronicles 7:14. “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal their land.” Now you know, for centuries, restless people have been drawn to this verse; it’s the appetizer for the banquet called revival. It calls God’s people to create the conditions in which God can spawn revival.

Revival isn’t some special series of meetings that we hold. Charles Finley, the great revival preacher, said, “It is the renewal of the first love of Christians, resulting in the awakening and conversion of sinners to God.” Revival is the supernatural arrival and presence of the Holy Spirit in a way we’ve never seen Him - a unique power. Christians open up everything to the Lord; whole churches are changed. People begin to deal with all the darkness in their lives. Christians run to reconcile with each other. The lost are swept into the church even without evangelistic crusades. Aren’t you hungry for something like that? Oh, it’s happened. But it happens when you are restless enough to pay the price for it.

Why don’t you begin to band together with some other restless Christians and beseech God to do a reviving work where you are? That prayer movement is growing around the world. Let it start with you. Humble yourself in a desperate prayer to God, “Lord, I give up on trying to make things happen myself.” Forget the programs and the schedules, and all the old ways and the boxes we’ve kept God in. And then this verse says, “Pray.” Seek His face; look for intimacy with Him. Root out those sinful strongholds. You’ll begin to know Christ as you’ve never known Him before.

If all your work, and all your meetings, and your study, and your experience, and your theology still have you hungry, go for the banquet. Join the growing ranks of believers all over the world who are saying, “Lord, I’m radically Yours. Whatever it takes, satisfy our hungry hearts with a revival from heaven. We will pay the price. Jesus, please give us all of You.”

John 20:1-15, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: PICK A SIDE - August 31, 2026

We cannot win both the applause of people and the “well done” of Christ. Do you play both sides?

Many in the West did in the years leading up to World War II. In 1938 Neville Chamberlain met with Adolf Hitler. The British prime minister had long championed a policy of appeasing the dictator’s aggressions, so he agreed to Hitler’s demands. Six months later Hitler occupied all of Czechoslovakia. Next he invaded Poland, and the war began. For a decade the world watched as Hitler flexed his muscles. Yet freedom-loving nations waffled between apathy and fear. Many simply couldn’t pick a side.

The prophet Elijah once asked, “How long are you going to struggle with the two choices? If the Lord is God, follow Him” (1 Kings 18:21 NASB).

Unbreakable Courage

John 20:1-15

Resurrection!

1–2  20 Early in the morning on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone was moved away from the entrance. She ran at once to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, breathlessly panting, “They took the Master from the tomb. We don’t know where they’ve put him.”

3–10  Peter and the other disciple left immediately for the tomb. They ran, neck and neck. The other disciple got to the tomb first, outrunning Peter. Stooping to look in, he saw the pieces of linen cloth lying there, but he didn’t go in. Simon Peter arrived after him, entered the tomb, observed the linen cloths lying there, and the kerchief used to cover his head not lying with the linen cloths but separate, neatly folded by itself. Then the other disciple, the one who had gotten there first, went into the tomb, took one look at the evidence, and believed. No one yet knew from the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead. The disciples then went back home.

11–13  But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. As she wept, she knelt to look into the tomb and saw two angels sitting there, dressed in white, one at the head, the other at the foot of where Jesus’ body had been laid. They said to her, “Woman, why do you weep?”

13–14  “They took my Master,” she said, “and I don’t know where they put him.” After she said this, she turned away and saw Jesus standing there. But she didn’t recognize him.

15  Jesus spoke to her, “Woman, why do you weep? Who are you looking for?”

She, thinking that he was the gardener, said, “Mister, if you took him, tell me where you put him so I can care for him.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, August 31, 2026

by Jennifer Benson Schuldt

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Galatians 2:19-21

What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.

Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.

Today's Insights

“Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed,” Jesus said. “But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:24). Christ spoke these words during the week He was killed. It’s a lesson Paul had learned as he wrote to people in danger of relying on keeping the law to earn salvation. In Romans 3:10-20, he outlines why law-keeping will never save us. He then explains that it’s “apart from the law [that] the righteousness of God has been made known” (v. 21). “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (v. 22). He goes on: “Our old self was crucified with him . . . that we should no longer be slaves to sin” (6:6). Because “Christ [lived]” in him (Galatians 2:20), the apostle could live a life honoring to God that would draw others to Christ. Today, God can help us surrender to the Spirit so others will see Christ in us.

Jesus never called the church to be a country club. In fact, He commissioned His disciples to go into all the world and bring people in. Rather than keeping outside people out, Jesus sent inside people out to bring outside people in. Read more on the community of Christ: The community of Christ

Christ in Me

I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. Galatians 2:20

Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer became famous for his talent at age twenty. The art critics of his day called him “the greatest mind that ever expressed itself in line.” As his fame spread, influential people tried to hire him with promises of luxury and ease. Even other acclaimed artists such as Giovanni Bellini and Raphael revered his work.

In what experts consider to be his best self-portrait, Dürer mingled his physical characteristics with what he thought Jesus might have looked like. He painted himself with long, wavy hair, a beard, and eyes that seemed to convey a sense of divine purpose. While many assumed this was the artist’s prideful opinion of himself, others who knew him believed Dürer wanted to live a life that would allow people to see Jesus in him.

If we truly know Christ, this is our desire as well. Believing in Him and accepting His death and resurrection as the basis for our relationship with God means we should now live for Jesus—not for ourselves (Galatians 2:19). We live for Him, and He lives in us and works through us. The apostle Paul said this about his spiritual transformation: “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (v. 20). May the glory of Christ shine through our lives today so that the world sees Him in us. 

Reflect & Pray

How do you feel when you sense Jesus working through you to make Himself known? What challenges prevent this from happening at times?

Father in heaven, please help me to stop living to satisfy my desires. Help me to surrender to Your Spirit so others will see Christ in me.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, August 31, 2026

My Joy, Your Joy

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. — John 15:11

What is the joy Jesus mentions here? It isn’t mere happiness; using the word happiness in connection with Jesus Christ is an insult. The joy of Jesus was the joy of surrendering and sacrificing himself to his Father. It was the joy of doing exactly what his Father sent him to do: “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38). Jesus prayed that our joy might go on fulfilling itself until it was the same joy as his. Have I allowed Jesus Christ to introduce his joy to me?

The fullness of my life lies not in bodily health, not in external events, not in seeing God’s work succeed. It lies in the perfect understanding of God, and in the communion with him that Jesus himself had. The first thing that will upset this communion is the irritation that comes from trying to control my circumstances. The worries of this life, said Jesus, will choke the word of God (Mark 4:19). God’s aim is to get me beyond worry to the place where I will be his witness and proclaim who Jesus is. Everything God has done for me until now is the mere threshold of this deeper relationship with him.

Be rightly related to God, find your joy in him, and out of you will flow rivers of living water. Be a center through which Jesus Christ can pour living water. Stop being self-conscious, stop being smug and self-righteous, and start living the life that is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). The life that is rightly related to God is as natural as breathing. The lives that have been of most blessing to you are those which were unconscious of their influence.

Psalms 132-134; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34

 

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The vital relationship which the Christian has to the Bible is not that he worships the letter, but that the Holy Spirit makes the words of the Bible spirit and life to him. 

The Psychology of Redemption, 1066 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, August 31, 2026

When You Know You're Not Staying - #10341

One of the great chapters in the history of the modern church has been the Billy Graham crusades, reaching millions of people around the world. Now carried on through his son and grandson. We were preparing for one in our area, and it was amazing to watch the Billy Graham Crusade Team move in to help us organize what was an unprecedented effort. One of our first jobs was a pretty practical one. The setup team needed housing for the year. A lot of people had ideas of what kind of places the team members should live in, but the Crusade Team, they had experience. They knew what it took to come in for a year.

For one thing, they moved every year, if you can imagine that. We're talking committed people here. I heard the Crusade Director explaining to a realtor just what they were looking for. He said something like this, "We need a one-year lease. We won't be here long." Okay. "We need the most reasonable price; we can't spend a lot. We need a place that will require minimal yard work and maintenance. We'll be so busy we won't have much time." Well, you know what? I think they've got it right.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When You Know You're Not Staying."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Peter 2:11. Listen to how you and I are spoken of as believers. "Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and strangers in the world to abstain from sinful desires which war against your soul." The King James Version uses "pilgrims in this world." Well, whatever word you use, the point is clear; we're just passing through. We're like those Billy Graham Team members. We're not staying in the area too long.

Jesus told His disciples to keep it simple. He said, for example, in Luke 9:2-4, "He sent them out to preach the Kingdom of God, and He told them, 'Take nothing for the journey, no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic. Whatever house where you stay, remain there until you leave that town.'" In other words, "Travel light. Don't get bogged down with earth stuff. You're not staying here for too long."

Many of us sure act like this is our final destination. We're building quite a kingdom of house, a kingdom of car, we've got our recreational equipment, we've got our nest egg all built up for the future. Hey, we're just pilgrims! And pilgrims keep it simple. They travel light. I like what those Billy Graham staff people said before that crusade, "We won't be here for long. We can't really spend a lot on this stuff. We won't have much time to spend on maintaining a base."

That's how we all ought to be living. The tragedy of many North American Christians is that we are so encumbered. We can't go very far for the Lord or give very much for the Lord, or get too involved in the Lord's work. We are owned by what we own. These are times when I think God is calling us to think about our lifestyle in terms of what really matters forever. If it isn't going to matter there, how much should it matter here? To simplify our lifestyle; to stop this growing buildup of earth stuff and debt obligations. He wants us to be less attached to earth and more attached to heaven.

Jesus is still looking for some modern day apostolic type people who aren't burdened down with a lot of baggage. Think about it. Pray about it. Does your Lord want you to simplify your life in some ways? Does He want you to lighten up on the baggage a little bit? Does He want you to start to untangle your life some?

You see, you live very differently when you know you're not staying.

1 Kings 2 , Bible reading and devotions.

Max Lucado Daily: God Keeps His Promises

God keeps His promises. Shouldn't God's promise-keeping inspire yours?

People can exhaust you. And there are times when all we can do is not enough. When a spouse chooses to leave, we can't force him or her to stay. You're tired.  You're angry.  You're disappointed. This isn't the marriage you expected or the life you wanted. But looming in your past is a promise you made.

Whatever that is, may I urge you to do all you can to keep it?  To give it one more try? Why should you? So you can understand the depth of God's love. When you love the unloving, you get a glimpse of what God does everyday for you and me.

When you keep the porch light on for the prodigal child, you do what God does every single moment. Pay attention, take notes on your struggles. God  invites you to understand His love by loving others the way he does.

from Facing Your Giants

1 Kings 2

 When David’s time to die approached, he charged his son Solomon, saying, “I’m about to go the way of all the earth, but you—be strong; show what you’re made of! Do what God tells you. Walk in the paths he shows you: Follow the life-map absolutely, keep an eye out for the signposts, his course for life set out in the revelation to Moses; then you’ll get on well in whatever you do and wherever you go. Then God will confirm what he promised me when he said, ‘If your sons watch their step, staying true to me heart and soul, you’ll always have a successor on Israel’s throne.’

5–6  “And don’t forget what Joab son of Zeruiah did to the two commanders of Israel’s army, to Abner son of Ner and to Amasa son of Jether. He murdered them in cold blood, acting in peacetime as if he were at war, and has been stained with that blood ever since. Do what you think best with him, but by no means let him get off scot-free—make him pay.

7  “But be generous to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite—extend every hospitality to them; that’s the way they treated me when I was running for my life from Absalom your brother.

8–9  “You also will have to deal with Shimei son of Gera the Ben-jaminite from Bahurim, the one who cursed me so viciously when I was on my way to Mahanaim. Later, when he welcomed me back at the Jordan, I promised him under God, ‘I won’t put you to death.’ But neither should you treat him as if nothing ever happened. You’re wise, you know how to handle these things. You’ll know what to do to make him pay before he dies.”

10–12  Then David joined his ancestors. He was buried in the City of David. David ruled Israel for forty years—seven years in Hebron and another thirty-three in Jerusalem. Solomon took over on the throne of his father David; he had a firm grip on the kingdom.

Solomon

13–14  Adonijah son of Haggith came to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. She said, “Do you come in peace?”

He said, “In peace.” And then, “May I say something to you?”

“Go ahead,” she said, “speak.”

15–16  “You know that I had the kingdom right in my hands and everyone expected me to be king, and then the whole thing backfired and the kingdom landed in my brother’s lap—God’s doing. So now I have one request to ask of you; please don’t refuse me.”

“Go ahead, ask,” she said.

17  “Ask King Solomon—he won’t turn you down—to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.”

18  “Certainly,” said Bathsheba. “I’ll speak to the king for you.”

19  Bathsheba went to King Solomon to present Adonijah’s request. The king got up and welcomed her, bowing respectfully, and returned to his throne. Then he had a throne put in place for his mother, and she sat at his right hand.

20  She said, “I have a small favor to ask of you. Don’t refuse me.”

The king replied, “Go ahead, Mother; of course I won’t refuse you.”

21  She said, “Give Abishag the Shunammite to your brother Adonijah as his wife.”

22  King Solomon answered his mother, “What kind of favor is this, asking that Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah? Why don’t you just ask me to hand over the whole kingdom to him on a platter since he is my older brother and has Abiathar the priest and Joab son of Zeruiah on his side!”

23–24  Then King Solomon swore under God, “May God do his worst to me if Adonijah doesn’t pay for this with his life! As surely as God lives, the God who has set me firmly on the throne of my father David and has put me in charge of the kingdom just as he promised, Adonijah will die for this—today!”

25  King Solomon dispatched Benaiah son of Jehoiada; he struck Adonijah and he died.

26  The king then told Abiathar the priest, “You’re exiled to your place in Anathoth. You deserve death but I’m not going to kill you—for now anyway—because you were in charge of the Chest of our ruling God in the company of David my father, and because you shared all the hard times with my father.”

27  Solomon stripped Abiathar of his priesthood, fulfilling God’s word at Shiloh regarding the family of Eli.

28–29  When this news reached Joab, this Joab who had conspired with Adonijah (although he had remained loyal in the Absalom affair), he took refuge in the sanctuary of God, seizing the horns of the Altar and holding on for dear life. King Solomon was told that Joab had escaped to the sanctuary of God and was clinging to the Altar; he immediately sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada with orders, “Kill him.”

30  Benaiah went to the sanctuary of God and said, “King’s orders: Come out.”

He said, “No—I’ll die right here.”

Benaiah went back to the king and reported, “This was Joab’s answer.”

31–33  The king said, “Go ahead then, do what he says: Kill him and bury him. Absolve me and my father’s family of the guilt from Joab’s senseless murders. God is avenging those bloody murders on Joab’s head. Two men he murdered, men better by far than he ever was: Behind my father’s back he brutally murdered Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army. Responsibility for their murders is forever fixed on Joab and his descendants; but for David and his descendants, his family and kingdom, the final verdict is God’s peace.”

34–35  So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went back, struck Joab, and killed him. He was buried in his family plot out in the desert. The king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada over the army in place of Joab, and replaced Abiathar with Zadok the priest.

36–37  The king next called in Shimei and told him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, but you are not to leave the area. If you so much as cross the Brook Kidron, you’re as good as dead—you will have decreed your own death sentence.”

38  Shimei answered the king, “Oh, thank you! Your servant will do exactly as my master the king says.” Shimei lived in Jerusalem a long time.

39–40  But it so happened that three years later, two of Shimei’s slaves ran away to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath. Shimei was told, “Your slaves are in Gath.” Shimei sprang into action, saddled his donkey, and went to Achish in Gath looking for his slaves. And then he came back, bringing his slaves.

41  Solomon was told, “Shimei left Jerusalem for Gath, and now he’s back.”

42–43  Solomon then called for Shimei and said, “Didn’t I make you promise me under God, and give you a good warning besides, that you would not leave this area? That if you left you would have decreed your own death sentence? And didn’t you say, ‘Oh, thank you—I’ll do exactly as you say’? So why didn’t you keep your sacred promise and do what I ordered?”

44–45  Then the king told Shimei, “Deep in your heart you know all the evil that you did to my father David; God will now avenge that evil on you. But King Solomon will be blessed and the rule of David will be a sure thing under God forever.”

46  The king then gave orders to Benaiah son of Jehoiada; he went out and struck Shimei dead.

The kingdom was now securely in Solomon’s grasp.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, August 30, 2026

By Patricia Raybon

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Philippians 4:15-19

You Philippians well know, and you can be sure I’ll never forget it, that when I first left Macedonia province, venturing out with the Message, not one church helped out in the give-and-take of this work except you. You were the only one. Even while I was in Thessalonica, you helped out—and not only once, but twice. Not that I’m looking for handouts, but I do want you to experience the blessing that issues from generosity.

18–20  And now I have it all—and keep getting more! The gifts you sent with Epaphroditus were more than enough, like a sweet-smelling sacrifice roasting on the altar, filling the air with fragrance, pleasing God no end. You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus.

Today's Insights

God’s channel for meeting needs in the church and the world is often through those who follow in the footsteps of Christ. In Acts 20:35, Paul quotes Jesus, who said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” The Philippians were “partners” with God and as such they joined the apostle in his gospel endeavors. The word shared in Philippians 4:15 comes from the Greek koinoneo, which means “to enter into fellowship,” “make oneself a sharer or partner.” For unknown reasons, other churches didn’t participate in giving the way the Philippians did. The apostle says, “Not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need” (vv. 15-16). God will provide for our spiritual and practical needs, and He may use us as the means to help meet the needs of others.

The book of Numbers might, at first glance, seem to consist of little more than tedious accounts of census data (hence, the title). However if we’re willing to do a little work, we’ll find genuinely fascinating details in Numbers. And all of it casts light on the nature of Israel’s God—Yahweh. Read to understand more : The Excitement in the Details

God’s Rich Provision

My God will meet all your needs. Philippians 4:19After Hurricane Helene’s floodwaters nearly destroyed his small North Carolina town in 2024, a pastor noticed an inspiring pattern. As he struggled to answer the persistent question, “What do you need?” donations kept showing up exactly when he needed them. Phone chargers? Out of the blue, a man drove up with a generator, creating a charging station at the church. Drinking water? Suddenly, pallets of water bottles arrived.

Coincidence? The Bible points us to God, not mere happenstance: “My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). The promise might seem empty to a town nearly demolished by a thirty-foot wall of raging water. But Paul, who was in prison when he offered this encouragement, was no stranger to hardship.

Paul was writing to the church in Philippi to thank them for badly needed financial gifts. Except for them, he’d been neglected (v. 15). But God used them to meet his needs. So His words shined a bright light on God, who provided the “riches of His glory” found in Christ Jesus our Savior, in whom we have “every spiritual blessing” (Ephesians 1:3). Joy, peace, truth, and salvation are among the things He provides for us. In kindness as well, He’ll provide a drink of water too, if that’s what we need. What a loving, generous God.

Reflect & Pray

What spiritual needs do you have today? What practical needs do you have?

I thank You, loving God, for providing my spiritual and practical needs today according to Your will and the riches of Your glory in Christ Jesus.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, August 30, 2026

Rightly Related to Him

Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. — Luke 10:20

When the disciples came back from their first mission, they were filled with joy because the spirits had submitted to them. Jesus replied that they should rejoice instead that their “names are written in heaven.” He was telling them, “Don’t rejoice in successful service; rejoice because you are rightly related to me.”

The snare in Christian work is to rejoice in how much you’ve done or in the fact that God has used you. If you are rightly related to Jesus Christ, you won’t be able to measure what God does through you. Jesus will pour rivers of living water through you all the time (John 7:38), and by his mercy he will not let you know what he’s doing.

Once you have been rightly related to God through salvation and sanctification, you can rest assured that wherever you find yourself, you have been put there by God. As long as you keep in the light as God is in the light, you will fulfill his purpose, simply by the way your life reacts to the circumstances around you.

Our tendency is to place the emphasis on service rather than relationship. Beware of people who make usefulness their standard. If usefulness is the measure of our success, then Jesus Christ was the greatest failure who ever lived. Consider how our Lord spent his time on earth: for three years all he did was to walk about saying things and healing sick people—a useless life according to every human standard of success and of enterprise.

When we are following the example of our Lord, we know that what counts is the work God does through us, not the work we do for him. The only standard our Lord takes note of in our lives is our relationship to God, which is meant to be the relationship between a Father and his children. Jesus is “bringing many sons and daughters to glory” (Hebrews 2:10).

Psalms 129-131; 1 Corinthians 11:1-16

 

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

“When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” We all have faith in good principles, in good management, in good common sense, but who amongst us has faith in Jesus Christ? Physical courage is grand, moral courage is grander, but the man who trusts Jesus Christ in the face of the terrific problems of life is worth a whole crowd of heroes.

1 Kings 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: Standing on His Promises

We come to Christ in an hour of deep need. We realize that all the good works in the world are puny when laid before the Perfect One. So we beg for help. Then we hear his voice; and step out in fear, hoping that our little faith will be enough. With precious, wobbly steps, we draw close to him.

We stand upon his promises. It doesn't make sense that we're able to do this. We don't claim to be worthy of such an incredible gift. When people ask how in the world we can keep our balance during such stormy times, we don't boast. We point to the One who makes it possible. "Nothing in my hand I bring; Simply to They cross I cling," we sing. "Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved," we declare. And we never look back! May that be the anthem of your life.

From In the Eye of the Storm

1 Kings 1

David

1–4  1 King David grew old. The years had caught up with him. Even though they piled blankets on him, he couldn’t keep warm. So his servants said to him, “We’re going to get a young virgin for our master the king to be at his side and look after him; she’ll get in bed with you and arouse our master the king.” So they searched the country of Israel for the most ravishing girl they could find; they found Abishag the Shunammite and brought her to the king. The girl was stunningly beautiful; she stayed at his side and looked after the king, but the king did not have sex with her.

5–6  At this time Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, puffed himself up saying, “I’m the next king!” He made quite a splash, with chariots and riders and fifty men to run ahead of him. His father had spoiled him rotten as a child, never once reprimanding him. Besides that, he was very good-looking and the next in line after Absalom.

7–8  Adonijah talked with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they threw their weight on his side. But neither the priest Zadok, nor Benaiah son of Jehoiada, nor Nathan the prophet, nor Shimei and Rei, nor David’s personal bodyguards supported Adonijah.

9–10  Next Adonijah held a coronation feast, sacrificing sheep, cattle, and grain-fed heifers at the Stone of Zoheleth near the Rogel Spring. He invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and everyone in Judah who had position and influence—but he did not invite the prophet Nathan, Benaiah, the bodyguards, or his brother Solomon.

11–14  Nathan went to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, “Did you know that Adonijah, Haggith’s son, has taken over as king, and our master David doesn’t know a thing about it? Quickly now, let me tell you how you can save both your own life and Solomon’s. Go immediately to King David. Speak up: ‘Didn’t you, my master the king, promise me, “Your son Solomon will be king after me and sit on my throne”? So why is Adonijah now king?’ While you’re there talking with the king, I’ll come in and corroborate your story.”

15–16  Bathsheba went at once to the king in his palace bedroom. He was so old! Abishag was at his side making him comfortable. As Bathsheba bowed low, honoring the king, he said, “What do you want?”

17–21  “My master,” she said, “you promised me in God’s name, ‘Your son Solomon will be king after me and sit on my throne.’ And now look what’s happened—Adonijah has taken over as king, and my master the king doesn’t even know it! He has thrown a huge coronation feast—cattle and grain-fed heifers and sheep—inviting all the king’s sons, the priest Abiathar, and Joab head of the army. But your servant Solomon was not invited. My master the king, every eye in Israel is watching you to see what you’ll do—to see who will sit on the throne of my master the king after him. If you fail to act, the moment you’re buried my son Solomon and I are as good as dead.”

22–23  Abruptly, while she was telling the king all this, Nathan the prophet came in and was announced: “Nathan the prophet is here.” He came before the king, honoring him by bowing deeply, his face touching the ground.

24–27  “My master the king,” Nathan began, “did you say, ‘Adonijah shall be king after me and sit on my throne’? Because that’s what’s happening. He’s thrown a huge coronation feast—cattle, grain-fed heifers, sheep—inviting all the king’s sons, the army officers, and Abiathar the priest. They’re having a grand time, eating and drinking and shouting, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ But I wasn’t invited, nor was the priest Zadok, nor Benaiah son of Jehoiada, nor your servant Solomon. Is this something that my master the king has done behind our backs, not telling your servants who you intended to be king after you?”

28  King David took action: “Get Bathsheba back in here.” She entered and stood before the king.

29–30  The king solemnly promised, “As God lives, the God who delivered me from every kind of trouble, I’ll do exactly what I promised in God’s name, the God of Israel: Your son Solomon will be king after me and take my place on the throne. And I’ll make sure it happens this very day.”

31  Bathsheba bowed low, her face to the ground. Kneeling in reverence before the king she said, “Oh, may my master, King David, live forever!”

32  King David said, “Call Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.” They came to the king.

33–35  Then he ordered, “Gather my servants, then mount my son Solomon on my royal mule and lead him in procession down to Gihon. When you get there, Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet will anoint him king over Israel. Then blow the ram’s horn trumpet and shout, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ You will then accompany him as he enters and takes his place on my throne, succeeding me as king. I have named him ruler over Israel and Judah.”

36–37  Benaiah son of Jehoiada backed the king: “Yes! And may God, the God of my master the king, confirm it! Just as God has been with my master the king, may he also be with Solomon and make his rule even greater than that of my master King David!”

38–40  Then Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the king’s personal bodyguard (the Kerethites and Pelethites) went down, mounted Solomon on King David’s mule, and paraded with him to Gihon. Zadok the priest brought a flask of oil from the sanctuary and anointed Solomon. They blew the ram’s horn trumpet and everyone shouted, “Long live King Solomon!” Everyone joined the fanfare, the band playing and the people singing, the very earth reverberating to the sound.

41  Adonijah and his retinue of guests were just finishing their “coronation” feast when they heard it. When Joab heard the blast of the ram’s horn trumpet he said, “What’s going on here? What’s all this uproar?”

42  Suddenly, in the midst of the questioning, Jonathan son of Abiathar the priest, showed up. Adonijah said, “Welcome! A brave and good man like you must have good news.”

43–48  But Jonathan answered, “Hardly! Our master King David has just made Solomon king! And the king has surrounded him with Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, with the Kerethites and Pelethites; and they’ve mounted Solomon on the royal mule. Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon and the parade is headed up this way singing—a great fanfare! The city is rocking! That’s what you’re hearing. Here’s the crowning touch—Solomon is seated on the throne of the kingdom! And that’s not all: The king’s servants have come to give their blessing to our master King David saying, ‘God make Solomon’s name even more honored than yours, and make his rule greater than yours!’ On his deathbed the king worshiped God and prayed, ‘Blessed be God, Israel’s God, who has provided a successor to my throne, and I’ve lived to see it!’ ”

49–50  Panicked, Adonijah’s guests got out of there, scattering every which way. But Adonijah himself, afraid for his life because of Solomon, fled to the sanctuary and grabbed the horns of the Altar.

51  Solomon was told, “Adonijah, fearful of King Solomon, has taken sanctuary and seized the horns of the Altar and is saying, ‘I’m not leaving until King Solomon promises that he won’t kill me.’ ”

52–53  Solomon then said, “If he proves to be a man of honor, not a hair of his head will be hurt; but if there is evil in him, he’ll die.” Solomon summoned him and they brought him from the Altar. Adonijah came and bowed down, honoring the king. Solomon dismissed him, “Go home.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, August 29, 2026

By Tom Felten

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

Genesis 2:1-7

 Heaven and Earth were finished,

down to the last detail.

2–4  By the seventh day

God had finished his work.

On the seventh day

he rested from all his work.

God blessed the seventh day.

He made it a Holy Day

Because on that day he rested from his work,

all the creating God had done.

This is the story of how it all started,

of Heaven and Earth when they were created.

Adam and Eve

5–7  At the time God made Earth and Heaven, before any grasses or shrubs had sprouted from the ground—God hadn’t yet sent rain on Earth, nor was there anyone around to work the ground (the whole Earth was watered by underground springs)—God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!

Today's Insights

Ancient Hebrew literature often conveyed meaning through intentional wordplays. In Genesis 2, the Hebrew word translated “man”—’adam (Genesis 2:7) is very similar to the Hebrew word translated “ground” (vv. 5-7)—’adamah. If a modern translation attempted to capture this wordplay, it might translate “man” (adam) as “earthling” and “ground” (’adamah) as “earth.” By pairing these words, the passage communicates key insights into human nature. Humanity was formed from the earth or ground (v. 7) and so is intimately connected to it. But humanity was also given a unique relationship to God, who gave human beings “the breath of life” (v. 7). Each breath we take is a reminder of God’s gift of physical life.

God is loving and merciful, and He chose to give us new life. God simply gives it to us. And once we’re alive in Him, He gives us the privilege of walking in this new life and serving Him. Read more on this: Alive with Christ

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The Garden Drama

God’s Breath of Life

The Lord God . . . breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7

Researchers discovered that the water anole can stay underwater for twenty minutes without a fresh gulp of air. The tiny lizard has water-repelling skin, and after taking a deep dive it exhales a bubble of air that sticks to its snout. The clever creature then rebreathes the bubble again and again—something scientists believe is the recycling of the trapped air supply. Although water anoles possess this special ability, like many creatures, they must breathe to live.

In Genesis 2, we read that God “breathed into [Adam’s] nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (v. 7). As He created all things in “the heavens and the earth” (v. 4), He also created man from “the dust of the ground” (v. 7). But it took God’s breath of life to make His creation fully alive. He transformed the first human into a living being—a living soul. Later, He formed Eve from Adam’s rib (v. 22). As spiritual beings, we’re able to enjoy fellowship with Him by belief in Christ. Jesus “breathed on” the disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). One commentator writes that this “‘inbreathing’ of the Holy Spirit is essential in order for people to enjoy fellowship with God.”

Each breath we take is God’s gift of physical life. As believers in Jesus, it’s also a reflection of our eternal life and being indwelt by the life-giving Spirit (Romans 8:11).

Reflect & Pray

What does God’s breath of life mean to you? How has the Spirit made you spiritually alive?

Loving God, thank You for eternal life and Your breath of life.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, August 29, 2026

Sublime Intimacy

Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God? — John 11:40

Every time you venture out in the life of faith, you will find something which, from a commonsense standpoint, flatly contradicts your faith. Common sense is not faith, and faith is not common sense. They stand in the relation of the natural to the spiritual. Can you trust Jesus Christ when your common sense fails? Can you venture heroically on his words when the facts of your life shout, “It’s a lie”? Up on the mountaintop with God, it’s easy to say, “I believe God can do anything.” But you have to come down from the heights into the valley and meet with facts that laugh ironically at your belief.

Every time my program of belief is clear to my own mind, I will come across something that contradicts it. Let me say to myself, “I believe God will meet all my needs,” then my provisions run dry; I have no idea how they’ll be replenished. Then let me see whether I will go through the trial of faith or whether I will sink back to a lower level.

Faith must be tested. It can be turned into a personal possession only through conflict. What is your faith up against just now? Either the test will prove that your faith is right, or it will kill it. “Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me” (Matthew 11:6). The supreme thing is confidence in Jesus. Believe steadfastly in him, and all you come up against will strengthen and develop your faith. There’s continual testing in the life of faith, and the last great test is death.

May God keep us in fighting shape! Faith is indescribable trust in God, trust which never dreams he will not stand by us.

Psalms 126-128; 1 Corinthians 10:19-33

 

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The Bible is a relation of facts, the truth of which must be tested. Life may go on all right for a while, when suddenly a bereavement comes, or some crisis; unrequited love or a new love, a disaster, a business collapse, or a shocking sin, and we turn up our Bibles again and God’s word comes straight home, and we say, “Why, I never saw that there before.”

Shade of His Hand, 1223 L