Our Daily Bread

Topic:Printed on Our Hearts Bible in a Year: Proverbs 6–7 2 Corinthians 2 Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. Proverbs 7:1–5 When Johannes Gutenberg combined the printing press with moveable type in 1450, he ushered in the era of mass communications in the West, spreading learning into new social realms. Literacy increased across …

Topic:Loving Others with Our Prayers Bible in a Year: Proverbs 3–5 2 Corinthians 1 This happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 2 Corinthians 1:8–11 “Are people still praying for me?” That was one of the first questions a missionary asked his wife whenever she was allowed to visit him in prison. …

Topic:Now, then Next Bible in a Year: Proverbs 1–2 1 Corinthians 16 He holds success in store for the upright. Proverbs 2:1–11 I recently attended a high school graduation during which the speaker provided a needed challenge for the young adults awaiting their diplomas. He mentioned that this was a time in their lives when everyone was asking them, “What’s …

Topic:Failed Again Bible in a Year: Psalms 148–150 1 Corinthians 15:29–58 After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Galatians 3:1–6 Back in my sermon-making days I approached some Sunday mornings feeling like a lowly worm. During the week before, I had not been the best husband, father, or friend. …

Topic:Speak Up! Bible in a Year: Psalms 143–145 1 Corinthians 14:21–40 Pray . . . that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ. Colossians 4:2–6 Brittany exclaimed to her coworker at the restaurant, “There’s that man! There’s that man!” She was referring to Melvin, who first encountered her under different …

Topic:Irrational Fears Bible in a Year: Psalms 140–142 1 Corinthians 14:1–20 I will not forget you! Isaiah 49:14–19 It makes no logical sense, but when my parents died within a three-month period, I feared they would forget me. Of course they were no longer on earth, but that left me with a large uncertainty. I was a young, unmarried adult …

Topic:The Whispering Gallery Bible in a Year: Psalms 137–139 1 Corinthians 13 In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. Psalm 18:1–6, 16–19 In the towering dome of London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral, visitors can climb 259 steps to access The Whispering Gallery. There you can whisper and be heard by another person anywhere …

Topic:Suffering Together Bible in a Year: Psalms 135–136 1 Corinthians 12 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. 1 Corinthians 12:14–26 In 2013, seventy-year-old James McConnell, a British Royal Marine veteran, died. McConnell had no family, and staff from his nursing home feared no one would attend his funeral. A man tapped to officiate McConnell’s memorial service posted …

Topic:The Servant Hears Bible in a Year: Psalms 132–134 1 Corinthians 11:17–34 The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:1–10 Had the wireless radio been on, they would have known the Titanic was sinking. Cyril Evans, the radio operator of another ship, …

Topic:Self-Checking Bible in a Year: Psalms 129–131 1 Corinthians 11:1–16 Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord. Lamentations 3:37–42 Recently I read through a stack of World War II-era letters my dad sent to my mother. He was in North Africa and she was in West Virginia. Dad, a second lieutenant in …