11/11/2023 0 Comments Our daily bread july 2 2021“It’s like a dream, a dream come true, that nobody can even think of After a video surfaced showing his humble gratitude for a modest gift he received to commemorate his decades of service, thousands of people rallied together to show kindness to him. May we place our trust in Him today.įast-food restaurant worker Kevin Ford hadn’t missed a shift in twenty-seven years. And with Jesus as our hope, “if God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). Though he didn’t live to see it, his believing wife did. Grant’s memoirs proved to be a great success and his family was well cared for. Their story illustrates how God can be trusted even when we can’t see His hand in our circumstances. Little did Jacob know that his son Joseph was very much alive, and that God was at work “behind the scenes” to restore his family. Overcome, he cried out, “Everything is against me!” (42:36).īut it wasn’t. Then his son Simeon was held captive in a foreign country, and Jacob feared his son Benjamin would be taken from him as well. Jacob believed his son Joseph had been “torn to pieces” by a “ferocious animal” (Genesis 37:33). The Bible tells us of another person who faced grave hardships. Concerned about providing for his family, he accepted an offer from author Mark Twain to publish his memoirs, which he completed a week before he died. Months later Grant was diagnosed with incurable cancer. Grant said those words the day he was swindled out of his life’s savings by a business partner. “This morning I thought I was worth a great deal of money, now I don’t know that I have a dollar.” Former US president Ulysses S. It’s dreary, indeed, to attempt on our own to become “somebody.” But as Paul discovered, to know Jesus, to lose ourselves in His self-giving love and life, is to find ourselves again (v. the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (v. His only remaining ambition was “to know Christ. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him” (vv. When Paul saw how hollow his religious fervor and achievements were in light of Christ’s sacrificial love, he confessed, “I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Before he met Christ, Paul had a long list of seemingly impressive religious credentials and achievements, apparent “reasons to put confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:4).īut encountering Jesus changed everything. For “How dreary – to be – Somebody! How public – like a Frog – / To tell one’s name – the livelong June / To an admiring Bog!”įinding freedom in letting go of the need to be “somebody” in some ways echoes the testimony of the apostle Paul. In a poem that begins, “I’m nobody! Who are you?” Emily Dickinson playfully challenges all the effort people tend to put into being “somebody,” advocating instead for the joyful freedom of blissful anonymity. As God used Gerald and Boaz to help transform another’s grief, He can work through us to show kindness and empathy to others in pain. Through their marriage, a forefather of David-and of Jesus-was born. 11).īoaz later married Ruth and provided for Naomi (chap. He replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband” (v. Amazed, Ruth asked, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes?” (v. When he learned who she was, he was kind to her (2:5–9). When Ruth went to a field to pick up leftover grain, Boaz-the owner-asked about her. And now she and her bereft daughter-in-law Ruth had no heirs and no one to provide for them (Ruth 1:1–5). Like Valerie, Ruth and Naomi suffered great loss. “There’s good people out there, and here’s proof,” Valerie said. A week later he tearfully presented her with a beautiful bench. After hearing of her situation on the way home, Gerald decided to use the crib to craft a keepsake for Valerie. While there, his wife talked with Valerie and learned about her loss. Gerald, a neighbor craftsman a few miles away, eagerly bought the baby crib she was selling. Months after suffering a miscarriage, Valerie decided to have a garage sale.
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