Our Daily Bread

Today's devotional!

Seeing God’s Grandeur

Bible in a Year :2 Kings 22-23, John 4:31-54

The Lord wraps himself in light. Psalm 104:2

Today's Scripture: Psalm 104:1-7, 10-16

In nineteenth-century poet Gerard Manley Hopkins’ sonnet “God’s Grandeur,” this literary artist celebrates the countless ways creation is “charged”—intensely filled—with “the grandeur of God.” Hopkins describes God’s breathtaking glory flaming and glistening “like shining from shook foil.” But if God’s beauty is so vibrant, why do so many people miss it? Hopkins suggested one reason is that humanity has covered everything with “man’s smudge” and “man’s smell”—leaving many unable to see anything beyond themselves.

Psalm 104 is also a celebration of God’s beauty in creation. Using vivid imagery, the poet describes God “clothed with splendor and majesty” (v. 1), revealing His beauty, power, and care in wind and fire (v. 4), thunder and waves (v. 7), water, grass, and trees (vv. 10-16).

Countless gifts sustaining both body and soul (v. 15) point to “the glory of the Lord” (v. 31) whether we always realize it or not. In his poem, Hopkins concluded that, even when humanity is blind to God’s glory, because of His goodness, there always “lives the dearest freshness deep down things.” If only we’ll stop to see and wonder, there are countless reasons to see, believe in, and celebrate God’s beauty and goodness “as long as [we] live” (v. 33).

By: Monica La Rose

Reflect & Pray
What dulls your awareness of God’s glory? What helps you see and experience His beauty?

Dear God, thank You for the ways Your beauty fills the world. Please help me see and celebrate Your beauty and the work of Your Spirit all around us.

Today's devotional!

Good Soil in God

Bible in a Year : 2 Kings 19-21, John 4:1-30

Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown. Luke 8:8

Today's Scripture: Luke 8:4-8, 11-15

In late spring each year, I plant cucumber seeds in our garden. The seeds produce leaves quickly, but it takes time to see the fruit. In fact, one summer after I watered the seeds and waited, I questioned whether I’d get any cucumbers at all. I thought, Did I put too many seeds too close together, or was the ground not warm enough when I’d planted them? But one day, I spotted a green bulb. The next week, I spotted another. Then another. Within a few weeks, we moved from only vines to almost enough fruit to make salad for a week.

Spiritual growth looks like that sometimes. We don’t always see the things we’ve been praying for: patience, self-control, being gentle and loving (see Galatians 5:22-23). But if we ask God to help us create the conditions needed for growth—prayer, studying the Scriptures, worship, serving others—the Holy Spirit will produce the growth.

This is the crux of the parable Jesus shares in Luke 8: “A farmer went out to sow his seed” (v. 5). “The birds ate” some of the seeds that fell on the path (v. 5). Others landed on rocky ground, where they received no moisture and withered (v. 6). Some more fell among thorns and were choked before they could grow (v. 7). But the seed that was planted on good soil yielded a crop that was “a hundred times more than was sown” (v. 8).

As God helps us, let’s cultivate “good soil” and grow in Him.

By: Katara Patton

Reflect & Pray
How is God helping you cultivate “good soil”? Where have you observed growth in your life?

Master Gardener, please help me produce good fruit from good soil.

Hypocrisy! If there was one thing that really got Jesus angry, it was people being fake. The Pharisees loved to be seen as super spiritual, wise and generous. But in their hearts, they were in it for themselves, to get as much as they could whilst bathing in the praise of the crowds.

This is what Jesus warned about in His parable of the two sons. In the story, one son wanted to look good to his dad, promising to work, but then did nothing. His heart was self- focused and showed no genuine love for his father. The other son refused his dad’s request to work, but then he was stirred in his heart to get up and help. “Which of these did what his father wanted?” Jesus asked.

The Pharisees were hypocrites, giving a display of righteousness and obedience to God, when in reality they were proud and selfish. Whereas Jesus said the ‘lowlife
sinners’ the Pharisees looked down on were like the other son. They had said “no” to God with their life choices, but now they were putting their faith in Jesus and entering the kingdom as forgiven, restored people. They were not focused on their lousy outward appearance, but on genuinely responding to Jesus’ words.

Putting on a show gets us nowhere. In fact, Jesus hates it when we put on a spiritual ‘mask’. What God loves is hearts that are truly turned towards Him, ready to follow Him in joy and thankfulness—no matter what it looks like to others.

MATTHEW 21:28-32