ADOPTED

Adopted

God sent his Son . . . that we might receive adoption to sonship.

Galatians 4:4-5

READ GALATIANS 4:1–7

I’m glad when a philanthropist builds an orphanage for homeless children. I’m thrilled when that person gives even more and adopts one of them. Most orphans would be delighted merely to have a patron. But then to learn the sponsor isn’t content merely to help me but also wants me. How must that feel?

If you’re a child of God you already know, because it’s happened to you. We couldn’t complain if God had merely loved us enough to send His Son that we might “not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). It would be enough for us. But not for God. He “sent his Son . . . to redeem” us, not as an end in itself, but “that we might receive adoption to sonship” (Galatians 4:4-5).

The apostle Paul refers to us as “sons” because in his day it was common for sons to inherit their father’s wealth. His point is that now everyone who puts their faith in Jesus, whether man or woman, becomes a “son” of God with equal and full rights of inheritance (v. 7).

God does not merely want to save you. He wants you. He has adopted you into His family, given you His name (Revelation 3:12), and proudly calls you His child. You could not possibly be loved more, or by anyone more important. You aren’t merely blessed by God. You are the child of God. Your Father loves you.

By Mike Wittmer

REFLECT & PRAY

You are more than saved. You are loved.

Father, what a privilege to call You this! Thank You for saving me, and for wanting me.

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INSIGHT

Used only five times in the New Testament (and only by Paul), the word translated “adoption to sonship” (Galatians 4:5) is packed with meaning. Huiothesia is a compound Greek word from huios (“son”) and thesia (“placing”). Adoption took place when a child (almost exclusively males in the ancient world) was placed in a family that lacked a suitable heir. With adoption came privileges, rights, and responsibilities of family membership. Paul used the term “adoption,” but the concept of family membership is also present in John’s writing: “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! . . . Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:1-2). Arthur Jackson

BRIDGES OF GRACE

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

365 DEVOTIONS FROM OUR DAILY BREAD

BRIDGES OF GRACE

READ:  Acts 5:33-42

They departed….,rejoicing that they were counted worthy

to suffer shame for His name.  Acts 5:41

Imagine for a moment that you are driving through the desert in Southern California and you see the magnificent Golden Gate Bridge spanning the dried-up bed of “Three Frogs Creek” on the outskirts of “Turtle Soup Junction.”  What a ridiculous sight that would be!

So too, the Lord never displays His power and grace at an inappropriate time or place, but He always provides according to the difficulty of the hour.  He does not impart strength until it is needed.

We shudder when we think of what some of God’s children are enduring because of their faithfulness to the Savior.  Many have chosen the path of intense suffering rather than follow the line of least resistance.  I wonder, would we do the same?

Of course, the Lord does not ask us to make such a commitment before it is necessary.  And we can be sure that when we “suffer for His sake” (Philippians 1:29), He will provide whatever we need to endure the pain.

As servants of Christ, we can take one step at a time and be confident that whether we come to a dried-up gulch or a surging river the Lord’s bridges of grace will be just right to allow us safe passage to the other side.  MD

Each day God sends His loving aid 

To strengthen you and me;

We need to use today’s supply

And let tomorrow be. -Anonymous

God gives enough grace for each trial we face. 

ALGAE AND DIATOMS

Algae and Diatoms

Stop and consider God’s wonders.

Job 37:14

READ JOB 37:14–24

“What’s a diatom?” I asked my friend. I was leaning over her shoulder looking at pictures on her cell phone she had taken through a microscope. “Oh, it’s like algae, but it’s harder to see. Sometimes you need a drop of oil on the lens or they have to be dead to see them,” she explained. I sat amazed as she scrolled through the pictures. I couldn’t stop thinking about the intricate detail God put into life that we can only see with a microscope!

God’s creation and works are endless. In the book of Job, one of Job’s friends, Elihu, points this out to Job as he struggles through his loss. Elihu challenges his friend, “Listen to this, Job; stop and consider God’s wonders. Do you know how God controls the clouds and makes his lightning flash? Do you know how the clouds hang poised, those wonders of him who has perfect knowledge?” (Job 37:14-16). We, as humans, can’t begin to understand the complexity of God and His creation.

Even the parts of creation we can’t see reflect God’s glory and power. His glory surrounds us. No matter what we’re going through, God is working, even when we can’t see it and don’t understand. Let’s praise Him today, for “He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted” (Job 5:9).

By Julie Schwab

REFLECT & PRAY

God is always working.

Lord, thank You for the detail You put into creation and for being at work even when we can’t see it.

Welcome to Julie Schwab! Meet all our authors at odb.org/all-authors.

Your gift changes lives. Help us share God’s love with millions every day.

INSIGHT

After three rounds of heated discussion, Job and his friends Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar (Job 2:11) are at an impasse in their debate of theodicy—the question of why a good God permits evil. Elihu, being a much younger man, had waited for his turn to speak and now gives his insights (chs. 32-37). Elihu was a Buzite (32:2). Buz was a son of Nahor, Abraham’s brother (Genesis 22:20-21), which makes Elihu a descendant of one of Abraham’s nephews. Concluding his rebuke in this fourth and final speech, Elihu highlights God’s power and majesty (chs. 36-37). He asks Job to “consider God’s wonders” (37:14) in controlling His creation, challenging Job to explain how God sovereignly controls the meteorological elements—the clouds, lightning, winds, skies, and sun (vv. 15-24). Elihu tells Job to fear and revere such a great God (v. 24). K. T. Sim

WHEN WE'RE WRONGED

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

365 DEVOTIONS FROM OUR DAILY BREAD

WHEN WE’RE WRONGED

READ:  1 Peter 2:19-23

When you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently,

this is commendable before God.  1 Peter 2:20

It’s natural to want to defend ourselves against injustice and to strike back.  But if we’re quiet and peaceful when others mistreat and persecute us, we are responding in a Christlike way.  God wants to develop in us qualities that are unnatural for us.  Anyone can be patient when everything’s going his or her way.  The greater virtue is to remain calm and controlled under provocation (1 Peter 2:20).

Francois Fenelon, a seventeenth-century theologian, put it this way:  “Don’t be so upset when evil men and women defraud you.  Let them do as they please; just seek to do the will of God…Silent peace and sweet fellowship with God will repay you for every evil thing done against you.  Fix your eyes on God.”  He allows painful situations to come into your life and, according to Fenelon, “He does this for your benefit.”

For our benefit?  Indeed!  As we respond to injustice in a Christlike way, our anxiety, insecurity, and pessimism will be transformed into tranquility, stability, and hope.

Why do we lash out when we’re mistreated?  Why are we so quick to defend ourselves or to seek revenge?  It is not that we place too much value on our own comfort and rights?

If so, we must pray, echoing the words of Augustine, “Heal me of this lust of mine to always vindicate myself.”   DHR

Life can be lived with joy and peace

Amid its heartache and pain,

For with God’s help our hate can cease

And peace and justice will reign. -DJD

The best way to respond to wrong is to do what’s right.

RIP THE HEAVENS

Rip the Heavens

Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down.

Isaiah 64:1

READ ISAIAH 64:1–8

In a recent conversation, where a friend shared with me that she’d abandoned her faith, I heard a familiar complaint: How can I believe in a God who doesn’t ever seem to do anything? This gut-wrenching question appears for most of us at one point or another, as we read of violence in the news and as we carry our own heartbreak. My friend’s distress revealed her intense need for God to act on her behalf, a longing we’ve all likely felt.

Israel knew this terrain well. The Babylonian Empire overwhelmed Israel, crushing them with an iron fist and turning Jerusalem into smoldering rubble. The prophet Isaiah put words to the people’s dark doubt: Where is the God who’s supposed to rescue us? (Isaiah 63:11-15). And yet from precisely this place, Isaiah offered a bold prayer: God, “rend the heavens and come down” (64:1). Isaiah’s pain and sorrow drove him not to pull away from God, but to seek to draw closer to Him.

Our doubts and troubles offer a strange gift: they reveal how lost we are and how much we need God to move toward us. We see now the remarkable, improbable story. In Jesus, God did rip the heavens and come to us. Christ surrendered His own ripped and broken body so that He could overwhelm us with His love. In Jesus, God is very near.

By Winn Collier

REFLECT & PRAY

God, I like to pretend I can manage my life, that I can arrive at the answer. But I can’t. I need You. Would You rip the heavens and come down?

What questions or doubts do you have to talk with God about?

Your gift changes lives. Help us share God’s love with millions every day.

INSIGHT

The prophecies of Isaiah express the heart of a loving Father for a family that had lost its way (Isaiah 1:1-3). In visions spanning decades of warning, invasion, and exile, the prophet urges his people to remember that no eye has ever seen and no ear has heard of any other God who can rescue those who wait on Him (64:4). Centuries later, the apostle Paul recalls Isaiah’s words—with a slight twist. He describes a God whose saving power is unlike anything that has ever been seen or heard. Reflecting on the crucifixion of Jesus (1 Corinthians 2:2, 8), Paul reminds us that only by the Spirit of God can we believe in a God good enough to die for us (vv. 7-16). Mart DeHaan

GOD HELP ME!

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

365 DEVOTIONS FROM OUR DAILY BREAD

GOD HELP ME!

READ:  Jeremiah 2:26-37

Where are your gods that you have made for yourselves?  Let them arise,

if they can save you in the time of your trouble.  Jeremiah 2:28

Ever notice how people react to tragedy?  Even the nonreligious try to get the attention of God, whom they have previously ignored.  Accounts of plane crashes, floods, tornadoes, or hurricanes often tell of someone who calls on the Lord for help.

It would be nice to think that the heavenly Father is just waiting for such times of panic so He can send all the emergency equipment of heaven to the rescue.  But the Bible indicates otherwise.  Through Jeremiah, the Lord challenged His people who were in trouble to get help in the hour of death from the idols they had worshipped.  He wanted them to see the futility of trusting false gods.

The Lord may ask the same questions of us.  In an hour of distress He may say, “Why do you cry for me now?  Where are your sports heroes and movie stars?  Why not seek help from the TV, appeal to your paycheck, take comfort in your possessions, or rely on your credit cards?  Let these gods whom you’ve served so faithfully now serve you!”

God doesn’t want us to think we can go on trusting false gods, and still expect Him to protect us from trouble.  He graciously grants forgiveness to us if we are truly repentant.  And He offers hope an help to those who have learned to depend on Him all the time.  MD

The gods of this world are empty and vain,

They cannot give peace to one’s heart;

The living and True One deserves all our love-

From Him may we never depart. -DJD

Those who walk with God always find Him close at hand.

THE MOOD MENDER

The Mood Mender

When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.

Psalm 94:19

READ PSALM 94:2, 16–23

As I waited at the train station for my weekly commute, negative thoughts crowded my mind like commuters lining up to board a train—stress over debt, unkind remarks said to me, helplessness in the face of a recent injustice done to a family member. By the time the train arrived, I was in a terrible mood.

On the train, another thought came to mind: write a note to God, giving Him my lament. Soon after I finished pouring out my complaints in my journal, I pulled out my phone and listened to the praise songs in my library. Before I knew it, my bad mood had completely changed.

Little did I know that I was following a pattern set by the writer of Psalm 94. The psalmist first poured out his complaints: “Rise up, Judge of the earth; pay back to the proud what they deserve. . . . Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?” (Psalm 94:2, 16.) He didn’t hold anything back as he talked to God about injustice done to widows and orphans. Once he’d made his lament to God, the psalm transitioned into praise: “But the Lord has become my fortress, and my God the rock in whom I take refuge” (v. 22).

God invites us to take our laments to Him. He can turn our fear, sadness, and helplessness into praise.

By Linda Washington

REFLECT & PRAY

Praise has the power to lighten our heaviest burden.

Lord, I pour out my heart to You. Take my hurts and my anger, and grant me Your peace.

Your gift changes lives. Help us share God’s love with millions every day.

INSIGHT

There are many prayers recorded in the Bible, but the book of Psalms is dedicated to followers of God actively talking to God. The psalms are full of the raw emotions of God’s people. Sorrow, joy, confusion, anger, desperation, praise, and lament can be read from beginning to end. We often turn to them when we need encouragement to share our deepest and truest feelings with God. The psalms not only teach us about God, but perhaps primarily we see how the people of ancient Israel, both individually and corporately, approached Him.

While there were prescribed rites and rituals that happened in the temple, the psalms show us God as a personal God who relates to individuals with specific and personal concerns. J.R. Hudberg