John 3:16-21 | For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

“Love locks” is a growing phenomenon. Thousands of people in love have attached these love padlocks to bridges, gates, and fences around the world, including France, China, Austria, Czech Republic, Serbia, Spain, Mexico, and Northern Ireland. Couples engrave their names on a padlock and then attach it in a public place to symbolize their everlasting love.

Authorities of some landmarks frown on them because of the danger they can cause if too many are attached. Some think they are acts of vandalism, while others view them as beautiful art and a picture of committed love. The Lord showed us true “everlasting love” in a public place. He displayed His love on the cross when He gave His life to provide forgiveness of sin. And He continues to show us His love on a daily basis.

Salvation is not only a promise that we’ll have eternity with God, but it is also a daily experience of forgiveness, assurance, and grace in our relationship with Him. Jesus’s love for us is the basis of Paul’s challenge to “live a life filled with love” toward others (Ephesians 5:2). The love of our Father enables us to be patient and kind. In His Son He has given us the ultimate example and means of loving one another—forever.

—Anne Cetas Jesus shows us how to love.

Devotional from YouVersion Bible App – Our Daily Bread: Light in a Pandemic
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Psalm 119:65-72 | Do good to your servant according to your word, LORD. Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust your commands. Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word. You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees. Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep your precepts with all my heart. Their hearts are callous and unfeeling, but I delight in your law. It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.

You are good, and what you do is good. -Psalm 119:68

Some people like bitter chocolate and some prefer sweet. Ancient Mayans in Central America enjoyed chocolate as a beverage and seasoned it with chili peppers. They liked this “bitter water,” as they called it. Many years later it was introduced in Spain, but the Spaniards preferred chocolate sweet, so they added sugar and honey to counteract its natural bitterness.

Like chocolate, days can be bitter or sweet as well. A seventeenth-century French monk named Brother Lawrence wrote, “If we knew how much [God] loves us, we would always be ready to receive equally . . . from His hand the sweet and the bitter.” Accept the sweet and the bitter equally? This is difficult! What is Brother Lawrence talking about?

The key lies in God’s character. The psalmist said of God, “You are good, and what you do is good” (Psalm 119:68). Mayans also valued bitter chocolate for its healing and medicinal properties. Bitter days have value too. They make us aware of our weaknesses, and they help us depend more on God. The psalmist wrote, “It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees” (v. 71).

Let us embrace life today, with its different flavors—reassured of God’s goodness. Let us say, “You have done many good things for me, LORD, just as you promised” (v. 65 NLT).

Keila Ochoa

Devotional from YouVersion Bible App – Our Daily Bread: Light in a Pandemic
Contact Pastor Rod Lindemann at RodL@TimothyLutheran.com on how to use the Bible App for additional readings and topics.
We would like to thank Our Daily Bread for providing this plan. For more information, please visit: https://odb.org/

Hebrews 13:1-8 | Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. -Matthew 7:25

During my four years at college, I found lifelong friends and mentors. But one of my most formative experiences was participating in a historically Black church through the “watch care” program it hosted for students. Being under “watch care” meant I could temporarily enjoy full membership privileges at the congregation during my studies to help me grow in my faith.

That Mississippi church became a haven of wisdom and support to me and many of my classmates. The foundation of love and mentorship I found there reflected many biblical examples of God’s people offering support and encouragement.

For example, when Mary learned she was pregnant with Jesus, she found encouragement through the faith of Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist (Luke 1:39–56). Wife and husband Priscilla and Aquila, who served as spiritual leaders in their community, grew in faith through developing a close relationship with the apostle Paul. They went on to share God’s truth with Apollos (Acts 18:24–26), who went far and wide to teach others the gospel.

What my watch care experience taught me, and what any of our experiences of being sustained and nurtured by fellow Christian believers can offer us, is a reminder that God often extends His care, healing, and guidance through fellow believers (Hebrews 13:1–8). Wherever we are, God is our solid anchor—with us, within us, always watching over us.

Stacy Hawkins Adams

Devotional from YouVersion Bible App – Our Daily Bread: Light in a Pandemic
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1 Corinthians 12:14-26 | Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. -1 Corinthians 12:26

When a coworker called in sick due to extreme pain, everyone at the office was concerned. After a trip to the hospital and a day of bed rest, he returned to work and showed us the source of that pain—a kidney stone. He had asked his doctor to give him the stone as a souvenir. Looking at that stone, I winced in sympathy, remembering the gallstone I had passed years ago. The pain had been excruciating. Isn’t it interesting that something so small can cause a whole body so much agony?

But in a way, that’s what the apostle Paul alludes to in 1 Corinthians 12:26: “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it.” Throughout chapter 12, Paul used the metaphor of a body to describe Christians around the world. When Paul said, “God has put the body together” (v. 24), he was referring to the entire body of Christ—all Christians.

We all have different gifts and roles. But since we’re all part of the same body, if one person hurts, we all hurt. When a fellow Christian faces persecution, grief, or trials, we hurt as if we’re experiencing that pain. My coworker’s pain drove him to get the help his body needed. In the body of Christ, someone’s pain ignites our compassion and moves us toward action. We might pray, offer a word of encouragement, or do whatever it takes to aid the healing process. That’s how the body works together.

Linda Washington

Devotional from YouVersion Bible App – Our Daily Bread: Light in a Pandemic
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Psalm 33| Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him. Praise the Lord with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy. For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love. By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance. From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth— he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do. No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you.

The earth is full of his unfailing love. -Psalm 33:5

I was taking yet another walk by myself on yet another day during the COVID-19 quarantine when words written on a driveway caught my attention.

Choose joy. Write down here what you’re thankful for. A container of sidewalk chalk sat nearby. Among others, these answers had been scribbled down by passersby: food, a home, my dad and mom, my dog, candy, and God’s love. The driveway was filled with words of gratitude. Filled with words of gratitude.

The unknown writer of Psalm 33 had a heart like that. In this psalm, he thanks God for His character and “unfailing love” (vv. 4–5), His majesty in creation (vv. 6–7), and His blessing on His people (v. 12). He praises God for His knowledge, His care, and His power (vv. 13–19). The psalmist saw that the earth was full of God’s goodness, and he reminded his fellow Israelites: “He is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name” (vv. 20–21).

Charles Spurgeon wrote about these verses: “Our soul, our life, must hang upon God; we are to trust him . . . with all we have and are.” God gives us many reasons to have a heart like the psalmist’s that’s filled with gratitude. May we trust Him, give Him the praise He deserves, and “shout for joy” (v. 3).

Anne Cetas

Devotional from YouVersion Bible App – Our Daily Bread: Light in a Pandemic
Contact Pastor Rod Lindemann at RodL@TimothyLutheran.com on how to use the Bible App for additional readings and topics.
We would like to thank Our Daily Bread for providing this plan. For more information, please visit: https://odb.org/