Our Daily Bread April 15
From Pity to Praise / By: Patricia Raybon Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
Proverbs 16:24
Today's Scripture & Insight:
2 Timothy 4:9–18 (NIV):
9 Do your best to come to me quickly, 10 for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. 12 I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments. 14 Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. 15 You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message. 16 At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. 17 But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
At a coat drive for children, excited kids searched gratefully for their favorite colors and proper sizes. They also gained self-esteem, an organizer said, with new coats boosting their acceptance by peers and school attendance on winter days.
The apostle Paul seemed to need a coat, as well, when he wrote Timothy, “Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas” (2 Timothy 4:13). Held in a cold Roman prison, Paul needed warmth but also companionship. “No one came to my support, but everyone deserted me,” he lamented, when he faced a Roman judge (v. 16). His words pierce our hearts with the honesty of this great missionary’s pain.
Yet in these final words of Paul’s last recorded letter—his closing thoughts after an astounding ministry—he moves from pity to praise. “But the Lord stood at my side,” he adds (v. 17), and his words rally our hearts. As Paul declared, “[God] gave me strength so that I might preach the Good News in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear. And he rescued me from certain death” (v. 17 nlt).
If you’re facing a crisis, lacking even the right clothing for warmth or close friends to help, remember God. He’s faithful to revive, provide, and deliver. Why? For His glory and for our purpose in His kingdom.
Today’sHynms:
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
What a friend we have in Jesus
Scripture to Respond:
Psalm 106:1-2 (NIV)
1 Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
2 Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord or fully declare his praise?
John 15:13 (NIV)
13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.14 You are my friends if you do what I command.
Reflection :
The great creator even calls us friends. He loves us to the extent that He laid down His life for us. You may now find yourself in trouble, would you praise God for this?
What are the problems you are facing at this moment? Do you believe the almighty God is with you? When you praise God, how is your mind changed?
Prayer:
God, please help me see you power. You regard me as Your friend that you even died for me. When I am in distress, please help me know that You are by my side.
Wong Wai Tung (Chief executive officer of The Great Wall Education Foundation) & Sam Chow (Administrative officer of The Great Wall Education Foundation) Translated by Esther Leung
