Our Daily Bread Podcast | Our Daily Bread

To improve her sign language skills, Leisa immersed herself in the world of the Deaf. Soon she learned the problems they face. The Deaf are awkwardly ignored by hearing people, are expected to lipread flawlessly, and are routinely passed over for promotions at work. Most public events go uninterpreted. Leisa’s signing steadily improved to the point where she felt at home with the Deaf. At a party, a Deaf person was surprised to learn Leisa could hear. Before Leisa could respond, another friend signed, “She has a Deaf heart.” The key had been Leisa’s willingness to live in their world. Leisa didn’t “condescend” to be with the Deaf. Except for her hearing, she was like them. But Jesus did stoop to reach all of us—to live in our world. He “was made lower than the angels for a little while” (Hebrews 2:9). Christ “shared in [our] humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death.” In doing so, He freed “those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (vv. 14–15). More than that, He was “fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God” (v. 17). Whatever we face, Jesus knows and understands. He hears our heart. He’s with us in every way.

Kenny stood before the congregation he’d left years before after he’d lost faith in God. He shared that his belief had been restored. How? God had touched his heart through the beauty and design he saw in creation. Kenny was in awe of Him once more through the witness of God’s general revelation seen in the natural world, and he now embraced the wisdom found in the special revelation of Scripture. After sharing his story, Kenny stepped into the tank of water at the front of the sanctuary. His father, tears of joy in his eyes, baptized him based on his faith in Jesus. After he’d lost much in life, Job’s faith had also been shaken. He said, “I cry to you, O God, but you don’t answer. I stand before you, but you don’t even look” (Job 30:20 nlt). God “spoke to Job out of the storm” (38:1), declaring that it wasn’t about Him not seeing Job but that Job’s vision needed to be expanded as he considered God’s amazing, intricate creation. The “earth’s foundation” and the “morning stars” (vv. 4, 7) and all the creatures, plants, and waters found between (vv. 8-41), pointed to the One Job could trust—the God of amazing love and power. Job responded by saying, “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you” (42:5). When doubts threaten your faith in Christ, consider the magnificence of God’s creation. He reveals Himself in it if we only have eyes to see.

Phillips Brooks wrote the lyrics to the beloved carol “O Little Town of Bethlehem” after visiting Bethlehem. Brooks, pastor of a church in the US, was so moved by his experience that he wrote this to his Sunday school students: “I remember . . . on Christmas Eve, when I was standing in the old church at Bethlehem, close to the spot where Jesus was born, when the whole church was ringing hour after hour with the splendid hymns of praise to God, how again and again it seemed as if I could hear voices that I knew well, telling each other of the ‘Wonderful Night’ of the Savior’s birth.” In 1868, Brooks put his thoughts into a poem, and his church organist set it to music. The song spoke stillness and peace into the unsettling aftermath of the American Civil War: “O little town of Bethlehem / How still we see thee lie . . . The hopes and fears of all the years / Are met in thee tonight.” The apostle Matthew wrote of our Savior’s birth in Bethlehem in Matthew 2. When the “Magi from the east” (v. 1) followed the star to Bethlehem (see Micah 5:2), “they were overjoyed” to find Jesus (Matthew 2:10). Today, as we celebrate Epiphany, we too need the glorious news of our Savior’s birth. He came to “cast out our sin and enter in” and “be born in us.” In Him, we find peace. Where in your life do you need the peace the Savior offers? What aspect of the Jesus’ story touches you most?

God truly knows all. But according to an article in The Wall Street Journal, the National Security Agency knows a great deal about as well through our smartphone data trails. Everyone who owns a cell phone creates “metadata” that leaves a “digital trail.” While each individual crumb of data might seem insignificant, when it’s combined and analyzed, it provides “one of the most powerful investigative tools ever devised.” By tracing our metadata, investigators can pinpoint where we’ve been or where we are at this moment. Far more superior than the NSA’s digital trail, David said God knows where we are in relation to Him. In Psalm 139, he addressed a prayer to God, the One who alone can search and examine what’s going on inside of us (v. 1). David wrote, “Search me, God, and know my heart” (v. 23). He knows everything about us (vv. 2–6), is present everywhere (vv. 7–12), and “created [our] inmost being” (vv. 13–16). His thoughts are higher than our human understanding (vv. 17–18), and He’s even with us as we face our enemies (vv. 19–22). Because God is all-knowing, ever-present, and all-powerful, he knows exactly where we’ve been, what we’ve been doing, and what we’re made of. But He’s also a loving Father who will help us walk in His ways. Let’s follow Him down the trail of life today.