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DAILY BREAD

I will be adding  a new daily bread devotion every now and then so please
check back often to read all of them.  I pray these will encourage you
as they do me.  If you wish to receive a booklet of Our Daily Bread in your mailbox for free please follow the link on the left to RBC Ministries.



 LOVE LISTENS

READ: PSALM 119:145-152


When we love others, we listen to them.  Sure, it takes time and effort to focus on them and hear what they are saying.  But when we do, it shows genuine concern and respect.  Author Wayne Alderson tells of a young minister who spent a lot of time listening to the problems of his chruch members.  One day he came home and said to his wife, "How did your day go?"  For a half-hour she told him about a problem wth the car, their son's earache, and the difficulties she had getting an appliance repaired.  The pastor immediately began to problem-solve, citing a list of things she should do.
But she just looked at him and sighed.  "I have already done all of that, "she said.  "I don't need you to solve my problems.  I just need you to be interested in what I've been through."  When the author of Psalm 119 pleaded, "Hear my voice according to Your lovingkindness" (v.149), he was expressing the truth that the God who loves us also listens to us.  Listening is a part of loving.
Listening to a wife, a husband, a fellow worker, or a Christian friend may be just what that person needs to be encouraged or to see a problem more clearly.  Go ahead and listen.  God Himself shows that love listens.  ---DCE

MY BURDEN IS NOW SO MUCH LIGHTER,
I'VE GLIMPSED THINGS I NEEDED TO SEE,
I HAVE A FRESH HOPE FOR TOMORROW--
               BECAUSE SOMEONE LISTENED TO ME.   ---EGNER

LISTENING MAY BE THE MOST LOVING THING YOU DO TODAY.







 HOW WILL MY WORRY LOOK?

READ: LUKE 12:22-34

Hans Christian Anderson, author of such well-known fairy tales as "The Emperor's New Clothes," had a phobia of being buried alive.  As a result, he always carried a note in his pocket telling anyone who might find him unconscious not to assume he was dead.  He often left another note on his bedside table stating, "I only seem dead."  Such was his anxiety until he finally succumbed to cancer in 1875.
We may think such a fear is strange, but do we have fears that will someday look just as irrational?  Is it possible that the day will come when we look back and marvel at our own anxieties?  Will we one day wonder at the foolish person who chose to worry rather than to pray?  Will time eventually cast us as a pitiful person who was plagued by fear because we did not face life with the resources lavished on us by the Almighty Lord of the universe?
Worrying doesn't change anything.  But trusting the Lord changes everything about the way we view life.  Forgive us, Lord, for our inclination to worry.  Help us to see how foolish it is for us to worry about what You have promised to provide.  Don't let us bury ourselves alive with fears.  ----MRD II

A STRATEGY FOR WINNING OVER WORRY

IDENTIFY SPECIFIC WORRIES.
WORK TO CHANGE WHAT YOU CAN.
LEAVE WHAT YOU CAN'T CHANGE WITH GOD.

WHEN WE PUT OUR CARES IN GOD'S HANDS,
HE PUTS HIS PEACE IN OUR HEARTS.







 SUNSHINE FOR YOUR SOUL

READ: PSALM 84

Many people feel cheerful in fair weather, bu they are depressed when skies are gray.  The travel industry thrives on this fact by luring millions of people to brighter climates.  There's nothing wrong with enjoying the sun and its many benifits.  But if we rely on good weather to maintain our good cheer, the climate of our inner world will be as changeable as the weather.
This was my condition before I became a Christian while in my teens.  Each morning I would check out the weather.  If it was bright, I felt happy; if it was gloomy, so was I.  One night I realized I needed Jesus.  Kneeling by my bed, I accepted His forgiveness for my sins and invited Him into my life.  The next morning I forgot to check the weather!  It simply didn't matter anymore.  The "Sun of Righteousness" had risen in my heart (Malachi 4:2) and had replaced my fickle source of happiness with Himself.
Sonce then, my personal world has known some dark times, but the Lord has been my constant "sun and shield" (Psalm 84:11).  I still prefer sunny days, but I'm no longer a "sun-worshiper."  Instead, I'm a worshiper of God's Son who shines brightly within me--whatever the weather.
Which kind of worshiper are you?  ----JEY

THERE IS SUNSHINE IN MY SOUL TODAY
MORE GLORIOUS AND BRIGHT
THAN GLOWS IN ANY EARTHLY SKY
FOR JESUS IS MY LIGHT.  ---HEWITT

LASTING HAPPINESS DOESN'T COME FROM SUNNY DAYS
BUT FROM THE SON GOD.