Our Daily Bread Podcast | Our Daily Bread

In the dimly lit restaurant, our waitress quietly took our orders with a solemn expression. But then a customer kindly gave her a writing pen that had a little flashlight built into it. He told her it was so she could “see in the dark.”

Her face lit up and her demeanor changed to reflect joy. It was evident that she as delighted by the gift—clicking the light off and on. When she left our tables, the man smiled as he whispered to me: “I think she brightened up when I gave her the pen. It made her...

As a landscape photographer, I’m drawn to photos I find online. Recently I came across “10 of the Most Breathtaking Places in the U.S.” A photo of a geothermal spring depicts a massive basin of multi-colored luminescence.  A snapshot of the Hoh Rain Forest shows a dense mossy forest that looks like something straight out of “The Hobbit.” A stunning picture taken in Monument Valley, Arizona, could be a panorama of Mars.

These awesome images make me think of our awesome God. In Psalm 68, David gushes about God’s majesty: “Sing to God . . . extol him who rides on the cl...

All summer long, the children in the house behind ours spend hours swinging on their swing set. Their noisy swing set. Its creaky noise doesn’t bother the children who seem, some days, to swing endlessly. Complaining, I asked my husband why their parents don’t oil the swing. Praying about it, however, I noticed a change in my heart. I could see the children’s laughter and joy bursting from the trust they find in their family’s yard, and in having parents within calling distance nearby.

Jesus spoke of such trust when speaking of children. People w...

“What a cruel act to be untruthful,” German theologian and monk Meister Eckhart once wrote in a poem that contrasts relationships built on trust and honesty with those damaged by lies. He described truthful, loving words as “wonderful spices mixed into the days.” But lies, he emphasized, are like earthquakes in the mind and poison to the soul: “Havoc is created in the mind that can no longer trust someone once loved . . . . a plague is spread by one who cannot tell the truth.”

The imagery of a plague spread by falsehoods might seem stark. But to take speech serio...

According to research, Gen Z can detect a false compliment from a mile away. While the intention might be kindness, the members of that generation value something deeper: genuine respect and honesty. Not looking to be flattered, they want to be believed in. When truth is spoken, they feel respected, taken seriously, and are challenged to grow. But this is likely true for most of us.

Psalm 141:5 gives voice to this wisdom. David wrote, “Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness; let him rebuke me.” In his prayer to God, he asked that he would...

Branden’s father was dying of cancer in his fifties. Wanting to help, Branden talked his parents into moving in with him so he could assist them. His dad loved the tropics but could no longer travel, so Branden got creative. He landscaped a pond behind his house, stocked it with fish, and installed a waterfall that tumbled over rocks. He trucked in three loads of beach sand, added banana trees, lights, and tiki torches, and built an awning for shade. His dad spent his last days enjoying a backyard island paradise.

Branden’s actions reflect the kind...

One April afternoon, millions gathered along a mapped arc across Mexico and the United States to witness a rare total solar eclipse. Schools released children, small towns blossomed to receive travelers, neighbors set up lawn chairs in driveways donning protective glasses to take in the wonder. As television crews documented the countdown to “totality,” the crowd grew silent except for one repeated phrase: “Oh my God!”

That struck me. I don’t know for certain why those observers chose that phrase in that moment, but I suspect that as mortals encountered the rare and the astonishing, they seemed to...

I’ve heard it said, “We can’t make our children believe. We can only give our children reason to believe what we believe.” That’s a wise observation—but how do we do it?

Of all people to take parenting advice from, the apostle Paul is seldom the first choice. It’s likely that he had no children. Parents prefer to hear from someone who’s been-there-done-that, someone who knows about sleepless infants, the storms of puberty, and how it feels to pray for a prodigal. Yet Paul has something to teach us here.

Paul had been on...

My friend José was in hospice care, dying. He’d been alert and talkative during my prior visit but a week later was now frail and speechless. I sat with José and his family anyway, hoping my presence would mean something to them. At the end of what would be my final visit, I was the last one in the room with him. I finally stood and slowly headed to the door but stopped and turned around one last time to say, “Love you,” not expecting a response. There I saw José moving his lips. He was mouthing the words “lo...

I recently traveled to Los Angeles and had to rent a car. Soon, I was driving through narrow downtown lanes, full of traffic and people. I found myself driving very carefully, slower than normal. Why? Well, I didn’t want to have an accident. But I really didn’t want to damage my rental car. It wasn’t mine, after all. I was just, well, borrowing it.

Most of the time, we’d rather be owners than renters. But, as I drove, I couldn’t help but think that renting that car illustrated something important about my relationsh...

Because of his father’s alcoholism and mistreatment of his mother, Pablo left home when he was a teenager. He moved in with an uncle, graduated high school, married, and had three children. But sadly, Pablo began repeating the same destructive behavior he’d once fled. His own alcohol addiction and behavior began to tear his family apart. Soon, it was all gone—his marriage, family, job, and home. “My life was terrible, and it got worse,” he said.

Finally, he turned to a treatment facility for help. “I was in bad shape, and God opened the door for me...

The film A Hidden Life tells the true story of Austrian farmer Franz Jägerstätter during World War II. Sickened by Nazi atrocities and believing only Jesus is Lord, Franz refuses to swear allegiance to Hitler and is arrested. The rest of the film shows the anguish this brave stand brings him.

Franz’s village treats him with contempt for opposing Hitler’s agenda. Cellmates ridicule his faith, and even some priests think he’s being foolish. “God doesn’t care what you say, only what’s in your heart,” one person says, tempting Franz to “hail” Hitler witho...

During basketball practice, Enrique’s dad asked him and his friend to show the team how to pass the ball correctly. Enrique had practiced for weeks but feared messing up. He prayed, completed the drill, and said, “Thank You, Lord!” Later, his dad said, “I’m proud of you for working hard, Son. But I’m prouder that you prayed and praised God.” Enrique shrugged and said, “I just did what you do.”

Throughout history, God has worked through healthy cross-generational relationships. Sharing His decrees and laws with the Israelites, He said not to add to them nor subtract from...

Before he became famous, the Mongolian warlord Genghis Khan (c. 1162-1227) killed his own half-brother to advance his position in the family. As he solidified his power, he began to build an empire more expansive than Alexander the Great’s, stretching from Asia’s Pacific coast to Eastern Europe. Ruthless in his tactics, the khan and his “Golden Horde” left a trail of death and destruction everywhere they advanced. His devastating military forays are unparalleled in recorded history.

Today we face a vicious foe even more intimidating than a marauding army—an enemy who wants to conquer and devast...

Archaeologist Jodi Magness and her team have been excavating a synagogue in the ancient village of Huqoq in Lower Galilee where they’ve found an incredible collection of mosaics, paintings, and carvings. Particularly rare, however, is a mosaic telling the biblical story of Deborah and her role in Israel’s battle against the Canaanites; there’s no other known ancient depiction of this heroine.

During twenty years of oppression by Canaan, Deborah, a prophetess, “was leading Israel” (Judges 4:4). At God’s prompting, Deborah urged Israel’s general Barak to mount an attack on the Canaanite forces and their commander...