2) Our Daily Bread for 3 May 2023 titled

Love That Goes the Distance by James Banks



Deuteronomy 11:13-21



13 (Dt 4:29; 6:17) It will be, if you will diligently obey My commandments

which I am commanding you today, to love the Lord your God,

and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,

14 (Lev 26:4; Dt 28:12) then I will give you the rain of your land

in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather

in your grain and your wine and your oil.

15 (Dt 6:11; Ps 104:14) I will provide grass in your fields for your

livestock, that you may eat and be full.

16 (Job 31:27; Dt 8:19) Take heed to yourselves that your heart

be not deceived, and you turn away and serve other gods and worship them.

17 (Dt 4:26; 6:15) Then the Lord's wrath will be inflamed against you,

and He will shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain

and the land will not yield its fruit, and you will quickly perish

from the good land which the Lord is giving you.

18 (Ex 13:9; 13:16) Therefore you must fix these words of mine

in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand,

so that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.

19 (Dt 4:9-10; 6:7) You shall teach them to your children, speaking

of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way,

when you lie down, and when you rise up.

20 (Dt 6:9) You shall write them on the doorposts of your house

and on your gates,

21 (Ps 72:5; Pr 3:2) so that your days and the days of your children

may be multiplied in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers

to give them, as long as the days of heaven on the earth.



[13] And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my

commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to

serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,

[14] That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first

rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine,

and thine oil.

[15] And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest

eat and be full.

[16] Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn

aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;

[17] And then the LORD's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the

heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and

lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.

[18] Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your

soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets

between your eyes.

[19] And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou

sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest

down, and when thou risest up.

[20] And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon

thy gates:

[21] That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the

land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of

heaven upon the earth.



"We wave until they're out of sight. It's a way of showing that we love them."

Those words from my mother when I was a boy explained a habit she and my

father had when a family member left our home after a visit. Mom and Dad stood

outside and waved to the ones leaving until they disappeared in the distance.

Sometimes they stood there for a long time, but that didn't matter.

When I left home myself, I understood why.



Seeing them waving in the rearview mirror touched my heart, and I felt loved

and cared for. I still say goodbye to our family visitors that way to show

love for them. It's a habit I hope my children will continue.



Another way we can express love for our families is to communicate God's love

shared in Scripture. As the Israelites prepared to cross the Jordan into the

promised land, God taught them with these instructions for life:

"Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds. . . . Teach them to your

children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the

road, when you lie down and when you get up" (Deuteronomy 11:18-19).



These are words that would one day find fulfillment in the perfect love of

Jesus, who promised, "I am with you always" (Matthew 28:20). As we share His

truth and kindness, we can trust that His love is able to overcome

every distance.



Reflect & Pray



Whom can you encourage with God's wisdom and truth today?

In what ways will you show them His love?



Please help me, dear Father, to share Your

love and truth with others today so they may

believe and walk with You always.



3) Daily verses taken from Billy Graham Evangelical Organisation



Words in Season Scripture Memory Tools



Week 2 - Saved by Grace - Day 1 - Sin Universal



Romans 3:23-24



23 (Ro 3:9) For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,

24 (Ro 4:16; Col 1:14) being justified freely by His grace

through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,



23 for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

24 being justified freely by his grace through the redemption

that is in Christ Jesus:



A distinguished middle-aged man stood trembling before his church

to give his testimony. Years before, in the grip of a mental illness

that nearly destroyed his life, he had taken the life of his own daughter

and tried to kill himself. But he did not die; tried and convicted, he

spent years in prison, and even longer in the prison of his own guilt.

After the service, a young woman walked up to him and simply said,

"Thank you for sharing. I've sinned, too."

We've all sinned, too - lest we forget or rationalise, the Bible reminds

us in no uncertain terms. And the writer of these verses was no stranger

to sin: he was the Pharisee, the holier-than-thou religious leader

who officiated at the stoning death of Stephen. He was the Jew who had

scattered and killed the followers of this heretic called Christ. He

thought he was righteous while he murdered God's people.

Christians tends to establish a "hierarchy" of sin - sexual sin is "worse"

than pride: murder is "more horrible" than slander. Yet the Bible gives

no indication that god acknowledges our hierarchy. Sin is sin; all have

sinned, and if we are guilty at one point, we are guilty of all.

Rather than rationalise our individual sins as being "less bad"

than someone else's, we need to openly confess our dilemma as sinners

and turn to God for his remedy. We cannot and do not need to earn or

deserve that grace - it is a gift from God.



Application



a) Have I ever compared my sin with someone else's in order

to make myself fell like a better person? Why is such

comparison not a valid remedy for sin?



b) Why do I need to acknowledge my sin honestly before I can

receive justification?



4) From Prosperity Promises - Kenneth Copeland



Luke 6:38



38 "Give, and it will be given to you: Good measure, pressed down,

shaken together, and running over will men give unto you.

For with the measure you use, it will be measured unto you."



38 give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down,

and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For

with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.



5) From a Book called God's Promises for you:



When you are Burdened by Doubt



Proverbs 30:5



5 Every word of God is pure;

He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.



5 Every word of God is pure:

He is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.



Remember God's promises when You pray



The Lord's prayer



Matthew 6:9-13



9 "Therefore pray in this manner:

Our Father who is in heaven,

hallowed be Your name.

10 (Mt 3:2; 4:17) Your kingdom come;

Your will be done

on earth, as it is in heaven.

11 (Pr 30:8; Isa 33:16) Give us this day our daily bread.

12 (Ex 34:7; Ps 32:1) And forgive us our debts,

as we forgive our debtors.

13 (1Co 10:13; Jn 17:15) And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."



9 After this manner therefore pray ye:

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.