Our Daily Bread

Simply trust. This is one of the most difficult concepts to communicate to non-Christians. They have a hard time understanding that they can’t do anything to earn God’s favor. Jesus paid the penalty for all their sins when He died on the cross. To receive God’s forgiveness and eternal life, and to have a right relationship with Him, all we need to do is cast ourselves on His mercy and trust Him to save us. The apostle Paul put it this way: “To him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness” (Romans 4:5).

French scientists have succeeded in causing chickens to sound like quail. Researchers took tissue from the part of the Japanese quail brain thought to control the bird’s call, and they implanted it in the brains of five chicken embryos. The experiment worked. Researchers say the hatched chicks sounded like quail.

The comment from Joe, my son’s tennis coach, surprised me. We had just talked about which group of tennis players Steve should practice with, and Joe must have sensed my concern for doing the right thing for my son. Realizing that this was just one small decision I had to make as I tried to guide him, Joe said, “Being a parent must be really hard work.”

When the people in Colorado Springs, Colorado, learned that Jed Jackson, a popular local TV sportscaster, was losing his battle with cancer, they sent thousands of e-mails, letters, and cards to him. In response to the outpouring of encouragement, Jed wrote an article that was printed on the front page of the newspaper the day after his death. In it he said:

What is God’s goal for your life? Author Max Lucado summarizes it this way: “God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be just like Jesus.” This involves change, but we often believe it’s not possible. We say, “I’ve always worried,” or “I’ve always felt angry—I’m just that way.” Yet Paul said in Romans 8:29 that God’s purpose is to make us like Jesus. So what hinders this process?

I was enjoying a concert by a singing group when I noticed what was happening in the front rows of the auditorium. A sign-language interpreter was gracefully communicating the words of each song to about 25 people who were deaf.

Some say that life is like the flickering flame of a candle. When the flame is snuffed out, the light is gone forever. They believe that when we breathe our last breath, we are totally extinguished—as if we had never been!

After spending millions of dollars in a 40-year project, scientists have still made no contact with extraterrestrial beings. But their search continues. Robert Jastrow, director of the Mount Wilson Institute, says that he expects to find “beings superior to us . . . , not only technically, but perhaps spiritually and morally.”

It was an unexpected provision in a time of need. The prophet Elisha, like others in Israel, was hard-pressed by the famine. But the prophet determined that he must share with other needy Israelites the 20 loaves of barley bread he had just received (2 Kings 4:42-44). Elisha’s servant questioned the wisdom of setting the food before 100 hungry men, for there was not enough to go around.

One of England’s most admired heroes, General Charles Gordon (1833-1885), was a devout Christian. Unconcerned about status and wealth, he was passionately ambitious to do God’s will. Gordon desired to serve the Lord faithfully, whether it was a big responsibility or a small, unnoticed task.