Love’s Greatest Gift

Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

The reading for today title love's greatest gift was written by James Banks. My son Jeff was leaving the store when he saw an abandoned walking frame. A mobility aid on the ground. I hope there isn't a person back there. Who needs help, he thought. He glanced behind the building and found a homeless man unconscious on the pavement. Jeff roused him and asked him if he was okay. I'm trying to drink myself to death.

He responded my tent broken a storm and I lost everything. I don't want to live. Jeff called a Christian rehabilitation ministry and while they waited for help.

He ran home briefly and brought the man his own camping tent. What's your name Jeff asked Jeffrey the homeless man answered with a G Jeff had mentioned his own name, or its uncommon spelling, which also started with the G dad. He told me later that could've been me. Jeff once struggled with substance abuse himself and he helped the man because of the kindness that he'd received from God. Isaiah the prophet used these words to anticipate God's mercy to us in Jesus. We all, like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Christ our Savior didn't leave us lost, alone and hopeless and despair. He chose to identify with us and lift us in love so that we may be set free to live a new and him there's no greater gift.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional Scripture reading is taken from the Old Testament book of Isaiah chapter 53 verses one through six, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed.

He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering and familiar with pain like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities the punishment that brought us peace was on him and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Now would you pray with me or Jesus, thank you so much for coming to rescue us in our lost and broken states and thank you that you have given us the ministry of reconciliation to join you in your search and rescue mission to seek and to save those that are lost, open our eyes to those that are in need today and give us your courage and boldness to share your love with them and it's in the name of Jesus Christ that we pray. Amen thank you so much for listening.

My name is Wes Ward and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread ministries