OUR DAILY BREAD 20 JUNE 2024 DEVOTIONAL, THURSDAY ODB MESSAGE
TOPIC: New and Certain
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE: Lamentations 3:19-26
Read Our Daily Bread 20 June 2024 Devotional MESSAGE: For three years, apart from household necessities, Susan didn’t buy anything for herself. The Covid-19 pandemic affected my friend’s income, and she embraced a simple lifestyle. “One day, while cleaning my apartment, I noticed how shabby and faded my things looked,” she shared. “That’s when I started to miss having new things—the sense of freshness and excitement. My surroundings seemed tired and stale. I felt as if there was nothing to look forward to.”
Susan found encouragement in an unlikely book in the Bible. Written by Jeremiah after Jerusalem fell to Babylon, Lamentations describes the open wound of grief suffered by the prophet and the people. In the midst of grief’s despair, however, lies sure ground for hope─God’s love. “His compassions never fail,” Jeremiah wrote. “They are new every morning” (3:22-23).
Susan was reminded that God’s deep love relentlessly breaks through anew each day. When circumstances make us feel there’s no longer anything to look forward to, we can call to mind His faithfulness and look forward to how He’ll provide for us. We can confidently hope in God, knowing our hoping is never in vain (vv. 24-25) because it’s secured in His steadfast love and compassion.
“God’s love is my ‘something new’ each day,” Susan says. “I can look ahead with hope.”
TODAY’S INSIGHT
Lamentations is one of the darkest books in the Bible; it’s Jeremiah’s heart cry for his violated nation. But here, at the center point of his poem, we find real hope. “The Lord’s . . . compassions never fail” (3:22). The book also concludes in hope, yet we still sense Jeremiah’s doubt. He proclaims, “You, Lord, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation” (5:19).
That’s how we might expect the book to end—in ultimate triumph. The prophet, however, asks God a pair of haunting questions: “Why do you always forget us? Why do you forsake us so long?” (v. 20). Although he asks God to “restore us to yourself” (v. 21), he doesn’t do so with unwavering confidence. Rather, he adds this caveat: “unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure” (v. 22). Jeremiah is a prophet who struggled mightily with the tragedy he saw.
BIBLE IN A YEAR: Esther 1-2; Acts 5:1-21
REFLECT & PRAY
When have you felt unable to see any hope in your situation? How does the promise of God’s love as “new every morning” give you hope?
Thank You, dear God, because each day brings with it Your certain, steadfast love.
Our Daily Bread 20 June 2024 Devotional, Thursday ODB Message. Our Daily Bread Ministries (ODB) is a Christian organization founded by Dr. Martin De Haan in 1938. It is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with over 600 employees. It produces several devotional publications, including Our Daily Bread. our daily bread devotional for today audio our daily bread booklet.
READ MORE TOPICS: OPEN HEAVENS, OUR DAILY BREAD, IN TOUCH, SEEDS OF DESTINY, STREAMS OF JOY, JOEL OSTEEN, MOUNTAIN TOP LIFE, DCLM DAILY MANNA, UCB WORD FOR TODAY