July 19, 2026: The God Who Saves – Our Daily Bread Devotional, Sunday ODB Daily Reading Message
The God Who Saves
Amy Boucher Pye
KEY VERSE: When Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. Daniel 6:23
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Daniel 6:16-23
READ OUR DAILY BREAD 19 JULY 2026 MESSAGE:
Sentenced to life in prison, Vic shared with friends his sense of longing. When they said that Jesus would fill the empty spaces in Vic’s life, he mocked their statements. To Vic, Jesus being a man who died yet still lived today seemed fantastical. Although skeptical, sometime later he began listening to a Christian radio station and even reading the Bible. Eventually he asked God to reveal Himself to him.
Vic’s anxieties and fears began to fade. He reflected, “Physically, I was incarcerated in a prison with two massive cage-like fences keeping me in, but mentally I was free and protected like Daniel when he was in the den with the lions.” Shortly thereafter, he received Jesus as his Savior.
Vic read the Old Testament story of Daniel, an exile from Judah who was thrown into a den with lions. Daniel had refused to stop praying to God three times a day, even when the king signed an edict disallowing all prayer for thirty days except to himself (Daniel 6:6-10). The king was “greatly distressed” and regretted having to punish him with a certain death by the lions (vv. 14, 16). But God, revealing His power and authority, kept Daniel safe, and “the king was overjoyed” (v. 23).
Whatever our circumstances, including great hardship, God never leaves us. We need only to turn to Him.
REFLECT & PRAY
How can you find safety and security in God? How can you look to Him for help and strength today?
Freeing God, thank You for canceling my debt of sin through the death of Your Son, Jesus. I look to You for my salvation.
INSIGHT FOR TODAY
When King Darius signed a decree that anyone who prayed to someone other than himself would be tossed into the lions’ den (Daniel 6:7), he was commanding a sentence of trial by ordeal—an ancient Near Eastern practice designed to put someone accused of a crime into a dangerous situation. If the person survived, it was seen as proof of their innocence because it would’ve taken divine intervention to save them. When the king realized his decree would condemn Daniel, he couldn’t reverse it since Persian law was irrevocable (vv. 8, 12, 15). Daniel’s survival proved both his innocence of wrongdoing and God’s presence with him, which meant he could legally walk free (vv. 21-22). God’s presence with Daniel reminds us today that no matter our circumstances, He’ll never leave us.
BIBLE IN A YEAR
Psalms 23:1-25:22; Acts 21:18-40
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.