Our Daily Bread Devotional 4th March 2024 Monday ODB Message
Our Daily Bread Devotional 4th March 2024 TOPIC: Jesus Dwells Within
BIBLE IN A YEAR: Numbers 31–33; Mark 9:1–29
KEY VERSE: Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. Ephesians 3:17, New Living Translation
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 3:14-20
14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,[a] 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.[b] 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.
17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.
19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
Our Daily Bread Devotional 4th March 2024 Insight By Arthur Jackson
The word dwell in Ephesians 3:17 is a translation of the word katoikeō. Literally, the word means “to settle down in a dwelling, to dwell fixedly in a place.” Twice in Colossians Paul used this word to emphasize the deity and supremacy of Jesus: “God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him” (1:19); “In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (2:9).
Christ Himself, through His Spirit, makes His home in us (Romans 8:9, 11; Ephesians 3:17), and the implications of Him residing in each member of His body are significant. Believers in Jesus are to conduct their lives in a manner that acknowledges and respects the residency of a “houseguest” like no other. “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you . . . ?” Paul says. “Therefore honor God with your bodies” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
Our Daily Bread Devotional Monday 4th March 2024 MESSAGE
As a blizzard bore down on my state in the western United States, my widowed mother agreed to stay with my family to “ride out” the storm. After the blizzard, however, she never returned to her house. She moved in, dwelling with us for the rest of her life. Her presence changed our household in many positive ways. She was available daily to provide wisdom, advice to family members, and share ancestral stories. She and my husband became the best of friends, sharing a similar sense of humor and love of sports. No longer a visitor, she was a permanent and vital resident—forever changing our hearts even after God called her home.
The experience recalls John’s description of Jesus—that He “dwelt among us” (John 1:14 kjv). It’s a compelling description because in the original Greek the word dwelt means “to pitch a tent.” Another translation says, He “made his home among us” (nlt).
By faith, we also receive Jesus as the One who dwells in our hearts. As Paul wrote, “I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong” (Ephesians 3:16–17 nlt).
Not a casual visitor, Jesus is an empowering permanent resident of all who follow Him. May we open wide the doors of our hearts and welcome Him. (ODB Devotional Message By: Patricia Raybon)
REFLECT: What does it mean for you to open your heart to Christ? How can you make Him more welcome?
PRAY: As You live in my heart, loving Jesus, make me more like You.
Our Daily Bread 4th March 2024 Monday 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