Our Daily Bread – September 2, 2025 Devotional: See What God Has Done

OUR DAY BREAD DEVOTIONAL – SEPTEMBER 2, 2025 – TUESDAY ODB MESSAGE

TOPIC: See What God Has Done

Bible in a Year: Psalms 137-139; 1 Corinthians 13

Key Verse: Suddenly a light from heaven flashed around [Saul]. He fell to the ground and heard a voice. – Acts 9:3-4

Today’s Scripture
Acts 9:1-6, 8, 10-12, 15 (GNT)

1 In the meantime Saul kept up his violent threats of murder against the followers of the Lord. He went to the High Priest 2 and asked for letters of introduction to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he should find there any followers of the Way of the Lord, he would be able to arrest them, both men and women, and bring them back to Jerusalem.

3 As Saul was coming near the city of Damascus, suddenly a light from the sky flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute me?”

5 “Who are you, Lord?” he asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you persecute,” the voice said. 6 “But get up and go into the city, where you will be told what you must do.”

⁸ Saul got up from the ground and opened his eyes, but could not see a thing. So they took him by the hand and led him into Damascus.

¹⁰ There was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. He had a vision, in which the Lord said to him, “Ananias!”

“Here I am, Lord,” he answered.

¹¹ The Lord said to him, “Get ready and go to Straight Street, and at the house of Judas ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying, ¹² and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come in and place his hands on him so that he might see again.”

¹⁵ The Lord said to him, “Go, because I have chosen him to serve me, to make my name known to Gentiles and kings and to the people of Israel.

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Insight By: Tim Gustafson
The book of Acts contains three accounts of Saul’s conversion: 9:1-19; 22:3-16; and 26:9-18. Saul (later called Paul) made “murderous threats” (9:1) against those who “belonged to the Way” of Christ (v. 2). The second and third times we read of his conversion, Paul is giving testimony of how he turned to Christ. He admitted, “I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death” (22:4). The apostle would’ve continued in the way of opposition to Christ had not Jesus intervened (9:3-5) and led him in a different direction. At times, God will also lead us in a different direction for our good and His honor.

Our Daily Bread – September 2, 2025 Devotional MESSAGE

Morse was the son of a Protestant minister and a struggling painter of landscapes. In the 1820s, he made a meager living as a limner—“an itinerant painter” of colonial America. But his was a life God led in another direction. Morse also had an interest in science. He learned about electromagnets, conceiving an idea that would change the world. In 1832, Samuel F. B. Morse conceived the idea of an electric telegraph and later went on to make the first working telegraph.

Probably the most dramatic biblical account of “career change” was that of Saul, who was “breathing out murderous threats” against believers in Christ (Acts 9:1). Jesus appeared to him in a great light (v. 3) saying that Saul was persecuting Him. Essentially, Saul was told to stop because he was under new orders now (v. 6). Saul did a U-turn in his life and assumed a new identity in Christ as the apostle who would eventually spread the gospel wherever he went.

Sometimes what we think is our future really isn’t. God leads us in another direction. Perhaps He needs to call us out of our sin. Or maybe it’s a change of ministry or vocation. When God redirects our lives, we do well to stop what we’re doing and follow our new orders. And as our new path opens before us, we might just echo the joy of the first dot-and-dash message of Morse’s telegraph: “What hath God wrought!” (Message By: Kenneth Petersen)

Reflect & Pray
How has God led your life in a different direction? What word has He given you today to encourage others?

Dear God, please help me be open to Your leading as You guide my path and career in this current season.

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.