OUR DAILY BREAD DEVOTIONAL READING MAY 15, 2025, THURSDAY ODB MESSAGE
Our Daily Bread Thursday 15th May 2025 Devotional TOPIC: Such Glorious Knowledge
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Kings 22-23; John 4:31-54
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KEY VERSE: But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. – 2 Corinthians 12:9
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
2 Corinthians 12:1-10
1 It is [a]doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord: 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—
4 how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. 5 Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities. 6 For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me.
7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to [b]buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
INSIGHT FOR TODAY
Paul doesn’t explicitly name what “thorn” (2 Corinthians 12:7) plagued him, but we know it caused distress, even though it didn’t prevent him from preaching and traveling. New Testament scholar Ben Witherington III has argued that an eye disease is a plausible candidate for what afflicted him. In Galatians 4:13-15, Paul describes the onset of an illness that the Galatians responded to with such kindness that, if they could, they “would have torn out [their] eyes and given them to [him]” (v. 15). Whatever his condition was, he experienced “Christ’s power” through his weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). By God’s grace, we can do the same.
Our Daily Bread Thursday 15th May 2025 Devotional MESSAGE
Medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas endured much to dedicate himself to a life of seeking God. His family imprisoned him for a year in an attempt to discourage him from joining the Dominican Order, a monastic group dedicated to a life of simplicity, study, and preaching. After a lifetime of studying Scripture and creation, and writing nearly one hundred volumes, Aquinas had such an intense experience of God that he wrote, “I can no longer write, for God has given me such glorious knowledge that all contained in my works are as straw.” He died only three months later.
The apostle Paul also described an experience from God so overwhelming that it was impossible to put into words, when he was “caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell” (2 Corinthians 12:4). “Because of these surpassingly great revelations,” Paul was given an unidentified “thorn in [his] flesh” (v. 7) to keep him humble and reliant on God. He was told, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (v. 9).
The more we understand about God, the more we understand how impossible it is for us to capture who He is in words. Yet in our weakness and in our loss for what to say, Christ’s grace and beauty shines clearly through.
REFLECT: What experiences from God do you find impossible to put into words? How have these experiences changed you?
PRAY: Thank You, God, for Your beauty and the way it changes me. Please help me humbly rest in You.
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. (Our Daily Bread 15th May 2025 Devotional)