TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Jeremiah 37–39; 2 John One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on the Daily Radio Bible, a daily Bible‑in‑a‑year podcast with 20‑minute Scripture readings, Christ‑centered devotion, and guided...
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One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on the Daily Radio Bible, a daily Bible‑in‑a‑year podcast with 20‑minute Scripture readings, Christ‑centered devotion, and guided prayer.This daily Bible reading and devotional invites you to live as a citizen of Jesus’ kingdom, reconciled, renewed, and deeply loved.
TODAY'S EPISODE:
Welcome to the Daily Radio Bible! On this August 25th episode, Hunter leads us through Jeremiah 37–39 and the letter of 2 John.
In Jeremiah, Jerusalem is surrounded by the Babylonian army while King Zedekiah struggles between fear, pride, and the truth God speaks through the prophet. Although Zedekiah repeatedly seeks Jeremiah’s counsel, he remains unwilling to trust and obey what he hears. His fear of others and his desire to preserve his position eventually cost him his freedom, his kingdom, and even his sight.
Then, in 2 John, we hear an invitation to walk in truth and love. John reminds us that the life of Christ is not shaped by fear, pride, or anxious control, but by remaining rooted in the love and teaching of Jesus.
Today’s devotion invites us to examine the voices guiding our lives. Pride and fear can leave us spiritually blind and imprisoned, but the love of God opens our eyes, frees our hearts, and enables us to walk in mercy, grace, and truth.
TODAY'S DEVOTION:
Blinded by pride and fear, Zedekiah’s fate stands as a stark warning for us all.
He could not hear or see the word of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah. Instead, he clung tightly to his own life, his position, and his fears. In the end, everything he was so desperate to avoid came to pass. His city fell, his freedom was taken, and his eyes were put out. He became a prisoner and was led away to Babylon, just as Jeremiah had faithfully warned him.
Pride and fear make harsh and cruel masters.
Zedekiah’s story is one of gradually yielding himself to their grip. Again and again, he hears the truth, but he cannot bring himself to trust it. He wants Jeremiah’s counsel, but he is afraid of what others will think. He wants deliverance, but he is unwilling to surrender control. He wants another outcome, but he cannot release the very things that are leading him toward destruction.
When pride and fear rule within us, we also begin to lose our sight.
We become prisoners of our own anxious striving, our need to control, our fear of being exposed, and our determination to be right. Pride tells us that we must preserve ourselves. Fear tells us that surrender is too dangerous.
Together, they can make us deaf to the voice of God and blind to the path of life that is directly in front of us.
But in today’s reading from 2 John, we hear another way.
It is a way marked by grace, mercy, truth, and love.
John invites us to remain in the teaching of Christ and to walk in love. He reminds us to be diligent so that we do not lose what we have received. This is not a call to anxious religious striving. It is an invitation to remain rooted in the profound love God has for us and to let that love shape every step we take.
It is in God’s love that we find sight.
It is in God’s love that we find freedom.
It is in God’s love that we discover the truth about God, ourselves, and one another.
As we root ourselves in the gospel, release our fears, and let go of our pride, we are freed from the blindness that once held us captive. We begin to see more clearly. We taste a deeper freedom. We become capable of receiving and sharing the love of Christ.
Zedekiah clung tightly to his position and lost everything.
Jesus shows us another way. He empties himself, gives himself away, and reveals that true life is found not in grasping but in surrender, not in control but in trust, and not in pride but in self-giving love.
So what voice will guide you today?
Will it be fear?
Will it be pride?
Or will it be the voice of the One who is grace, mercy, truth, and love?
May we recognize and reject the voices of pride and fear in our lives. May we walk in God’s love, see with clear eyes, and experience the fullness of mercy and grace that is ours in Christ.
That’s the prayer I have for my own soul. That’s the prayer I have for my family, for my wife, my daughters, and my son. And that’s the prayer I have for you.
May it be so.
TODAY'S PRAYERS:
Lord God Almighty and everlasting father you have brought us in safety to this new day preserve us with your Mighty power that we might not fall into sin or be overcome by adversity. And in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen.
Oh God you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth and sent your blessed son to preach peace to those who are far and those who are near. Grant that people everywhere may seek after you, and find you. Bring the nations into your fold, pour out your Spirit on all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
And now Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. And where there is sadness, Joy. Oh Lord grant that I might not seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in the giving that we receive, in the pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in the dying that we are born unto eternal life. Amen
And now as our Lord has taught us we are bold to pray...
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not unto temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Loving God, we give you thanks for restoring us in your image. And nourishing us with spiritual food, now send us forth as forgiven people, healed and renewed, that we may proclaim your love to the world, and continue in the risen life of Christ. Amen.
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