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Audible TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Ezra 4; Psalms 113 & 127; Luke 9 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...
Key Takeaways
- In Ezra 4, the returning exiles face intense opposition and resistance while attempting to rebuild the temple, causing the work to eventually halt.
- Psalm 127 reminds us that human effort is futile without God's guidance, declaring that unless the Lord builds the house, the builders' work is wasted.
- Jesus challenges the world's pursuit of accumulation and success in Luke 9, inviting His followers to embrace the way of the cross.
- Embracing the way of the cross means letting go of our own self-protection and finding true, abundant resurrection life by giving our lives away.
- True freedom in Christ means we are no longer bound by the world's siren songs of achievement and status, but are instead free to love, serve, and give.
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- TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Ezra 4; Psalms 113 & 127; Luke 9
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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. Today is September 26th, and our readings are Ezra 4, Psalms 113 and 127, and Luke 9.
Ezra tells us that the work of rebuilding has run into opposition. God's people have returned from exile and begun rebuilding the temple, but now resistance comes. The work becomes difficult, and eventually it comes to a halt.
Psalm 113 reminds us that God lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump.
Then Psalm 127 gives us an important word about all our building:
“Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted.”
And then we come to Luke 9.
Jesus sends the twelve out with very little to rely upon except God. He feeds a hungry multitude. Peter declares that Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is transfigured before his disciples.
But running through it all is a surprising description of what it means to follow him.
“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.”
Jesus is showing us another kind of life.
The world tells us to acquire, achieve, protect, and succeed.
Jesus says there is another way.
We find our lives by giving them away.
TODAY’S DEVOTION
Losing to Gain: The Way of the Cross
If you hang on to your life, making it about you, insisting on your own way, Jesus says you will eventually lose the very thing you're trying so hard to save.
That's a strange word for us.
Because the world tells us almost exactly the opposite.
Hold on.
Build more.
Achieve more.
Become more important.
Protect what you've accumulated.
Win.
Success becomes one of the great siren songs of our world.
And if we're not careful, it can become the siren song of the church too.
Big bank accounts.
Big churches.
Big platforms.
Big egos.
We can baptize all of it and call it blessing.
But Jesus points in another direction.
He says:
“What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?”
You can gain everything and somehow lose yourself.
Then Jesus says that if we want to follow him, we must take up our cross daily.
That's not exactly a winning strategy by the world's standards.
People carrying crosses aren't climbing ladders.
They're dying.
And yet Jesus tells us that this is somehow the road to life.
That's the great paradox of the kingdom.
We find our lives by giving them away.
Jesus said elsewhere that unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone.
But when it dies, something happens.
Life emerges.
A harvest comes.
The life released in death becomes resurrection life.
And resurrection life is different from the power of the flesh.
The flesh has to protect itself.
Prove itself.
Advance itself.
Resurrection life is free.
Free to love.
Free to serve.
Free to give.
Free to lose without being lost.
Because our life is already hidden with Christ in God.
Psalm 127 says:
“Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted.”
That's a good word for me.
Because we can spend our whole lives building.
Building careers.
Building ministries.
Building reputations.
Building security.
Building an image of ourselves that we desperately hope everyone else will believe.
And Jesus asks:
What if you gained all of it?
What if you actually succeeded at everything the world told you mattered?
Would you have found life?
Jesus doesn't come merely to make us more successful at the world's game.
He comes to set us free from the game.
He comes to awaken us to the life that is already ours in him.
That's resurrection.
That's freedom.
That's abundance.
So maybe today we need to turn down the siren song of this world.
Turn down the voices telling us that our lives are measured by what we accumulate, accomplish, or prove.
And turn up the music of heaven.
Listen again to Jesus.
“Follow me.”
Follow me into the way of love.
Follow me into generosity.
Follow me into forgiveness.
Follow me into self-giving.
Follow me through the cross and into resurrection.
Because the life you're trying so hard to secure is already waiting for you in him.
Lose your life in his.
And discover that you haven't lost at all.
You've finally begun to live.
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 we turn away from the siren songs of this world and hear instead the song of our Lord and Christ:
“Follow me, and you will truly live.”
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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Frequently Asked Questions
What happens in Ezra 4 regarding the rebuilding of the temple?
In Ezra 4, God's people face growing opposition and resistance from adversaries after returning from exile, which eventually causes the work on the temple to come to a halt.
What is the meaning of the way of the cross in Luke 9?
The way of the cross is Jesus' invitation to deny our own self-centered desires, take up our cross daily, and follow Him, discovering that we find our true lives by giving them away rather than protecting them.
What does Psalm 127 teach us about building and success?
Psalm 127 teaches that human striving is ultimately wasted unless God is at the center, stating that 'unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted.'
How does resurrection life differ from the power of the flesh?
While the flesh constantly strives to protect, prove, and advance itself, resurrection life frees us to love, serve, and give without the burden of having to secure our own worth.
