Click here for the DRB Daily Sign Up form! TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Daniel 9–11; Psalm 123; Luke 5 Click HERE to give! 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 22nd, day 265 of our journey through the Scriptures, and there are just 100 days left in the year.
Our readings today are Daniel 9–11, Psalm 123, and Luke 5.
Daniel is carrying a tremendous weight. He looks back upon the ruins of his people and forward into visions of things he can barely comprehend. At one point, the sheer weight of it all leaves him without strength.
And then God meets him.
Daniel receives another touch.
“Don't be afraid,” he is told. “You are very precious to God. Peace! Be encouraged! Be strong!”
And Daniel says that as these words are spoken, his strength returns.
Psalm 123 gives us another picture of dependence. The psalmist lifts his eyes toward God, looking for mercy.
Then in Luke 5, people come to Jesus carrying their own burdens.
There are exhausted fishermen with empty nets.
There is a man covered with leprosy.
There is a paralyzed man whose friends carry him through a roof.
There is Levi, the tax collector, sitting at his booth.
Again and again, Jesus meets people where they are and gives them something they cannot manufacture for themselves.
Healing.
Forgiveness.
Calling.
Belonging.
Strength.
Maybe that's the invitation for us today.
We don't have to manufacture what we don't have.
We can open our hands and receive another touch.
TODAY'S DEVOTION:
He Gives Us a Second Touch Daniel was overwhelmed by what he saw.
The vision God had given him.
The enormity of what was behind him.
The uncertainty of what was ahead.
The ruins of the past.
The challenges of the present.
All of it left Daniel saying:
“My strength is gone. I can hardly breathe.”
Have you ever felt that way?
You look ahead at something that seems impossible.
Or maybe you look behind you at something painful, something broken, something you wish had gone differently.
And you feel paralyzed.
Frightened.
Unable to move.
Maybe you can hardly catch your breath.
If you've ever been there, you're not alone.
Daniel was there too.
But then something beautiful happens.
Daniel says:
“Then the one who looked like a man touched me again, and I felt my strength returning.”
He touched me again.
A second touch.
And then Daniel hears these words:
“Don't be afraid. You are very precious to God. Peace! Be encouraged! Be strong!”
And as Daniel listens, his strength returns.
I love that.
Daniel doesn't find the strength somewhere inside himself.
He doesn't grit his teeth and try harder.
He doesn't give himself a motivational speech.
Strength comes to him.
It is received.
God meets him in his weakness.
And maybe that's what some of us need today.
Another touch.
Maybe you've been walking with God for years.
Maybe you've experienced grace before.
Maybe you know what it is to be carried by love.
But today you're tired again.
That's okay.
Sometimes we need another touch.
Sometimes we need to hear again what we've heard before.
Don't be afraid.
You are precious to God.
Peace.
Be encouraged.
Be strong.
And when I turn to Luke 5, I see Jesus doing this everywhere he goes.
He meets Peter after a night of empty nets.
He touches the man with leprosy.
He speaks forgiveness to the paralyzed man.
He looks at Levi sitting at the tax collector's booth and says, “Follow me.”
Jesus keeps moving toward people.
Touching.
Healing.
Forgiving.
Calling.
Restoring.
Giving people what they cannot give themselves.
Maybe you need that today.
Maybe the road ahead looks daunting.
Maybe the road behind carries shame or regret.
Maybe you're simply tired.
Open your hands.
You don't have to manufacture strength.
You can receive it.
Let Jesus meet you where you are.
Let him touch the place that is tired.
Let him speak again:
Don't be afraid.
You are precious to God.
Peace.
Be encouraged.
Be strong.
And maybe your prayer today can be very simple:
“Yes, Lord.
Thank you.
I receive your love.
I receive your peace.
I receive your strength.”
Sometimes we need a second touch.
And sometimes a third.
And a fourth.
Grace keeps coming.
That's the prayer I have for my own soul.
That's the prayer I have for my...
