Click here for the DRB Daily Sign Up form! TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: Daniel 11–12; Luke 6 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 23rd, and today is a special day for me and for this community.
Thirteen years ago today, the Daily Radio Bible began.
What started with a microphone and a simple desire to read through the Scriptures together has become a daily gathering of people around the world.
And through all these years, the invitation has remained remarkably simple:
Come to the Scriptures.
Listen for the voice of Jesus.
Allow the Spirit to reveal the love of God.
And then go live that love in the world.
So thank you.
Thank you to everyone who has walked this road with me, whether you've been here for thirteen years or this is your first day.
Today our readings are Daniel 11–12 and Luke 6.
Daniel sees kingdoms rising and falling, conflict and upheaval, and things that are difficult to understand. Yet beneath all the turmoil is the promise that God remains faithful and that death itself will not have the final word.
Then Jesus brings us down to bedrock.
Love your enemies.
Do good to those who hate you.
Bless those who curse you.
Give without expecting anything in return.
Forgive.
Do not condemn.
Treat others the way you want to be treated.
These aren't merely beautiful ideas.
Jesus says they are a foundation upon which we can actually build a life.
And after thirteen years of gathering around these Scriptures together, perhaps the invitation is still exactly the same:
Dig deep.
Find the Rock.
Build your life there.
TODAY’S DEVOTION Dig Deep Go deep.
That's the invitation Jesus offers us today.
And after thirteen years of doing this together, I think it's still the invitation.
Go deep.
Jesus tells a story about two people building houses.
One person builds on the surface.
The other digs.
And digs.
And digs.
Until finally he reaches bedrock.
Then he builds his house there.
And when the storms come and the floodwaters rise, that house stands.
Not because the storm wasn't powerful.
Not because the person living in the house had everything figured out.
The house stands because of what is underneath it.
Jesus says this is what it looks like to hear his words and put them into practice.
And notice the words Jesus has just spoken.
Love your enemies.
Do good to those who hate you.
Bless those who curse you.
Pray for those who hurt you.
Give.
Forgive.
Be merciful.
Don't condemn.
Treat others the way you want to be treated.
That's the bedrock.
And sometimes I think we want something more complicated.
We want the right theology.
The right answers.
The right religious system.
The right arguments.
And those things can have their place.
But Jesus keeps taking us deeper.
Down beneath the words.
Down beneath appearances.
Down beneath religion.
Until we encounter him.
The Rock.
Paul says our life is hidden with Christ in God.
That's deep.
Deeper than our fear.
Deeper than our failure.
Deeper than our shame.
Deeper than the labels people have placed upon us.
Deeper even than the stories we sometimes tell ourselves about who we are.
There is Christ.
And our life is hidden in him.
Jesus looks at the poor, the hungry, the sorrowful, and the rejected, and he calls them blessed.
Why?
Because there is something deeper than their circumstances.
There is Someone underneath it all.
Christ.
Present.
Faithful.
Steadfast.
Love himself.
And thirteen years into this journey, that's what I keep discovering.
The point isn't simply to get through the Bible.
The point is to let the Bible bring us to Jesus.
To hear his voice.
To discover our life in him.
To allow his love to become the bedrock underneath everything else.
Because storms do come.
Floodwaters rise.
Things we thought were secure sometimes shake.
But there is a foundation beneath us that cannot be shaken.
The deep, deep love of God revealed in Jesus Christ.
So today, on this anniversary, I want to say thank you.
Thank you for digging with me.
Thank you for showing up day after day.
Thank you for being part of this community.
And let's keep going.
Let's keep digging.
Past the easy answers.
Past fear.
Past shame.
Past religion that tells us we have to earn what God has already freely given.
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