Click here for the DRB Daily Sign Up form! TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: 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 8th, and our journey through the Scriptures takes us into Jeremiah 42–44, Psalm 48, and Revelation 13.
In Jeremiah, the people ask the prophet to seek God’s direction for them. They promise to obey whatever God says, whether they like the answer or not. Yet when Jeremiah tells them not to flee to Egypt, they reject the word they had asked to receive. Fear persuades them that they must secure their own future, even if doing so means abandoning the way God has placed before them.
In Revelation 13, John describes beasts, deception, coercive power, and the mysterious number 666. These images warn us about what happens when human power is magnified, worshiped, and treated as ultimate.
Psalm 48 gives us a different vision. God is our fortress and our security. We are invited to meditate on his unfailing love and to remember that God has not abandoned or separated himself from us.
Today’s readings confront the ancient lie that we are alone and must save ourselves. They invite us to trust Emmanuel, the God who is with us, and to align our hearts with his kingdom of love rather than the fearful kingdoms we create for ourselves.
TODAY'S DEVOTION:
God Is with You We are told that 666 is the number of a man.
A great deal has been written about this mysterious number. Three sixes. A trinity of numbers, but an unholy trinity. It is humanity magnified, exalted, and worshiped. It is a beastly imitation standing in stark contrast to the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We are told that wisdom is required to understand its meaning, and I do not pretend to possess that kind of wisdom.
But it seems to me that whether we are looking at the queen of heaven confronted by Jeremiah or the many-headed beast described by John, the result is much the same.
When humanity believes the serpent’s lie of separation, destruction follows.
The people in Jeremiah’s day refused to trust that God was with them. They would not believe that he would protect them, rescue them, and give them life. Believing themselves to be alone, they separated themselves from God’s will and fled to Egypt, another land of exile.
The same pattern begins in the garden.
Adam and Eve believe the suggestion that God is withholding himself from them. They imagine that he is not truly with them or for them. They hide from the God who has never stopped seeking them, and they experience exile in the very garden where God desires to dwell with them.
This tragic pattern repeats itself through history.
In our blindness, we fail to recognize the presence of the Triune God of life. We believe ourselves to be alone, so we rely on the gods of our own making. We worship human strength, political power, control, violence, wealth, or whatever else promises to secure us.
And the result is always the same.
The serpent’s strategy has not really changed. Seeds of doubt are planted:
God is not present. God is not with you. God is not for you.
Believing that we are alone and that God is indifferent, we attempt to construct a life apart from him, apart from the Triune life of love and flourishing that has always been offered to us.
But the psalmist tells us another story:
“O God, we meditate on your unfailing love.”
Our God is like a fortified wall, a citadel, and a beacon. This is the story we will continue to tell to future generations.
God is not separate from you.
God is with you.
That is the truth.
So align your heart with his will, his purposes, and his kingdom rather than your own. Renounce the lie of separation embodied in the number 666, and worship Emmanuel, the God who is with us, the God who is love.
That is the prayer I have for my own soul. That is the prayer I have for my family, for my wife, my daughters, and my son.
And that is 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...
