Leaning into God

Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

The devotional for today was written by James Banks and is titled, Leaning into God. Harriet Tubman couldn't read or write. As an adolescent, she suffered a head injury at the hands of a cruel slave master. That injury caused her to have seizures and lapses of consciousness. For the rest of her life. But once she escaped slavery, God used her to rescue as many as 300 others.

Nicknamed Moses by those she freed, Harriet bravely made 19 trips back to the pre-Civil War South to rescue others. She continued even when there was a price on her head and her life was in constant danger. A devoted believer in Jesus. She carried a hymnal and a Bible on every trip and had to go to heaven. I prayed all the time, she said, about my work everywhere. I was always talking to the Lord. She also gave God credit for the smallest successes.

Her life was a powerful expression of the Apostle Paul's instruction to the early Christians. Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in all circumstances. For this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. When we lean into God in the moment and live dependently in prayer, praising Him despite our difficulties, He gives us the strength to accomplish even the most challenging tasks. Our Savior is greater than anything we face and He will lead us as we look to Him.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5, verses 12 through 24. And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive. Encourage the disheartened.

Help the weak. Be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in all circumstances. For this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt, but test them all. Hold on to what is good.

Reject every kind of evil. May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. Now let's pray. Loving and almighty God, please help us to live every moment with you today and to receive the strength that you alone can give. It's in your name that we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening today. My name is Wes Ward, and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.