May 12th, 25: Encountering Jesus Changes Everything: God’s Love for All in 2 Samuel and 1 Thessalonians

• Click here for the DRB Daily Sign Up form!
• TODAY'S SCRIPTURE: 2 Sam 21-23; 1 Thess 1
• Click HERE to give!
• Get Free App Here!

One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on 'The Daily Radio Bible' for a daily 20-minute spiritual journey. Engage with scripture readings, heartfelt devotionals, and collective prayers that draw you into the heart of God's love. Embark on this year-long voyage through the Bible, and let each day's passage uplift and inspire you.

TODAY'S EPISODE:

Welcome to the Daily Radio Bible! In today’s episode, host Hunter invites us to journey through day 133 of our adventure in the Scriptures. We dive into the dramatic and moving stories of 2 Samuel chapters 21–23, witnessing the final days of King David, including the resolution of a long-standing famine, the tales of his mighty warriors, and David’s heartfelt songs of praise to God. We also begin a new journey in the New Testament with 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, where Paul’s words challenge and inspire us to see others through the lens of God’s love.

Hunter reflects on how an encounter with Jesus can transform our hearts and perspectives, encouraging us to embrace a love that reaches beyond our own borders and communities. Closing with thoughtful prayer and the Lord’s Prayer, this episode is both a deep dive into Scripture and a gentle invitation to let God’s joy and love shape our day. Stay tuned for encouragement, insight, and a reminder that you are truly loved—no doubt about it.

TODAY'S DEVOTION:

God’s love changes everything—including how we see others. Here in 1 Thessalonians 1, Paul makes a remarkable declaration. He looks at this young, Gentile church in Thessalonica—people so different from him, people who didn’t keep kosher or follow all the right traditions—and he says with conviction: “We know, dear brothers and sisters, that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own people.” For someone like Paul, who had grown up believing gentiles were outside the fold, excluded from God’s love and promises, this was a radical shift. What happened? Paul had encountered Jesus. And when you meet Jesus, you begin to see people the way God sees them.

That’s what Jesus does: he changes how we see and love others. He broadens the boundaries of our hearts. Our natural tendency is to draw circles around those who look like us, those who think or act or believe like us. But when we encounter Christ, our eyes open to just how big God’s love really is. Suddenly, we see neighbors, strangers, even those we once called outsiders, as loved and chosen—just as we are.

Paul says, “now the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere.” Transformation ignites a ripple effect. The Thessalonians, having received and experienced this all-inclusive love, became living messengers, carrying God’s welcome everywhere they went. They became an example of what God’s love can do in a community—and for the world.

Let’s make that our prayer and our posture: that the boundaries of God’s love would expand in our own hearts, and that our encounter with Christ would cause us to see all people as loved and chosen. Let the word of the Lord ring out from us—our families, our churches, our very lives—declaring that God’s invitation is for everyone. May every day be a day when our vision is shaped not by old ways of seeing, by fear or favoritism, but by the revolutionary grace that Jesus brings.

That’s a prayer I have for my own soul, for my family, for my wife, my daughters, my son, and that’s a prayer I have for you. May it be so.

TODAY'S PRAYERS:

Loving God, you have knit us together in the body of Christ from every nation and tongue.
Make us a vessel of your peace today.
Where hatred stirs, let us bear your love.
Where wounds run deep, let us be agents of pardon.
Where fear grips hearts, may we speak faith.
Where sorrow hangs heavy, may we carry joy.
Teach us to listen more than we speak, to understand before we are understood, to love.
For in surrender, we find abundance.
In mercy, we discover grace.
And in dying, we rise into your life.
In the name of Jesus. 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 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

OUR WEBSITE: www.dailyradiobible.com

We are reading through the New Living Translation.  

Leave us a voicemail HERE: https://www.speakpipe.com/dailyradiobible

Subscribe to us at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dailyradiobible/featured

OTHER PODCASTS:

Listen with Apple Podcast

• DAILY BIBLE FOR KIDS
• DAILY PSALMS
• DAILY PROVERBS
• DAILY LECTIONARY
• DAILY CHRONOLOGICAL