Our Daily Bread 11th August 2025 | ODB TODAY
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Read Our Daily Bread For 11 August 2025 ODB: Daring Selection
TOPIC: Daring Selection
BIBLE IN A YEAR: Psalms 81-83; Romans 11:19-36
KEY VERSE: When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Acts 4:1-2, 5-13(New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)
1 While Peter and John[a] were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came to them, 2 much annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming that in Jesus there is the resurrection of the dead.
5 The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, 6 with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7 When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders,
9 if we are being questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are being asked how this man has been healed,
10 let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. 11 This Jesus is
‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders;
it has become the cornerstone.’[f]
12 “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.”
13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized them as companions of Jesus.
Read Our Daily Bread For 11 August 2025
INSIGHT FOR TODAY: Acts 4 describes the Sadducees being “greatly disturbed” by the apostles’ teaching because they were “proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead” (v. 2). The Sadducees were one of two prominent groups of Jewish religious leaders mentioned in Scripture; the other was the Pharisees.
A primary division in belief between them was the doctrine of physical resurrection. The Sadducees denied the existence of both an afterlife and a future bodily resurrection, while the Pharisees believed in both. While confronting the Sadducees, Peter was empowered by the Spirit to boldly proclaim Christ’s resurrection (vv. 8, 10). As believers indwelt by the Spirit, we can also experience Jesus’ presence and grace.
MESSAGE
As Franco Zeffirelli prepared to film his critically acclaimed version of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, he made a daring decision.
He chose two unknowns to play the lead characters and insisted they be close to the age of the characters as Shakespeare had penned them. Zeffirelli ultimately selected seventeen-year-old Leonard Whiting as Romeo and sixteen-year-old Olivia Hussey as Juliet.
Some might think that Jesus took a similar risk with the selection of His disciples, who later took His message of forgiveness to the world. That’s when the religious leaders arrested and questioned some of them. Then Acts 4:13 says, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realised that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished.”
Any assumed risk was more than overwhelmed by the real story behind these simple fishermen: “They took note that these men had been with Jesus” (4:13).
The seemingly unqualified disciples had not only been with Christ, but they also had His promise to be with them always (Matthew 28:20).
We share that promise as well (Hebrews 13:5) and can be assured that, in His presence and with His grace, no task set before us will be too great for Him.
REFLECT: When you have felt overwhelmed, how have you typically responded to the pressure? How might you invite Jesus to help you during those challenging times?
PRAY: Dear Jesus, please forgive me for the times I try to forge ahead in my own strength and wisdom. I want to rely on you in all of life’s moments.
Our Daily Bread Ministries (ODB) is a Christian organisation founded by Dr. Martin De Haan in 1938. It is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with over 600 employees. It produces several devotional publications, including Our Daily Bread. our daily bread devotional for today audio our daily bread booklet. (Our Daily Bread 11 August 2025 Devotional)
