Our Daily Bread -- The Power To Survive March 7, 2015

We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed. —2 Corinthians 4:8 Read: 2 Corinthians 4:7-12 Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 3-4; Mark 10:32-52 When I was growing up, I had an inflatable plastic punching dummy. It was about as tall as I was and had a smiling face painted on it. My challenge was to hit it hard enough to make it stay down. But no matter how hard I tried, it always bounced right back up again. The secret? There was a lead weight in the bottom that always kept it upright. Sailboats operate by the same principle. The lead weights in their keels provide the ballast to keep them balanced and upright in strong winds. It’s like that in the life of a believer in Christ. Our power to survive challenges resides not in us but with God, who dwells within us. We’re not exempt from the punches that life throws at us nor from the storms that inevitably threaten our stability. But with full confidence in His power to sustain us, we can say with Paul, “We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Cor. 4:8-9). Join the many travelers through life who through deep waters of pain and suffering embrace with unshakable confidence the truth that God’s grace is sufficient and that in our weakness He is made strong (12:9). It will be the ballast to your soul. —Joe Stowell Where do you turn for stability when you’re in a stormy season of life? Read Anchors In The Storm by Joe Stowell online at www.discoveryseries.org/hp073 for help. The power of God within you is greater than the pressure of troubles around you. Share your thoughts on today’s devotional on Facebook or odb.org.

You can make a difference. Even the smallest donation helps reach people around the world with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. DONATE

Share With Your Friends	Featured Video

Our mission is to make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to all. Our vision is to see people of all nations experiencing a personal relationship with Christ, growing to be more like Him, and serving in a local body of His family. To read today's Our Daily Bread online visit www.odb.org. Copyright © 2015, Our Daily Bread Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI 49555 USA. Written permission must be obtained from Our Daily Bread Ministries for any further posting or distribution. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Unsubscribe