Daily Bread Pastor Mike Anderson

Click Here to Read or Listen to 1 John 3 (TPT) 1See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. Part of knowing God is becoming part of His family. Just as a husband and wife start a family and have kids as a product of their love for each other, so the Father has chosen us through the Son and given us the Holy Spirit, as a downpayment of our future inheritance. (Ephesians 4:13). If you wonder why the world often does not connect with Christians, it is because they does not know the Father or the Son.  Though we are children of God now, we will experience more of what that means when Jesus returns. ...

I am going to be using The Passion Translation (TPT) for the Daily Bread in 2025. To give you a taste of it, the following the link will contain both the NIV and TPT side by side, so you can compare and contrast both translations. There are also study notes that you can hover over for the TPT. You can still listen to the NIV by hitting the sound icon in the top left.  There is no perfect translation and new translations can add new insights to traditional translations. I.e. NIV was written in 1984 and TPT in 2020.  Click Here to Read 1 John 2 in NIV and TPT 1My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. John, of course doesn't want the believers to sin, but he reminds them they have an advocate who stands before the Father to intercede for them. Since He isright...

Click Here for An Overview of the Letter of 1 John Click Here to Read or Listen to 1 John 1 The Incarnation of the Word of Life 1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete. John's letter begins pretty much the same as his gospel. He focuses on the fact he and his fellow disciples were eyewitnesses of Jesus.They heard him speak the Word , they saw the Word, and they touched the Word . Not just any Word, but the Word of Life, Jesus.  They proclaim something they have seen, heard, and touched. ...

Click Here to Listen to or Read 2 Peter 3 3 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. Peter confirms that he wrote both 1 Peter and 2 Peter. He equates the words of the prophets with the words of the apostles. Peter is likely referring to himself, as Jesus commissioned him to be an apostle. It also assumes that they would have known the words spoken to them by the prophets of old like Jeremiah or Isaiah, which indicates he is writing to Jewish believers.  Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that l...

Click Here to Read or Listen to 2 Peter 2 False Teachers and Their Destruction 2 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping. Peter continues on the subject of false prophets. False prophets will always be among us, because our enemy Satan is always trying to influence our minds with lies. He is the " father of lies ". John 8:44 He mentions " destructive heresies ". A heresy is the same as false teaching. A heresy can be destructive if it contains lies about the person of Jesus. A heresy usually tries to undermine ...

Click Here to Read or Listen to 2 Peter 1 Overview of 2 Peter - Insight for Living - Chuck Swindoll 1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,  To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:  2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Simon was Peter's given name, and Peter was the name given to him by Jesus. The name Peter meant "rock". I.e. When Jesus said, "On this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it!" - Matthew 16:18 Peter was first of all a "servant". He had given up his rights as a disciple of Christ. The Greek word is "doulos", and also means "bond-servant". Second, he was sent as an apostle, or messenger of the Good News. The servant described who he was, and the apostle described his calling.  We receive faith as a gift. It is the most precious gift we will eve...

Click Here to Read or Listen to 1 Peter 5 To the Elders and the Flock 5 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. The word " elder " is the same word for " overseer " or " bishop" . You could also make the comparison to a pastor today. It was a position of spiritual authority and oversight. The argument for word being synonymous with a pastor is solidfied when Peter says they are " shepherds over God's flock" .  Shepherd and pastor come from the same Greek word. One of the chi...

Click Here to Read or Listen to 1 Peter 4 Living for God 4 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. 2 As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. 3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4 They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. 5 But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit. Peter again reminds the believers that just as Jesus suffered they would too. In order to overcome and per...

Click Here to Read or Listen to 1 Peter 3 3 Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2 when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. 4 Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, 6 like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. It is important to connect "in the same way" from chapter 2 to what Peter is tellings wives in this chapter, in this case to submit to their husbands. The ...

Click Here to Read or Listen to 1 Peter 2   2 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. Peter uses the analogy of a newborn baby to illustrate what it means to grow spiritually. Just like a baby needs it's mother's milk to grow, so a baby Christian needs spiritual nourishment to grow. Though we are saved by grace through faith, we still need to grow up in our salvation. We need to grow up into the man or woman God has called us to be. Just like a baby grows from being a toddler, to a child, to a teen, and into being a young adult, so too a Christian has stages of spiritual maturity. It all starts with getting rid of the things he talks about in verse 1.  The Living Stone and a Chosen People 4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and prec...

Click Here to Read or Listen to 1 Peter 1 Click Here for An Overview of 1 Peter (Insight for Living) 1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,  To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:  Grace and peace be yours in abundance. These first verses of 1 Peter tell us the author is Peter, the apostle of Jesus. Many consider Peter to be the chief apostle of the early church, along with the apostle Paul. They played different roles but had similar influence on the early church. Similar to James, this letter is written to exiles in the area we call Asia Minor (modern day Turkey).  Peter starts but pointing out that they have been chosen by God from the beginning. The Holy Spirit had called them and set them apart from the world. As such they we...