Daily Bread Pastor Mike Anderson 2026

Mark 3 - NIV   Enduring Word Commentary Verses of the Day Jesus Appoints the Twelve 13 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons. Commentary When Jesus healed a man with a shriveled hand on the Sabbath, the Pharisees were so angry with Jesus they started to plot against him with Herodians to kill him. Wow! This is only chapter 3, and they want to kill him. It shows how dark their hearts were. Here a man is healed and all they can think of is to look for a way to take him out.  The crowds started flocking to Jesus and closing in on him, because he had healed so many. If I was sick, I would want to get to Jesus too! Even those who where afflicted with "impure spirits", which were demons, were delivered by Jesus. You will see throughout Mark there is a big focus on the authority Jesus has over dem...

Mark 2 - NIV Enduring Word Commentary Key Verses for Today 15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”  17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Commentary Jesus begins chapter 2 by performing another miracle. This time a man who was paralyzed was brought in by four men on a mat to see Jesus. Since a crowd was now following him wherever he went, they had to cut a hole in a roof to get an audience with him. When Jesus saw their faith he healed the man.  Next, Jesus does something that would have probably shocked many of those who were following him. The next disciple he called was ...

Mark 1 - NIV Enduring Word Commentary Verses for the Day Jesus Announces the Good News 14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Commentary Today we begin Mark's gospel, which is the shortest of the 4 gospels at only 16 chapters. The gospel of Mark is the earliest gospel written, and one of the earliest books written in the New Testament. We know it is written before A.D. 70,  because it doesn't talk about the fall of the temple in A.D. 70, which both Matthew and Luke talk about.  Mark is written from the perspective of the apostle Peter. It is fast paced and centers on the actions of power that Jesus manifested. This is reflected in Jesus' words above. Jesus is announcing the Good News. Often we associate the Good News solely with Jesus dying on the cross for our sins. If we believe in him we are saved and obtain eternal....

Matthew 28 - NIV Enduring Word Commentary Verses for the Day The Great Commission 16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Commentary I have many different life verses, which are bible passages that have greatly impacted me at different times in my Christian life. One of the first was Romans 12:1-2,  " In view of God's mercy offer your bodies as a living sacrifice which is holy and acceptable to God. Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." This was a time where I re-commi...

Matthew 27 - NIV Enduring Word Commentary Verses for the Day Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. 30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. Commentary There are a lot of verses I could have picked out from this chapter chronicling the last day of Jesus' life. But what stood out to me the most is how they treated Jesus. When you consider that Jesus is God, it is almost unbelievable and shocking the things they did and said to him. We see the remarkable restraint of Jesus. At any time he could have called...

Click Here to Read or Listen to Matthew 26 Enduring Word Commentary Verses of the Day 36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”  39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” At the core of our Christian theology, which ensures we don't stray from the clear principles of the bible, is the teaching that Jesus is fully God and fully man. We see many instances of Jesus showing He was God. He turned water into wine. He fed 5,000 people with a few loves and fish. He healed a man covered with leprosy. He healed the blind, the mute, and the lame. I believ...

Matthew 25 - NIV Enduring Word Commentary Verses for the Day The Parable of the Bags of Gold 14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. Commentary Jesus again teaches two parables about what the " Kingdom of God " is like. These parables teach principles, which we can build our lives on. The parables teach us how to live a productive Christian life.  There are two types of judgments when Jesus returns. The first is based on whether you have believed in Jesus or not. Jesus said, " I am the way...

Matthew 24 - NIV   Enduring Word Commentary Verses of the Day 42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. Commentary Oftentimes we rely on the book of Daniel, or the book of Revelation for our theology on the end times when Jesus will return. In chapter 24, Jesus devotes the whole chapter to teaching the disciples about his second coming. He had already told his disciples three times that he was going to be betrayed, condemned, crucified, and then be raised from the dead in three days. They were understandably worried about what would happen after that.  Jesus gives them and us several principles about His second coming, which will guide us as we anticipate his re...

Verses for the Day 23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Application There weren't many things that Jesus hated, but he hated hypocrisy. While he hated it in anyone, he detested it in the lives of the Jewish leaders. In fact if you read down in chapter 22, Jesus gave seven woes to these hypocritical leaders. He uses phrases like, " You shut the door of heaven's kingdom in people's faces", "you make your converts twice a child of hell as you are", "you blind fools", and "you are like whitewashed tombs". I think you get the point.  I wonder what Jesus would say to leaders in the church...

Matthew 22 - NIV   Enduring Word Commentary Verse For the Day “For many are invited, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22;14 Comment This is the last verse in Jesus’ parable of the wedding banquet.  Per usual Jesus started by saying, “ T he kingdom is like ”, meaning this is how things work when God is ruling or reigning.  So he tells the story of a father who throws a wedding banquet for his son.  In Jesus’ day weddings were a huge deal.  One of the most important tasks was to select who was on the invite list.    " A  wedding was (and often is today) the most significant social event of a person’s life. The wedding of a prince would be a spectacular event, and an invitation would normally be prized." - Guzik The wedding list was put together, and the servants delivered the invitations personally to each guest. The important thing was the king wanted his banquet hall full. Initially he must have felt like he put out enough invites to fill the ban...

Matthew 21 - NIV Enduring Word Commentary Verses of the Day Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King 21 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”  4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:  5 “Say to Daughter Zion,  ‘See, your king comes to you,  gentle and riding on a donkey,  and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ Yesterday I wrote about how Jesus predicted his crucifixion and resurrection, which were either true or untrue. Either Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead, or not, but it could not be "marginally true".  One of the other greatest proofs of Jesus being the Messiah and Savior is his fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy....

Matthew 20 - NIV Enduring Word Commentary Verses of the Day: Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time 17 Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, 18 “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death 19 and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!” Jesus didn't say many things three times. Jesus wouldn't have repeated something three times unless it was of ultimate importance. For the third time, Jesus reiterates to the disciples he was going up to Jerusalem to be handed over to the religious leaders, be condemned to death, handed over to the Gentiles. He would receive the very worst treatment given to the most heinous of criminals.  He would be mocked, flogged and crucified. If you have seen the move the " The Passion of Christ " by Mel Gibso...

Matthew 19 Enduring Word Commentary Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”  4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’[b]? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” You have all heard many interpretations for what the bible says about divorce. As I have said before, when I want to know the truth about anything I go back to Jesus and what he taught. As I have always said many times before, one of the most important principles in interpreting the bible is context.  In real estate they have a principle for which dictates the value of a home. It is, "Location, location, location!" The most important principle for interpreting the bible is " context...

Matthew 18 - NIV Enduring Word Commentary Key Verses for Today: The Parable of the Wandering Sheep 10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. [11]   12 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish. Commentary Jesus mainly taught in parables, which reveals what the kingdom of heaven is like. The parables represent the qualities of Jesus and the Father. Usually there is one main spiritual principle that the parable is driving home. It is kind of like the "punchline" of a joke. When I was younger I used to not get the punchline ...

Matthew 17 - NIV Enduring Word Commentary Verses for the Day: The Transfiguration 17 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Commentary: As Jesus continues to journey to the cross, he predicts a second time not only his death but also that after three days he will be raised again. Jesus knew he would be crucified, and knew he would be raised again, in accordance with the prophets. So either he was lying, or he was stating the facts. When he was eventually crucified and rose from the dead, it proved that he was not a lunatic or liar, but he was and is the only Son of God.  When you are debating with anyone the truth of Christianity, and the claims it makes about Jesus, there is no logical argument that can de...

Matthew 16 - NIV Enduring Word Commentary Verses for the Day But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”  16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[c] will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[d] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[e] loosed in heaven.” As Jesus sets his face toward Jerusalem, he takes a moment to check in with the disciples. He wants to get an idea of who they think he is. Peter is the first one to answer and this time he gets it right. He says Jesus is the " You are the  Christ, the Son of Living God ".  Peter says, " Jesus is the Christ ", which means " He is the Messiah"...

Matthew 15 - NIV Enduring Word Commentary Verses of the Day: "You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:  8 “‘These people honor me with their lips,  but their hearts are far from me.  9 They worship me in vain;  their teachings are merely human rules.’” Commentary Jesus has his first major " run-in " with the Pharisees and teachers of the Law. They had followed him all the way up north from Jerusalem to disrupt and discredit his ministry. The Pharisees spent a lot of time trying to find a way in which Jesus' disciples might be disobeying the Mosaic law.  When they accuse the disciples of not washing their hands before they eat, they are not concerned about proper hygiene. They are calling them out for violating the tradition of the Jewish elders. Note, this is not a command from the bible. but something added to the Mosaic law by the rabbis.  There are many other instances where the elders added to the basic commandments given by God in...

Matthew 14 - NIV   Enduring Word Commentary Verses of the Day "Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt? ” - Matthew 14:28-31 Commentary I think a lot of the time Peter gets a "bad rap". He gets a bad rap for denying Jesus, and yet shortly after his denial, we see that all the other disciples denied Jesus as well. Today Peter is the only one who actually dares to step out of the boat. Sure, he takes his eyes off Jesus, but I don't see any of the other disciples getting out of the boat.  So, I can only assume that the Lord gave Peter to be an example for us. Peter helps us who take our eyes off a Jesus and look instead at the wind a...

Matthew 13 - NIV Enduring Word Commentary Verses of the Day: 10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” 11 He replied, “ Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them .  Matthew 13:10-12 Commentary: Jesus' favorite method for teaching was to use earthly parables to illustrate spiritual truth. Because the disciples lived in an agricultural society, many of his parables illustrate farming principles like sowing and reaping, wheat and weeds, and the harvest time. Jesus told these stories so that they could learn the secret of how God's kingdom comes and would come through them.   In almost all of the parables in Matthew 13 Jesus starts by saying, " The kingdom of heaven is like" . The kingdom of heaven is a major theme in the gospels. When J...