Daily Bread Pastor Mike Anderson 2026

Readings for the Day 2 Samuel 4-5, Psalm 139, Matthew 16 Verses for the Day Once more the Philistines came up and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; 23 so David inquired of the Lord, and he answered, “Do not go straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the poplar trees. 24 As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the poplar trees, move quickly, because that will mean the Lord has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army.” 25 So David did as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer. We see David defeating the Philistines, as he has been now made the King. We immediately see two things that David does right. First, before he attacks the Philistines he inquires of The Lord. Before he does anything he asks God if it is His will for David and his men to attack. And then he waits for God's answer. In this case, God is very specific and tells them not to take them straig...

Readings for the Day 2 Samuel 3, 1 Chronicles 12, Matthew 15 Verses for the Day 10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” 12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?” If you read the context of these verses and then what happens in the rest of the chapter, you will see something significant in Jesus ministry. As the Pharisees and teachers try to undermine his teaching, he calls them out and labels them as "hypocrites". They rebuke the disciples for not washing their hands before meals, while they disregard helping their parents for their so called righteousness. Jesus points out the core of their hypocrisy when he teaches the crowd that it is not what goes into a person that defiles them but what comes out of them. And what comes out of them reveals their hea...

Readings for the Day 2 Samuel 1, Psalm 140, Matthew 13 Verses for the Day 25 “How the mighty have fallen in battle! Jonathan lies slain on your heights. 26 I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women. So begins the book of 2 Samuel. The era of King Saul is over as he is injured to the point of death, and asks a young soldier, an Amalekite, to finish the job. When David learns that this man did not think twice about killing the King, the Lord's anointed One, he had him put to death. Most likely the man did not show honor to King Saul, and handled the matter in a nonchalant way. Though David had plenty of reason to be glad King Saul had met his end, but he has so much respect for the office of King, he calls for the daughters of Israel to weep and grieve. Meanwhile more personal to David is the loss of his best friend Jonathan, King Saul's son. Jonathan and David made a...

Readings for the Day 1 Samuel 28-29; Psalm 109; Matthew 11 Verses for the Day: Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. How could I pass up these verses for they give us insight to Jesus' call to us as his disciples. I love Eugene Peterson's "The Message" translation of these verses. He says, “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Usually we think of rest in terms of physical rest, which of course is necessary. But Jesus addresses a different kind of stress t...

Readings for the Day 1 Samuel 23; Psalm 31,54; Matthew 7 Verses for the Day Psalm 31 2 Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. 3 Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. 4 Keep me free from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge. 5 Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, Lord, my faithful God. King David is credited with writing 75, or approximately 1/2 of the Psalms in the bible. The context of today's psalm is he is trying to escape King Saul, who is vigorously hunting him down. Saul is extremely jealous of David because many of his people have gone over to David, praising him more than the King. And on top of that his son, Jonathan, is David's soulmate and friend unto death. 1 Samuel 23 says this, David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, b...

Readings for the Day 1 Samuel 22, Psalm 17,35, Matthew 6 Verses for the Day 9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. In chapter 6 Jesus turns to the spiritual disciplines like giving, fasting and praying. He teaches that instead of being practices that bring people closer to God, they are seeking approval from others. Jesus says if you are doing these things to be noticed and praised, you have already received your reward in full. Just like Jesus re-interprets the Ten Commandments for their true meaning, he also does the same for the spiritual disciples. And then he turns to the practice of prayer. Instead of praying long, babbling prayers he urges them to go to their room an...

Readings for the Day 1 Samuel 20,21 Psalm 34, Matthew 5 Verses of the Day 13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. In chapter 5, Jesus takes his disciples away from the crowds, by the mountainside, to explain what the kingdom of God looks like. This is what is commonly referred to as the "Sermon on the Mount", and comprises chapters 5-7 in the Gospel of Matthew. Whether or not this is one sermon or collections of his teachings does not really matter. It is one of the most comprehensive bodies of what he taught. Importantly since he is teaching his Jewish disciples, he uses the message to help them to re-frame their understanding of the Old Testament. In Matthew 5:17 Jesus says, "I did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it." Meaning Jesus didn't come to overturn all of the scriptures from the Old Testam...