DAILY BREAD READING (Published Daily by Our Daily Bread Ministries)
JULY 13, 2026
READ: John 3 (Focus 16-21)
MEMORY VERSE
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. John 3:16
BACKGROUND
Daniel was born into a Romanian orphanage. For seven years, he only left his crib to go to the bathroom. When he turned eight, a family from another country adopted him.
They knew about attachment disorders—that Daniel could have difficulty attaching to them as his parents. Slowly, Daniel started to trust them. Over time, though, he began to rage to the point his parents hired a bodyguard to protect them from Daniel’s outbursts.
They decided on a controversial therapy: For the next five years they were never away from Daniel even if he had a meltdown. On his thirteenth birthday Daniel broke down and, for the first time, told his parents he loved them very much.
His mother summarized the experience: “Creating love is not for the soft and sentimental. Love is a battlefield.” We’re all born knowing that something or someone is missing. Like Daniel, we have an attachment disorder.
But God “so loved the world” so much that he took drastic action—“he gave his one and only Son” (John 3:16), meeting us on earth’s battlefield in what we call the Incarnation. “Light has come into the world” (v. 19).
God took drastic measures to demonstrate His great love for the world. For you. His strong, determined Father-heart beats to hear from us the words Daniel’s parents finally heard: “I love you very much.”
John Blase
INSIGHT
Many people are familiar with John 3:16, which describes the scope of God’s love for the world: “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Many, however, misinterpret this verse. They think that if God’s love is so great, no one will “perish.” The critical phrase is “whoever believes in [Jesus].”
John also writes, “Whoever does not believe [in Jesus] stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (v. 18). John’s gospel begins with John introducing Christ as the light of the world (1:4-9).
Jesus says of Himself, “Light has come into the world,” but people avoid the light “because their deeds [are] evil” (3:19). God is indeed love. But we must respond to His love by believing in His Son, Jesus—the light of the world.
Tim Gustafson
APPLICATION
How have you felt that something or someone is missing? How can you respond to God’s drastic love for you?
PR’s (Pastor Richard) RE-EMPHASIS (From Today’s Post)
““Creating love is not for the soft and sentimental. Love is a battlefield.” We’re all born knowing that something or someone is missing…we (all) have an attachment disorder… God is indeed love. But we must respond to His love by believing in His Son, Jesus…”
PR’s TAKE
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
Ephesians 2:4-6 esv
“For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father…that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may…know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:14-17 esv
PRAYER
“Dear heavenly Father, I love You very much. Thank You for loving me first.”
TODAY’S HYMN/WORSHIP/PRAISE/GOSPEL SONG
“WHEN I SURVEY” Issac Watts/Lowell Mason
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride
See from His head His hands His feet
Sorrow and love flow mingled down
Did e’re such love and sorrow meet
Or thorns compose so rich a crown
Were the whole realm of nature mine
That were a tribute far too small
Love so amazing so divine
Demands my soul my life my all
Love so amazing so divine
Demands my soul my life my all
