DAILY BREAD READING (Published Daily by Our Daily Bread Ministries)
AUGUST 5, 2026
READ: John 14 (Focus vs. 5-11)
MEMORY VERSE
“Don’t you know me, Philip…? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” John 14:9
BACKGROUND
“What makes you smile when you think about your son?” That was my question for Clarence—a younger man I was mentoring. The proud father proceeded to share some of his bright four-year-old’s accomplishments. One particular detail left me amused.
Not only does the child have his father’s first and last names, but he already looks so much like his father that he can unlock his father’s smartphone using facial recognition!
In John 14, Jesus made it clear how closely He resembled His Father. When an inquisitive Philip requested, “Lord, show us the Father” (v. 8), Jesus responded, “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (v. 9).
How was it that the Father was revealed through the Son? It was through Jesus’ “words” (v. 10) and “works” (v. 11) that God’s love, mercy, grace, and more were brilliantly displayed.
Empowered by God’s Spirit, believers in Jesus are privileged to share family likeness. The invisible God becomes visible through His children.
Regarding Christlike love, John reminds us, “No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us” (1 John 4:12 nlt).
Arthur Jackson
APPLICATION
What is it about your words and deeds that remind others of Jesus? How might you pray about the Holy Spirit working in and through you to bring honor to God the Father and Christ the Son?
INSIGHT
The beginning of John’s gospel describes those who don’t see Jesus for who He is: “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him” (1:10-11).
Yet Christ had expectations for those who were closest to Him—those who’d heard His words, who’d seen and experienced His works. He rebuked His disciple for not recognizing Him: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time?” (14:9).
When we honestly and prayerfully evaluate the words and works of Christ as seen in the Gospels, the Spirit can open our eyes and hearts regarding His identity as God’s Son and the King of Kings, and we’ll be welcomed into the family of God (1:12-13).
When we become children of God, He can help us make Jesus visible to others through our words and actions.
Arthur Jackson
APPLICATION
What is it about your words and deeds that remind others of Jesus? How might you pray about the Holy Spirit working in and through you to bring honor to God the Father and Christ the Son?
PR’s (Pastor Richard) RE-EMPHASIS (From Today’s Post)
“Empowered by God’s Spirit, believers in Jesus are privileged to share family likeness. The invisible God becomes visible through His children.”
PR’s TAKE
“In this world, each (family member) of Christ is in a different stage of development and some look less like Him than others…But every Christian is to become a little Christ. The whole purpose of becoming a Christian is simply nothing else.” C.S. Lewis
PRAYER
“Dear Father, please strengthen me to love Jesus, and to live like Him and for Him.”
TODAY’S HYMN/WORSHIP/PRAISE/GOSPEL SONG
“ONE FAMILY IN CHRIST” Lewis and Lily River
Father, see us here.
We’ve come to answer Your call.
Bearing a message from heaven for them,
“Be reconciled to God.”
Yet, we’re not sufficient; we’re only jars of clay.
So, how can we pour out the fragrance of You in this place?
And we feel so little now. Work through us somehow.
Help us to be the image of Christ
Shining Your light into their lives,
That they might see a Father who cares,
A love that can cast out all of their fears,
That You might be Lord of their lives,
The joy in their hearts, the light in their eyes,
That they might be our family in Christ.
See them live in fear,
Walking without a light,
Holding to forms that they don’t understand
And nothing satisfies.
Let them seek Your face, and may they come to find
The Way, the Truth and the Life is not far from their side.
‘Cause the need to know You now. So work in them somehow.
Help us to be the image of Christ
shining Your light into their lives,
That they might see a Father who cares, a love that can cast out all of their fears,
We long for the day
When we’ll stand by their side at Your throne before Your face.
As brothers and sisters, we’ll cry, “You are worthy,
For You have made us, and You have saved.”
And we’ll be one family for all eternity.
Help us to be the image of Christ
Shining Your light into their lives,
That they might see a Father who cares,
Help us to be the image of Christ…
