Welcome to this daily encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

I'm Tom Felton and I call today's devotion a grateful response.

Raw fish and rainwater.

An Australian sailor named Timothy survived on only those provisions for three months.

Marooned on his storm-damaged catamaran, he was losing hope, bobbing 1,200 miles from

the land in the Pacific Ocean.

But then the crew of a Mexican tuna boat spotted his ailing boat and

rescued him. Later, the thin and weather-beaten man declared, to the captain and fishing company

that saved my life, I'm just so grateful. Timothy gave thanks following his ordeal, but the prophet Daniel revealed a grateful heart

before, during, and after a crisis.

Having been exiled to Babylon from Judah with other Jews, Daniel had risen in power

only to be threatened by other leaders who wanted him dead.

His foes got the King of Babylon to sign a decree, stating that anyone who prayed to any God

would be thrown into the lion's den.

What would Daniel, a man who loved and served the one true God, do?

He got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to God, just as he had

done before. He gave thanks and his grateful heart was rewarded as God spared his life and brought

him honor. As the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5, may God help us give thanks in all circumstances.

Whether we're facing a crisis or have just come through one, a grateful response honors him

and helps keep our faith afloat.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Daniel chapter 6, verses 1 through 10. It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel.

The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss.

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