Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Today's reading titled Brave Your Storm was written by Patricia Rabin.

It was the evening of April 3, 1968, and a fierce thunderstorm was lashing through Memphis, Tennessee.

Weary and feeling ill, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. hadn't intended to give his

planned speech in support of the striking sanitation workers at a church hall.

But he was surprised by an urgent phone call,

saying a large crowd had braved the weather to hear him. So he went to the hall and spoke for 40 minutes,

delivering what some say was his greatest speech, I've been to the mountain top. The next day, King was killed by an

assassin's bullet, but his speech still inspires oppressed people with the hope of the

promised land. Likewise, early followers of Jesus were uplifted by a stirring message.

The book of Hebrews, written to encourage Jewish believers facing threats for their faith in Christ,

offers firm spiritual encouragement to not lose hope.

As it urges, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. As Jews, they would

recognize that appeal as originally coming from the prophet Isaiah. But now, as Christ's

disciples, we're called to run with perseverance the race marked out for us,

fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of faith.

When we do so, we will not grow weary and lose heart.

Certainly squalls and storms await us in this life.

But in Jesus, we outlast life's tempest by standing in Him.

Today's scripture reading is from Hebrews, chapter 12, verses 1 through 3, and verses 12 through 13.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything

that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.

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