Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Today's reading titled, Powerful and Loving, was written by Wyn Collier.

In 2020, the Ecuadorian volcano Sengue erupted.

The BBC described the dark ash plume which reached

a height of more than 12,000 meters. The discharge covered four provinces, about 198,000 acres in

gray ash and grimy soot. The sky turned dingy and grim, and the air was thick, making it difficult to breathe.

Farmer Feliciano Inga described the unnerving scene to El Camercio newspaper.

We didn't know where all this dust was coming from.

We saw the sky go dark and grew afraid.

The Israelites in Deuteronomy Chapter 4 experienced a similar fear at the base of Mount Sinai,

as they stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire, with black clouds in deep darkness.

God's voice thundered, and the people trembled. It was terrifying. It's an awesome, knee-buckling

experience to encounter the living God.

Then the Lord spoke, and they heard the sound of words but saw no form. The voice that rattled

their bones provided life and hope. God gave Israel the Ten Commandments and renewed His

covenant with them. The voice from the dark cloud caused them

to quake, but also wooed and loved them with tenacity. God is powerful, beyond our reach,

even startling, and yet he's also full of love, always reaching out to us. A God both powerful and loving, this is who we desperately need.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Deuteronomy chapter 4, verses 5 through 8,

and 11 through 14. See see i have taught you decrees and laws as the lord my god commanded me so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it

observe them carefully for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear

about all these decrees and say, surely, this great nation is a wise and understanding people.

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