Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Our reading titled The Message of the Cross was written by Alison Keita.

Zhang was raised with, in his words, no God, no religion, nothing. In 1989, seeking democracy and freedom for his

people, he helped lead students in peaceful protests. But the protests tragically led to the government's

intervention and hundreds of lives lost. For his part in the event, Zhang was placed on these country's most wanted list.

After a short imprisonment, he fled to an outlying village where he met an elderly farmer

who introduced him to Christianity. She had only a handwritten copy of the Gospel of John

but couldn't read, so she asked Zhang to read it to her.

As he did, she explained it to him, and a year later, he became a believer in Jesus.

Through all he endured, Zhang sees that God was powerfully leading him to the cross,

where he experienced firsthand what the Apostle Paul

states in 1 Corinthians. The message of the cross is the power of God. What many considered

foolishness, a weakness, became Zhang's strength. For some of us, this too was our thinking

before we came to Christ. But through the

spirit, we felt the power and wisdom of God breaking into our lives and leading us to Christ.

Today, Zhang serves as a pastor spreading the truth of the cross to all who will hear.

Jesus has the power to change even the hardest of hearts.

Who needs his powerful touch today?

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 18 through 25.

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, the intelligence of the intelligent

I will frustrate. Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher

...