Hey there and welcome to another daily encouragement from the Our Daily Bread Devotional.

Today's reading titled Trusting God in Opposition was written by Lisa M. Samra.

Raised in a tribe in the Philippines, opposed to belief in Christ, Esther receives salvation

through Jesus after an aunt prayed for her during Esther's battle with a life-threatening

illness. Today, Esther leads Bible studies in her local community in spite of threats,

of violence, and even death. She serves joyfully, saying,

I can't stop telling people about Jesus,

because I've experienced the power, love, goodness,

and faithfulness of God in my life.

Serving God in the face of opposition is a reality for many today,

just as it was for Shadrach,

Meshach, and Abednego, three young Israelites living in captivity in Babylon.

In the book of Daniel, we learn that they refused to pray to a large golden image of King Nebuchadnezzar,

even when threatened with death.

The men testified that God was capable of protecting them, but they chose to serve him,

even if he didn't rescue them.

When they were thrown into the fire, God actually joined them in their suffering.

To everyone's amazement, they survived without even a hair of their heads singed. If we face suffering or persecution for an act of faith, ancient and

modern examples remind us that God's spirit is present with us to strengthen and sustain us

when we choose to obey him, even if

things turn out differently than we hope.

Today's Our Daily Bread Devotional Scripture reading is from Daniel chapter 3, verses 13 through

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