Entries by YMI

ODB: Late Arrivals Welcome

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June 30, 2013 

READ: Matthew 20:1-16 

I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. —Matthew 20:14 

One night when I visited a nursing home, a resident named Tom slipped out quietly from his room, hoping to catch me to chat. After we talked awhile, he asked, “Won’t God be insulted if I become a Christian this late in life?” Tom’s question wasn’t a surprise. As a chaplain, I often hear it in varying forms from the elderly, from those who struggle with addictions, from former prisoners. They think they have a legitimate reason to believe it’s too late for them to know God or to be used by Him.

Tom and I spent time exploring people in Scripture who, because of their past, could have thought it was too late for them to know God. But Rahab, a prostitute (Josh. 2:12-14; Heb. 11:31), and Zacchaeus, a tax collector (Luke 19:1-8), chose faith in God despite their past.

We also looked at Jesus’ parable of workers in the vineyard (Matt. 20:1-16). The earlier the hire, the more labor they were able to give the vineyard owner (vv.2-7), but those hired later discovered they had equal value in the owner’s eyes and would be rewarded equally (vv.8-16). The vineyard owner chose to be gracious to them all.

No matter our past or present, God longs to show us His grace and bring us into relationship with Him.

— Randy Kilgore

Father, we are amazed at Your grace! Thank You that
we can come to You at any time for forgiveness and be
restored to relationship with You. Thank You that we
can now be used by You to touch the lives of others.

To give your life to Christ now is to keep it forever. 

ODJ: who’s seeking whom?

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June 30, 2013 

READ: Luke 19:1-10 

The Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost (v.10).

Zach was a lonely guy. If there was a party, he wasn’t invited. In fact, when he walked down the city streets, he could feel the hostile glares boring into his back. But his life took a turn one special day. Clement of Alexandria, one of the church fathers, says that Zach became a very prominent Christian leader and ended up a pastor of the church in Caesarea. Yes, we are talking about Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector who once famously climbed a sycamore tree.

What prompted Zacchaeus to climb up the tree? He was seeking to catch a glimpse of Jesus. Being short in stature, it was his only way to see over the crowd (Luke 19:3). But why did he want to see Jesus? Was it because Jesus had a reputation for accepting tax collectors? We aren’t told why, just that he went to extraordinary measures to sneak a peek. He ran and he climbed—two activities that were extremely inappropriate for an adult government official.

The most amazing thing in this account, however, is that Jesus was seeking Zacchaeus too. He took the initiative by looking up and saying, “Zacchaeus! . . . Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today” (v.5). The word “must” is the same word used in John 4:4, where it says that Jesus “had to go through Samaria”. It suggests divine necessity.

One Bible teacher puts it this way: “The biblical doctrine of salvation perfectly combines divine sovereignty and human responsibility. God must call and men must respond willingly. This is a unique picture, for only in Christianity is God declared to be the initiator and author of salvation. The only thing we can do is respond by receiving Christ’s free offer.”

Zacchaeus responded to Jesus’ seeking with joyful repentance (Luke 19:8). Have you?—Poh Fang Chia

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Read John 6:37,44,65 to see a picture of God’s sovereignty in salvation, and read verses 29,35,40 to see the reality of human responsibility. 
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How does this understanding of God’s sovereignty and human responsibility affect your view of sharing your faith? What has been your experience with repentance before God? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Love And Prayer

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June 29, 2013 

READ: Psalm 92 

They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing. —Psalm 92:14 

In a popular children’s book, Winnie the Pooh watches Kanga bound away. I wish I could jump like that, he thinks. Some can and some can’t. That’s how it is.

We see younger or more able men and women doing extraordinary things that we cannot do. They can; we can’t. That’s how it is. It’s easy to feel useless when we can’t do the things we were once capable of doing.

It’s true that we may not be able to “jump” like we once did, but we can love and we can pray. These are the works that time and experience have prepared us to do well.

Love is the very best gift we have to give to God and to others. It is no small matter, for love is the means by which we fulfill our whole duty to God and our neighbor. Our love for one person may seem to be a small action, but love is the greatest gift of all (1 Cor. 13:13).

And we can pray. Paul encouraged the Colossians to “continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving” (Col. 4:2). Our prayers are a powerful force in the universe!

Love and prayer are mighty works indeed, the mightiest works for any of us. Why? Because our God, who wants to use us, is an all-loving and all-powerful God.

— David H. Roper

Begin the day with God;
Kneel down to Him in prayer;
Lift up thy heart to His abode,
And seek His love to share. —Dann

God pours His love into our hearts
that it might flow out to others. 

ODJ: imagine

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June 29, 2013 

READ: Mark 9:43-48 

But I’ll tell you whomto fear. Fear God, who has the power to killyou and then throw you into hell. Yes, He’s theone to fear (Luke 12:5).

In 1971 John Lennon wrote a song about heaven and hell. The British public voted ”Imagine” their nation’s favourite song in 1999, and it earned Lennon a Grammy Hall of Fame Award that same year. The song also ranked number 3 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (2004).

Lennon wrote: “Imagine there’s no heaven. It’s easy if you try. No hell below us. Above us only sky. Imagine all the people. Living for today . . .”

For more than 40 years, “Imagine” has influenced people to believe that since there’s no heaven or hell, “living for today” is all there really is to life.

But the lyrics don’t reflect reality. There is a heaven and a hell. In fact Jesus spoke repeatedly of hell (Matthew 5:22,29-30, 10:28, 23:33; Luke 12:5, 13:28, 16:23).

Highlighting the dangers of a ‘living for today’ philosophy, Jesus warned that no pleasures of sin today are ever worth the punishment of hell. He also ominously described hell as a place of “unquenchable fires . . . where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out” (Mark 9:43-48). Repeatedly Jesus spoke of “outer darkness, [and a fiery furnace], where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:12; see also 13:42,50, 22:13, 24:51, 25:30).

In The Problem of Pain, Christian philosopher C. S. Lewis acknowledged that the doctrine of hell is a horrible doctrine. He would willingly remove it from Christianity if it were in his power. However, the question isn’t whether it’s detestable but whether it’s biblical.

We have the good news and the bad news to tell. The good news is that God offers us a place in heaven. The bad news is that if you reject His offer of heaven, your destination of hell is worse than you could ever imagine (John 3:18,36). —K.T. Sim

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Read Revelation 19:20, 20:10,14-15 and 21:8 to see what this book says about hell and who will be sent there. 
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Why would you agree or disagree that hell isa horrible teachingof the Bible? In sharing your faith, would you bring up the subject of hell? Why or why not? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Miserable Success

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June 28, 2013 

READ: Luke 9:18-27 

If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. —Luke 9:23 

“In whatever a man does without God, he must fail miserably—or succeed more miserably,” wrote George MacDonald (1824–1905), a Scottish novelist, poet, and Christian minister. This intriguing statement is often cited by modern speakers and writers and appears in MacDonald’s book Unspoken Sermons.

MacDonald was dealing with the difficult subject of a Christian’s self-denial and how we are to apply this teaching of Jesus: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it” (Luke 9:23-24).

Rather than merely trying to suppress our natural desires, MacDonald said that true self-denial means “we must see things as [Christ] saw them, regard them as He regarded them; we must take the will of God as the very life of our being . . . . We are no more to think, ‘What should I like to do?’ but ‘What would the Living One have me do?’”

Getting only what we want is succeeding miserably. True success is found in “losing” our lives for Jesus’ sake and finding them again full and free in His will.

— David C. McCasland

More like the Master I would live and grow,
More of His love to others I would show;
More self-denial, like His in Galilee,
More like the Master I long to ever be. —Gabriel

The spirit of humility and self-denial precedes a deeper and closer walk with God. 

ODJ: three wishes

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June 28, 2013 

READ: 2 Chronicles 1:1-14 

God said to Solomon, “Because your greatest desire is to help your people. . . . I will certainly give youthe wisdom andknowledge you requested” (vv.11-12).

If you were granted three wishes, what would you wish for? Would you wish for the eradication of global poverty? Would you wish for financial security? Would you wish for good looks, good health and long life? The question itself isn’t as important as how we answer the question; for our answers reveal our character and what’s important to us.

Many millennia ago, King Solomon was placed in a ‘three wishes’ predicament, and his response was both surprising and quite revealing.

After firmly establishing the kingdom and faithfully worshipping God, Solomon had a dream in which God appeared to him and asked: “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!” King Solomon didn’t choose wealth, riches, security, fame or the death of his enemies, but he humbly asked for something very practical and unselfish: wisdom and knowledge to lead and govern his people(2 Chronicles 1:10).

The wisdom and knowledge Solomon sought was the ability to discern and judge human affairs faithfully and the practical skills to handle the day to day issues of the kingdom. Solomon’s humble request revealed a selfless character, the alignment of his heart with God’s heart and his desire to serve others more than an appetite to serve himself. In the end, because Solomon’s request pleased God, He not only granted his request for wisdom, but He also gave Solomon more than what he asked for—wealth, riches and fame (2 Chronicles 1:11-12, 14-17).

Jesus gives us a guideline on how to respond to the ‘three wishes’ scenario: “Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need” (Matthew 6:33). When we seek to place God in charge of our lives, His desires become our desires, and we will refine our requests to please Him.—Marvin Williams

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Read Proverbs 3:13-18. Why is seeking wisdom better than pursuing possessions? 
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Think of your prayer requests to God over the past week. What do they reveal about your character? How can you refine your requests to God to make them more pleasing to Him? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Let’s Stick Together

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June 27, 2013 

READ: 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 

For in fact the body is not one member but many. —1 Corinthians 12:14 

Most regions of the world are familiar with the amazing phenomenon of snow. Snowflakes are beautiful, uniquely crafted ice crystals. Individual snowflakes are fragile, and they quickly melt if they land on your hand. Yet, en masse they create a force to be reckoned with. They can shut down major cities while creating beautiful landscapes of snow-laden trees whose pictures decorate calendars and become the subject of artwork. They provide pleasure on the ski slopes and joy for children as they make snowmen and ammunition for snowball fights. All because they stick together.

So it is with those of us who follow Christ. Each of us has been uniquely gifted with the capacity to make a contribution to the work of Christ. We were never intended to live in isolation but to work together to become a great force for God and the advance of His cause. As Paul reminds us, the body of Christ “is not one member but many” (1 Cor. 12:14). All of us are to use our gifts to serve one another so that together we can make a significant difference in our world.

Put your giftedness to work, joyfully cooperate with the giftedness of those around you, and let the wind of the Spirit use you for His glory!

— Joe Stowell

Lord, teach us to use our strengths in cooperation with
the strengths of others. Help us to serve as one so that
we might know the joy of the power of our togetherness
for Your name’s sake and the advance of Your kingdom.

We can accomplish more together than we can alone. 

ODJ: sculpting a stump

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June 27, 2013 

READ: Exodus 2:11-15 

Moses was afraid, thinking, “Everyone knows what I did”(v.14).

One morning I noticed a man with a chainsaw cutting down a large tree in front of some local farm buildings. He was still there in the afternoon, working on the tree stump with his power tool set at an unusual angle. Days later I passed the place again and noticed the stump had been transformed into a replica of a corncob. The man hadn’t been merely toppling a tree, he had sculpted vertical rows of ears of corn.

That sculpture reminds me that God can take a life that is the spiritual equivalent of a tree stump—unfruitful, unsightly and unusable—and transform it into a work of art for His glory (Ephesians 2:10).

God used Moses to escort the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 3:10-12), despite his severe moral misstep. Born into a Hebrew slave family, Moses grew up as Egyptian royalty. As an adult he was out among his own people and witnessed an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. Moses made sure no one was watching, and then he “killed the Egyptian and hid the body in the sand” (2:12). The killing wasn’t an act of self-defence. It was unrestrained violence. It was impulsive sin.

Although most of us have never considered taking anyone’s life, we can relate to the familiar sequence of sinning—the sudden urge to violate God’s ethics, the act itself, and then the dismay and remorse that follow (James 1:14-15). Fortunately, God’s forgiveness and grace allow us to forget the past and look “forward to what lies ahead” (Philippians 3:13).

God used Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, and He can use us too. Let’s put on our “new nature”, “learn to know [Him]” and “become like Him” (Colossians 3:10).—Jennifer Benson Schuldt

MORE
Look up Isaiah 64:8 to see a picture of our relationship with God as His creation. Read 1 John 3:20 to see why guilt over past sin holds no power over Christians. 
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What might short-circuit God’s transforming power in our lives? In light of God’s grace to us, why is it wrong to cite past offences when dealing with others? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Her Worst Day Ever

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June 26, 2013 

READ: Job 7:11-21 

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. —Job 7:11 

In May 2011, a young woman took cover in a bathtub during a tornado that devastated her city of Joplin, Missouri. Her husband covered her body with his and took the blows from flying debris. He died, and she survived because of his heroism. She naturally wrestles with the question, “Why?” But a year after the tornado, she said that she finds comfort because even on her worst day ever, she was loved.

When I think about “worst days ever,” I think of Job right away. A man who loved God, he lost his animals, his servants, and his 10 children in one day! (Job 1:13-19). Job mourned deeply, and he also asked the “Why?” questions. He cried out, “Have I sinned? What have I done to You . . . ? Why have You set me as Your target?” (7:20). Job’s friends accused him of sinning and thought he deserved his difficulties, but God said of his friends: “You have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has” (42:7). God did not give him the reasons for his suffering, but He listened to Job and did not fault him for his questions. God assured him of His control over everything, and Job trusted Him (42:1-6).

The Lord may not give us the reasons for our trials. But, thankfully, even on our worst day ever, we can know for sure we are loved by Him (Rom. 8:35-39).

— Anne Cetas

We’re grateful, Father, that You know our hearts
with our pain and joy. Thank You that You never
leave us nor forsake us, as Your Word tells us.
Please hold us close during our trials.

God’s love does not keep us from trials,
but sees us through them.