Entries by YMI

ODB: Jesus Knows Why

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July 24, 2018 

READ: Mark 8:22–26 

When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching. Matthew 7:28

 

I have friends who’ve received partial healing but still struggle with painful aspects of their diseases. Other friends have been healed of an addiction but still struggle with feelings of inadequacy and self-loathing. And I wonder, Why doesn’t God heal them completely—once and for all?

In Mark 8:22–26, we read the story of Jesus healing a man born blind. Jesus first took the man away from the village. Then He spit on the man’s eyes and “put his hands on him.” The man said he now saw people who looked “like trees walking around.” Then Jesus touched the man’s eyes again, and this time he saw “everything clearly.”

In His ministry, Jesus’s words and actions often amazed and baffled the crowd and His followers (Matthew 7:28; Luke 8:10; 11:14) and even drove many of them away (John 6:60–66). No doubt this two-part miracle also caused confusion. Why not immediately heal this man?

We don’t know why. But Jesus knew what the man—and the disciples who viewed his healing—needed in that moment. And He knows what we need today to draw us closer in our relationship with Him. Though we won’t always understand, we can trust that God is working in our lives and the lives of our loved ones. And He will give us the strength, courage, and clarity we need to persevere in following Him.

— Alyson Kieda

Dear Lord, thank You for knowing us so well and for providing what we need most. Give us eyes to see You and a heart to understand Your Word.

Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus. Robert Cull  

Typography: 1 Peter 3:8

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An even higher honor is to be called “The Beautiful Christian.” Above all others, believers should be the truly “beautiful people.” We are to be marked by the qualities of gentleness, compassion, love, tenderheartedness, and courtesy (1 Pet. 3:4,8). We are to be “beautiful” because we return blessing for evil (v.9), we seek peace (v.11), […]

ODJ: Foreigners Like Us

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July 23, 2018 

READ: Deuteronomy 10:14-22 

So you, too, must show love to foreigners, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt (v.19).

During World War I, German and English soldiers were locked in battle on the Western Front. Thousands of troops on both sides had been killed, and any kind of understanding between the bitter enemies seemed impossible. Yet, on Christmas Day of 1914, something remarkable happened. Soldiers on both sides emerged from their trenches and celebrated Christmas together, singing carols and even engaging in a game of football. For a brief moment, Christmas helped enemies remember their shared values and humanity.

We see a similar dynamic at work in how Israel was commanded to interact with foreigners. The Old Testament is often viewed as being harsh towards people outside of Israel, yet we read in today’s passage that God loves foreigners and provides them with “food and clothing” (Deuteronomy 10:18). What’s more, He commanded Israel to love foreigners as well (v.19).

It’s fascinating to consider why Israel was to love foreigners. It wasn’t because they were superior in some way—Israel was chosen only because of God’s loving purposes (v.15). No, Israel was to love foreigners because they were once foreigners in the land of Egypt, where they experienced oppression and violence. It’s because of this mutual experience of the hardship of being a foreigner that they were called to empathise with and love those who seemed different from themselves.

It would be easy to care for foreigners for the wrong reasons—perhaps only because we believe they’re needy. But let’s love them because God loves them, and because we’re not so different from them. We share much with one another, especially our Father in heaven, who created each and every one of us and calls us to deeper intimacy with Him (Acts 17:26-28).

—Peter Chin

365-day plan: Luke 9:28-45

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Read Acts 10:34-35 to see how God “shows no favouritism”—welcoming all people from all nations to join His family. 
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Who are the foreigners in your community or neighbourhood? What might it look like for you to love them as God does? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Watchful Care

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July 23, 2018 

READ: Jeremiah 23:20–24 

“Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the Lord. Jeremiah 23:24

 

Before he raced out the door to school, I asked my son if he had brushed his teeth. Asking again, I reminded him of the importance of telling the truth. Unmoved by my gentle admonishment, he half-jokingly informed me that what I really needed was a security camera in the bathroom. Then I could check for myself if he had brushed his teeth and he wouldn’t be tempted to lie.

While the presence of a security camera may help remind us to follow the rules, there are still places we can go unnoticed or ways we can avoid being seen. Although we may evade or trick a security camera, we fool ourselves if we think we are ever outside the gaze of God.

God asks, “Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” (Jeremiah 23:24). There is both an encouragement and a warning in His question.

The warning is that we cannot hide from God. We can’t outrun or fool Him. Everything we do is visible to Him.

The encouragement is that there is no place on earth or in the heavens where we are outside the watchful care of our heavenly Father. Even when we feel alone, God is with us. No matter where we go today, may the awareness of that truth encourage us to choose obedience to His Word and receive comfort—He watches over us. 

— Lisa Samra

Lord Jesus, thank You that there is nowhere I can go that is outside of Your loving gaze. Knowing You see me, help me to honor You with my words and actions.

We are never outside the watchful care of our heavenly Father.  

ODJ: Love that Endures

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July 22, 2018 

READ: 1 Cor. 12:25-13:13 

Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance (v.7).

Nearly 40 percent of singles in a 2013 study described feeling isolated in their churches. One researcher concluded, “[Singles] . . . feel invisible and think about leaving.” That statistic doesn’t surprise me. As a single person, I’ve experienced feelings of isolation in churches composed primarily of couples who socialise primarily with other couples. I’ve also experienced awkward silences when I reveal I’m not dating, married or even actively seeking a spouse.

It can be easy for churches to embrace mainstream culture’s tendency to idolise romance while seeing friendships and community as optional, superficial and non-committal. In that worldview, singles can be excluded from being known and loved at a deep level, while couples can sometimes enter marriage with unrealistic expectations.

The apostle Paul described the church, not as a collection of couples and singles, but as an interdependent body meant to share joy and suffering together (1 Corinthians 12:25-26), where each person is uniquely gifted and needed for the good of the whole (vv.7,21-22). And when Paul described the “way of life that is best of all” (v.31), he didn’t describe marriage but the love the community of faith is called to embody (vv.12-13), a love that “never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance” (13:7).

When believers deepen their experience of community and unity through the Spirit, we grow into a love deeper than our own individual needs, one where we’re invited into a calling much bigger than ourselves (12:4-6). And we also grow in our witness to the transforming power of Jesus’ love, the love that will last forever (13:13).

—Monica Brands

365-day plan: Mark 8:22-9:1

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Read 1 Peter 4:8-10 and reflect on why it’s “most important of all” to grow deeper in our love for fellow believers. 
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How have you been tempted to look for fulfilment outside of the community of believers in Jesus? How might you build deeper connections in the body of Christ? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Hope Anyway

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July 22, 2018 

READ: Psalm 34:15–18 

My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life. Psalm 119:50

 

Among the hundreds of articles I’ve written for Our Daily Bread since 1988, a few stick in my mind. One such article is from the mid-1990s when I told of a time our three girls were away at camp or on mission trips, so six-year-old Steve and I had some guy time.

As we were enjoying an excursion to the airport, Steve turned to me and said, “It’s not as much fun without Melissa,” his eight-year-old sister and sidekick. Neither of us knew then how poignant those words would turn out to be. Life indeed has not been “as much fun” for the years since Mell died in a car accident as a teenager. The passage of time may dull the ache, but nothing takes the pain away completely. Time cannot heal that wound. But here’s something that can help: listening to, meditating on, and savoring the solace promised by the God of all comfort.

Listen: “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail” (Lamentations 3:22).

Meditate: “In the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling” (Psalm 27:5).

Savor: “My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life” (119:50).

Life can never be the same again when someone we love is gone. But God’s promises bring hope and comfort. 

— Dave Branon

Thank You, God, that You are near. You’re always by my side. I’m grateful for Your comfort in my pain and for Your peace.

God’s Word is the true source of comfort.  

ODJ: Be a Samuel

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July 21, 2018 

READ: 1 Samuel 12:1-25 

As for me, I will certainly not sin against the Lord by ending my prayers for you (v.23).

I ran into a former professor at a conference. I had only taken one class with him nearly thirty years before, so I was stunned when he told me he prays for me and two others who live near me. He prays for his former students by region, because he loves us and wants us to flourish in our faith.

This professor is my ‘Samuel’. When the prophet Samuel announced that King Saul would now be Israel’s leader (1 Samuel 12:1), he knew he would no longer be as directly responsible for them. Yet he still felt an obligation to pray for them, and promised, “I will certainly not sin against the Lord by ending my prayers for you” (1 Samuel 12:23).

I hope you have a Samuel. Perhaps, like I was, you’re benefiting from prayers you aren’t even yet aware of.

But I also hope you’ll be a Samuel for others. Remember those who have passed out of your life and pray for them. If you love God and you love them, why wouldn’t you talk to God about them?

We can’t pray for everyone by name, but we can pray more intentionally. We can regularly ask God to bless the names He places on our heart. It may take time to develop this habit, but may God’s love compel us to press on. In His power we can make time to pray on others’ behalf.

We can pray with structure, and we can also pray spontaneously. When we see an old friend online or when they simply come to mind, we can do more than savour fond memories. We can talk to God while we’re thinking of them (Philippians 1:3). We can ask God to provide whatever they need and empower them (4:19). We might even send a note to let them know we thanked God for them.

Let’s tell the Most Important Person about the most important people in our lives.

—Mike Wittmer

365-day plan: Matthew 15:32-16:12

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Read Ephesians 1:15-23 and 3:14-21 and reflect on Paul’s prayers for others. 
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How can you make praying for others a normal part of daily life? Who could you pray for right now? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Shelter from the Storm

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July 21, 2018 

READ: James 1:12–18 

But as for me, how good it is to be near God! I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter. Psalm 73:28 nlt

 

When I lived in Oklahoma I had a friend who “chased” tornados. John tracked the storms carefully through radio contact with other chasers and local radar, trying to keep a safe distance while observing their destructive paths so he could report sudden changes to people in harm’s way.
One day a funnel cloud changed course so abruptly John found himself in grave danger. Fortunately, he found shelter and was spared.

John’s experience that afternoon makes me think of another destructive path: sin in our lives. The Bible tells us, “Each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death” (James 1:14–15).

There’s a progression here. What may at first seem harmless can soon spin out of control and wreak havoc. But when temptation threatens, God offers us shelter from the gathering storm.

God’s Word tells us He would never tempt us, and we can blame our choices only on ourselves. But when we “are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that [we] can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). As we turn to Him and call on Him for help in the moment of temptation, Jesus gives us the strength we need to overcome.

Jesus is our shelter forever.

— James Banks

Lord Jesus, You conquered sin and death forever through Your cross and empty tomb! Help me to live and thrive in the forgiveness only You can give.

Our Savior calms temptation’s storm.  

ODJ: True Identity

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July 20, 2018 

READ: Ephesians 1:3-14 

Because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God (v.11).

As I was growing up, I often felt as if I didn’t quite fit in. I was different from even my close friends but couldn’t figure out why. I tried to take an interest in what my friends liked and to talk and act like them. But it wasn’t until I went to college that I decided to stop worrying about what other people thought of me. Knowing that my identity was in Jesus, I didn’t have to try to be the ‘cool kid’ anymore.

Thankfully, our social identity doesn’t define who we are. Paul opened his letter to followers of Jesus in Ephesus by explaining that God “chose us in Christ” and adopted us as children of God (Ephesians 1:4-5). He then wrote, “Because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance” (v.11). Jesus chose to die for us and we’re now united with Him, a part of His family and heirs to His kingdom!

During His time on earth, Jesus assured His followers that, although He had to leave, He would send a Helper—the Holy Spirit—who would be an advocate and guide (John 14:15-21, 16:5-15). And according to Paul, the Spirit is also “God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people” (Ephesians 1:14).

Believers in Jesus aren’t simply His followers, we’re children of God, adopted into His family. Our social identity may have some value now, but it doesn’t compare to who we are in Jesus and what that means for our future. As Paul wrote, “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing” (v.3). We find true identity in our relationship with Jesus and in our inheritance as a child of God!

—Julie Schwab

365-day plan: Mark 7:1-37

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Read Romans 8:15-17 to learn more about what it means to be adopted into God’s family. 
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Are you struggling with your identity? What does having an identity in Christ and being adopted as a child of God mean to you? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)