Entries by YMI

ODB: Jesus’ Witness

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August 13, 2026 

READ: Acts 22:12-16 

You will be [Jesus’] witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. Acts 22:15

 

I’ve heard it said, “We can’t make our children believe. We can only give our children reason to believe what we believe.” That’s a wise observation—but how do we do it?

Of all people to take parenting advice from, the apostle Paul is seldom the first choice. It’s likely that he had no children. Parents often prefer to hear from someone who’s been there, done that, someone who knows about sleepless infants, the storms of puberty, and how it feels to pray for a prodigal. Yet Paul (or Saul) has something to teach us here.

Saul had been on his way to persecute Christians when Christ intervened. This man fell to the ground, blinded (Acts 9:1-9). Soon he was visited by Ananias, who restored his sight and explained his mission: “The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard” (22:14-15). Saul, later called Paul, did witness, and God gave him a quiverful of spiritual offspring. His “parenting approach” was to share what he’d seen, and to pray.

Whether parenting our own children or interacting with others, we can’t make them believe. Rather, we witness with our words and lives as to what we’ve seen and heard. And we pray. Our God, who sent Paul to the gentiles, sends us with the same instruction: Witness so they may believe. Then entrust them to our Father, who loves them.

— John Blase

What children are in your sphere of influence? How might you share your faith with them?

Heavenly Father, may our children believe in You.  

ODB: Precious Parting Words

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August 12, 2026 

READ: Matthew 28:16-20 

Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19

 

My friend José was in hospice care. He’d been alert and talkative during my prior visit but a week later was now frail and speechless. I sat with José and his family anyway, hoping my presence would mean something to them. At the end of what would be my final visit, I was the last one in the room with him. I finally stood and slowly headed to the door but stopped and turned around one last time to say, “Love you,” not expecting a response. There I saw José moving his lips. He was mouthing the words “love you” in return.

A person’s parting words can leave a lasting impression. As Jesus was getting ready to return to His Father in heaven after His sacrificial death and resurrection, He assured His disciples that all authority on heaven and earth belonged to Him (Matthew 28:18). And He left them with this lasting charge or Great Commission, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (vv. 19-20). Christ also assured His followers that He would always be with them (v. 20).

Jesus’ parting words are for us today too. May we embrace His call to tell others about Him so they can experience His love and forgiveness, live for Him, and enjoy eternal life with Him in heaven. His message is too good not to share with people of all nations.

— Nancy Gavilanes

How do Jesus’ parting words touch you? Who can you share Him with today?

Dear Jesus, please help me to share Your good news with others.  

ODB: What My Rental Car Taught Me

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August 11, 2026 

READ: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20  

You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

 

I recently traveled to Los Angeles and had to rent a car. Soon, I was driving through narrow downtown lanes, full of traffic and people. I found myself driving very carefully, slower than normal. Why? Well, I didn’t want to have an accident. But I really didn’t want to damage my rental car. It wasn’t mine, after all. I was just, well, borrowing it.

Most of the time, we’d rather be owners than renters. But as I drove, I couldn’t help but think that renting that car illustrated something important about my relationship to God.

Scripture teaches that even our bodies—which we might think we own—don’t belong to us. In a larger conversation about sexual sin in 1 Corinthians 6, Paul concludes, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies” (vv. 19-20).

I’ll admit, it’s hard to completely comprehend that my body isn’t my own. Still, God calls us to honor Him with it. To care for our bodies. To realize that we’re stewards—renters, if you will—of these vessels He’s given us, that we might use them to honor and serve the one whose own broken body and blood saves us.

— Adam Holz

How do you respond to the idea that God wants us to honor Him with our bodies? How could this truth change how you live?

Dear Father, thank You for the amazing gift of my body. Please help me to honor You by using it to love and serve others today.     

ODB: Hope in God

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August 10, 2026 

READ: Lamentations 3:19-26 

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him. Lamentations 3:25

 

Because of his father’s alcoholism and mistreatment of his mother, Pablo left home when he was a teenager. He moved in with an uncle, graduated high school, married, and had three children. But sadly, Pablo began repeating the same destructive behavior he’d once fled. His own alcohol addiction and behavior began to tear his family apart. Soon, it was all gone—his marriage, family, job, and home. “My life was terrible, and it got worse,” he said.

Finally he turned to a treatment facility for help. “I was in bad shape, and God opened the door for me.” One day after praying, he experienced God through the beauty of nature. Soon his youngest daughter noticed he’d changed, and reconciled with him. Today he’s working to rebuild trust with his other children.

In Lamentations, the prophet Jeremiah grieved over the plight of his people, who had turned from God and were exiled to Babylon: “I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall . . . and my soul is downcast within me” (Lamentations 3:19-20). Like the Israelites, Pablo was far from God. And like Jeremiah, he found hope in God: “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (vv. 22-23).

Like Pablo, the Israelites got a fresh start. We can turn to God and find hope.

— Alyson Kieda

Are you looking for hope? How is God inviting you to hope in Him?

Dear God, thank You for offering me a renewed relationship with You.  

ODB: Costly Faithfulness

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August 9, 2026 

READ: Psalm 31:1-5, 7-13 

Be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. Psalm 31:2

 

The film A Hidden Life tells the true story of Austrian farmer Franz Jägerstätter during World War II. Sickened by Nazi atrocities and believing only Jesus is Lord, Franz refused to swear allegiance to Hitler and was arrested. The rest of the film shows the anguish this brave stand brought him.

Franz’s village treated him with contempt for opposing Hitler’s agenda. Cellmates ridiculed his faith, and even some priests thought he was being foolish. “God doesn’t care what you say, only what’s in your heart,” one person says in the film, tempting Franz to “hail” Hitler without meaning it to save his life. “My rock, my fortress,” Franz prays, feeling pressure to recant, “give me strength to follow You.”

Psalm 31 is the prayer of a person facing evil powers. “Be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me” (v. 2), David pleads in the face of his own tyrants (vv. 4, 11). His life in anguish and suffering the contempt of his neighbors, David longs to stay faithful under pressure (vv. 3, 10-13). “Into your hands I commit my spirit,” he prays (v. 5), words later echoed by Jesus on the cross (Luke 23:46).

Our God never leaves costly faithfulness unrewarded. Franz Jägerstätter stayed faithful to the end. Like Jesus, this faithfulness cost him his life. But just as Jesus was raised from the grave, so Franz will rise one day too.

— Sheridan Voysey

What can you learn from history’s martyrs? What can you do today to stay faithful in a time of trial?

My Rock and Fortress, please give me strength to follow You, whatever opposition I face.  

ODB: Impacting Generations

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August 8, 2026 

READ: Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-10 

Teach them to your children and to their children after them. Deuteronomy 4:9

 

During basketball practice, Enrique’s dad asked him and his friend to show the team how to pass the ball correctly. Enrique had practiced for weeks but feared messing up. He prayed, completed the drill, and said, “Thank You, God!” Later his dad said, “I’m proud of you for working hard, son. But I’m prouder that you prayed and praised God.” Enrique shrugged and said, “I just did what you do.”

Throughout history, God has worked through healthy, cross-generational relationships. Sharing His decrees and laws with the Israelites, He said not to add to them nor subtract from them (Deuteronomy 4:1-2). “Observe them carefully,” God said, “for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations” (v. 6). But God wasn’t only interested in how others perceived His people. He said, “Teach them to your children and to their children after them” (v. 9). Why? So that they “may learn to revere” God and teach “their children” about Him (v. 10).

We don’t have to be parents or serve in children’s ministry to share our Spirit-empowered faith with younger people. Whether we’re praying for a younger person or a young family, providing resources to nurture spiritual growth, or offering encouragement, God uses our healthy, cross-generational relationships to impact generations to come.

— Xochitl Dixon

How has God used older people to nurture you spiritually? How can you invest in the spiritual lives of a younger person or a young family?

Father God, please help me value, serve, and share You with people from all generations.  

ODB: God Is Greater

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August 7, 2026 

READ: 1 Peter 5:6-11 

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

 

Before he became famous, the Mongolian warlord Genghis Khan (ca. ad 1162-1227) killed his own half brother to advance his position in the family. As he solidified his power, he began to build an empire more expansive than Alexander the Great’s, stretching from Asia’s Pacific coast to Eastern Europe. Ruthless in his tactics, the khan and his army left a trail of death and destruction everywhere they advanced. His devastating military forays are unparalleled in recorded history.

Today we face a vicious foe even more intimidating than a marauding army—an enemy who wants to conquer and devastate our souls. The apostle Peter cautioned, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). This enemy is cunning and dangerous like a great warrior and is much more than we can handle on our own. But we have great reason for hope. The apostle John wrote, “The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). This “one who is in you” is the Holy Spirit Himself. We need not fear the enemy of our souls.

As we rely on the Holy Spirit, we gain confidence that our lives are guarded from the one who’s trying to conquer our souls. Our God is greater. We can trust Him to be with us in everything.

— Bill Crowder

When have you sensed the enemy’s opposition? How did you respond?

Loving God, thank You that You’re greater than my enemy and have already defeated him. Please help me rely on Your Spirit.  

ODB: Part of God’s Story

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August 6, 2026 

READ: Judges 4:4-9, 14 

Has not the Lord gone ahead of you? Judges 4:14

 

Archaeologist Jodi Magness and her team have been excavating a synagogue in the ancient village of Huqoq in Lower Galilee, where they’ve found an incredible collection of mosaics, paintings, and carvings. Particularly rare, however, is a mosaic telling the biblical story of Deborah and her role in Israel’s battle against the Canaanites; there’s no other known ancient depiction of this heroine.

During twenty years of oppression by Canaan, Deborah, a prophetess, “was leading Israel” (Judges 4:4). At God’s prompting, Deborah urged Israel’s general Barak to mount an attack on the Canaanite forces and their commander, Sisera. Barak heeded God’s instructions to “take . . . ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them up to Mount Tabor” (v. 6), and Deborah lured the enemy’s army to the area. The Canaanite troops indeed fell in the battle, and though Sisera initially fled on foot, he too ultimately met his demise. “On that day God subdued . . . Canaan before the Israelites” (v. 23) through the courageous obedience of Deborah and Barak.

The Bible preserves for us a literary mosaic of historical events in the life of God’s people—collectively and individually. We can take courage from these examples to heed God’s instructions even in the face of hardship and struggle. We can trust Him to equip us with the strength to do so.

— Kirsten Holmberg

When has God asked you to do something difficult? How did He equip and sustain you in that situation?

Heavenly Father, please give me the courage to heed Your instructions.  

ODB: Family in God

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August 5, 2026 

READ: John 14:5-11 

Don’t you know me, Philip . . . ? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. John 14:9

 

“What makes you smile when you think about your son?” That was my question for Clarence—a younger man I was mentoring. The proud father proceeded to share some of his bright four-year-old’s accomplishments. One particular detail left me amused. Not only does the child have his father’s first and last names, but he already looks so much like his father that he can unlock his father’s smartphone using facial recognition!

In John 14, Jesus made it clear how closely He resembled His Father. When an inquisitive Philip requested, “Lord, show us the Father” (v. 8), Jesus responded, “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (v. 9). How was it that the Father was revealed through the Son? It was through Jesus’ “words” (v. 10) and “works” (v. 11) that God’s love, mercy, grace, and more were brilliantly displayed.

Empowered by God’s Spirit, believers in Jesus are privileged to share family likeness. The invisible God becomes visible through His children. Regarding Christlike love, John reminds us, “No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us” (1 John 4:12 nlt).

— Arthur Jackson

What is it about your words and deeds that remind others of Jesus? How might you pray about the Holy Spirit working in and through you to bring honor to God the Father and Christ the Son?

Dear Father, please strengthen me to love Jesus, and to live like Him and for Him.