Entries by YMI

ODB: Unseen, Yet Loved

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May 13, 2016 

READ: 1 Peter 1:1-9  

Though you have not seen him, you love him. 1 Peter 1:8

 

Like others in the blogging community, I’d never met the man known to us as BruceC. Yet when his wife posted a note to the group to let us know that her husband had died, a string of responses from distant places showed we all knew we had lost a friend.

BruceC had often opened his heart to us. He talked freely about his concern for others and what was important to him. Many of us felt like we knew him. We would miss the gentle wisdom that came from his years in law enforcement and his faith in Christ.

In recalling our online conversations with BruceC, I gained a renewed appreciation for words written by a first-century witness of Jesus. In the first New Testament letter the apostle Peter wrote, he addressed readers scattered throughout the Roman Empire: “Though you have not seen [Christ], you love him” (1 Peter 1:8).

Peter, as a personal friend of Jesus, was writing to people who had only heard about the One who had given them reason for so much hope in the middle of their troubles. Yet, as a part of the larger community of believers, they loved Him. They knew that at the price of His own life, He had brought them into the everlasting family of God.

— Mart DeHaan

Lord, we have never seen You, yet we believe in You and love You. Strengthen our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ who love You as well. Make us one community in You.

Our love for Christ is only as real as our love for our neighbor.  

ODJ: Greater Work

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May 12, 2016 

READ: Acts 12:1-24 

The word of God continued to spread, and there were many new believers (v.24).

In just a few short hours, my husband and I learned that—although our lives were soon to be united in marriage—we wouldn’t walk identical paths. We had been dating for over a year when each of our fathers entered the hospital on the same day, though in two different facilities. One man breathed raggedly in his final stages of cancer; the other lay bleeding internally on the operating table after an open-heart procedure—two lives hovering between heaven and earth. The next day, one remained; the other did not.

Nothing sifts our prayer life quite like hardship or suffering. When difficulties arise, we clutch at Scripture that declares our desired results—verses like Luke 11:9, John 16:24 and James 5:14-15. We don’t doubt the reality of God’s ability. Leaning on biblical truth, we understand the sufficiency of the cross in not only cancelling the power of sin but also in its ability to eradicate its consequences (Colossians 2:13-15). It’s in the appropriation of those victories here on earth where the battle ensues. Why do the outcomes sometimes not line up with our hopes? Do our actions (or lack thereof) move the hand of God to a particular result?

While not answering all our questions, the story of James’ and Peter’s separate imprisonments reminds us how our trust in God and, just as important, our understanding of prayer shouldn’t be based on what we see with our physical eyes (Acts 12:1-24). James died, but Peter lived (vv.1-2,7-10).

For us, our expectation is often defined by what is least painful. But from God’s perspective, the greater thing is the supernatural work of His kingdom in us, whether through death or life (Philippians 1:21).

—Regina Franklin

365-day plan: Psalm 1:1-6

MORE
Read 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 and consider how our intimacy with God, His continued work here on earth, and our view of heaven should shape both our perspective and our prayers. 
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When we hear about what God did for someone, why shouldn’t we expect the same outcome from our prayers? What life experience has most challenged your understanding of prayer? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Ambassador of Love

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May 12, 2016 

READ: John 3:9-21 

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:17

 

In my work as a chaplain, some people occasionally ask if I am willing to give them some additional spiritual help. While I’m happy to spend time with anyone who asks for help, I often find myself doing more learning than teaching. This was especially true when one painfully honest new Christian said to me with resignation, “I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to read the Bible. The more I read what God expects from me, the more I judge others who aren’t doing what it says.”

As he said this, I realized that I was at least partly responsible for instilling this judgmental spirit in him. At that time, one of the first things I did with those new to faith in Jesus was to introduce them to things they should no longer be doing. In other words, instead of showing them God’s love and letting the Holy Spirit reshape them, I urged them to “behave like a believer.”

Now I was gaining a new appreciation for John 3:16-17. Jesus’ invitation to believe in Him in verse 16 is followed by these words. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

Jesus didn’t come to condemn us. But by giving these new Christians a checklist of behaviors, I was teaching them to condemn themselves, which then led them to judge others. Instead of being agents of condemnation, we are to be ambassadors of God’s love and mercy. 

— Randy Kilgore

Father, help me not to judge others today. Let me learn this until it changes me into someone more like You.

If Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world, that’s probably not our mission either!  

What’s Your Spiritual Style?

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We all serve and worship the same God, but have you noticed how we each relate to God differently? God has made us all unique, enabling us to relate or draw closer to Him in specific ways. Which of these 9 spiritual styles do you identify with? Let’s embrace the uniqueness God has given to each one of us and support our fellow brothers and sisters as they relate to Him.

ODJ: Awe

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May 11, 2016 

READ: Esther 1:1-22  

Everything comes from [God] and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen (Romans 11:36).

Good things can happen when we experience awe. In 2015, research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology revealed that goose bump-eliciting awe helps people move from self-interest to deeper awareness of others and their concerns. In essence, awe leads to blessing!

The way God works to bless us and perform His perfect plans, something called providence, causes me to stand in awe of Him. Just consider how He quietly, invisibly directed events in the book of Esther to lead and protect His people. In chapter 1, the Persian king Xerxes, full of himself and probably way too many cups of wine (vv.8,10), made the decision to banish his beautiful wife Vashti because she wouldn’t come to his drunken affair and be ogled by his cronies (vv.11-12,19-21).

Xerxes’ decision put into motion a series of events that included a young woman named Esther being added to his harem. Esther, a Jew, melted the king’s heart with her beauty and character, causing him to fall deeply in love with her (2:17). Later, because of her influence on Xerxes, Esther was used by God to keep His people from genocide (8:5-16).

A summary of the story might look like this: Drunken king cuts ties with queen, falls in love with new queen—a Jew. Haman hates the Jews and gets the king to sign an edict to terminate them. Esther convinces the king that Haman and his plans are bad news, causing the king to terminate him instead while the Jews go on to enjoy honour and prosperity.

The same awe-inspiring One who directed those events still presides over all things today (Romans 11:36). May we stand in awe of God and His providential ways—blessing Him and others He brings to us!

—Tom Felten

365-day plan: Job 42:1-27

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Read Psalm 47:2 and consider why God is so awe-inspiring. 
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Where and when do you find yourself most in awe of God? How can being in awe of Him lead you to be a blessing to others? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Start Afresh

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May 11, 2016 

READ: Psalm 86:5-15 

His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

 

When I was growing up, one of my favorite books was Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. In one amusing passage, young Anne, by mistake, adds a skin medication instead of vanilla to the cake she is making. Afterward, she exclaims hopefully to her stern-faced guardian, Marilla, “Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?”

I like that thought: tomorrow is a new day—a new day when we can start afresh. We all make mistakes. But when it comes to sin, God’s forgiveness is what enables us to start each morning with a clean slate. When we repent, He chooses to remember our sins no more (Jer. 31:34; Heb. 8:12).

Some of us have made wrong choices in our lives, but our past words and deeds need not define our future in God’s eyes. There is always a fresh start. When we ask for His forgiveness, we take a first step toward restoring our relationship with Him and with others. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

God’s compassion and faithfulness are new every morning (Lam. 3:23), so we can start afresh each day.

— Cindy Hess Kasper

Thank You for this new day, Lord. Forgive me for doing those things in the past that I shouldn't have done, and for not doing those things that I should have done. Set my feet on Your right path today.

Each new day gives us new reasons to praise the Lord.  

ODJ: Purpose

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May 10, 2016 

READ: Galatians 4:1-20 

I fear for you. Perhaps all my hard work with you was for nothing (v.11).

The Purpose Driven Life has been on the New York Times advice book bestseller list for one of the longest periods in history. With more than 30 million copies sold, it’s obvious many readers have turned to it as a source for living with meaning.

A quest for purpose isn’t something found only in the 21st century. Long before our time, men and women sought to live in purposeful ways.

Even the apostle Paul longed to know that his investments in the lives of others revealed true purpose. Following Paul’s conversion from a chief persecutor of Christians to an apostle of Christ, he devoted his life to spreading the gospel. He wanted all people to know God who “has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, ‘Abba Father’ ” (Galatians 4:6). He wanted them to grasp that they were “no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir” (v.7).

Paul explains what it means to possess real purpose in Jesus. He wanted the Galatians to understand that without Christ, they were slaves to “so-called gods that do not even exist” (v.8). He was troubled that many of them were beginning to know God but then reverting to useless spiritual principles of the world. They were trying to earn favour with God rather than experience a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ (vv.9-10).

“I fear for you,” Paul said. “Perhaps all my hard work with you was for nothing” (v.11). The apostle deeply wanted those he had taught and discipled to know that true purpose was found in Jesus alone. We all long for it and are invited to find it in all its fullness through Him—the One who fills our lives with meaning and purpose.

—Roxanne Robbins

365-day plan: Job 38:1-41

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Read John 15:16 and consider what Jesus reveals as His purpose for believers. 
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How does the apostle Paul’s life demonstrate God’s purpose to you? What things can hinder you from living out your purpose in Jesus? How can you overcome these things by God’s power? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)