Entries by YMI

ODJ: Anger Management

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February 12, 2017 

READ: Ephesians 4:17-29 

Don’t sin by letting anger control you (Psalm 4:4).

“Pastor accused of hurting man in a road rage incident,” read the headline. My first response was to think, As a believer in Jesus, why wasn’t the pastor more forgiving? Why didn’t he show self-control when provoked? Then the realization hit me that I’m equally capable of such behavior. There have been too many times when I’ve been behind the wheel and my daughter has had to remind me, “Chill, Dad, chill.”

I continued to muse about this act of road rage: Can true believers in Jesus get angry? Is anger sin?

After telling the Ephesian believers not to live as nonbelievers do (Ephesians 4:17), Paul offers some timely advice on anger management. He reveals that anger is not necessarily sin. But it can lead to sin. Since God is the only One who can be angry and never sin, Paul warns us of our propensity to sin when we’re incensed (v.26). If we allow anger to simmer and fester within us, we’re dancing with danger. And when we allow anger to control us, we give Satan an opportunity to bring about a greater evil (v.27). Paul doesn’t differentiate between good or bad anger. He simply states that when we’re angry, it’s vital that we don’t sin.

Cain presents a classic case of anger mismanagement (Genesis 4:3-8). He was angry (at God), but for the wrong reasons (vv.3-5). God warned Cain to rein in his anger, to subdue it, so he wouldn’t be mastered by it and sin (v.7). Cain couldn’t cool down his hot head and ended up murdering his brother (v.8).

Knowing the potential evil awaiting to be unleashed when we don’t master our anger, we need the Holy Spirit to keep us from “being angry” and losing our “temper—[leading] to harm” (Psalm 37:8). May we rest in His strength and counsel when anger comes calling!

—K. T. Sim

365-day plan: Exodus 16:1-36

MORE
Read Matthew 5:21-22 to see what Jesus said about anger and sin. 
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Think of someone who has angered you. What should you have done or what should you do with your anger? How can the Holy Spirit give you the power to cool down and do the right thing? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Look What Jesus Has Done

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February 12, 2017 

READ: Luke 8:1–8 

See that you . . . excel in this grace of giving. 2 Corinthians 8:7

 

The little boy was only eight when he announced to his parents’ friend Wally, “I love Jesus and want to serve God overseas someday.” During the next ten years or so, Wally prayed for him as he watched him grow up. When this young man later applied with a mission agency to go to Mali, Wally told him, “It’s about time! When I heard what you wanted to do, I invested some money and have been saving it for you, waiting for this exciting news.” Wally has a heart for others and for getting God’s good news to people.

Jesus and His disciples needed financial support as they traveled from one town and village to another, telling the good news of His kingdom (Luke 8:1–3). A group of women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases helped to support them “out of their own means” (v. 3). One was Mary Magdalene, who had been freed from the presence of seven demons. Another was Joanna, the wife of an official in Herod’s court. Nothing is known about Susanna and “many others” (v. 3), but we know that Jesus had met their spiritual needs. Now they were helping Him and His disciples through giving their financial resources.

When we consider what Jesus has done for us, His heart for others becomes our own. Let’s ask God how He wants to use us.

— Anne Cetas

Jesus gave His all; He deserves our all.  

ODJ: Moving Past Memories

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February 11, 2017 

READ: Genesis 45:1-15 

You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good (Genesis 50:20).

When artist Gary Sweeney decided to sell the home his family had owned for seventy years, he created a unique way of saying goodbye. Sweeney selected and enlarged one hundred family photos, placing them on pieces of plywood. He attached the plywood to the home’s exerior—covering the entire structure in memories.

Experiences with our parents and siblings stay with us for life. Good or bad, memories pry into our lives with invisible fingers, influencing our self-image, decisions, and emotions.

When Joseph was seventeen years old, his brothers sold him as a slave to a group of traders headed to Egypt. Many years later when he encountered his brothers again, Joseph “broke down and wept” (Genesis 45:2). Despite the emotions, Joseph didn’t allow hurtful memories to affect his relationship with his brothers. He acknowledged the past, but didn’t make them feel guilty for what they’d done. He said, “Don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me . . . . It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives” (v.5). God had given Joseph great success in Egypt and as a result he was able to save his brothers and their families during a severe famine.

Joseph could have allowed himself to become bitter and hateful. He could have taken revenge by denying help to his family. Although nothing could change how his brothers had hurt him, Joseph’s decision to treat them with kindness released him from the misery of the past.

We may not be able to change our past, but we don’t have to let it determine our future. God is able to redeem the bad intentions of other people (50:20). By His grace, we can choose to bless people who’ve hurt us—finding healing through forgiveness.

—Jennifer Benson Schuldt

365-day plan: Exodus 15:22-27, 17:1-7

MORE
Read Rev. 21:3-5 to see how God will one day erase the pain of our earthly lives. Look up Micah 7:19 and see how God handles our offenses against Him. 
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How can experiencing God’s forgiveness for our sin help us to extend grace to others? Why do you think God wants us to “[forget] the past and [look] forward to what lies ahead”? (Philippians 3:13). 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: I Know Everything

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February 11, 2017 

READ: Psalm 139:1–18 

You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Psalm 139:3

 

Our son and daughter-in-law had an emergency. Our grandson Cameron was suffering from pneumonia and bronchitis and needed to go to the hospital. They asked if we could pick up their five-year-old son, Nathan, from school and take him home. Marlene and I were glad to do so.

When Nathan got in the car, Marlene asked, “Are you surprised that we came to get you today?” He responded, “No!” When we asked why not, he replied, “Because I know everything!”

A five-year-old can claim to know everything, but those of us who are a bit older know better. We often have more questions than answers. We wonder about the whys, whens, and hows of life—often forgetting that though we do not know everything, we know the God who does.

Psalm 139:1 and 3 speak of our all-knowing God’s all-encompassing, intimate understanding of us. David says, “You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. . . . You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.” How comforting to know God loves us perfectly, is fully aware of what we will face today, and He knows how best to help us in every circumstance of life.

Our knowledge will always be limited, but knowing God is what matters most. We can trust Him.

— Bill Crowder

Thank You, Lord, that You know everything about me and what I need.

Knowing God is what matters most.  

ODJ: There Is Hope

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February 10, 2017 

READ: Psalm 13:1-6 

I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me (v.5).

“When you hear the hard news, there are two diverging roads from which to choose. One’s despair—don’t go there. There is hope!” I wrote those lyrics as part of a song that shares what I’ve learned through a lengthy battle with cancer. Today I was talking with a thirty-year-old husband whose wife just found out she has breast cancer. As I strived to give him comfort and counsel, what I shared can be summed up in these words: Because of God, there is hope.

In Psalm 13, David expresses the raw emotions of someone who’s crushed—someone starving for hope. Four times he expresses to God the plaintive words “how long” (vv.1-2). He felt as if the Lord had forgotten him, and the “anguish” and “sorrow” were becoming more than he could bear.

We can all relate to David’s pain. A cancer diagnosis, a failing relationship, or the loss of something or someone we love can cause us to feel lost and alone. God can appear to be very distant.

The psalmist makes an important decision. He calls out to God, saying, “Turn and answer me, O Lord my God!” He prays out of desperation, knowing that only his Creator can “restore the sparkle to [his] eyes” and hope to his heart (v.3).

Calling out to God even when it seems as if He’s far from us turns our eyes from our misery to Him and His mercy. Prayer plants the seed that allows hope to grow.

Finally, David chooses to “trust” in God and His “unfailing love” (v.5). His circumstances hadn’t changed, but as he calls out to the Lord in prayer and trusts in His character, his heart erupts in praise—even rejoicing in song! (v.6).

Which of the two “diverging roads” are you walking today? You can move from despair to hope by turning to God. Because He’s there, there is hope!

—Tom Felten

365-day plan: Exodus 13:17-14:31

MORE
Read Romans 15:13 and consider where hope is found and the importance of trust in finding it. 
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What has caused you to lose hope recently? How will you follow David’s example and seek to grow in hope? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Leaning on Jesus

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February 10, 2017 

READ: John 13:12–26 

One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. John 13:23

 

Sometimes when I put my head on my pillow at night and pray, I imagine I’m leaning on Jesus. Whenever I do this, I remember something the Word of God tells us about the apostle John. John himself writes about how he was sitting beside Jesus at the Last Supper: “One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him” (John 13:23).

John used the term “the disciple whom Jesus loved” as a way of referring to himself without mentioning his own name. He is also depicting a typical banquet setting in first-century Israel, where the table was much lower than those we use today, about knee height. Reclining without chairs on a mat or cushions was the natural position for those around the table. John was sitting so close to the Lord that when he turned to ask him a question, he was “leaning back against Jesus” (John 13:25), with his head on his chest.

John’s closeness to Jesus in that moment provides a helpful illustration for our lives with Him today. We may not be able to touch Jesus physically, but we can entrust the weightiest circumstances of our lives to Him. He said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). How blessed we are to have a Savior whom we can trust to be faithful through every circumstance of our lives! Are you “leaning” on Him today?

— James Banks

Dear Lord Jesus, help me to lean on You today and to trust You as my source of strength and hope. I cast all my cares on You and praise You because You are faithful.

Jesus alone gives the rest we need.  

ODJ: Transformed!

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February 9, 2017 

READ: Acts 2:14-41 

Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all (v.41).

I once supervised a woman who constantly demonstrated that her greatest strength was also her greatest weakness. She had passion and drive to do a great job but often got carried away in her zeal and had to be reined in.

Peter was a man of similar extremes who often reacted out of two things—passion and fear (Matthew 14:29-31). It was with passion he declared Jesus as God, only to then fearfully denounce His mission (16:16-23). This same heart caused him to lash out at those who arrested Jesus and then follow the crowd and be overcome by fear that led to denial (26:51-75).

Ruled by his emotions, Peter was a picture of instability until he was indwelt by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and was transformed. Instead of hiding his affiliation with Jesus, he boldly “stepped forward . . . and shouted to the crowd” (Acts 2:14). He then went on to preach “for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners to [repent]” (v.40). God used that impromptu sermon to add 3,000 people to the church!

Many of us struggle with a particular behavior or trait we just can’t seem to kick, even though we know it doesn’t please God. These weaknesses can leave us feeling defeated, hopeless, and full of despair. But there’s hope! The transforming power of the Holy Spirit is still available today. Once we surrender our hearts to Christ, Romans 8:9 says that “[we] are not controlled by [our] sinful nature.”

As we spend time reading and meditating on Scripture, the Holy Spirit works to mold and transform us into the image of Christ. We no longer have to live in fear, defeat, or shame. Instead, like Peter, we can live out our God-given calling boldly and powerfully!

—Remi Oyedele

365-day plan: Exodus 11:1-10, 12:29-36

MORE
Read 2 Corinthians 5:17 to see what happens when we’re transformed by Jesus. 
NEXT
Think about a past weakness and the process of overcoming it. What principles can you apply from that experience to a current issue you’re struggling with? How has God’s power helped you overcome fear? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)