Recently, we read news about some Indonesians who moved to Syria to join ISIS, many of whom were young people. It got me thinking: why do radical groups target young people? Or rather, why do young people join these groups? Could it be because they fill a need or desire in these young people? When […]
April 1, 2016
READ: John 20:1-31
She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him” (v.15).
April Fool’s Day began in the late 16th century when the Gregorian calendar moved New Year’s Day from April 1 to January 1. Those who kept the old tradition were called fools, which began a new tradition of pulling pranks. A recent prank I’m aware of was the releasing of three pigs into a school building (but not before numbering them 1, 2, and 4). What a surprise for those looking for pig number 3!
April Fool’s Day often falls around Easter. This is fitting, because the Easter story contains the best and most shocking surprise of all time. Imagine the happy laughter when Mary Magdalene told her story to John:
So I’m outside the tomb, having a conversation with two men. They must have been angels, though my tears made it hard to see. I tell them I’m looking for the body of Jesus, and since He’s not there, I turn to leave. That’s when I see who I think is the gardener. He asks me why I’m crying and who I’m looking for. I ask him if he’s taken the body away. Just tell me, and I’ll go get Him. Then He says, “Mary!” It was Jesus! Alive! I hugged Him and cried “Teacher, it’s You!” Can you believe it? I’ve seen the Lord! (John 20:11—18 paraphrased).
The Easter story includes this happy event—one that is truly no joke. There was an empty tomb. God, by His amazing power, made the resurrection of Jesus something not only possible, but a reality. As Peter wrote, “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation” (1 Peter 1:3).
As we believe by faith the miracle that changed everything—Jesus’ resurrection—we too can laugh with joy!
—Mike Wittmer
365-day-plan: 1 Samuel 25:1-42
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)
April 1, 2016
READ: Psalm 100
The
Psalm 100 is like a work of art that helps us celebrate our unseen God. While the focus of our worship is beyond view, His people make Him known.
Imagine the artist with brush and palette working the colorful words of this psalm onto a canvas. What emerges before our eyes is a world—“all the earth”—shouting for joy to the Lord (v. 1). Joy. Because it is the delight of our God to redeem us from death. “For the joy that was set before Him,” Jesus endured the cross (Heb. 12:2
As our eyes move across the canvas we see an all-world choir of countless members singing “with gladness” and “joyful songs” (Ps. 100:2). Our heavenly Father’s heart is pleased when His people worship Him for who He is and what He has done.
Then we see images of ourselves, fashioned from dust in the hands of our Creator, and led like sheep into green pastures (v. 3). We, His people, have a loving Shepherd.
Finally, we see God’s great and glorious dwelling place—and the gates through which His rescued people enter His unseen presence, while giving Him thanks and praise (v. 4).
What a picture, inspired by our God. Our good, loving, and faithful God. No wonder it will take forever to enjoy His greatness!
— Dave Branon
Great God of heaven, thank You for life, for joy, for protection, and for promising us a future with You forever. Help us to live with thoughts of Your greatness always on our hearts and minds.
Nothing is more awesome than to know God.
March 31, 2016
READ: Psalm 27:1-14
The one thing I ask of the Lord—the thing I seek most—is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple (v.4).
When was the last time you lingered in silence simply to delight in the beauty of God? One Christian artist thinks that “beholding” His beauty is essential in a Christian’s life. Writer Joseph Sunde, in a blog post titled “Beauty on a Bike Ride,” quoted artist Mako Fujimura as saying: “Perhaps the greatest thing we can do as a Christian community is to behold. Behold our God. Behold His creation.”
What a simple but profound statement. Yet Fujimura is only rehearsing what the Holy Spirit inspired David to write in Psalm 27 many years ago.
David declared that God’s light and salvation can dispel our fears: “Why should I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1). He prayed for constant fellowship with Him (v.4). The main goal of the psalmist’s life was to seek God and delight in Him morning by morning, enjoying a close and intimate relationship. He wanted to remain in the temple, the place of the Lord’s presence, to enjoy, delight in, and meditate on the beauty of His perfections as he sought His will. Spending time with God was the one priority David wouldn’t negotiate. It helped him experience His presence and protection (v.5).
David’s joy in seeking and delighting in God in the temple foreshadowed our joy of knowing Him through Jesus (John 15:11, 17:3). Our Savior, through His sacrifice on the cross, opened the way into heaven where believers who have gone to be with Him behold His beauty (Hebrews 10:19-20). He’s opened the way for us to seek and delight in God, so let’s enter into the presence of our resurrected Lord with sincere hearts fully trusting Him (v.22).
And when we enter into His presence, we find a place of beauty and a place of joy—a place to linger in delight!
—Marvin Williams
365-day-plan: 1 Samuel 24:1-22
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)
March 31, 2016
READ: Mark 2:13-17
It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
Mark 2:17
Health clubs offer many different programs for those who want to lose weight and stay healthy. One fitness center caters only to those who want to lose at least 50 pounds and develop a healthy lifestyle. One member says that she quit her previous fitness club because she felt the slim and fit people were staring at her and judging her out-of-shape body. She now works out 5 days a week and is achieving healthy weight loss in a positive and welcoming environment.
Two thousand years ago, Jesus came to call the spiritually unfit to follow Him. Levi was one such person. Jesus saw him sitting in his tax collector’s booth and said, “Follow me” (Mark 2:14). His words captured Levi’s heart, and he followed Jesus. Tax collectors were often greedy and dishonest in their dealings and were considered religiously unclean. When the religious leaders saw Jesus having dinner at Levi’s house with other tax collectors, they asked, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (2:16). Jesus replied, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (2:17).
Jesus came to save sinners, which includes all of us. He loves us, welcomes us into His presence, and calls us to follow Him. As we walk with Him, we grow more and more spiritually fit.
— Marvin Williams
Read Acts 9:10-19 and see how one man obeyed God and welcomed someone who was considered spiritually unfit. What were the results? How can you reach out to those who need the Savior? How can you help your church become a more welcoming place for t
Jesus’ arms of welcome are always open.
March 30, 2016
READ: Judges 2:1-15
They went after other gods, worshiping the gods of the people around them (v.12).
A newly elected senator vows to be a new kind of politician, but by the time he runs again he’s in the pocket of special interest groups. An actress goes to Hollywood to star in wholesome movies, but soon she compromises. Both started out trying to reach the world, but instead they lost their way.
This was Israel’s problem during the time of the Judges. Israel entered the Promised Land from the mountains in the east. They could have remained in those mountains, safe and isolated from the cosmopolitan, advanced culture in the coastal plain. But an international trade route ran through the coastal plain. If God was going to reach the world with His message of salvation, His people would have to move into the land.
As the Israelites moved down and their enemies went up, they met in the central hill country, called the Shephalah. There the Israelites “failed to drive out the people living in the plains” (Judges 1:19). Instead, they were content to live among them (2:2). They “intermarried with them,” and “the Israelites [began to serve] their gods” (Judges 3:6). God sent His angel to pronounce judgment (2:4). Because Israel disobeyed and didn’t destroy the pagan altars, their neighbors’ idolatry would remain as “a constant temptation” and as a thorn in their side (vv.2-3).
What’s your “Shephalah”? Who are you trying to reach for Jesus? It might seem easier to sit back in what you feel is a safe place, but God has called us to take His message to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). And He is with us in our “Shephalah.” Bathe yourself in prayer. Be accountable to someone—making sure you’re bringing His light and love to the world, while not compromising or losing your way.
—Mike Wittmer
365-day-plan: 1 Samuel 20:1-42
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)
March 30, 2016
READ: Acts 9:1-19
I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace.
Ephesians 3:7
A woman from Grand Rapids, Michigan, fell asleep on the couch after her husband had gone to bed. An intruder sneaked in through the sliding door, which the couple had forgotten to lock, and crept through the house. He entered the bedroom where the husband was sleeping and picked up the television set. The sleeping man woke up, saw a figure standing there, and whispered, “Honey, come to bed.” The burglar panicked, put down the TV, grabbed a stack of money from the dresser, and ran out.
The thief was in for a big surprise! The money turned out to be a stack of Christian pamphlets with a likeness of a $20 bill on one side and an explanation of the love and forgiveness God offers to people on the other side. Instead of the cash he expected, the intruder got the story of God’s love for him.
I wonder what Saul expected when he realized it was Jesus appearing to him on the road to Damascus, since he had been persecuting and even killing Jesus’ followers? (Acts 9:1-9). Saul, later called Paul, must have been surprised by God’s grace toward him, which he called “a gift”: “I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power” (Eph. 3:7).
Have you been surprised by God’s gift of grace in your life as He shows you His love and forgiveness?
— Anne Cetas
Lord, Your grace is amazing to me. I’m grateful that in spite of my sinfulness, You offer Your love to me.
Never measure God’s unlimited power by your limited expectations.
Have you ever wondered when you might take your last breath? Mine almost came a few weeks ago. While standing on the pavement next to the road, I was almost hit by a car when the reckless driver nearly mounted the curb, missing me by inches.
March 29, 2016
READ: 2 Samuel 15:13-31
Let [God] do what seems best to him (v.26).
Lorenzo Quinn’s 900-pound aluminum sculpture called “Hand of God” features a gigantic open hand with a man seated on the highest part of an upturned palm. The man appears to be troubled and his posture reflects deep discouragement. But the hand that holds him up is much larger than he is.
Of certain situations, we’ll say, “It’s in God’s hands,” meaning that He’ll determine the outcome. David recognized this when his son Absalom tried to take over as the king of Israel. Absalom “stole the hearts of all the people of Israel” and stirred up rebellion against his father in Hebron (2 Samuel 15:6-12).
When David learned that all of Israel had joined Absalom, he left Jerusalem. Zadok and the priests followed him, carrying the ark of the covenant (v.24). Headed into the wilderness, David told Zadok to take the ark back to the city. He said, “If the Lord sees fit . . . He will bring me back to see the Ark and the Tabernacle again. But if he is through with me, then let him do what seems best to him” (vv.25-26).
I find it interesting that David, a famous warrior, didn’t try to fight Absalom for the throne. And although he was deeply sad, he didn’t express despair. David saw himself as being fully in God’s hands. He knew that he would determine Israel’s king—not him, and not Absalom.
During another difficult time in David’s life, someone reminded him, “Your life is safe in the care of the LORD your God, secure in his treasure pouch!” (1 Samuel 25:29). As believers in Jesus, we can rest in the same God who kept David safe. We can relax and trust Him. He knows what He’s doing, and as Jesus said, “No one can snatch [believers] from the Father’s hand” (John 10:29).
—Jennifer Benson Schuldt
365-day-plan: 1 Samuel 18:1-30
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)