Typography: Romans 8:18
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. – Romans 8:18 (NIV)
Entries by YMI
ODJ: bring on the bees
November 16, 2015
READ: Psalm 8:1-9
You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority (v.6).
Bees can identify certain scents from nearly 3 miles away. Because of their keen sense of smell, ability to fly and minimal bodyweight, they make ideal bomb-sniffers. Croatian scientist Nikola Kezic has trained bees to detect TNT—an explosive used in his country’s many active landmines. He trains the bees by mixing tiny amounts of TNT with sugar. When the bees are released over a minefield, they’ll fly to areas where they smell the explosive—hoping to find some sweet dessert!
The ability to train insects and animals points us back to the beginning of time when God told humans to govern the earth. They were to “reign over the fish in the sea, the birds . . . and all the animals that scurry along the ground” (Genesis 1:28). Although Jesus has always sustained the earth (see Colossians 1:17), God has given us the authority to harness the natural world for our benefit.
Our God-given status in the world is part of a larger hierarchy. It’s no surprise that God is at the top! In Psalm 8, David wrote, “O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens” (v.1). Beneath God are angels, then humans (Hebrews 2:7): God “crowned [us] with glory and honour” (Psalm 8:5). Then we have all other creatures. God “gave [us] charge of everything [He] made” (v.6).
With authority comes responsibility. Caring for the earth and its creatures is a good thing. We can adopt a pet, plant a garden, use energy wisely—remembering that the earth was designed as a home for humans as well as all of His creation. And as we care for it, may we do so by worshipping God. For “[His] majestic name fills the earth!” (v.9).
—Jennifer Benson Schuldt
365-day-plan: Acts 27:1-26
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Read Psalm 104:24-30 for more on the earth’s association with its Creator. Look up Deuteronomy 4:16-19 to see how God warned the Israelites about falling in love with creation.
Read Psalm 104:24-30 for more on the earth’s association with its Creator. Look up Deuteronomy 4:16-19 to see how God warned the Israelites about falling in love with creation.
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Why might some people be inclined to worship creation rather than the Creator? Where’s the line between caring for the earth and worshipping it?
Why might some people be inclined to worship creation rather than the Creator? Where’s the line between caring for the earth and worshipping it?
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)
ODB: Shared Struggles
November 16, 2015
READ: Galatians 6:1-10
Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. —
April 25, 2015, marked the 100th commemoration of Anzac Day. It is celebrated each year by both Australia and New Zealand to honor the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought together during World War I. It marks a time when neither country had to face the dangers of war alone; soldiers from both countries engaged in the struggle together.
Sharing life’s struggles is fundamental to the way followers of Christ are called to live. As Paul challenged us, “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2 nlt). By working together through life’s challenges we can help to strengthen and support one another when times are hard. By expressing toward one another the care and affections of Christ, the difficulties of life should draw us to Christ and to each other—not isolate us in our suffering.
By sharing in the struggles of another, we are modeling the love of Christ. We read in Isaiah, “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows” (Isa. 53:4 nkjv). No matter how great the struggle we face, we never face it alone.
— Bill Crowder
Thank You, Father, that I don’t have to walk my life’s journey alone. You are near.
Read more about the nearness of God in The Lord Is My Shepherd at
We can go a lot further together than we can alone.
ODJ: name game
November 15, 2015
READ: Luke 1:57-66
I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations (Jeremiah 1:5).
As a Chinese man, when I told my father that I was giving my children Greek names, he reminded me to make sure they would be meaningful and nice-sounding. Most important, my kids were to have the same family name. Ah, so many first names to choose from!
New parents Zechariah and Elizabeth didn’t have the joy (or challenge) of finding a suitable name for their son, for God told them to name him John (Luke 1:13,57-60). The parents were both descendants of the priestly line of Aaron (vv.5-6). When a son was named after his father, it meant that he would walk in the steps of his father, carry on his father’s name and assume Dad’s priestly vocation as well. So for Zechariah and Elizabeth to name the baby John was to deny the family lineage—putting aside their ministry as priests.
John wasn’t called to be a priest, but a prophet—“the prophet of the Most High . . . [to] prepare the way for the Lord” (v.76). So his name was symbolic of that new calling (vv.60,63).
John’s early call to ministry, however, wasn’t something new or unique. The prophet Jeremiah was also called before he was even conceived (Jeremiah 1:4-5). David affirmed that God had his life all mapped out: “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed” (Psalm 139:16). In the New Testament, Paul said he was called to be the apostle to the Gentiles before his birth (Galatians 1:15-16).
Think about it: the great God over all is the Source of your life. But He is the Course of your life as well. He is the Author, Scriptwriter and Director of your story! And He knows you intimately, calling you by name to do His will.
—K.T. Sim
365-day-plan: Acts 26:1-32
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Read Psalm 139:13-15 to see what else David said about God’s involvement in his life.
Read Psalm 139:13-15 to see what else David said about God’s involvement in his life.
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What does it mean for you that God is both the Author and the Director of your life? What do God’s names reveal about Him?
What does it mean for you that God is both the Author and the Director of your life? What do God’s names reveal about Him?
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)
ODB: Who We Are
November 15, 2015
READ: Psalm 100
You are . . . God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9
In her autobiography, Corrie ten Boom described her and her sister Betsie’s horrific time in a Nazi concentration camp in the early 1940s. On one occasion they were forced to take off their clothes during an inspection. Corrie stood in line feeling defiled and forsaken. Suddenly, she remembered that Jesus had hung naked on the cross. Struck with wonder and worship, Corrie whispered to her sister, “Betsie, they took His clothes too.” Betsie gasped and said, “Oh, Corrie, . . . and I never thanked Him.”
It is easy for us to live thanklessly in a world that is full of trouble, struggles, and woes. On any given day we can find many reasons to complain. However, Psalm 100 exhorts God’s people to be glad, joyful, and thankful for “it is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture” (v. 3). As we remember who we are, we can respond in thanksgiving. For even in the worst of times, we can remember Christ’s love and sacrifice for us.
Don’t let the brutality of the world take away your thankful heart. Remember you are God’s child, and He has shown you His goodness and mercy through His work on the cross.
— Albert Lee
I thank You, Lord, that though my heart can grow cold at times, when I remember that I am Yours and You are mine, I’m encouraged yet again. Thank You for Your love for me, for Your mercy, and Your sacrifice.
Praise comes naturally when you count your blessings.
ODJ: only the gospel
November 14, 2015
READ: 1 Corinthians 2:1-16
I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified (v.2).
The outgrow never we gospel. What’s wrong with that sentence? It violates the rules of grammar and syntax. Writers may sometimes break rules for effect but if they want to be understood, they’ll never graduate beyond grammar.
The ‘grammar’ of the Christian life is the gospel. Paul said the gospel is that “Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve” (1 Corinthians 15:3-5). This good news that Jesus died and rose again to forgive our sins is what the gospel is built on.
It’s important that we never graduate beyond the gospel. It’s tempting to think that believing in Jesus is necessary only for starting the Christian life, and that we grow in Him by practising spiritual disciplines such as meditation, memorisation and joining accountability or Bible-study groups. These are all important practices, but they’ll draw us to Jesus only as they point us to the gospel.
The closer we come to Jesus, the more we grasp what it means to be set free from sin and death by God’s grace. If we forget this—if we think we’re somehow earning our way to God through our spiritual disciplines—we’ll lose our grip on the gospel, just as Peter did when he shamed the Gentiles for not keeping the Jewish practice of circumcision (see Galatians 2:14).
It’s good for us to have favourite practices that draw us closer to Jesus. But may those methods never excite us more than what Jesus has already done. Let’s look at that opening sentence again, this time with proper grammar: we never outgrow the gospel.
—Mike Wittmer
365-day-plan: Acts 25:1-27
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Read Philippians 1:1-29 to see how the gospel transformed Paul’s life and attitude.
Read Philippians 1:1-29 to see how the gospel transformed Paul’s life and attitude.
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What spiritual discipline draws you closer to Jesus? How does it remind you of what He’s already done for you?
What spiritual discipline draws you closer to Jesus? How does it remind you of what He’s already done for you?
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)
ODB: The Mighty Finns
November 14, 2015
READ: Isaiah 37:30-38
It began as a distant, foreboding hum, then grew into an ominous, earth-rattling din. Soon hundreds of tanks and thousands of enemy infantrymen swarmed into view of the badly outnumbered soldiers in Finland. Assessing the murderous wave, an anonymous Finn lent some perspective. Courageously, he wondered aloud about the enemy: “Where will we find room to bury them all?”
Some 2,600 years before Finland showed such pluck in that World War II battle, an anxious Judean citizenry reacted quite differently to their own overwhelming situation. The Assyrian armies had trapped the people of Jerusalem inside its walls, where they faced the hopeless prospect of a starvation-inducing siege. Hezekiah nearly panicked. But then he prayed, “Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth” (Isa. 37:16).
Through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord answered with strong words for Assyria’s King Sennacherib. “Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!” (v. 23). Then God comforted Jerusalem. “I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!” (v. 35). The Lord defeated Sennacherib and destroyed the Assyrian army (vv. 36-38).
No matter what dangers loom on your horizon today, the God of Hezekiah and Isaiah still reigns. He longs to hear from each of us and show Himself powerful.
— Tim Gustafson
In what ways has God shown Himself strong in the past?
Share your story with others in the comments section below.
God is greater than our greatest problem.
ODJ: good for the neighbourhood
November 13, 2015
READ: Proverbs 11:1-14
Upright citizens are good for a city and make it prosper (v.11).
In January 2015 a terrorist stormed Hyper Cacher (a Kosher supermarket) in Paris and murdered four hostages. One of the shop’s assistants, Lassana Bathily, heard the gunfire and hid shoppers in a freezer. Bathily, a Muslim whose courageous actions saved several Jews (including a child), was an immigrant who had been seeking French citizenship. To thank him for his bravery, authorities fast-tracked his papers and handed him a French passport during a public ceremony.
Bathily refused the praise. “People tell me I am a hero,” he said. “I am not a hero. I am trying to stay myself.” He believed that his courageous act was simply the right thing to do.
While this story would have been compelling at any time, it was particularly powerful as it happened during the week when terrorists went on a murderous rampage at a French magazine. At the very time when tensions between people of differing ethnicities and religions were taut, Bathily’s actions provided hope.
Proverbs tells us that “upright citizens are good for a city and make it prosper” (11:11). Whenever people humbly treat one another fairly and put others’ needs before their own or whenever neighbours choose to deal honestly and justly with one another, it leads to joy (vv.2-3,5,10). Bathily acted bravely, but it appears that his bravery was merely the continuation of the way he chose to live towards his neighbours, even those who were different from him.
—Winn Collier
365-day-plan: Acts 23:23-24:27
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Read Romans 15:2 in the NIV and consider what it means to be a good neighbour.
Read Romans 15:2 in the NIV and consider what it means to be a good neighbour.
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Where in your community do you see the need for upright citizens? How can you practically be a good neighbour to those in need?
Where in your community do you see the need for upright citizens? How can you practically be a good neighbour to those in need?
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)
ODB: The Big Stink
November 13, 2015
READ: Genesis 3:6-13,22-24
God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Genesis 3:5
In August 2013, large crowds gathered at the Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to witness the blooming of the tropical plant known as the corpse flower. Since the flower is native to Indonesia, and may flower only once every several years, its blooming is a spectacle. Once open, the huge spiky, beautiful, red bloom smells like rotten meat. Because of its putrid fragrance, the flower attracts flies and beetles that are looking for rotting meat. But there is no nectar.
Like the corpse flower, sin holds out promises but in the end offers no rewards. Adam and Eve found this out the hard way. Eden was beautiful until they ruined it by doing the one thing God urged them not to do. Tempted to doubt God’s goodness, they ignored their Creator’s loving warning and soon lost their innocence. The God-given beauty of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil became like a corpse flower to them. The reward for their disobedience was alienation, pain, emptiness, toil, and death.
Sin looks inviting and may feel good, but it doesn’t compare with the wonder, beauty, and fragrance of trusting and obeying God, who has made us to share His life and joy.
— Marvin Williams
What temptations are you facing today? Remember that God promises to help you fight against temptation. Ask Him to help you remember to rely on Him.
God’s commands can overpower Satan’s suggestions.