Entries by YMI

ODJ: a passion learned

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November 8, 2015 

READ: Psalm 119:25-32 

The very essence of your words is truth (v.160).

I didn’t fare too well when I started at a mission school in Ghana. Our two teachers gallantly juggled lesson plans for students spanning seven age groups. This academic effort took place in a two-room cinderblock structure with an aluminium roof that began to boil us by noon each day. Distractions waged war on my 7 year old attention span, and they were winning—handily.

Then Mrs. Titus arrived. Though she came to Ghana for just one year, her passion for the careful, creative use of words forever altered my life. I couldn’t bear to disappoint her. During the months I spent in Mrs. Titus’ classroom, her enthusiasm instilled in me a love for writing that framed my career path.

Long ago, someone must have instilled in another child a love for words, for it took passion and skill to write a psalm as intricate as the 119th. Consider what sort of context would have inspired such a heart-wrenching poem. Consider too the mentor or parent who guided this author in his youth.

The poetic nuances in Psalm 119 fade somewhat in translation, but the writer’s humanity and need for God remain unmistakably evident. He weaves joy with anguish, apprehension with resolution, praise with fear, all in a desperate candour that reveals a craving for God. “I lie in the dust; revive me by your word,” he wrote (v.25). “I weep with sorrow; encourage me by your word. Keep me from lying to myself; give me the privilege of knowing your instructions” (vv.28-29).

Psalms like this one didn’t come to be in a vacuum. There’s a story behind each one, and they involve the people—as well as the circumstances—that shaped their authors. May God use you to inspire someone today on their own spiritual pilgrimage!

—Tim Gustafson

365-day-plan: Acts 20:13-38

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Read 1 Timothy 1:18–2:4 and see how Paul mentored his protégé. 
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What people have guided you on your faith journey? Have you ever thanked them? What younger person has God placed in your life for you to inspire? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Bringing Our Friends to Jesus

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November 8, 2015 

READ: Mark 2:1-12 

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Mark 2:5

 

During my childhood, one of the most feared diseases was polio, often called “infantile paralysis” because most of those infected were young children. Before a preventive vaccine was developed in the mid-1950s, some 20,000 people were paralyzed by polio and about 1,000 died from it each year in the United States alone.

In ancient times, paralysis was viewed as a permanent, hopeless condition. But one group of men believed Jesus could help their paralyzed friend. While Jesus was teaching in the village of Capernaum, four of the men carried the man to Him. When they couldn’t reach Jesus because of the crowd, “they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on” (Mark 2:1-4).

“When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven’ ” (v. 5), followed by “Get up, take your mat and go home” (v. 11). How remarkable that in response to the faith of the men who brought their friend, Jesus forgave his sins and healed his incurable condition!

When someone we know is facing serious physical difficulty or a spiritual crisis, it is our privilege to join together in prayer, bringing our friends to Jesus—the only One who can meet their deepest needs.

— David McCasland

Lord Jesus, we know that You can speak the words of eternal life and healing to people in great need. We bring them to You in prayer today.

Praying for others is a privilege—and a responsibility.  

ODJ: anger danger

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November 7, 2015 

READ: Matthew 18:21-35 

When the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him [a hundred silver coins]. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment (v.28).

When I read the account of the unmerciful servant, it’s easy for me to condemn the first servant’s actions (Matthew 18:28). But his actions aren’t as impossible for me to imitate as I would like to believe. For instance, when we experience road rage (that particular anger that comes sweeping over us while we’re driving), we can act in ways that are remarkably similar to the first servant. We can do things that make little sense. People look at us and shake their heads in disbelief and embarrassment, thinking, What’s wrong with that guy? We might think similar things when we consider the first servant.

It’s evident that part of the reason the servant acted so harshly is that he was ticked off. Although anger is never specifically mentioned, it’s clear from his actions that he was enraged, for he “grabbed [the second servant] by the throat and demanded instant payment” of his debts (v.28). But when the servant wasn’t able to pay his meagre debt, the first servant had him thrown into jail (v.30). The first servant was angry and wouldn’t forgive the other’s small debt, even after his large debt had been forgiven by the king (v.27). His anger had blinded him to the truth.

Now, there’s a time for righteous anger, as we see when Jesus cleared the temple in John 2:13-16, but anger can also blind us and cause us to lose perspective. And getting angry is especially dangerous because it can make forgiveness nearly impossible. For that reason alone, we should avoid it. As the apostle Paul wrote, “Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others” (Colossians 3:13).

—Peter Chin

365-day-plan: Acts 20:1-12

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Read 1 Samuel 18:6-17 for another example of a man who was undone by his anger and rage. 
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Have you ever been so angry that you acted irrationally? What sparked that anger? Why does anger make it hard for us to forgive? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Mention the Name

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November 7, 2015 

READ: Acts 4:5-20 

I am in the Father, and . . . the Father is in me. John 14:10

 

A church group invited a speaker to address their meeting. “Talk about God,” the group leader told him, “but leave out Jesus.”

“Why?” the man asked, taken aback.

“Well,” the leader explained, “some of our prominent members feel uncomfortable with Jesus.  Just use God and we’ll be fine.”

Accepting such instructions, however, was a problem for the speaker who said later, “Without Jesus, I have no message.”

Something similar was asked of followers of Jesus in the days of the early church. Local religious leaders conferred together to warn the disciples not to speak about Jesus (Acts 4:17). But the disciples knew better. “We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard,” they said (v. 20). 

To claim to believe in God and not in His Son Jesus Christ is a contradiction in terms. In John 10:30, Jesus clearly describes the unique relationship between Himself and God: “I and the Father are one”—thus establishing His deity. That is why He could say, “You believe in God; believe also in me” (John 14:1). Paul knew that Jesus is the very nature of God and equal with God (Phil. 2:6).

We need not shy away from the name Jesus, for “salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

— Lawrence Darmani

Jesus, You are God. Thank You for showing Yourself to us in the Bible and in our lives. You have done so much for us. Help us to share with others what we know of You and have experienced of You.

The name of Jesus is at the heart of our faith and our hope.  

ODJ: Jesus’ compassion

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November 6, 2015 

READ: Luke 7:11-17 

When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” he said (v.13).

Greg Boyle helped launch Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, California. Geared specifically to help former gang members, it’s one of the biggest and most successful ministries in America. Boyle knows a lot about loving and caring for others. In his book Tattoos on the Heart he writes: “Compassion isn’t just about feeling the pain of others; it’s about bringing them in towards yourself.”

Compassion bridges the distance between us and another person. We intentionally, lovingly move towards them instead of bolting in the opposite direction in disgust or indifference. In imitating Jesus’ compassion, we wouldn’t ever act like the priest (a church leader) or the Levite (a temple assistant) who put as much distance as possible between themselves and the wounded man who is described in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37). The tale goes on to reveal that the least expected person—a Samaritan, who the Jews despised and the highly religious of the day avoided—acted the most like Christ. As Jesus told His listeners, “Now go and do the same” (v.37). The parable is a reminder that all of us, especially those of us who try to follow Him closely, are capable of acting without love towards our neighbour.

Instead, may we live out God’s compassion as revealed by Jesus in His encounter with the widow of Nain. When He saw the funeral procession and knew that her only son had died, “his heart overflowed with compassion”. He said, “Don’t cry!” (7:13). Then Jesus raised her son from the dead. He moved towards her and lovingly addressed her need. May we, like Christ, learn to move towards others with compassion that flows from the very heart of God.

—Marlena Graves

365-day-plan: Acts 19:21-41

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Read Psalm 145:8-21 and consider the aspects of God’s compassion it highlights. 
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Do you lack compassion for a certain person or group of people? How can you develop a more compassionate heart that reflects God’s own? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: He Trains My Hands

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November 6, 2015 

READ: Exodus 4:10-17 

Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. Psalm 144:1

 

When former NBA player David Wood was playing for Taugrés de Baskonia, I was with him at a Spanish Basketball Cup final. Before one game, he read Psalm 144:1: “Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.” He turned to me and said, “You see? It’s as if God has written this verse just for me! He trains my hands to catch rebounds and my fingers to shoot!” David felt called to play basketball and had learned that God takes us as we are and enables us to do what He calls us to do.

We can easily dismiss ourselves as having little use to God because we feel we have nothing to offer. When God appeared to Moses and assigned him the task of telling the Israelites that He would deliver them from the Egyptians (Ex. 3:16-17), Moses felt inadequate. He said to the Lord, “I have never been eloquent . . . . I am slow of speech and tongue” (4:10). Perhaps Moses had some kind of speech impediment, or he was just afraid, but God overcame his inadequacy with His sufficiency. God said, “Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say” (v. 12).

All God wants from us is to follow His plans. He will sort out the rest. In His mighty hands, you can be a blessing to others.

— Jaime Fernández Garrido

Here I am, Lord, ready to serve You in whatever way You desire. Lead me.

Dr. Jaime Fernández Garrido is director of the evangelical radio and television program Born Again, author of various books, and composer of more tha

God’s call to a task includes His strength to complete it.  

ODJ: practising resurrection

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November 5, 2015 

READ: 1 Corinthians 15:20-58 

My dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless (v.58).

Believers in Jesus look forward to two great events in the future: our resurrected bodies and the ‘resurrection’ of our groaning planet into a new heaven and earth full of beauty, healing, justice and joy (Isaiah 11:4, 65:21-23; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52; Revelation 21:1-23).

But while these are future events, they’re to guide our lives today. Jesus calls us to be salt and light in our communities and to pray God’s will be done on earth, not just “in heaven” (Matthew 5:13-16, 6:10). Paul ends his lengthy explanation of resurrection with a call to action: we’re to “work enthusiastically for the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58). So how can our future hope shape our present work?

We can take some inspiration from groups such as The Simple Way community in America. More than 15 years ago, Shane Claiborne and some friends moved into a large city district where poverty and crime are plentiful. There they’ve been ‘practising resurrection’. They’ve taken abandoned buildings and turned them into community centres where at-risk kids can get help with homework. They’ve taken overgrown areas and turned them into urban gardens. They’ve painted colourful murals on the walls of old blocks of flats. When a child mentioned that it was “easier to get a gun in our neighbourhood than to get a salad”, The Simple Way community built a greenhouse to grow vegetables to share. The community has gone about making ugly things beautiful and bringing dead things to life.

Following Jesus, Shane and his friends are giving their community a glimpse of what resurrection life looks like. And as they serve others, they’re displaying that “nothing [we] do for the Lord is ever useless” (v.58).

—Sheridan Voysey

365-day-plan: Acts 19:1-20

MORE
Read Revelation 21:1–22:21. What would your community look like if this vision came true in it today? 
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What gifts, talents and abilities do you possess? How can you use them to ‘practise resurrection’ in your community? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Angry Prayers

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November 5, 2015 

READ: Psalm 86:1-13 

Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end. Proverbs 29:11

 

The neighbors probably didn’t know what to think as they looked out their windows at me one wintry day. I was standing in the driveway with a garden shovel clutched in my hands, whacking wildly and angrily at a clump of ice that had formed beneath a corner gutter. With each smack, I was uttering prayers that were variations on one theme: “I can’t do this.” “You can’t expect me to do this.” “I don’t have the strength to do this.” As a caregiver, with a long list of responsibilities to handle, I now had this ice to deal with, and I had had enough!

My anger was wrapped around a bundle of lies: “I deserve better than this.” “God isn’t enough after all.” “Nobody cares anyway.” But when we choose to cling to our anger, we become mired in the trap of bitterness, never moving forward. And the only cure for anger is truth.

The truth is that God does not give us what we deserve; He gives us mercy instead. “You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you” (Ps. 86:5). The truth is that God is more than enough, despite what we see. The truth is that His strength is sufficient (2 Cor. 12:9). Yet before we can find such reassurance, we may need to step back, lay down the shovel of our own efforts, and take Jesus’ hand that’s extended to us in mercy and grace.

God is big enough to listen to our anger and loving enough to show us, in His time, the path forward.

— Shelly Beach

Loving God, forgive me for my outbursts of anger. Today I choose to lay down my sinful anger and accept Your mercy and grace. Thank You for forgiveness and for truth that leads to wisdom.

Shelly Beach is the author of several boo

Grace: Getting what we don’t deserve.
Mercy: Not getting what we do deserve.  

ODJ: are we looking?

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November 4, 2015 

READ: Daniel 4:1-37 

I want you all to know about the miraculous signs and wonders the Most High God has performed for me (v.2).

The film Unbroken is based on the true story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner, World War II prisoner of war and devout Christian. As the last scene of the film was being filmed, a storm threatened to block the sunlight needed to shoot it. Director Angelina Jolie, impacted by Louis’ faith, did something she had never done before. In front of the whole film crew, the self-proclaimed agnostic dropped to her knees and prayed out loud for a miracle.

Whether divine intervention or not, like a scene out of the Old Testament, the rain stopped, the sun came out and a rainbow appeared in the sky. Then, shortly after the crew had filmed the last scene, the sun disappeared behind the clouds and the rain returned.

The Old Testament book of Daniel records the prayer of a person who wasn’t in the practice of praying. Nebuchadnezzar, the great king of Babylon, was a proud leader who refused to acknowledge the sovereign rule of the Creator-God (Daniel 4:30).

To humble him and show him who’s really in charge of the kingdoms of the world, God drove the king away from the comforts of a palace life and gave him the mind and behaviour of a wild animal (vv.32-33). After 7 long years of living in the outdoors and eating grass like a cow, Nebuchadnezzar finally “looked up to heaven”, and God graciously restored his sanity and position (vv.34-37).

Having regained his right mind, the humbled king offered up a prayer to the “Most High”, acknowledging, “His rule is everlasting and his kingdom is eternal” (v.34).

Dramatic events like these don’t happen every day, but both stories remind us that the Creator-God wants to make Himself known to us—sometimes in small and sometimes in big ways. Are we looking?

—Jeff Olson

365-day-plan: Acts 17:16-34

MORE
Read Hebrews 1:1-2 and consider one way God has spoken to us. 
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How has God revealed Himself to you lately? What are some of the less-sensational means He uses to helps us understand His will and His ways? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)