Entries by YMI
ODJ: the gratitude test
August 21, 2015
READ: Romans 14:1-23
Those who eat any kind of food do so to honour the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating. And those who refuse to eat certain foods also want to please the Lord (v.6).
How do you discover God’s will in disputable matters? One believer in Jesus orders a glass of wine in a restaurant, while another believes drinking alcohol is wrong. One invites you to see a film that someone else will not view due to its violence and profanity. So how do you make a decision on whether or not to do something when even mature Christians disagree over it?
This question troubled the church in Rome. Some Christians felt obligated to observe Jewish dietary and Sabbath laws, while others believed they no longer applied. Paul sided with the latter, but he thought that was beside the point. More important than who was right was how everyone got along. Paul offered three questions that apply to any decision:
Am I violating another believer’s freedom? Paul told those who possess a weaker faith not to condemn those who “eat certain foods” or “think every day is alike” (Romans 14:3-10). Each person must answer to God, who alone “will judge whether they stand or fall” (v.4). We must give each other space to stand before God, condemning only activities that Scripture clearly indicates are wrong.
Will this edify other believers? Paul warned stronger believers in Jesus not to flaunt their freedom, for they could “ruin someone for whom Christ died” (v.15). The right thing done in the wrong way is still sin. Paul explained, “It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble” (v.21).
—Mike Wittmer
365-day-plan: Luke 17:20-37
Read 1 Corinthians 10:23–11:1 to learn how to use your freedom responsibly in disputable matters.
Why is it vital that you consider other believers’ views instead of forcing your own on them? How can the gratitude test help with a decision you need to make today?
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)
ODB: Continuing with Christ
August 21, 2015
READ: 1 Kings 19:19-21
Whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. Matthew 16:25
As a child, my favorite week of the summer was the one I spent at a Christian youth camp. At the end of the week, I’d sit elbow-to-elbow with friends in front of an enormous bonfire. There, we would share what we had learned about God and the Bible and sing. One song I still remember focused on deciding to follow Jesus. The chorus contained an important phrase: “no turning back.”
When Elisha decided to follow the prophet Elijah, Elisha did something incredible that made it difficult, impossible really, for him to return to his prior occupation of farming. After going home and having a farewell banquet, Elisha “took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them” (1 Kings 19:21). Leaving his way of life, he burned up his plowing equipment. He roasted the freshly butchered meat over the blaze and fed everyone present. Then “[Elisha] arose and followed Elijah, and became his servant” (v. 21).
Giving ourselves to God, who deserves our devotion, often comes with a price. At times, it means making difficult decisions about relationships, finances, and living arrangements. However, nothing compares with what we gain when we continue on with Christ. Jesus said, “Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matt. 16:25).
— Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Father, help me to see if there’s something You want me to leave behind to follow You completely.
Jesus is looking for fulltime followers.
ODJ: freely given, but costly
August 20, 2015
READ: Ephesians 1:3-14
[God] is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins (v.7).
If you have the cash you can buy almost anything you want. According to Michael Sandel, author of What Money Can’t Buy, a person in America can purchase access to the car pool lane while driving alone for $8, a prison-cell upgrade for $90 a night, an amusement park Front of the Line Pass for $149, your doctor’s mobile phone number for $1,500 and the right to shoot an endangered black rhino for $250,000. Yes, if you have the money, you can buy almost anything . . .
According to the apostle Paul, there’s one thing money can’t buy—spiritual freedom found in what Jesus has provided. Paul couldn’t help but break out in praise as he thought about salvation. The words that flowed included the use of the term “redemption”. Redemption is all about freedom, deliverance or release from a state of slavery (Colossians 1:13-14). Redemption made possible by Jesus releases us from slavery to sin—wrong things done against our holy God (Hebrews 8:12).
When Jesus freely offered His life for us on the cross, He endured great suffering so that we might be freed from the pain and suffering sin brings. Before God, our sin required that a sacrifice be made (9:22), and Jesus voluntarily allowed His life to be taken so that we might receive life.
The privileges of receiving such freely given but costly grace include becoming children of God (Galatians 4:7), having our hearts made pure (Hebrews 9:14), doing good things because of what God has done in us (Titus 2:14), honouring God with our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) and worshipping Him. Yes, through the death of Jesus, we’ve been set free from enslavement to sin—but it was so very costly.
—Marvin Williams
365-day-plan: Luke 17:1-19
According to Galatians 4:4-5, why did God send Jesus to redeem us?
Why is it important to remember Jesus’ sacrifice for you? Take time right now to offer words or a song of praise to God for all He has done.
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)
ODB: Who Is My Neighbor?
August 20, 2015
READ: Luke 10:30-37
Go and do likewise. Luke 10:37
Mary enjoyed her midweek church group meeting when she and several friends gathered to pray, worship, and discuss questions from the previous week’s sermon. This week they were going to talk about the difference between “going” to church and “being” the church in a hurting world. She was looking forward to seeing her friends and having a lively discussion.
As she picked up her car keys, the doorbell rang. “I’m so sorry to bother you,” said her neighbor Sue, “but are you free this morning?” Mary was about to say that she was going out when Sue continued, “I have to take my car to the repair shop. Normally I would walk or cycle home, but I’ve hurt my back and can’t do either at the moment.” Mary hesitated for a heartbeat and then smiled. “Of course,” she said.
Mary knew her neighbor only by sight. But as she drove her home, she learned about Sue’s husband’s battle with dementia and the utter exhaustion that being a caregiver can bring with it. She listened, sympathized, and promised to pray. She offered to help in any way she could.
Mary didn’t get to church that morning to talk about sharing her faith. Instead she took a little bit of Jesus’ love to her neighbor who was in a difficult situation.
— Marion Stroud
Lord, help me to be ready at any time to be Your hands and feet to those in need.
Faith is seen in our actions.
ODJ: God’s house
August 19, 2015
READ: Haggai 1:2-15
Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins? (v.4).
The demise of the high street shop is one of the most visible signs of the recession in the UK. As you walk down the main street of many towns, you find shop after shop closed and shuttered. Some city councils have recognised the negative social impact of the flopped shops and have installed facades featuring pictures of open stores to try to create the impression of a thriving community. The clever marketing trick might work for those driving down the street, but if you try to walk into one of the false shopfronts, you quickly realise there’s nothing but an empty building behind the image.
By the second year of the reign of King Darius, God’s house had been destroyed and lay in ruins (Haggai 1:4). The people were so caught up with building their own houses that they weren’t taking time to work on God’s house—the temple (v.2). The consequences of their negligence left them wanting: they planted, but harvested little; they ate, but were never satisfied; they drank, but remained thirsty; they put on clothes, but couldn’t keep warm; and their wages seemed to disappear as though they were placed in pockets full of holes. They hoped for rich harvests, but remained poor (vv.6,9, 2:16-17). Their preoccupation with self and lack of love for God were reflected in the dismal state of the temple.
—Ruth O’Reilly-Smith
365-day-plan: John 11:37-57
Read 2 Corinthians 6:16 and Ephesians 2:22 for more about how we are God’s house on earth—representing Him in our bodies through the Holy Spirit.
How have you neglected your personal version of God’s house? What will it take to reflect Him authentically through your body?
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)
ODB: Reflecting God’s Glory
August 19, 2015
READ: Exodus 31:1-11
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Psalm 19:1
The 12th-century Chinese artist Li Tang painted landscapes animated with people, birds, and water buffalo. Because of his genius with fine line sketches on silk, Li Tang is considered a master of Chinese landscape art. For centuries, artists from around the world have depicted what they see in God’s art gallery of creation: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork” (Ps. 19:1). The Bible tells us that our creativity as human beings comes from being made in the image of the Master Creator (Gen. 1:27).
God chose artists who worked with wood, gold, silver, bronze, and gems to create the furnishings, utensils, altars, and garments that were to be used when the ancient Israelites worshiped Him in the tabernacle (Ex. 31:1-11). These artistic renderings of spiritual realities prompted and guided the priests and the people in their worship of the Lord who had called them to be His people.
Through many types of artistic expression, we reflect the beauty of creation and honor the Creator and Redeemer of this marvelous world.
— Dennis Fisher
Lord of the universe, You are the Creator and have given us creative abilities. May we honor You through them.
We were created to bring God the glory.
ODJ: cross-shaped service
August 18, 2015
READ: 2 Corinthians 1:3-7
He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us (v.4).
I was sorry to hear what you’d been through when we last spoke,” my friend Adrian said as we walked. “How are you and Merryn doing now?” “On the whole,” I said, “we’re doing better. I guess we’re trying to focus on the upside of our situation and the opportunities it brings.”
Much had happened since Adrian and I had spoken a year ago. Back then, Merryn and I had been enduring the darkest moment of our lives, bringing our decade-long dream of having a family to an end. Merryn had been devastated, and we had relocated to the UK from Australia to start again.
“I can understand that,” Adrian replied. “But looking for the opportunities in your situation will take you only so far.” As we walked a little further, Adrian talked about the harsh realities Jesus faced as He embraced the cross—something that didn’t lead Him to think of Himself. “He did something else entirely,” Adrian said. “Sheridan, have you ever noticed how many people Jesus ministered to as He hung on the cross?”
Adrian ran down the list. On the cross Jesus ministered to His mother by putting her into John’s care (John 19:26-27), to a thief hanging next to Him (Luke 23:39-43), to the people who crucified Him (vv.33-34), to a Roman centurion (v.47; Matthew 27:54) and to all of us by forgiving our sins through His sacrifice.
“All of this was done in the middle of His suffering,” Adrian added, “before things got better at His resurrection.” I had never seen it like that before.
“There may be some benefits in your being childless,” Adrian said, “but at times you’ll find it lonely and difficult. Yet out of your suffering will come opportunities to serve people in ways you otherwise never could.”
—Sheridan Voysey
365-day-plan: John 11:1-36
Read Hebrews 4:15-16 and consider how Jesus understands our suffering and what He tells us to do when we’re in the midst of it.
What comfort has God given you in the past that you can share with others? How might God use your pain so that you can serve people better today?
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)
ODB: Under Siege
August 18, 2015
READ: Philippians 2:1-11
Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Philippians 2:4
During the Bosnian War (1992–1996), more than 10,000 people—civilians and soldiers—were killed in the city of Sarajevo as gunfire and mortar rounds rained down from the surrounding hills. Steven Galloway’s gripping novel The Cellist of Sarajevo unfolds there, during the longest siege of a capital city in modern warfare. The book follows three fictional characters who must decide if they will become completely self-absorbed in their struggle to survive, or will somehow rise above their numbing circumstances to consider others during a time of great adversity.
From a prison in Rome, Paul wrote to the Christians in Philippi, saying: “Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others” (Phil. 2:4). Paul cited Jesus as the great example of a selfless focus on others: “Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, . . . made Himself of no reputation . . . humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (vv. 5-8). Rather than seeking sympathy from others, Jesus gave all He had to rescue us from the tyranny of sin.
Our continuing challenge as followers of Jesus is to see through His eyes and respond to the needs of others in His strength, even in our own difficult times.
— David McCasland
Are you going through something hard right now? What can you still do for another?
Embracing God’s love for us is the key to loving others.