Entries by YMI
ODJ: trading places
July 10, 2015
READ: Mark 1:40-45
Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said.“Be healed!” (v.41).
He shouldn’t have been there, but the pain and isolation made him desperate. Was this the sum total of his life—to scream “Unclean! Unclean!” whenever anyone came near him? To wear torn clothes to signal his diseased state . . . to feel so alone?
He hadn’t been embraced in a long time. And to offer a hug himself would defile his wife, friends and family. That’s what the law said about the touch of leprous people (Leviticus 5:2-3). “They must live in isolation in their place outside the camp” (13:46), it said. And so he did.
But could this Rabbi make things different? The man had heard about Him healing others. Would the Teacher do something for him too? He just had to get near Him. Trembling, he approached the Rabbi. The Teacher knew the rules, but He was doing things a new way. The Man seemed so different than the other teachers. So compassionate. “Please,” the leper pleaded. “If you are willing, can you heal me?”
“I’m willing,” the Rabbi said, reaching out His hand. The holy man touched him! And his skin . . . it was healed!
The Rabbi then told him to go and see the priest, offer the sacrifices and do what the the Law required (Mark 1:44). But . . . keep it quiet? Well, if he must. (But he might tell a couple of friends. They’d keep it secret!) But they didn’t keep it secret. And soon Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but instead was restricted to the community’s outer periphery—its isolated, lonely spaces (v.45).
Look what happened: Jesus healed a man of leprosy, restoring him back into the community, while Jesus Himself was eventually banished from it. Jesus touched the untouchable, and wound up being the one ostracised.
An astonishing act of trading places. An astonishing act of love.
—Sheridan Voysey
365-day-plan: Matthew 13:24-43
Read Isaiah 53:4-5 and consider what Jesus experienced in trading places with us.
What does it mean for you to know that Jesus traded places with you at the cross? How will following Him affect your relationships today?
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)
ODB: Help for a Heavy Load
July 10, 2015
READ: Numbers 11:4-17
[The men] shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone. Numbers 11:17
It’s amazing what you can haul with a bicycle. An average adult with a specialized trailer (and a bit of determination) can use a bicycle to tow up to 300 pounds at 10 mph. There’s just one problem: Hauling a heavier load means moving more slowly. A person hauling 600 pounds of work equipment or personal possessions would only be able to move at a pace of 8 miles in one hour.
Moses carried another kind of weight in the wilderness—an emotional weight that kept him at a standstill. The Israelites’ intense craving for meat instead of manna had reduced them to tears. Hearing their ongoing lament, an exasperated Moses said to God, “I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me” (Num. 11:14).
On his own, Moses lacked the resources necessary to fix the problem. God responded by telling him to select 70 men to stand with him and share his load. God told Moses, “[The men] shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you may not bear it yourself alone” (v. 17).
As followers of Jesus, we don’t have to handle our burdens alone either. We have Jesus Himself, who is always willing and able to help us. And He has given us brothers and sisters in Christ to share the load. When we give Him the things that weigh us down, He gives us wisdom and support in return.
— Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Who has come alongside you? Have you thanked them?
God’s help is only a prayer away.
ODJ: inspired wisdom
July 9, 2015
READ: Deuteronomy 4:9-14
All Scripture is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16).
A-poe-la-pi is an elderly Akha, a member of a hill tribe people who live on some mountain ranges in China. During a missions trip, my friends and I visited A-poe-la-pi. He said to us, “Due to the downpour last night, I couldn’t make it to the gathering. Could you share with me God’s Word?” You see, A-poe-la-pi is illiterate, so the weekly gathering is the only way for him to take in Scripture. As we shared, he listened intently. And his earnest attitude reminded me that when we listen to or study the Bible to gain the wisdom of God, we honour Him.
In Deuteronomy 4, Moses called the Israelites to “listen carefully” to the “decrees and regulations” that he would teach them (v.1). He reminded the people that the source and inspiration behind the teaching was none other than God Himself: “The LORD spoke to you from the heart of the fire” (v.12); “He proclaimed his covenant” (v.13); “The LORD commanded me to teach you his decrees and regulations” (v.14).
Mahatma Gandhi, though not a believer in Jesus, gave us a wake-up call: “You Christians have in your keeping a document with enough dynamite in it to blow the whole of civilisation to bits, to turn society upside down, to bring peace to this war-torn world. But you read it as if it were just good literature, and nothing else.”
Instead, remembering that all Scripture is “inspired” by God (2 Timothy 3:16) can help us approach studying it with a sense of urgency. It can draw us to truly want to know what it teaches and to seek to carefully follow its instruction. That’s the attitude A-poe-la-pi exhibited—an example for us all to imitate.
Today, may we seek the wisdom found in Scripture and the God who inspired it.
—Poh Fang Chia
365-day-plan: Mark 4:1-29
Read Psalm 119:1-18 to rediscover how you can honour the God of the Bible.
From the way you read, listen and obey God’s Word, what does it tell the world around you about your view of Him? Why is it vital that we delve into its wisdom each day?
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)
ODB: Grace in Our Hearts
July 9, 2015
READ: Ephesians 2:4-10
Let your speech always be with grace. Colossians 4:6
A few years ago, four-star General Peter Chiarelli (the No. 2 general in the US Army at that time) was mistaken for a waiter by a senior presidential advisor at a formal Washington dinner. As the general stood behind her in his dress uniform, the senior advisor asked him to get her a beverage. She then realized her mistake, and the general graciously eased her embarrassment by cheerfully refilling her glass and even inviting her to join his family sometime for dinner.
The word gracious comes from the word grace, and it can mean an act of kindness or courtesy, like the general’s. But it has an even deeper meaning to followers of Christ. We are recipients of the incredible free and unmerited favor—grace—that God has provided through His Son, Jesus (Eph. 2:8).
Because we have received grace, we are to show it in the way we treat others—for example, in the way we speak to them: “The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious” (Eccl. 10:12). Grace in our hearts pours out in our words and deeds (Col. 3:16-17).
Learning to extend the grace in our hearts toward others is a by-product of the life of a Spirit-filled follower of Christ Jesus—the greatest of grace-givers.
— Cindy Hess Kasper
Dear heavenly Father, help me today to season my words with grace. May all that I say and do be gracious to others and pleasing to You, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.
God’s grace in the heart brings out good deeds in the life.
ODJ: bold bridges
July 8, 2015
READ: Luke 10:25-37
Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him (v.33).
Dale’s neighbourhood is home to many newcomers to his country. He loves the cultural richness but has felt a disconnection from it. So recently he prayed: “Lord, please use me to reach my neighbourhood.” And he felt God’s simple, gentle nudge: be a friend.
While biking one day, Dale saw a new neighbour, so he stopped and said hello to the man. The surprised individual invited him into his home. During a lengthy conversation, Dale learned of his new friend’s discomfort. The man felt that the citizens of his new country didn’t like him or didn’t want him living near them. It was as if people held him responsible for global events far beyond his control, simply because of his origins.
“You’re my neighbour!” Dale assured him. “You’re welcome here! If you need anything, here’s my number.” The man visibly relaxed. Then he smiled. A small but bold bridge had been built.
The story of the Good Samaritan is often interpreted to emphasise the kindness of the Samaritan. But Jesus was actually expanding God’s command to “love your neighbour as yourself” (Luke 10:27). The religious leader wanted to know, “Who is my neighbour?” because he wanted to follow the letter of the law. Jesus pointed to the spirit of the law and in the process built a bold new bridge across an ethnic divide. The unlikely hero of His parable was “a despised Samaritan” (v.33).
Jesus built all kinds of bold bridges—bridges over long-standing racial barriers, between religious zealots and serial sinners, rich and poor, male and female. And when He redeemed us from our self-centred defiance against God, He built the boldest bridge of all—the one that spanned the chasm between God and His fallen creation.
—Tim Gustafson
365-day-plan: Matthew 12:22-50
What did God mean when He promised to bless the whole world through Abraham and Isaac? (See Genesis 18:18, 22:18, 26:4.)
In what small way can God use you to build a bold bridge today? How have you been personally affected by the bridge Jesus built?
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)
ODB: Ordinary People
July 8, 2015
READ: Judges 6:11–16
We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 2 Corinthians 4:7
Gideon was an ordinary person. His story, recorded in Judges 6, inspires me. He was a farmer, and a timid one at that. When God called him to deliver Israel from the Midianites, Gideon’s initial response was “How can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house” (Judg. 6:15). God promised that He would be with Gideon and that he would be able to accomplish what he had been asked to do (v. 16). Gideon’s obedience brought victory to Israel, and he is listed as one of the great heroes of faith (Heb. 11:32).
Many other individuals played a significant part in this plan to save the Israelites from a strong enemy force. God provided Gideon with 300 men, valiant heroes all, to win the battle. We are not told their names, but their bravery and obedience are recorded in the Scriptures (Judg. 7:5-23).
Today, God is still calling ordinary people to do His work and assuring us that He will be with us as we do. Because we are ordinary people being used by God, it’s obvious that the power comes from God and not from us.
— Poh Fang Chia
Lord, I am just an ordinary person, but You are an all-powerful God. I want to serve You. Please show me how and give me the strength.
God uses ordinary people to carry out His extraordinary plan.
ODJ: dynamite & self-idolatry
July 7, 2015
READ: Matthew 6:1-4
Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven (v.1).
Alfred Nobel invented the detonator in 1863 and the blasting cap 2 years later. Then, in 1867 he invented dynamite—something he hoped would revolutionise the mining and construction industries. It certainly did that, but dynamite also became the basis of military weapons for a century, with variations of it used in wars even today. Nobel would probably be saddened to know that something he intended for good has been used to cause great destruction.
Similarly, if we start to make a lot of noise about the good stuff we’ve done, it can also lead to some destruction. Sure, it’s tempting to believe that letting others know about the good we’ve done is beneficial. After all, it’s nice to hear a positive story of charity amid all the bad news that comes our way. And perhaps our generosity will spur others to follow in our footsteps. Right?
So why did Jesus teach that we should not do works of charity in public, but in secret where only God can see? I think the answer has something to do with self-idolatry. Self-idolatry, that sin of lifting ourselves up for others to admire and even to worship, is like dynamite. No matter how good our intentions might be, engaging in self-idolatry will bring about bad results. Our instinct as human beings to rebel against God ensures a path of destruction. It’s interesting to note that the very first command God gave to Israel was to worship Him alone (Exodus 20:3). This wasn’t only for His sake, but for our wellbeing!
Jesus calls us to humbly do good things—as if our left hand doesn’t know what our right is doing (Matthew 6:3). This honours God, allows us to receive His blessing (v.4) and keeps us from the destructive path of self-idolatry.
—Peter Chin
365-day-plan: Luke 7:36–8:3
Read Acts 5:1-11 for a tragic story from the early church about a couple who failed to give to God and others unselfishly.
Can you think of other reasons why Jesus so strongly warned us not to share our good works in public? How can you become content with giving in secret as Jesus instructed?
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)
ODB: The Slow Walk
July 7, 2015
READ: Job 16:1-5
I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever. John 14:16
Caleb was sick. Really sick! Diagnosed with a nervous system disease, the 5-year-old suffered from temporary paralysis. His anxious parents prayed. And waited. Slowly, Caleb began to recover. Months later, when doctors cleared him to attend school, all Caleb could manage was a slow, unsteady walk.
One day his dad visited him at school. He watched his son haltingly descend the steps to the playground. And then he saw Caleb’s young friend Tyler come alongside him. For the entire recess, as the other kids raced and romped and played, Tyler slowly walked the playground with his frail friend.
Job must have ached for a friend like Tyler. Instead, he had three friends who were certain he was guilty. “Who ever perished, being innocent?” asked Eliphaz (Job 4:7). Such accusations prompted Job to bitterly declare, “Miserable comforters are you all!” (16:2).
How unlike Jesus. On the eve of His crucifixion He took time to comfort His disciples. He promised them the Holy Spirit, who would be with them forever (John 14:16), and assured them, “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you” (v. 18). Then, just before He returned to His Father, He said, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20).
The One who died for us also walks with us, step by painstaking step.
— Tim Gustafson
Father, we tend to say too much to our hurting friends. Help us choose our words wisely. Teach us to walk slowly with those in pain, as You walk patiently with us.
Sometimes the best way to be like Jesus is to sit quietly with a hurting friend.