Entries by YMI

ODJ: what are you afraid of?

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June 29, 2015 

READ: Joshua 1:1-9 

This is my command—be strong and courageous! (v.9).

One of my jobs, being a rock-climbing instructor, includes helping people overcome their fear of heights. I explain to them that the real issue isn’t falling, but hitting the ground. Then I remind my clients that they have the proper safety equipment and good anchor points—making it impossible for them to drop. One thing they need to grasp is that their mind is actually lying to them, and that they can override their panicky thoughts. Being up high is not dangerous in itself; it’s only dangerous without the right safety equipment. Talking this through with them can take a long time, but they usually end up pressing on.

How much simpler it is when God speaks to His people! “This is my command—be strong and courageous!” He said (Joshua 1:9). No discussion and no persuading—just get on with it! This could sound uncaring if it weren’t for the fact that God was talking to a man of faith, His servant Joshua. God was speaking to a man who knew Him! It’s a wonderful time and an enormous privilege when God asks His servants to do something that they find overwhelming—something that’s terrifying to them. For He will ask only those who know Him to step out in faith. He knows that they have the faith to respond in obedience, trusting in His keeping power and in His love that will never allow their foot to stumble!

Joshua had armies to fight with a rabble of a nation, and his great mentor was dead (v.1). He surely had reason to fear and to consider not trusting in God. But he did trust! He was “strong and very courageous” (v.7).

—Russell Fralick

365-day-plan: Matthew 5:17-30

MORE
Read Judges 6:11-16 and consider the encouraging words Gideon received from the LORD. 
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What do you typically do when fear comes calling? How does the reality of God’s presence encourage you to be strong and courageous? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Rescuing the Reluctant

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June 29, 2015 

READ: Genesis 19:12-25 

The men took hold of his hand, . . . the LORD being merciful to him, and they . . . set him outside the city. Genesis 19:16 

Many years ago during a water safety class, we were taught how to save a drowning person who is resisting rescue. “Approach the person from behind,” the instructor told us. “Place one arm across the person’s chest and flailing arms, and swim toward safety. If you approach from the front, the person may grab you and pull both of you down.” Panic and fear can paralyze the ability to think and act wisely.

When two angels sent by God came to rescue Lot and his family from the impending destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19:12-13), they encountered resistance. Lot’s sons-in-law thought the warning was a joke (v. 14). When the angels told Lot to hurry and leave, he hesitated (v. 15). At that point, the two angels “took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters,” and led them safely out of the city because God was merciful toward them (v. 16).

When we reflect on our journey of faith in Christ, we can see God’s faithfulness in overcoming our reluctance and resistance. When we encounter people lashing out in spiritual desperation and fear, may we have God’s wisdom to show His love to them—and to every person who is reluctant to be rescued by Him.

— David C. McCasland

Father, as I look at my own heart, I know I have resisted You and have been reluctant at times to come to You. Thank You for Your mercy. Help me to share with others who You are.

God’s mercy can overcome our resistance. 

ODJ: if

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June 28, 2015 

READ: Genesis 13:8-11, 19:30-38 

We can make our own plans, but the LORD gives the right answer (Proverbs 16:1).

If you had a crystal ball that could show you your future, what do you think you would see? What current choices or decisions would you make to try to change where your life is leading?

In “Do You Even Know Me Anymore?” Mark Schultz sings, “I’ve watched my days turn into years, and now I’m wondering how I wound up here. I dreamed my dreams, I made my plans, but all I’ve built here is an empty man.”

That’s tragic. But it could be our story, just as it was Lot’s.

In the last record of his life, we find Lot living in a cave. And in that dingy den, his daughters tricked him into committing incest with them (Genesis 19:30-36). Lot became for all time the symbolic picture of a person who has received salvation in Jesus, “but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames” (1 Corinthians 3:15). Though he has eternal life with God ahead, he has nothing to look back on but wasted years, tinged with regret.

How did he end up there? In Genesis 13:8-11, Lot gained his independence and ran with it. He moved out of Abraham’s shadow and then had to choose where to settle down. He chose the Jordan Valley, for it was “like the garden of the LORD or the beautiful land of Egypt” (v.10).

Not a good choice. Pastor Ray Stedman explains, “[Lot] thought he could have the garden of the Lord plus the riches of Egypt. He thought he could worship God while still having all the luxuries and cultural advantages of a pagan, godless city.” And for a season, Lot did have the best of both worlds. But it didn’t last.

—Poh Fang Chia

365-day-plan: Matthew 5:1-16

MORE
Read Matthew 6:24-33 to hear Jesus’ words again about what we should live for. 
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Evaluate some recent choices or decisions based on Matthew 6:33. Are you making good choices? Where will they lead in the future? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: A Voice in the Night

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June 28, 2015 

READ: Psalm 134  

Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD! Psalm 134:2 

Psalm 134 has only three verses, but it is proof that little things can mean a lot. The first two verses are an admonition to the priests who serve in God’s house night after night. The building was dark and empty; nothing of consequence was occurring—or so it seemed. Yet these ministers were encouraged to “lift up [their] hands to the holy place and bless the Lord!” (v. 2 esv). The third verse is a voice from the congregation calling into the darkness and loneliness of the night: “The Lord who made heaven and earth bless you.”

I think of other servants of the Lord today—pastors and their families who serve in small churches in small places. They’re often discouraged, tempted to lose heart, doing their best, serving unnoticed and unrewarded. They wonder if anyone cares what they’re doing; if anyone ever thinks of them, prays for them, or considers them a part of their lives.

I would say to them—and to anyone who is feeling lonely or insignificant: Though your place is small, it is a holy place. The one who made and moves heaven and earth is at work in and through you. “Lift up your hands” and praise Him.

— David H. Roper

Lord, show me how I can be an encourager of others who might feel they are in a “small” place. Let them know that their lives leave an eternal impact on those they serve.

Anyone doing God’s work in God’s way is important in His sight. 

ODJ: crossing the line

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June 27, 2015 

READ: Acts 10:34-48 

God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean (10:28).

The deaf community at the midsize American church was struggling. Two of their most faithful members had died. Their longtime interpreter was retiring, and the church was changing pastors.

The new pastor knew the importance of speaking to people in their language, so he worked on his sign-language skills. One Sunday, prior to the worship service, he struck up a halting conversation with one of the deaf seated near the front. Soon he stepped off the platform and sat down next to her. He paid close attention to her signs and carefully signed back. He asked questions and accepted her patient correction of his signing mistakes.

The deaf seated around them noticed! That pastor made himself vulnerable and crossed the line into their world.

The apostle Peter crossed a big line into a new world—the world of the Gentiles. As a devout Jew, he carefully followed the prohibitions against eating certain foods or entering the home of a Gentile. But God was smashing the walls that divided people, so in a vision He spoke to Cornelius, a God-fearing Roman military leader (see Acts 10:1-7). Then he spoke to Peter (vv.9-21). Soon Peter went to the centurion’s house, and the church grew in ways previously unimagined! (vv.34-48). Luke writes, “The Jewish believers . . . were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles, too” (v.45).

—Tim Gustafson

365-day-plan: Mark 2:23–3:19

MORE
Read Acts 10:1-33 to see how God used Cornelius and Peter to smash the division between Gentile and Jewish believers. 
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What can you do in your church or neighbourhood to turn some walls into bridges? How does Jesus’ example of crossing the line encourage you to do the same? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: The Whole Story

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June 27, 2015 

READ: Acts 8:26-37 

Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. Acts 8:35 

Recently my 5-year-old grandson, Dallas, asked, “Why did Jesus die on the cross?” So we had a little talk. I explained to him about sin and Jesus’ willingness to be our sacrifice. Then he ran off to play.

A few minutes later, I overheard him talking to his 5-year-old cousin, Katie, explaining to her why Jesus died. Katie said to him, “But Jesus isn’t dead.” Dallas replied, “Yes. He’s dead. Grampy told me. He died on the cross.”

I realized I hadn’t completed the story. So we had another talk as I explained to Dallas that Jesus rose from the dead. We went over the story again until he understood that Jesus is alive today, even though He did die for us.

What a reminder that people need to hear the whole gospel. When a man from Ethiopia asked Philip about a portion of Scripture he did not understand, Philip “opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him” (Acts 8:35).

Tell others the good news about Jesus: that we are all sinners needing salvation; that the perfect Son of God died to save us; and that He rose from the grave, showing His power over death. Jesus, our Savior, is alive and is offering now to live His life through us.

When someone wants to know about Jesus, let’s make sure to tell the whole story!

— Dave Branon

Lord, Your story is amazing. Help us to tell all of it so others can put their faith in You and enjoy the salvation You offer to all who trust and believe.

Jesus said . . . , “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.” John 11:25 

ODJ: sacred places

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June 26, 2015 

READ: Exodus 33:7-17 

Inside the Tent of Meeting, the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend (v.11).

It was a holy place, a sacred place, a place unlike any other temple. Before there had come the marble and gold, altars and precious stones, columns, walls and the Holy of Holies, it was a place of divine-human intimacy. The construction costs were relatively small, it had no great beauty, and it was nothing anyone would envy.

After all, it was just a tent.

But that tent became the place where one man asked questions, listened, led a nation and made history.

The Tent of Meeting was God’s special appointment room for meeting with His people (Exodus 29:42-43). Before the Israelites had a temple, Moses set up the canopy, nailed its pegs into the ground, entered in and communed with God. Whenever Moses set off towards the tent, the community would watch in awe. Something special was about to happen—a new commandment might be given, a solution to a community problem might be revealed, a new leader might be named. As Moses took step after careful step towards the tent, God’s presence would descend in a “pillar of cloud” (33:9).

In the tent Moses would unload his problems (v.12), come to know God better (v.13), hear His voice (v.17) and even receive musical inspiration (Deuteronomy 31:19). As the community observed what took place, they were moved to worship: “When the people saw the cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, they would stand and bow down in front of their own tents” (33:10).

The Tent of Meeting reminds us that God requires no special building in which to meet us. If He met with Moses in a tent, He will meet us anywhere. His presence makes any place sacred.

—Sheridan Voysey

365-day-plan: John 5:1-47

MORE
Read James 4:8 to see how God draws near when we approach Him. Read Mark 1:35 and Luke 6:12 to see some of Jesus’ “sacred places”. 
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Where’s your sacred place for meeting with God? What are some ways you can meet with Him throughout the day? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Hidden Mysteries

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June 26, 2015 

READ: 2 Kings 6:15–23 

Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. 2 Kings 6:16 

Most of what goes on in the universe we never see. Many things are too small or move too fast or even too slow for us to see. Using modern technology, however, filmmaker Louis Schwartzberg is able to show stunning video images of some of those things—a caterpillar’s mouth, the eye of a fruit fly, the growth of a mushroom.

Our limited ability to see the awesome and intricate detail of things in the physical world reminds us that our ability to see and understand what’s happening in the spiritual realm is equally limited. God is at work all around us doing things more wonderful than we can imagine. But our spiritual vision is limited and we cannot see them. The prophet Elisha, however, actually got to see the supernatural work that God was doing. God also opened the eyes of his fearful colleague so he too could see the heavenly army sent to fight on their behalf (2 Kings 6:17).

Fear makes us feel weak and helpless and causes us to think we are alone in the world. But God has assured us that His Spirit in us is greater than any worldly power (1 John 4:4).

Whenever we become discouraged by the evil we can see, we need to think instead about the good work God is doing that we cannot see.

— Julie Ackerman Link

Lord, I’m tempted to fear what I cannot understand or control. But my security rests in You and not in what happens to me or around me. Help me to rest in Your unfailing love.

Eyes of faith see God at work in everything.