Entries by YMI

ODJ: someone loves you

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June 7, 2015 

READ: Romans 5:6-11 

God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners (v.8).

During Valentine’s Day each year, nearly $18.6 billion dollars are spent across America—$1.6 billion of which is spent on chocolate and $4.4 billion is spent on jewellery! We’re so driven by consumerism these days that we can come to believe that romantic love revolves around gifts. We can even begin to think that the best way to know if someone really cares about us is if they’re willing to buy something we want (and even better, something really expensive!).

Unfortunately, we often apply this same principle to God—assuming that He best shows His love for us by giving us what we want when we want it. When we get the goods, we’re confident of God’s love. But when we don’t, when things don’t go our way, or if we don’t receive what we want, we’re tempted to wonder if God really loves us. Although I am loath to admit it, I am definitely guilty of this tendency. While gifts can be a demonstration of love, they’re not the only way we can be sure of someone’s affections, nor are they the best way.

The best way to know that someone loves you is if they’re willing to suffer for you. And that’s precisely what we read in Romans 5:8, that God demonstrated His love for us most clearly not by giving us a diamond ring or a shiny new toy, but by sending His only beloved Son to die for us—something more precious by far. This is a calling that Jesus took up willingly for the sake of the sheep that He loves. For us. Jesus said, “No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily” (John 10:18).

—Peter Chin

365-day-plan: Luke 1:26-56

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Read Matthew 27:32-44 to be reminded of the harshness of Jesus’ suffering and the true depth of His love for you. 
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Do you ever find yourself doubting God’s love or goodness when things don’t go your way? What comes to mind when you consider His love for you? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: The Greatest Thing

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June 7, 2015 

READ: Luke 10:38-42 

Mary . . . sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. Luke 10:39 

During a church service I spotted an infant several rows ahead. As the baby peeked over his father’s shoulder, his eyes were wide with wonder as he looked at the members of the congregation. He grinned at some people, drooled, and chewed his chunky fingers, but never quite found his thumb. The pastor’s words grew distant as my eyes kept sliding back to that sweet baby.

Distractions come in all shapes and sizes. For Martha, distraction took the form of cooking and cleaning—trying to serve Christ instead of listening to Him and talking with Him. Mary refused to be sidetracked. “Mary . . . sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word” (Luke 10:39). When Martha grumbled because Mary wasn’t helping her, Jesus said, “Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her” (v. 42 niv).

Jesus’ words remind us that our relationship with Him is more important than any of the good things that might temporarily capture our attention. It has been said that good things are the enemies of great things. For followers of Jesus, the greatest thing in this life is to know Him and to walk with Him.

— Jennifer Benson Schuldt

What do you think Martha’s distractions were? Was she wanting to be seen as a good host? Or was she jealous of her sister? What attitudes cause you not to make Jesus your top priority?

Teach me, Lord, to get to know You, for that’s when I’ll learn to love You more than anything. 

ODJ: forgiving the offender

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June 6, 2015 

READ: Numbers 21:4-9 

Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed! (v.9).

During his final pizza delivery of the night, three young men robbed and pistol-whipped 19 year old Brady (causing a gash on his head that required 70 stitches). Fast forward 5 years. In June 2014, Brady and one of the young men who had assaulted him are the best of friends! Brady, a believer in Jesus, reached out to Marcellous—extending forgiveness and friendship. Marcellous credits Brady for helping him to finish secondary school and leave gang-life behind.

Brady’s forgiving ways remind me of the forgiveness of God. For instance, during their lengthy trek from Egypt to the Promised Land, the Israelites’ behaviour became offensive to Him. “The people grew impatient with the long journey, and they began to speak against God and Moses” (Numbers 21:4-5). God used snakes to discipline His disobedient people. And soon, acknowledging their offensive behaviour, they cried out to Moses, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take away the snakes” (v.7).

God, showing forgiveness and grace, provided a way for the people to be healed of the snakebites. If they would simply look up at a bronze snake that He had Moses create and place on a pole, they would be made well (v.9). God’s loving forgiveness was on full display!

Brady also displayed God’s forgiving ways. The brutal attack he endured caused him to lose a shot at a basketball scholarship, and it led to 3 difficult years of physical therapy for post-concussion syndrome. His forgiving heart, however, reflects Jesus’ own. For Jesus was lifted up on a cross so that all who look to Him for spiritual healing will be forgiven (John 3:14-15). He chose to forgive offenders like us.

—Tom Felten

365-day-plan: Luke 1:5-25

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Read Luke 23:34 and consider what Jesus saw in the people He chose to forgive. 
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How does Brady’s example encourage you to reach out to those who have offended you? What amazes you about the way God chose to provide forgiveness for our sins? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Start from Here!

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June 6, 2015 

READ: Acts 9:1-9 

Lord, what do You want me to do? Acts 9:6 

On June 6, 1944, three American officers huddled in a bombshell crater on Utah Beach in Normandy, France. Realizing the tide had carried them to the wrong place on the beach, the trio made an impromptu decision: “We’ll start the battle from right here.” They needed to move forward from a difficult starting point.

Saul found himself in a difficult place, needing to make a decision after meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-20). Suddenly, the location and direction of his life was revealed to him as a mistake, his prior life perhaps even feeling like a waste. Moving forward would be difficult and would require hard and uncomfortable work, perhaps even facing the Christian families whose lives he had torn apart. But he responded, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” (v. 6).

We often find ourselves in unexpected places, places we never planned nor wanted to be. We may be drowning in debt, inhibited by physical barriers, or suffering under the weight of sin’s consequences. Whether Christ finds us this day in a prison cell or a palace, whether He finds us broken and broke or absorbed by our own selfish desires, Scripture tells us to heed Paul’s advice to forget what lies behind and to press forward toward Christ (Phil. 3:13-14). The past is no barrier to moving forward with Him.

— Randy Kilgore

Are you paralyzed by your past? Have you drifted away from Christ? Or perhaps never even met Him? Today is the day to begin anew with Christ, even if you’ve tried and failed before.

It’s not too late for a fresh start. 

ODJ: relational navigation

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June 5, 2015 

READ: Matthew 16:13-27 

You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s (v.23).

Our family truly enjoys the thrills and adrenaline rush found in theme park rides. One recent ride we braved included a 170 foot drop. During the intense ride, I lost my bearings at one point and had no idea where we were headed. I was no longer in control, but simply hurtling down a twisting, turning track.

Whether through the decisions made by other people or events beyond our human control, we can’t predict where life will take us down the ‘track’—much less who will travel the journey with us from beginning to end. Circumstances and relationships change. And with those altered states, our emotions can often swing from one extreme to another.

Trying to find his bearings in the midst of quickly changing events, Peter refused to believe that God’s plan could involve the pain and death of the Messiah he had grown to love (Matthew 16:21-22). In the shifting events that would contextualise all of history, Jesus held fast to the Father’s plan while Peter desperately tried to create a plan he found more comforting. Jesus had to confront His confused disciple, stating, “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s” (v.23).

Fear, heartache and even anger are ready responses when our lives shift in a manner we didn’t expect. The counsel we need during times of change is to place our feet on Jesus’ firm foundation (7:24). He said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, . . . take up your cross, and follow me” (16:24).

What appeared to be a catastrophe to Peter resulted in salvation being offered to all mankind (Romans 5:8-10). Accepting Jesus’ grace, goodness and guidance can bring the life navigation only God can provide (John 6:40).

—Regina Franklin

365-day-plan: John 1:1-18

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Read Psalm 119:29-40 and consider our role in remaining faithful to God’s truth regardless of life’s challenges and changes. 
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What’s the danger in allowing circumstances or emotions to guide our decisions? How can our trust in the sovereignty of God keep us anchored in our journey with Him? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: What We Do

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June 5, 2015 

READ: Philippians 3:7-17 

One thing I do . . . I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14 

When Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Roger Ebert died, a fellow journalist wrote of him: “With all his notoriety, honors, and celebrity, all his exclusive interviews and star-dusted encounters with movie greats, Ebert never forgot the essence of what we do—review movies. And he reviewed them with an infectious zeal and probing intellect” (Dennis King, The Oklahoman).

The apostle Paul never forgot the essence of what God wanted him to be and do. Focus and enthusiasm were at the heart of his relationship with Christ. Whether he was reasoning with philosophers in Athens, experiencing shipwreck in the Mediterranean, or being chained to a Roman soldier in prison, he focused on his calling to know “Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings” and to teach about Him (Phil. 3:10).

While he was in prison, Paul wrote, “I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (3:13-14). Whatever his circumstances, Paul continually pressed forward in his calling as a disciple of Christ.

May we always remember the essence, the heart, of who we are called to be and what we are called to do as followers of Jesus.

— David C. McCasland

Father, may I be willing to do what I can with all that I have, wherever I am.

Paul was in earnest over one thing only, and that was his relationship to Jesus Christ. Oswald Chambers 

ODJ: new way of seeing

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June 4, 2015 

READ: 1 Peter 3:3-6 

Clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within (v.4).

God has given me new things to treasure and value since I left America for Uganda 6 years ago. Some of the interests and things that I truly enjoyed before moving to my new ministry have, to my surprise, been replaced. I haven’t even missed American football—my favourite sport! Nor have I missed many things that my birth country’s culture suggests are necessary for fulfilment, significance and happiness.

In Africa I’ve discovered beauty in watching the face of an impoverished child light up after receiving a gift of clothing, in witnessing a mother as she loves and cares for her sick child, in seeing a starving child share his meager food portions with a sibling, and in hearing children express gratitude in being able to attend school.

Among the poor in Sub-Saharan Africa I’ve gained deeper understanding of “the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God” (1 Peter 3:4). I have better understood how this type of loveliness, observed by pure and reverent living, pleases God more than “the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewellery or beautiful clothes” (v.3).

Though the meek aren’t exclusively found living in poverty in Africa, it’s here that I more strongly grasped that the humble are blessed and “will inherit the whole earth” (Matthew 5:5). It’s in this place that I more deeply appreciate that “God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (v.4). I also found greater comfort in God’s promise that He “blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied” (v.6).

God provides what we need to grow in faith—including encouragement from Scripture that causes our hearts to grow in confidence and hope. By His work, we’re better primed to see beauty—and all of life—as He does.

—Roxanne Robbins

365-day-plan: Jonah 3:1–4:11

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In addition to kindness, tolerance and patience, what are some attributes of God that Romans 2:4 says we can see? 
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How does your view of beauty differ from God’s? How can you begin to better realise His values in your thinking and choices? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: My Father Is with Me

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June 4, 2015 

READ: Mark 14:32-50 

You will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. John 16:32 

A friend struggling with loneliness posted these words on her Facebook page: “It’s not that I feel alone because I have no friends. I have lots of friends. I know that I have people who can hold me and reassure me and talk to me and care for me and think of me. But they can’t be with me all the time—for all time.”

Jesus understands that kind of loneliness. I imagine that during His earthly ministry He saw loneliness in the eyes of lepers and heard it in the voices of the blind. But above all, He must have experienced it when His close friends deserted Him (Mark 14:50).

However, as He foretold the disciples’ desertion, He also confessed His unshaken confidence in His Father’s presence. He said to His disciples: “[You] will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me” (John 16:32). Shortly after Jesus said these words, He took up the cross for us. He made it possible for you and me to have a restored relationship with God and to be a member of His family.

Being humans, we will all experience times of loneliness. But Jesus helps us understand that we always have the presence of the Father with us. God is omnipresent and eternal. Only He can be with us all the time, for all time.

— Poh Fang Chia

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your promise that You will never leave me or forsake me. When I feel lonely, help me to remember You are always with me.

If you know Jesus, you’ll never walk alone.