Entries by YMI

ODJ: reaching the margins

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May 11, 2015 

READ: 1 Samuel 2:1-8 

[God] lifts the poor from the dust (v.8).

In Mumbai, India, a boy named Lakhan lives with his elderly grandmother, Sakubai. Lakhan has cerebral palsy and is deaf. With no home or family to help care for him and Sakubai, they slept on the pavement behind a small bus stop. A published photo shows 9 year old Lakhan tied to a pole—the only way his grandmother could ensure his safety when she went out to search for work. Sakubai explained her drastic action: “[Lakhan] is deaf, so he would not be able to hear the traffic coming. If he ran onto the road, he’d get killed.” Thankfully, a group that works with special-needs children heard the story, secured a room where both grandson and grandmother could live and helped the grandmother obtain a job.

The outpouring of support was heartening. Lakhan’s story, however, brought greater awareness of the thousands of disabled children in India who are destitute.

Scripture tells us over and again that God is particularly attuned to the needs of those under severe distress who are at the margins of society. We read in 1 Samuel, “[God] lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump.” While He resists the wicked who use their power and wealth unjustly, God simultaneously “sets [the poor] among princes, placing them in seats of honour” (2:8).

The very ones who often seem to be the most forgotten are those on whom God’s tender care rests. God’s generosity for the struggling will never run dry because “all the earth is the LORD’s” (v.8).

—Winn Collier

365-day-plan: Job 42:1-17

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Read Deuteronomy 15:7-11. What instructions does God give Israel for caring for the most vulnerable? What kind of attitudes and actions does God require? 
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Who are the most vulnerable people in your city or neighbourhood? How has God equipped you to help meet the needs of those at the margins of society? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Tell Your Story

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May 11, 2015 

READ: 1 Timothy 1:12-20 

Your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue; I will proclaim Your greatness. —Psalm 145:6 nlt 

Michael Dinsmore, a former prisoner and relatively new Christian, was asked to give his testimony in a prison. After he spoke, some inmates came to him and said, “This is the most exciting meeting we’ve ever been to!” Michael was amazed that God could use his simple story.

In 1 Timothy, after Paul had charged Timothy to stay the course preaching the gospel (1:1-11), he shared his personal testimony to encourage the young man (vv.12-16). He told about God’s mercy in his own life. Paul said that he had mocked the Lord, but He changed him. In His mercy, God not only counted him faithful and gave him a job to do, but He also enabled him to do His work (v.12). Paul considered himself the worst of sinners, but God saved him (v.15).

The Lord is able! That is what Paul wanted Timothy to see, and what we need to see too. Through Paul’s testimony, we see God’s mercy. If God could use someone like Paul, He can use us. If God could save the worst of sinners, then no one is beyond His reach.

Our story of God’s work in our lives can encourage others. Let those around you know that the God of the Bible is still at work today!

— Poh Fang Chia

Father, thank You for the salvation You offer and that no one, including me, is beyond the reach of Your mercy, grace, and transforming power. Help me share my story with others so that people can see Your love.

No one is beyond the reach of God’s love. 

ODJ: speaking well

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May 10, 2015 

READ: James 3:1-12 

Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way (v.2).

In May 2014, 8 year old Abby Porter was in a car being driven by her mother when her mum suffered a medical emergency. Abby immediately grabbed the wheel and was able to control the vehicle until a police officer helped stop the car safely. After the event, the officer related how he told Abby to put the automatic car in PARK, to which she responded, “I don’t know how!”

What a perfect demonstration of the power of the steering wheel: a brave but completely inexperienced little girl was able to safely direct herself and her mother to safety!

James compares the tongue not to a steering wheel but to a ship’s rudder: “A small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go” (James 3:4). That relatively small part of the vessel controls where it will head. James warns of the negative implications of misusing our speech, comparing it to a small spark that sets a forest ablaze and to a restless evil (vv.5,7-8). But we shouldn’t overlook what James writes in verse 2, that as God empowers us to control our words, we can control ourselves in every other way as well!

Misusing words can bring about great evil, but I find it encouraging that controlling our words and using them wisely can bring about great good—for ourselves and others. Proverbs 12:6 says that “the words of the wicked are like a murderous ambush, but the words of the godly save lives.” Proverbs 16:24 reveals that “kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.”

So we have not one but two good reasons for speaking with care: to avoid great harm, but also to bring about great good. And we have a great God who helps to steer us towards good words that glorify Him!

—Peter Chin

365-day-plan: Job 38:1-41

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Take a look at Ephesians 4:29 to see how Paul advised the church in Ephesus to use their words to encourage others. 
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How have you seen words cause harm or destruction in your life or in the life of others? What can you do today to bless others with your speech to God’s glory? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: No Need Is Too Trivial

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May 10, 2015 

READ: Isaiah 49:13-18 

As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. —Psalm 103:13 

Several mothers of small children were sharing encouraging answers to prayer. Yet one woman said she felt selfish about troubling God with her personal needs. “Compared with the huge global needs God faces,” she explained, “my circumstances must seem trivial to Him.”

Moments later, her little son pinched his fingers in a door and ran screaming to his mother. She didn’t say, “How selfish of you to bother me with your throbbing fingers when I’m busy!” She showed him great compassion and tenderness.

As Psalm 103:13 reminds us, this is the response of love, both human and divine. In Isaiah 49, God said that even though a mother may forget to have compassion on her child, the Lord never forgets His children (v.15). God assured His people, “I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands” (v.16).

Such intimacy with God belongs to those who fear Him and who rely on Him rather than on themselves. As that child with throbbing fingers ran freely to his mother, so may we run to God with our daily problems.

Our compassionate God doesn’t neglect others to respond to our concerns. He has limitless time and love for each of His children. No need is too trivial for Him.

— Joanie Yoder

You take great delight in me, Lord, and quiet me with Your love. You rejoice over me with singing, like a mother singing a lullaby over her child. Thank You for Your tender love for me.

God holds His children in the palm of His hand. 

ODJ: if our hearts . . .

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May 9, 2015 

READ: Luke 6:43-45 

For you look deep within the mind and heart, O righteous God (Psalm 7:9).

As I stood deep in the bush of rural Uganda watching a rig I’d contracted to drill a well for 700 impoverished villagers, an elderly man approached me. He grasped my hands and in broken English said, “If you could open my heart and view inside, you would see happiness on top of happiness on top of happiness for this water God has provided.”

Though I couldn’t see within the man, his words gave me insight into the overflow of his heart: gratitude, humility, meekness and reverence for the Lord were evident. “What you say flows from what is in your heart,” Jesus said. “A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart” (Luke 6:45).

He also said in Matthew 15:18, “The words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you.” God’s Word instructs us to guard our “heart above all else, for it determines the course of [our] life” (Proverbs 4:23).

If our hearts are full of bitterness or hatred, we’re prone to speak ill of others. This ultimately results in broken relationships and isolation.

If our hearts are full of love and compassion, we’re prone to speak lovingly to others and encourage them rather than condemn them. This can result in healthy, edifying relationships.

If our hearts are weighed down by fear, we won’t have the confidence to move forward as God leads. That’s why Scripture tells us, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Today, let’s consider the many reasons our hearts can express joy and gladness before God!

—Roxanne Robbins

365-day-plan: Job 2:1-13

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Read Psalm 86:12 and consider what it means to worship God with all your heart. 
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What’s been flowing from your heart recently? How can gratitude and praise to God help fill your heart with good things? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Remind The People

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May 9, 2015 

READ: Titus 3:1-8 

Remind the believers to . . . show true humility to everyone. —Titus 3:1–2 nlt 

In a typical week, many of us receive a number of emails reminding us of appointments or upcoming events or requests to pray for someone. All of them are needed reminders.

When Paul wrote his “papyrus mail” to Titus, he ended his note by saying, “Remind the believers . . .” (3:1 nlt). We can assume from Paul’s word choice that he had already written about these things. But they were of such importance to the people in the church that he repeated them so they wouldn’t forget.

Notice what Paul didn’t want them to miss. He reminded the people— living under the oppressive Roman rule—“to be subject to rulers and authorities” (v.1). It was important to be known for obedience; for doing what is good; for not slandering; for being peaceful and considerate; and for humility rather than for complaining. Their behavior was to showcase the change made in their lives by following Christ (vv.3-5).

How could they—and we—do that? “The Holy Spirit whom He poured out on us . . . through Jesus Christ” enables us to “devote [ourselves] to doing what is good” (vv.5-6,8 niv). It is through Jesus’ great gift of salvation that we are equipped to influence our world for good. That’s a reminder we all need.

— Dave Branon

Lord, remind us how important it is that we obey You and treat others the way we want to be treated. Remind us that Your salvation enables us to live as lights in a dark world.

A Christian’s life is a window through which others can see Jesus. 

ODJ: divine adoption

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May 8, 2015 

READ: Galatians 4:1-7 

Because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father” (v.6).

Adopting two boys from Russia opened Russell Moore’s eyes to the privilege of being a child of God. People would ask, “Are they really brothers?” “Have you met their real mum?” Moore simply replied, “Of course they’re brothers. They’re both in our family. And their real mum is my wife.”

Moore’s experience with his sons mirrors how God brings us into fellowship with Himself. For every believer in Jesus enters the family by adoption and by being supernaturally reborn as a child of God (Galatians 4:6). Adoption isn’t an adjective describing a second-class kind of Christian. It’s a past tense verb, describing how we became part of God’s diverse family.

Romans 8:15-17 describes two benefits of adoption. “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ . . . Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ” (NIV).

If you are a believer in Jesus . . .

God is your Father. The Creator of the universe chose you to be His child. He didn’t choose you because you were special. His choice makes you special. You may talk to Him whenever you want, and He truly desires to hear from you. You’ve been both adopted by Him and born into His family (1 John 3:9). All believers have experienced rebirth through salvation.

You are His child. God isn’t being gender-exclusive when He says you have been adopted “to sonship”. In the first century, many cultures held that only sons had the right of inheritance. Your Father wants you to know that whether you’re a son or daughter you will inherit His kingdom—for you’ve been adopted by Him!

—Mike Wittmer

365-day-plan: Job 1:1-22

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Read Ephesians 1:3-14 to learn more about the benefits of being adopted by God. 
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How has your adoption by God changed the way you view yourself? What privilege of being His child do you need to remember today? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: All Aboard

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May 8, 2015 

READ: 2 Peter 3:1-13 

The Lord is . . . longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish. —2 Peter 3:9 

One day when I dropped my husband off at our local train station, I watched as the conductor scanned the area for stragglers. A woman with wet hair bounded from the parking lot and up into the train. Then, a man in a dark suit strode to the platform and climbed aboard. The conductor waited patiently while several more late-comers sprinted to the tracks and boarded at the last moment.

Just as the conductor was patient with people boarding the train, God patiently waits for people to come to know Him. However, someday Jesus will return and “the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat” (2 Peter 3:10). When this happens, or when our physical bodies die, it will be too late to establish a relationship with God.

“The Lord is . . . longsuffering toward us,” Peter says, “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (v.9). If you have delayed deciding to follow Christ, there is good news—you can still commit yourself to Him. “If you declare with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9 niv). He is calling. Will you run in His direction?

— Jennifer Benson Schuldt

Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,
Calling for you and for me;
See, on the portals He’s waiting and watching,
Watching for you and for me. —Thompson

Now is the time to choose the Lord.