Entries by YMI

ODJ: stronger

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May 6, 2015 

READ: Luke 20:1-18 

Everyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on (v.18).

Five years ago, in a burst of renovating energy, my husband and I decided to install tile flooring in our kitchen. Cold to the feet on winter mornings, hard on the joints year round, but easy to clean, tile was our choice again when we moved a year ago. Enduring the heavy traffic through our house, its strength has proven unyielding—even to the point of being ruthless when anything breakable happens to fall on it.

Insufficient to save ourselves, we need Jesus’ pride-shattering redemption whether we choose to acknowledge that need or not (Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:23). Pride has permeated our flesh ever since humanity’s first confrontation with evil and subsequent disobedience in the garden of Eden. We’re convinced that we’re right even when we’re dead wrong, and we often ignore the roots of our diseased mindset (Genesis 3:1-5; John 8:44).

In Luke 20, the problem with the religious leaders who engaged Jesus in dialogue was their belief that they already had all the answers and authority. Like those men, we can become amazed with our own abilities to reason and solve problems, and intoxicated with the false power of controlling our own destinies. Forgetting we’re like grass (1 Peter 1:24), we strive to build a life—and inadvertently, a theology—that suits our making.

—Regina Franklin

365-day-plan: Esther 5:1-14

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Read 1 John 2:15-29 and ask the Holy Spirit to show you any areas where your understanding of sin and redemption have been shaped by humanism. 
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What question about God have you been wrestling with recently? What does Scripture say regarding this issue? How can we determine if our interpretation of Scripture is correct? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: The School Of Pain

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May 6, 2015 

READ: Psalm 119:65-80 

I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are right, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me. —Psalm 119:75 

In his book The Problem of Pain, C. S. Lewis observes that “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Suffering often helps us to redirect our focus. It shifts our thinking from immediate circumstances so we can listen to God concerning His work in our lives. Life as usual is replaced by a spiritual schoolroom.

In the Old Testament, we read how the psalmist maintained a teachable heart even during painful circumstances. He accepted them as orchestrated by God, and in submission he prayed, “In faithfulness You have afflicted me” (Ps. 119:75). Isaiah the prophet viewed suffering as a refining process: “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction” (Isa. 48:10). And Job, despite his laments, learned about the sovereignty and greatness of God through his troubles (Job 40–42).

We are not alone in our experience of pain. God Himself took on human form and suffered greatly: “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps” (1 Peter 2:21). The One with nail-scarred hands is near. He will comfort us and teach us in our suffering.

— Dennis Fisher

Dear Lord, life is so hard sometimes. I confess that I don’t always see Your purpose in my trials. Help me to trust You, and teach me to become the person that You desire me to be.

We learn the lesson of trust in the school of trial. 

ODJ: a different unity

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May 5, 2015 

READ: Romans 14:1-12 

Don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong (v.1).

A group of churches in our city came together to do a neighbourhood cleanup. The shared project went so well that they now exchange choirs and praise bands and have multichurch picnics. Oh sure, there are things they disagree on. But to them, Jesus is a reason for unity.

What a contrast to the small town where I went to high school! There were only two churches, both with similar denominational traditions. They worshipped the same Jesus, and both believed in His death and resurrection. Anyone looking at us would have had a hard time telling us apart, except that they had a cool building with stone architecture and we didn’t.

But the people in that church weren’t us. And so in our school, the handful of kids from my youth group never hung out with the handful

Paul wrote about freedom to believe differently on peripheral matters (Romans 14:1). He noted that some Christians chose to avoid certain foods while others ate anything they wanted (vv.2-3). Some observed certain days as holy; others didn’t. But both determined to honour Christ (v.5).

Interestingly, Paul didn’t choose sides as he wrote, “Those who don’t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them” (v.3). He added, “Why do you look down on another believer?” (v.10).

God knows that not only do we need Him, we also need one another. As we meet with other believers in a local church, we may not agree on everything, but our staying together can help us grow in Christ. We are His body, designed to glorify Him as we learn to love and care for one another.

—Tim Gustafson

365-day-plan: Esther 4:1-17

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Read 1 Corinthians 5:9-13. What is one good reason for refusing to associate with a fellow Christian? 
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Do you avoid certain groups of Christians? Is this a necessary division, or one of preference? What is keeping you from enjoying unity with them? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Heart Of Joy

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May 5, 2015 

READ: John 15:1-11 

These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. —John 15:11 

While waiting in the gate area of Singapore’s Changi Airport to board my flight, I noticed a young family—mom, dad, and son. The area was crowded, and they were looking for a place to sit. Suddenly, the little boy began loudly singing “Joy to the World.” He was about 6 years old, so I was pretty impressed that he knew all the words.

What captured my attention even more was the look on the boy’s face—his beaming smile matched the words he was singing as he proclaimed to everyone at the gate the joy of the Christ who has come.

This joy is not limited to exuberant children nor should it be confined to the Christmas season. The overflowing joy of knowing Christ’s presence in our lives was one of the themes of Jesus’ final teaching with His disciples the night before He died on the cross. He told them of His extravagant love for them—that He loved them as the Father loved Him (John 15:9). After sharing what this eternal relationship looks like, Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full” (v.11).

What a promise! Through Jesus Christ our hearts can be filled with joy—real joy!

— Bill Crowder

Lord, You have chosen me and redeemed me, crowned me with love and compassion. I can do nothing less than overflow with joy at Your great love for me, for those I love, and for the world.

In every season of life we can know joy in Christ. 

ODJ: what love looks like

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May 4, 2015 

READ: Philippians 2:1-11 

Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too (vv.3-4).

A couple I know met, fell in love and in time realised they wanted to give their lives to each other in marriage. But there was a catch. Both had been married before and had children from those marriages. The divorces had been bitter, and their children still felt the effects. How would another marriage affect their sons and daughters? Would the two families successfully integrate? Would it all be worth it?

The couple prayed about their situation and came to a decision out of personal conviction: they would postpone marriage until their children were old enough to leave home and live their own lives. They then worked out exactly how long they’d have to wait. How long was it? Eight years.

And that’s what they did: they waited 8 years to get married. Putting the interests of their children before themselves, they delayed their own fulfilment.

You won’t find many stories like that on the newsstand today. For the sake of those they loved, this couple chose patience, sacrifice and delayed gratification. They humbly considered others as more important than themselves and looked beyond their own desires (Philippians 2:3-4). The couple chose to imitate Jesus—the One who emptied Himself of His divine right to self-fulfilment and became a bruised and battered earthbound Servant who poured out sacrificial love (vv.6-7).

Now, not every believing couple could or should choose the same path as my friends. Some might marry earlier based on their personal needs and convictions. What we should grasp, however, is that Jesus’ sacrificial love can mark our relationships (Ephesians 5:2). In imitating Him, we find what true love—His kind of love—looks like.

—Sheridan Voysey

365-day-plan: Esther 3:1-15

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Read Galatians 2:20 and consider what it means to be found in Jesus. 
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What selfless act is God calling you to today? How can you do it with a Christ-like attitude? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: The Best Wedding Ever

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May 4, 2015 

READ: Revelation 21:1-8 

The marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. —Revelation 19:7 

Within the last 800 or so years, a new custom has been added to the Jewish wedding ceremony. At the very end, the groom crushes a wine glass under his foot. One explanation of this is that the shattering of the glass symbolizes the destruction of the temple in ad 70. Young couples are encouraged to remember, as they establish their own homes, that God’s home had been destroyed.

God is not homeless, however. He has just chosen a new place to live—in us, His followers. In the metaphors of Scripture, believers are both the bride of Christ and the temple in which God lives. God is fitting His people together to build a new home that will be His permanent dwelling place. At the same time, He is preparing the bride and planning a wedding that will include all of God’s family from the beginning of time.

Our part is easy though sometimes painful. We cooperate with God as He is at work in us to make us more like His Son Jesus. Then some day, at the best wedding ever, our Lord will present us to Himself without spot or wrinkle. We will be holy and without blemish (Eph. 5:27). This wedding will bring an end to all sorrow and suffering.

— Julie Ackerman Link

Finish then Thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be;
Let us see Thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in Thee. —Wesley

The return of Jesus is sure. 

Manny Pacquiao is No Loser

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Photo credit: prizefights / Source / CC BY-NC-SA ICYMI, the long-awaited fight of the century between two of boxing’s finest has just taken place and the verdict is in: Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the best boxer of this generation. In what has been the dream of boxing fans everywhere, twin superstars—Philippine’s Manny Pacquiao and USA’s […]

ODJ: dealing with scepticism

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May 3, 2015 

READ: John 1:43-51 

Then Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God—the King of Israel” (v.49).

Organised religion is not for me,” a friend said to me recently. I have been praying for this friend’s salvation for more than 15 years, and every time we get together I pray that God will use me to lead her closer to Jesus. But she still seems so sceptical, and I’m afraid of saying anything that might sour our relationship.

I wonder, will my friend ever come to believe in Jesus?

Nathanael was sceptical about Jesus when his friend Philip shared excitedly, “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth” (John 1:45). But Nathanael said, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (v.46).

Nathanael’s response is understandable. All of us have a tendency to jump to conclusions based on past experiences and preconceived ideas. His perception of the people of Nazareth was negative; he didn’t see how any good could come from that village—including Jesus. And he couldn’t consider the possibility that Philip knew what he was talking about.

But Philip was undaunted. He said, “Come and see for yourself” (v.46). And surprisingly, Nathanael conceded. Perhaps he was searching for answers to life’s questions, and so he thought, “Why not give it a try?”

Soon Nathanael and Jesus had an amazing conversation—one in which Jesus showed divine knowledge to Nathanael. And like a light switch being flipped on, Nathanael suddenly exclaimed that Jesus was “the Son of God—the King of Israel” (v.49).

God knows how to reach the heart and mind of a seeker. So let’s continue to pray for our loved ones. And, like Philip, let’s continue to invite them to “come and see”.

—Poh Fang Chia

365-day-plan: Esther 2:1-23

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Read Isaiah 55:1-11 for the Old Testament equivalent of “come and see”. 
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What makes it difficult to tell sceptics about Jesus? What gives you encouragement as you reach out to those who are far from Him? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)