Entries by YMI

ODB: You Had To Act

Jan 19, 2015 in , /by

January 19, 2015 

READ: John 7:37-46 

No man ever spoke like this Man! —John 7:46 

A US congressman, John Lewis, was 23 years old when he participated in the historic 1963 civil rights “March on Washington” led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Half a century later, journalist Bill Moyers asked Lewis how he was affected by Dr. King’s I Have A Dream speech that day. Mr. Lewis replied, “You couldn’t leave after hearing him speak and go back to business as usual. You had to do something, you had to act. You had to move. You had to go out and spread the good news.”

Many who encountered Jesus found it impossible to remain neutral about Him. John 7:25-46 records two different reactions to Jesus. While “many of the people believed in Him” (v.31), the religious leaders tried to silence Him by sending temple guards to arrest Him (v.32). The guards were likely present when Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (vv.37-38). The guards returned without Jesus and were asked, “Why have you not brought Him?” (v.45). They answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!” (v.46).

The words of Jesus compel us to act, and to move, beyond business as usual.

— David C. McCasland

So let our lips and lives express
The holy gospel we profess;
So let our works and virtues shine,
To prove the doctrine all divine. —Watts

Jesus’ death forgave my past sins and inspires my present obedience. 

ODJ: vertical and horizontal

Jan 18, 2015 in , /by

January 18, 2015 

READ: 2 Corinthians 5:16-19 

God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself (v.19).

Jean Vanier was an accomplished naval officer who had recently completed a PhD, and whose family oozed with prestige (his father had been the Governor General of Canada). Yet, living in the small French village of Trosly-Breuil, Vanier was alone and downhearted. His pastor encouraged him to invite two disabled men to live with him, and L’Arche (communities where disabled and those who Vanier calls “temporarily-abled” share friendship and life together) was born. Fifty years later, L’Arche communities exist around the world.

At the centre of Vanier’s work—and L’Arche’s vision—is the belief that God brings people together who would normally have little reason for friendship. The apostle Paul insists that the gospel provides for reconciliation, where barriers are shattered and people are reunited.

Reconciliation’s first movement is between God and people, bringing “us back to himself through Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:18). In the second movement, God gives “us the ministry of reconciliation,” reconciling humans to one another by virtue of the life we’ve come to share in Him (v.18 ESV). Reconciliation is vertical (between us and God), and then it’s horizontal (between us and our neighbour).

Reconciliation is not first a social agenda, but God’s action in Christ. “All this is a gift from God,” Paul says (v.18). As Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice say in their book Reconciling All Things: “A Christian vision of reconciliation cannot be conceived or sustained without the particular life of the God whom Christians confess, the living God of Israel who raised the crucified Jesus from the dead. The life and preaching of Jesus shape our lives distinctly in a broken world.” —Winn Collier

365-day plan› Genesis 28:10-22

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Read the larger context (2 Corinthians 5:11-19). Reflect on what it would mean to no longer “[evaluate] others from a human point of view” (v.16). 
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What does it mean to receive God’s gift of reconciliation? How can you better offer that gift to others? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: The Wonder Of Sight

Jan 18, 2015 in , /by

January 18, 2015 

READ: Psalm 139:7-16 

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. —Psalm 139:14 

On the livescience.com website, I read something pretty amazing: “If you were standing atop a mountain surveying a larger-than-usual patch of the planet, you could perceive bright lights hundreds of miles distant. On a dark night, you could even see a candle flame flickering up to 30 miles (48 km) away.” No telescopes or night-vision goggles needed—the human eye is so profoundly designed that even long distances can be spanned with clear sight.

This fact is a vivid reminder of our amazing Creator, who designed not only the human eye but also all of the details that make up our expansive universe. And, unlike anything else in creation, God has made us in His own image (Gen. 1:26). “In His image” speaks of something far greater than the ability to see. It speaks of a likeness to God that makes it possible for us to be in relationship with Him.

We can affirm David’s declaration, “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well” (Ps. 139:14). Not only have we been given eyes to see, but we have also been made so that, in Christ, one day we will see Him!

— Bill Crowder

Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed
Wherever I turn my eye,
If I survey the ground I tread
Or gaze upon the sky! —Watts

All of God’s creation bears witness to Him as our great Creator. 

ODJ: do you love God?

Jan 17, 2015 in , /by

January 17, 2015 

READ: 1 John 4:20-5:5 

Those who love God must also love their their fellow believers (4:21).

Do you love God? Just think about it. How can a lowly person draw near, much less talk about being in a personal relationship with such a high and exalted Being? It blows my mind. A classic hymn describes God as “immortal, invisible, God only wise, in light inaccessible hid from our eyes.” Perhaps God’s ‘otherness’ explains why we often feel so inadequate in claiming that we love Him.

Yet God loves us and desires that we love Him in return! In 1 John 4:20-5:5, He tells us how we can know if we truly love Him.

Firstly, to claim that we love God isn’t a true demonstration of love. There should be visible actions. Specifically, we’re called to love fellow believers in Him. Love for the unseen God will find expression in love for others whom we can see (4:20), for “everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too” (5:1).

Secondly, we’ll strive to keep God’s commandments without finding them burdensome (5:3). John Piper helps us understand this verse in context. He explains, “The test of the genuineness of your love to the children of God is whether you let the commandments of God govern your relation to them and whether these commandments are burdensome to you.”

Both these tests help us see that loving God and loving people are closely interconnected. If we love Him, we’ll love His people. And the way we love His people will be in conformity with the way He reveals His love to us.

“Do you love me?” Jesus asked Peter by the Sea of Galilee (John 21:15-17). Jesus’ question wasn’t designed to criticise Peter, but to restore him to service. These are encouraging words, for if we’ve faltered like Peter, God still loves us and invites us to love Him as we love His people. —Poh Fang Chia

365-day plan› Genesis 27:1-40

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Read John 14:21 and consider what Jesus says is required in our love for Him. 
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What do your actions towards fellow believers reveal about your love for God? What will it take for you to love them better? To love God better? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Leaving It Behind

Jan 17, 2015 in , /by

January 17, 2015 

READ: John 4:9-14,27-29 

The woman then left her waterpot [and said,] “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” —John 4:28-29 

In the year or so after our teenage son got his driver’s license and started carrying a wallet, we got several calls from people who had found it somewhere. We cautioned him to be more careful and not leave it behind.

Leaving things behind, though, is not always a bad thing. In John 4, we read about a woman who had come to draw water at a well. But after she encountered Jesus that day, her intent suddenly changed. Leaving her water jar behind, she hurried back to tell others what Jesus had said to her (vv.28-29). Even her physical need for water paled in comparison to telling others about the Man she had just met.

Peter and Andrew did something similar when Jesus called them. They left their fishing nets (which was the way they earned their living) to follow Jesus (Matt. 4:18-20). And James and John left their nets, boat, and even their father when Jesus called them (vv.21-22).

Our new life of following Jesus Christ may mean that we have to leave things behind, including those that don’t bring lasting satisfaction. What we once craved cannot compare with the life and “living water” that Jesus offers.

— Cindy Hess Kasper

Now none but Christ can satisfy,
None other name for me;
There’s love and life and lasting joy,
Lord Jesus, found in Thee. —McGranahan

Christ showed His love by dying for us; we show ours by living for Him. 

ODJ: idk

Jan 16, 2015 in , /by

January 16, 2015 

READ: Psalm 77:1-20 

We thank you, O God! We give thanks because you are near (75:1).

Almost everyone loves to hear stories of God ‘showing up’. We feel trapped by circumstances, we pray in desperation and a providential answer arrives just in time. We know it’s God, and it’s easy to praise Him—for a while.

But so much of life is lived in the ‘idk’ (‘I don’t know’)

—those in-between times when our problems increase and threaten to obscure God’s goodness. We wonder where He is.

A cluster of psalms attributed to Asaph (Psalms 73-83) deal with life in the ‘idk’. Again and again the psalmist revealed the raw honesty of his heart as he saw his people violated and tyrants prospering.

In Psalm 77 he wrote, “All night long I prayed, with hands lifted towards heaven, but my soul was not comforted” (v.2). That anguish soon slipped into resignation: “This is my fate; the Most High has turned his hand against me” (v.10).

“But then . . .” (v.11).

For those who trust in God, every moment living in the ‘idk’ has a corresponding “but then”. Asaph continued, “But then I recall all you have done, O LORD; I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago” (v.11). He then celebrated the “God of great wonders” who displays “awesome power among the nations” (v.14). The conclusion is one of triumphant memories, not despair over the present.

Despite the fear that permeates many of Asaph’s psalms, the focus is on God, His past goodness and His promise to be our God. We anticipate a day when justice will reign. Then we will look back and see how God was near us every step of the way.

The times when we don’t know what to do are the times to let God build our faith. When we don’t have anywhere else to go, He has us exactly where He wants us. —Tim Gustafson

365-day plan› Genesis 25:19-34

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Read through a couple of Asaph’s psalms today (Psalms 50 and 73-83). Look for the balance between anguished honesty and praise to God. 
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What “wonderful deeds” can you recall that God has done on your behalf? Write them down and thank Him for what He’s done in the past as you face your present concerns. 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: God’s Refreshing Word

Jan 16, 2015 in , /by

January 16, 2015 

READ: Isaiah 55:8-11 

My word . . . shall not return to Me void. —Isaiah 55:11 

When I was a boy, our family would occasionally travel across Nevada. We loved the desert thunderstorms. Accompanied by lightning bolts and claps of thunder, huge sheets of rain would blanket the hot sand as far as the eye could see. The cooling water refreshed the earth—and us.

Water produces marvelous changes in arid regions. For example, the pincushion cactus is completely dormant during the dry season. But after the first summer rains, cactuses burst into bloom, displaying delicate petals of pink, gold, and white.

Likewise, in the Holy Land after a rainstorm, dry ground can seemingly sprout vegetation overnight. Isaiah used rain’s renewal to illustrate God’s refreshing Word: “As the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Isa. 55:10-11).

Scripture carries spiritual vitality. That’s why it doesn’t return void. Wherever it encounters an open heart, it brings refreshment, nourishment, and new life.

— Dennis Fisher

God’s Word is like refreshing rain
That waters crops and seed;
It brings new life to open hearts,
And meets us in our need. —Sper

The Bible is to a thirsty soul what water is to a barren land. 

ODJ: the power of beauty

Jan 15, 2015 in , /by

January 15, 2015 

READ: Ecclesiastes 3:9-14 

Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time (v.11).

Sunsets. People tend to stop what they are doing to watch them . . . take pictures of them . . . admire their splendour.

Last January my wife and I watched the sun setting over the Gulf of Mexico. We were surrounded by a crowd of people—mostly strangers—who had gathered at the beach to watch this nightly ritual. At the moment the sun fully disappeared below the horizon, the crowd broke into applause.

Why do people do that? I would suggest it’s the power of beauty! Beauty speaks to our hearts like few things do. It not only draws us into itself, but it also has the power to take us to something beyond itself. Ultimately, it can inch us ever much closer to the Maker of beauty.

The 20th century French philosopher Simone Weil wrote: “The soul’s inclination to love beauty is the trap God most frequently uses in order to win it.” As the ancient writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us, “God has made everything beautiful for its own time” (3:11).

Beauty is absorbed through the senses our Creator gave us, and it can be found just about anywhere. We can see it in a sunset or in a fresh blanket of snow. We can hear it while listening to a favourite work of music or feel it in the soft, furry coat of a pet. Our hearts can sense it in the kind words of a friend. We can smell it in the aroma of a freshly brewed pot of coffee. We can see it in the brush strokes of an artist’s painting.

Beauty may indeed be in the eye of the beholder, but it’s something we all need on a daily basis. It’s a gift from God that renews and gives life to our souls. —Jeff Olson

365-day plan› Genesis 24:28-67

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Read Philippians 4:8 and consider how Paul’s words remind us to think about what is truly beautiful in God’s eyes. 
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How can you bring more beauty into your life? How can you share God’s beauty with others this week? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Kindness Gone Viral

Jan 15, 2015 in , /by

January 15, 2015 

READ: Mark 10:13-16 

Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. —Mark 10:14 

News of a simple act of kindness on a New York subway has gone around the world. A young man, head covered by a hooded sweatshirt, fell asleep on the shoulder of an older passenger. When someone else offered to wake the young rider, the older man quietly said, “He must have had a long day. Let him sleep. We’ve all been there.” Then he let the tired fellow rider sleep on his shoulder for the better part of the next hour, until the older man gently eased away to get up for his stop. In the meantime, another passenger snapped a photograph and posted it on social media, and it went viral.

The man’s kindness seems to resonate with what we all long for—the kindness that reflects the heart of God. We see this gentleness in Jesus when His friends tried to protect Him from the noise and bother of little children. Instead, Jesus insisted on taking the little ones in His arms and blessing them (Mark 10:16). In the process, He invited all of us to trust Him like a little child (vv.13-16).

Jesus lets us know that all of us are safe in His presence. Whether awake or asleep, we can lean on Him. When we’re exhausted, He provides a safe place for us to rest.

— Mart De Haan

Under His wings, I am safely abiding,
Though the night deepens and tempests are wild;
Still I can trust Him—I know He will keep me,
He has redeemed me and I am His child. —Cushing

God is a safe resting place.