Entries by YMI
ODJ: the right time
December 25, 2014
READ: Luke 4:16-21
He has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor . . . to proclaim that captives will be released . . . and that the time of the LORD’s favour has come (vv.18-19).
In a speech given during the commencement of a newly formed missions agency, my friend—who heads up the ministry—spoke of its mission and vision. He also gave everyone a clear picture of its goals and plans.
Similarly, at the start of His public ministry, our Lord Jesus gave an ‘inaugural message’ in a synagogue in His hometown. He deliberately directed everyone’s attention to Isaiah’s prophecy concerning God’s Anointed One (Luke 4:16-20).
Nearly 700 years earlier, the prophet Isaiah had spoken of the mission of the Messiah: “The LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor . . . to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed . . . to tell those who mourn that the time of the LORD’s favour has come” (Isaiah 61:1-2). Isaiah 61 celebrates God’s grace in delivering the Jews from the Babylonian bondage, and proclaims God’s glory in restoring and blessing the Jews after their exile.
After reading this Scripture, Jesus publicly announced that He was the Messiah who had come: “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!” (Luke 4:21). Jesus laid out His mission (vv.18-19). He declared that God had sent Him to rescue us (Matthew 1:21), to heal all who are broken by sin (Psalms 34:18, 147:3), to set free those captured by Satan and enslaved in sin (John 8:32-36; Romans 6:6-8) and to restore and bless us (Ephesians 1:3).
Christmas is a reminder that “the time of the LORD’s favour has come” (Luke 4:19). And the apostle Paul reminds us not to reject “this marvellous gift of God’s kindness. . . . Indeed, the ‘right time’ is now. Today is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:1-2). —K.T. Sim
365-day plan› 1 John 1:1-10
Read Matthew 5:3-10 to see the blessings God has given to everyone who receives Jesus as Saviour.
God has shown you His favour. Have you received His gift of salvation? If you are a believer, how has salvation in Jesus changed your life?
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)
ODB: The Smells Of The Stable
December 25, 2014
READ: Luke 2:15-20
They shall call His name Immanuel, which is translated, “God with us.” —Matthew 1:23
A stable? What a place to give birth to the Messiah! The smells and sounds of a barnyard were our Savior’s first human experience. Like other babies, He may even have cried at the sounds of the animals and the strangers parading around His temporary crib.
If so, they would have been the first of many tears. Jesus would come to know human loss and sorrow, the doubts his brothers and family had about Him, and the pain His mother experienced as she saw Him tortured and killed.
All these hardships—and so much more—awaited the baby trying to sleep that first night. Yet from His very first moments, Jesus was “God with us” (Matt. 1:23), and He knew what it meant to be human. This would continue for over three decades, ending at His death on the cross.
Because of His love for you and me, Jesus became fully human. And being human allows Him to identify with us. Never again can we say that no one understands us. Jesus does.
May the Light that entered the world that night cast its brilliance into the deepest corners of our souls this Christmas, giving us the peace on Earth of which the angels spoke so long ago.
— Randy Kilgore
love of Christ and to honor Him
with our unyielding devotion in
this and every season. We love You.
Jesus understands.
ODJ: the gift
December 24, 2014
READ: Luke 2:25-35
Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised. I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people (vv.29-31).
Most people aren’t naturally wired to say they can die in peace. One has to experience something profound to mouth those words! But that’s precisely what Simeon said as he held baby Jesus in his arms. He said to God, “Let your servant die in peace” (Luke 2:29).
The righteous man’s response leads to a question: What exactly had Simeon seen Jesus do? The answer: nothing. There’s no indication that Jesus performed a miracle of some kind at His tender age, nor was there a nativity-like chorus of angels overhead. He probably seemed like an ordinary baby, and little more. Yet Simeon said, “I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people” (v.30).
So why did Simeon react the way he did? This is explained in part by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. For it was the Spirit that brought Jesus to Simeon and revealed His true identity (the long-awaited Messiah) to the old man (vv.25-26).
What a great reminder that we need the Spirit to help us see Jesus clearly! But, in addition, I think Simeon responded the way he did because he had been faithful his entire life and truly knew God. Luke labelled him as both “righteous and devout”, and being a man of God, he knew that He is good and loving (v.25). So God’s servant would surely be good and loving as well. Because Simeon trusted the Giver, he was able to see the Gift (Jesus) for what He truly was!
In order for us to recognise God’s good gifts, we need to focus not only on the gift itself, but on the character of the One who gives it. And if we have faith in a good, wise and powerful Father, then surely we can trust that whatever He gives will be wonderfully good as well! —Peter Chin
365-day plan› 2 Peter 1:2-21
Read Luke 11:1-13 and James 1:17 for additional reminders of what kind of provider our great God is.
Have you ever received something from God that didn’t seem to be a gift? Was there some way that ‘gift’ did indeed end up being a blessing? What gifts will you praise God for today?
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)
ODB: Lasting Peace
December 24, 2014
READ: Ephesians 2:13-19
He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation. —Ephesians 2:14
On Christmas Eve 1914, during the First World War, the guns fell silent along a 30-mile stretch of the Western Front. Soldiers peered cautiously over the tops of trenches while a few emerged to repair their positions and bury the dead. As darkness fell, some German troops set out lanterns and sang Christmas carols. Men on the British side applauded and shouted greetings.
The next day, German, French, and British troops met in no man’s land to shake hands, share food, and exchange gifts. It was a brief respite from war that soon ended when the artillery and machine guns roared to life again. But no one who experienced “The Christmas Truce,” as it became known, would ever forget how it felt and how it fueled their longing for lasting peace.
In Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming Messiah we read, “His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6). By His death on the cross, Jesus removed the “no man’s land” between us and God. “For He Himself is our peace” (Eph. 2:14).
In Jesus we can find lasting peace with God and harmony with each other. This is the life-changing message of Christmas!
— David C. McCasland
“Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!” —Wesley
Only in Christ can true peace be realized.
ODJ: rebuilding
December 23, 2014
READ: Nehemiah 2:1-18
Let’s rebuild the wall! (v.18).
On 31 October, 2003, 13 year old Bethany Hamilton was attacked by a 14 foot tiger shark while surfing off the North Shore in Hawaii. Bethany survived, but she lost her left arm and more than 60 percent of her blood in the assault.
As chronicled in the film Soul Surfer, however, Bethany refused to let her new life as an amputee cause her to give up. Instead, she relied on God to give her the strength and confidence she needed.
Bethany’s faith propelled her to continue living with zeal and has inspired people around the world as well (2 Corinthians 1:3-5). Her testimony reminds me of God’s restorative work found in the book of Nehemiah. Let’s take a look at Bethany’s trip to Thailand, to minister to tsunami survivors: in 2005 thousands of children were orphaned after a tsunami destroyed homes and many lives across the massive Southeast Asia shoreline. Just as Jerusalem lay in ruins (Nehemiah 2:17), a large portion of the coast of Thailand was now in ruins.
Like Nehemiah, who told his people how God had been gracious to him (v.18), Bethany shared with Thai orphans about God’s gracious work in her life. Then, ”with surfboard in tow, she slowly walked one trembling 8 year old boy into the breaking waves off the village of Phuket. . . . After a few moments, she helped the youngster onto the board, and his fear dissolved into a broad smile.”
When Nehemiah testified of God’s goodness, the people found hope and exclaimed, “Let’s rebuild the wall!” (v.18). Bethany’s faith has inspired many people to rebuild what was broken down.
Today, consider what you can share about God’s work in your life to inspire others and help them move forward victoriously in Jesus. —Roxanne Robbins
365-day plan› 1 Peter 3:1-22
Read Ezra 9:9 and consider how God lovingly continues to rebuild lives.
What do you need to ask God to rebuild in your life? How can you share God’s love and restorative power with those around you?
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)
ODB: What Really Matters
December 23, 2014
READ: 2 Corinthians 9:10-15
Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! —2 Corinthians 9:15
When our children were living at home, one of our most meaningful Christmas morning traditions was very simple. We would gather our family around the Christmas tree where, in sight of the gifts we were receiving from one another, we would read the Christmas story together. It was a gentle reminder that the reason we give gifts is not because the Magi brought gifts to the Christ-child. Rather, our gifts of love for one another were a reflection of God’s infinitely greater Gift of love to us.
As we rehearsed the familiar story of angels, shepherds, and the manger scene, it was our hope that the magnitude of what God had done that first Christmas would overshadow our best attempts at displaying our love for each other.
Nothing could ever match the gift God has given us in His Son, a reality which echoes in Paul’s words to the church at Corinth, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Cor. 9:15).
Clearly, God’s willingness to send His Son to be our rescue is a gift that words cannot fully comprehend. This is the gift that we celebrate at Christmas—for Christ Himself is truly what matters most.
— Bill Crowder
God gave to us that day;
From the manger bed what a path has led,
What a perfect, holy way! —Neidlinger
Jesus Himself is the greatest Christmas gift ever given.
ODJ: promises kept
December 22, 2014
READ: Luke 1:39-45
For he made this promise to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children forever (v.55).
In the 2013 film Man of Steel, young Clark Kent used his super-human strength to save a busload of fellow students from drowning in a river. Clark’s father, who believed the world wasn’t prepared to accept his supernatural son, urged Clark to keep his great strength a secret. He explained to him, “When the world finds out what you can do, it’s going to change everything—our beliefs, our notions of what it means to be human—everything!”
Watching that scene made me wonder if Joseph, Jesus’ stepfather, ever had similar thoughts cross his mind about his supernatural son. I wonder if it ever occurred to him how dramatically the world was going to change when it found out who his boy truly was.
We can’t say for sure if Joseph had such thoughts, but we know Mary did. Several days after an angel broke the news to Mary that she was going to get pregnant (Luke 1:26-38), she went to visit her relative Elizabeth, who was 6 months along in her pregnancy. Luke tells us that the baby in Elizabeth’s womb “jumped for joy” at the sound of Mary’s voice (v.44). The two women saw it as a sign that Mary was indeed pregnant with God’s child.
Overcome with joy, Mary burst out with what would become one of the most famous songs of the Bible—The Magnificat (vv.46-55). The last line of the song acknowledges that Mary was fully aware that the child growing inside her womb was the long-awaited fulfilment of God’s promise to Abraham—one that would bless and change the whole world (Genesis 12:1-3).
One of the many things the birth of Jesus reveals is that God is faithful. To celebrate Jesus’ birth is to celebrate the One who keeps His promises. —Jeff Olson
365-day plan› 1 Peter 2:1-25
Read Luke 1:68-70 and see what Elizabeth’s husband, Zechariah, says of God and His faithfulness.
What are some promises God has kept that you can celebrate? How has His faithfulness been revealed in your life?
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)