Entries by YMI
ODB: Terms Of Service
August 29, 2014
READ: Luke 6:27-37
Forgive, and you will be forgiven. —Luke 6:37
If you’re like me, you seldom read the full text of contracts for online services before you agree to them. They go on for pages, and most of the legal jargon makes no sense to ordinary people like me.
I was quite surprised, therefore, when a friend from Africa made me aware of this one-of-a-kind service agreement for online software. Instead of a wordy license telling people how not to use it, the developer offers a simple blessing urging people to use it for good:
May you do good and not evil. May you find forgiveness for yourself and forgive others. May you share freely, never taking more than you give.
At first I thought, Wow. Imagine if more terms of service agreements were written as blessings instead of legal documents. Then I thought, The agreement Jesus makes with us is like that. He offers us forgiveness of sin, peace with God, and the presence of the Holy Spirit. In return, all He asks is that we do good (Gal. 6:10), forgive as we’ve been forgiven (Luke 6:37), and love others as He loves us (John 13:34).
The beauty of Jesus’ agreement with us is that even though we fail to live up to the terms, we still receive the blessing.
— Julie Ackerman Link
Sent from the Father above;
Mercies and blessings abounding,
Gifts of His marvelous love. —Anon.
As we have opportunity, let us do good to all. —Galatians 6:10
ODJ: get even?
August 29, 2014
READ: Romans 12:14-21
Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God (v.19).
During a speech at a major Christian university in2012, business magnate and TV celebrity DonaldTrump told 10,000 students that the way to succeed in business is to “get even”, igniting an outcry from critics who said that Trump’s philosophy was inconsistent with Christian values.
“Getting even” may give you the edge in the business world, but it will definitely wreak havoc in your inner world. Instead of getting even, Paul told us to do the opposite: “Never pay back evil with more evil” (Romans 12:17), and “never take revenge” (v.19).
Revenge is a road a believer in Jesus must avoid. Why? Because it’s a right that God kept for Himself. That responsibility was never delegated to us (v.19). And it’s something that harms you more than it harms your enemy.
“Don’t get mad, get even,” may sound good, but it erodes the vitality and spirituality of those who practise it. People who seek revenge nourish their own bitterness, which can grow into a festering case of hostility, hatred and malice that will soon consume and dehumanise the ones who possess it. The presence of love in you—loving God and loving others—is destroyed when you get even. The counter-offensive? “Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good” (v.21).
You may wonder if this kind of living is even possible. Fortunately, Jesus has revealed that it is: for while we were still His enemies, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8-11). “He is your example . . . . He did not retaliate . . . nor threaten revenge . . . . He left his case in the hands of God” (1 Peter 2:21-23).
We don’t need to get even. Instead, let’s let God take care of it. —K.T. Sim
365-day plan› Matthew 21:1-17
Read 2 Kings 6:20-23 to see how Elisha illustrated the principle lifted up later by Paul in Romans 12:2-21.
If revenge isn’t an option for believers in Jesus, what can you do? (1 Peter 2:21-23, 3:8-12; 1 Thessalonians 5:15). Why shouldn’t Christians get even?
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)
ODB: A Picture Of Humility
August 28, 2014
READ: John 13:1-11
God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. —James 4:6
During the Easter season, my wife and I attended a church service where the participants sought to model the events that Jesus and His disciples experienced on the night before He was crucified. As part of the service, the church staff members washed the feet of some of the church volunteers. As I watched, I wondered which was more humbling in our day—to wash another person’s feet or to have someone else wash yours. Both those who were serving and those being served were presenting distinct pictures of humility.
When Jesus and His disciples were gathered for the Last Supper (John 13:1-20), Jesus, in humble servanthood, washed His disciples’ feet. But Simon Peter resisted, saying, “You shall never wash my feet!” Then Jesus answered, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me” (13:8). Washing their feet was not a mere ritual. It could also be seen as a picture of our need of Christ’s cleansing—a cleansing that will never be realized unless we are willing to be humble before the Savior.
James wrote, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). We receive God’s grace when we acknowledge the greatness of God, who humbled Himself at the cross (Phil. 2:5-11).
— Bill Crowder
Thou Lamb of Calvary, Savior divine;
Now hear me when I pray, take all my sin away,
O let me from this day be wholly Thine! —Palmer
The most powerful position on earth is kneeling before the Lord of the universe.
ODJ: flood of justice
August 28, 2014
READ: Amos 5:10-24
I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living (v.24).
“God judges sin because he loathes what it does to us and to others. There is no other motive in God, nothing deeper than His love for us. He wants us to loathe sin, too—and be its executioner. If we won’t, he will!” —David Roper (Elijah: A Man Like Us)
God hates sin. He hates injustice. So when Hispeople were living unjust lives—enjoying prosperitybut showing no compassion for the poor—He called them on it.
He sent Amos to deliver His verdict.
The prophet didn’t hold back when God gave him His message of condemnation. He let the people of Israel have it. Called by God from the southern kingdom of Judah, Amos trekked north to the shrine at Bethel. And there he boldly proclaimed God’s message in that place God abhorred—a shrine that used a calf idol in worship. This sinful, ugly place reflected the idolatrous nature of the heart of the people of Israel’s northern kingdom.
“You trample the poor . . . . You oppress good people by taking bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts,” Amos bellowed (Amos 5:11-12). God had seen the injustice of His people, and the prophet had been sent to expose their “sins and the depth of [their] rebellions” (v.12). God saw through the nation’s false worship. He said through Amos, “Away with your noisy hymns of praise!” (v.23).
What would He say of you and me? Are we worshipping Him while indulging injustice and ignoring the pleas of the poor?
“I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living” (v.24). These words, spoken by Amos, reveal the just, loving heart of God. May we embrace His call to seek justice for the poor and needy in this age. Let the waters of life and righteousness rise and flood our land. —Tom Felten
365-day plan› John 12:1-11
Read Deuteronomy 10:18 and consider what it says about the heart of God.
When you consider that all people are made in God’s image, how does this affect your view of the poor and needy? How can you help provide justice for those who need it in your part of the world?
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)
ODB: Life’s Darkest Moments
August 27, 2014
READ: 1 Kings 19:1-8
An angel touched [Elijah], and said to him, “Arise and eat.” —1 Kings 19:5
Charles Whittlesey was a hero’s hero. Leader of the so-called “Lost Battalion” in World War I, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery when his unit was trapped behind enemy lines. When the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was dedicated, Charles was chosen to serve as pallbearer for the first soldier laid to rest there. Two weeks later, it is presumed that he ended his own life by stepping off a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean.
Like Elijah (1 Kings 19:1-7), Charles was publicly strong, but in the quiet, post-public moments, his feelings of despair set in. People today frequently face situations bigger than they can handle. Sometimes it’s temporary despair brought on by fatigue, as in Elijah’s case. He had been part of a great victory over the prophets of Baal (18:20-40), but then he feared for his life and ran into the wilderness (19:1-3). But often, it’s more than despair and it’s more than temporary. That’s why it is imperative that we talk about depression openly and compassionately.
God offers His presence to us in life’s darkest moments, which enables us, in turn, to be His presence to the hurting. Crying out for help—from others and from God—may be the strongest moment of our lives.
— Randy Kilgore
other that sometimes life overwhelms us. And
grant us the courage to help others find
help—and to seek it when we need it.
Hope comes with help from God and others.
ODJ: destructive pride
August 27, 2014
READ: 2 Samuel 14:25-27, 18:9-14
All who fear the LORD will hate evil. Therefore, I hate pride and arrogance, corruption and perverse speech (Proverbs 8:13).
In the classic 1991 animated movie Beauty and the Beast, Gaston is the town’s strapping, egotistical hero.He’s a ‘manly man’ admired by the locals and desired by many of the town’s younger women. Most seem to be huge fans of Gaston and overlook his obnoxious ways, except for the young and beautiful Belle.
At the start of the film, Gaston meets Belle on the street and takes the book she is reading. “How can you read this?” Gaston asks her. “There’s no pictures. . . . It’s time you [Belle] got your head out of those books and paid attention to more important things, like me.”
Gaston is a modern-day version of the Old Testament character Absalom—King David’s third son. The book of 2 Samuel describes him in the following terms: “Now Absalom was praised as the most handsome man in all Israel. He was flawless from head to foot. He cut his hair only once a year, and then only because it was so heavy. When he weighed it out, it came to five pounds!” (14:25-26).
Like Gaston, Absalom appeared to be stuck on himself—especially his hair. Ironically, it was his long locks that led to his final undoing. During an intense battle against his father’s forces, Absalom was killed after his full head of hair got caught in the thick branches of a large tree and it left him dangling before his enemy (2 Samuel 18:9-14).
Solomon, the younger brother of Absalom, later wrote, “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). Perhaps one of the ways he learned this was by seeing how arrogance led to his brother’s demise.
Holy Spirit, please make us aware of the destructive pride that potentially lurks within all of us. —Jeff Olson
365-day plan› Luke 19:1-27
Read Proverbs 11:2 to see what else Solomon had to say about the dangers of pride.
Why is pride such a destructive thing? Where do you struggle with it? Confess your pride to Jesus today.
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)
ODB: Spiritual Navigation
August 26, 2014
READ: Psalm 119:97-106
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. —Psalm 119:105
Dava Sobel’s award-winning book Longitude describes a dilemma faced by early sailors. They could readily determine their latitude north or south of the equator by the length of the day or height of the sun. Calculating east/west longitude, however, remained complex and unreliable until English clockmaker John Harrison invented the marine chronometer. This was “a clock that would carry the true time from the home port . . . to any remote corner of the world,” thus enabling sailors to determine longitude.
As we navigate the seas of life, we also have a reliable source of spiritual direction—the Bible. The psalmist wrote, “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day” (Ps. 119:97). Rather than occasionally glancing at God’s Word, he spoke of pondering the Lord’s directions throughout each day: “Your testimonies are my meditation” (v.99). This was coupled with a commitment to obey the Author: “I have sworn and confirmed that I will keep Your righteous judgments” (v.106).
Like the mariners of old, we need a constant guide to help us find our way and stay on course. That’s what happens when we seek the Lord day by day with an open heart and a willing spirit that says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
— David C. McCasland
His daily leading and His love;
As we trust Him for direction,
To our course He’ll give correction. —Fitzhugh
With God as your navigator, you’re headed in the right direction.