Entries by YMI

ODJ: clear communication

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July 20, 2014 

READ: Ephesians 4:11-16 

Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church (v.15).

Many battles in life stem from false assumptions that are made due to lack of communication. For instance, we share a wall with our neighbours and—since moving in 6 months ago—they’ve been redecorating. The garden, the garage, the bathrooms, the bedrooms; nothing has escaped a hammer, an electric power tool or a paintbrush.
Recently I took an important online exam at home and needed absolute quiet in order to concentrate and complete all the questions within the allotted 2 hours. I should have informed my busy neighbours about the upcoming exam, but kept putting it off.

On the day of the exam, I readied myself, logged on and after 5 minutes into it, I heard the dreaded sound of a hammer banging on something. The neighbours had scheduled workers to install carpeting for that morning, and they couldn’t be delayed. They ripped up old carpets and laid new ones for the next 2 hours. I couldn’t concentrate with all the noise and, needless to say, I didn’t complete all the questions within the allotted time.

I have yet to receive the results from that exam, but whatever the outcome, I have learned an important lesson: don’t assume anything without having established clear, truthful communication.

Our relationship with other believers in Jesus requires that we speak what is true in a loving way: “Timely advice is lovely, like golden apples in a silver basket” (Proverbs 25:11).

As we grow in understanding the truths of God’s Word, we mature in our relationship with Him and with other believers in Jesus. We can then better “speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ” (Ephesians 4:15). Our faith and unity will grow as our edifying, truth-based communication flows. —Ruth O’Reilly-Smith

365-day plan› Mark 7:1-37

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Read 1 Thessalonians 5:11 and consider how your words can be used to accomplish what Paul is instructing us to do. 
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With whom do you need to communicate? Why is it vital that we speak the truth and do so in love? 

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ODB: Whoppers Or Adventures?

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July 19, 2014 

READ: Psalm 102:18-28 

But You are the same, and Your years will have no end. —Psalm 102:27 

My grandfather loved to tell stories, and I loved to listen. Papaw had two kinds of tales. “Whoppers” were stories with a whiff of truth, but which changed with each new telling. “Adventures” were stories that really happened, and the facts never changed when retold. One day my grandfather told a story that just seemed too far-fetched to be true. “Whopper,” I declared, but my grandfather insisted it was true. Although his telling never varied, I simply couldn’t believe it, it was that unusual.

Then one day, while I was listening to a radio program, I heard the announcer tell a story that confirmed the truth of my grandfather’s tale. My grandfather’s “whopper” suddenly became an “adventure.” It was a moving moment of remembrance that made him even more trustworthy in my eyes.

When the psalmist wrote about the unchanging nature of God (102:27), he was offering this same comfort—the trustworthiness of God—to us. The idea is repeated in Hebrews 13:8 with these words, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” This can lift our hearts above our daily trials to remind us that an unchanging, trustworthy God rules over even the chaos of a changing world.

— Randy Kilgore

Our God is God—He does not change;
His truth, His love remain each day the same,
He’s faithful to His matchless name,
For God is God—He does not change. —D. DeHaan

Let the sameness of God waft over your heart with His peace in your storms. 

ODJ: powerful shaft of light

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July 19, 2014 

READ: Isaiah 9:1-7 

The people who walk in darkness will see a great light (v.2).

When the Nazis overran Poland, Father Maximilian Kolbe transformed his friary into a covert refugee centre. Before the SS troops discovered Kolbe’s plot, the men had hidden more than 2,000 Jews. The SS shipped Kolbe to Auschwitz, prisoner #16670. Though beaten, forced into hard labour and given sparse food, Kolbe’s gentleness never waned.
After three prisoners escaped the camp, Auschwitz’s commandant selected 10 others to be locked in a bunker and starved to death. When Franciszek Gajowniczek was chosen, he sobbed, “My wife! My children! What will they do?” Kolbe stepped forward and asked the commandant to allow him to take Gajowniczek’s place. In the bunker, Kolbe prayed, read psalms and sang hymns with the men. After 2 weeks he was the only prisoner still alive. Wanting to empty the bunker, a guard gave Kolbe a lethal injection of carbolic acid.

An Auschwitz survivor, Jerzy Bielecki, described Kolbe’s sacrificial death as “a shock filled with hope, bringing new life and strength. . . . It was like a powerful shaft of light in the darkness of the camp.”

Maximilian Kolbe would probably be the first to say that whatever light he offered was merely a reflection of the radiance of God. The collected stories of Kolbe’s life make it clear that he didn’t view himself as a hero, but as one who longed to bear witness to the love and light of God in Jesus Christ. Like the prophet Isaiah, Kolbe’s life proclaimed this message: “For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine” (Isaiah 9:2). This light was the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

In Jesus, God shatters the dark and hopeless places of our world. Indeed, a powerful shaft of light has come! —Winn Collier

365-day plan› John 6:41-71

MORE
Read Psalm 27:1-14. How does it describe God in the opening verse? As the psalm unfolds, how does the writer present the effects of God shining into our world? 
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Where in your world do you need a powerful shaft of light today? How does God’s light push back the darkness of the world? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Living Bridges

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July 18, 2014 

READ: Jeremiah 17:5-10 

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord. —Jeremiah 17:7 

People who live in Cherrapunji, India, have developed a unique way to get across the many rivers and streams in their land. They grow bridges from the roots of rubber trees. These “living bridges” take between 10 to 15 years to mature, but once they are established, they are extremely stable and last for hundreds of years.

The Bible compares a person who trusts in God to “a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river” (Jer. 17:8). Because its roots are well-nourished, this tree survives soaring temperatures. And during drought it continues to yield fruit.

Like a firmly rooted tree, people who rely on God have a sense of stability and vitality despite the worst circumstances. In contrast, people who place their trust in other humans often live with a sense of instability. The Bible compares them to desert shrubs that are frequently malnourished and stand alone (v.6). So it is with the spiritual lives of people who forsake God.

Where are our roots? Are we rooted in Jesus? (Col. 2:7). Are we a bridge that leads others to Him? If we know Christ, we can testify to this truth: Blessed are those who trust in the Lord (Jer. 17:7).

— Jennifer Benson Schuldt

Jesus is all the world to me,
My life, my joy, my all;
He is my strength from day to day,
Without Him I would fall. —Thompson

Even strong trials cannot blow down a person who is rooted in God. 

ODJ: pass the bacon

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July 18, 2014 

READ: Acts 10:1-48 

“No, Lord,” Peter declared. “I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure and unclean” (v.14).

As Peter was waiting for lunch, he slipped into a trance and saw a sheet drop from the sky full of unclean animals. The image must have startled him—Why was a good Jew like him having a filthy dream like this? What he heard next shocked him: “Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.” “No, Lord,” Peter declared. “I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure and unclean” (Acts 10:13-14).
This happened three times, which is a familiar pattern for Peter. He denied Jesus three times (John 18:15-27). He was asked, “Do you love me?” three times (21:15-17). Now here in Acts he defends his Jewish tradition three times.

Jewish food laws are difficult for Gentiles to understand, when ‘unclean stuff’ like pork can be a part of a normal diet for a non-Jew. It’s hard to imagine a world without bacon, as it’s now in mayonnaise, lollipops and ice cream! There’s even a French perfume called Bacon.

And that’s the point. God knew that the Gentiles in Canaan ate pigs, so He told His people they couldn’t touch them. This rule prevented the Jews from eating with their pagan neighbours, which was intended to prevent them from mingling and adopting their pagan ways. A kosher diet was God’s training wheels for purity.

Now God was telling Peter that the training wheels were coming off. He was sending His people into the world to mix it up with their unsaved neighbours, starting “in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). As Peter told Cornelius who was a Gentile, “God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean” (10:28).

The church that began in Acts 2 and expanded to include Gentiles in Acts 10 crosses every geographic, ethnic and socio-economic boundary. We’re free to eat with almost anyone (see the exception in 1 Corinthians 5:9-11), but we must pay attention to who is influencing us. —Mike Wittmer

365-day plan› John 6:22-40

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Read 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 to learn how we can remain holy as we interact with our non-Christian friends. 
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What safeguards do you have in place to remain holy? How could they become unnecessary obstacles to sharing Jesus with others? 

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ODB: Lookin’ Good!

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July 17, 2014 

READ: Hebrews 10:19-25 

Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. —Hebrews 10:24 

After trying on my new sunglasses in the car one day, my daughter handed them back and said, “These are not sunglasses, Mom. They’re just fashion lenses. Let me guess,” she teased, “you bought them because you look cute in them.”

Okay, I have to admit—my daughter knows me. I hadn’t given a passing thought to UV rays or even whether those glasses would actually block the sun. I just really liked the way they looked on me.

Most of us like to look good. We want to appear that we “have it all together”—with no struggles or fears or temptations or heartaches.

Trying to maintain a façade of perfection on our spiritual journey doesn’t help us or our fellow travelers. But sharing our lives with others in the body of Christ benefits us as well as others. When we are a bit more transparent, we may find people who are struggling in a similar situation. And as we enjoy a growing fellowship with God and become more aware of our own brokenness and inadequacy, God is able to use us more fully to help others.

Let’s allow God to strip away any pretense and “let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Heb. 10:24 niv).

— Cindy Hess Kasper

Wearing a mask that shows everything’s fine
Says that life’s struggles are not God’s design;
But when we’re open, transparent, and true,
People will trust God to meet their needs too. —Sper

Believers stand strong when they don’t stand alone. 

ODJ: safe

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July 17, 2014 

READ: Psalm 33:1-22 

We put our hope in the LORD. He is our help and our shield (v.20).

Overwhelmed with work and tired from a busy weekend of ministry, I couldn’t stop the tears when I came home to a leak in the kitchen ceiling of our new house. Hardly an insurmountable problem, especially since our house is under warranty, I still felt my vulnerability anew. Not only had we recently encountered the challenges of moving to a new town, we had also faced considerable agitation from our neighbours for having a Bible study in our home. So as I watched each drip fall from the bulging plasterboard onto the tile floor, I longed for something to be easy.
Sometimes we simply need to be reminded: God has us covered. Psalm 33:20 says, “We put our hope in the LORD. He is our help and our shield.” And verse 18 declares that He “watches over those who fear him, those who rely on his unfailing love.”

The psalmist used the powerful description of God being our shield to describe the fullness of His protection. Moved by love, He faithfully watches over us (v.18). We can go face to face with the enemy in the confidence that God is with us and that He alone can provide our rescue (v.19).

We might reason that the right circumstances, others’ choices or the appropriate resources would keep us from hardship. But to make our victory dependent on these things is to place our hope in the warhorse and the armour (vv.16-17)—empty provisions at best. Instead, we trust in Him: “In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. Let your unfailing love surround us, LORD” (vv.21-22). Our Deliverer doesn’t just fight on our behalf; He holds us close, and we’re safe in His arms (Deuteronomy 33:12). —Regina Franklin

365-day plan› Matthew 14:13-36

MORE
Read 2 Chronicles 20:1-18 to see how our choice to praise the Lord in all things can turn the outcome of the battle. 
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How can little struggles add up to a stronghold of discouragement? Why is it important for us to face struggles with the knowledge that we’re safe in God’s care? 

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