Entries by YMI

ODJ: “the”

Apr 26, 2014 in , , /by

April 26, 2014 

READ: Acts 13:13-43 

The promise was made to our ancestors and God has now fulfilled it for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus (vv.32-33).

A panda walked into a café and ordered a sandwich. He ate it and then pulled a gun out and shot the waiter. The panda then slammed a badly punctuated wildlife manual onto the table. “Look me up,” he growled as he walked out the door. The wounded waiter opened the book to the entry for “panda”. It read, “Panda: large, black and white bear-like mammal native to China. Eats, shoots & leaves.” This story illustrates the unfortunate consequences of a misplaced comma (the book should have read, “Eats shoots and leaves”).

Little things can make a big difference. Take the definite article “the”. This Easter many people will speak of the resurrection as if it were a concept, an encouraging promise that life will improve if only we hold on until spring. They’re right to hope that a brighter day is dawning, but only because of the historic resurrection of Jesus (Acts 2:29-31). The empty tomb is a hard fact, not a soft platitude about the power of positive thinking.

The resurrection of Christ motivates us to live well precisely because it takes care of the big stuff. It solves our problem of sin. Paul declared, “Through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. Everyone who believes in him is declared right with God” (Acts 13:38-39). It solves our problem of death. Paul assured us that “just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies” (Romans 8:11).

The resurrection transforms believers into saints who will live forever, which rouses us to “always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless” (1 Corinthians 15:58). Be inspired. Believe in the resurrection. —Mike Wittmer
2 Kings 11:1-21 ‹365-day plan

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Read Romans 6:1-14 to learn about the difference the resurrection of Jesus should make in our lives. 
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What have you done today that would make no sense if Jesus hadn’t risen from the dead? What will you do to show that you believe in the resurrection?  

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Fearful Fish

Apr 25, 2014 in , , /by

April 25, 2014 

READ: John 1:6-14 

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. —John 1:14 

Managing a saltwater aquarium, I discovered, is no easy task. I had to run a portable chemical laboratory to monitor nitrate levels and ammonia content. I pumped in vitamins and antibiotics and sulfa drugs and enzymes. I filtered the water through glass fibers and charcoal.

You would think my fish would be grateful. Not so. When my shadow loomed above the tank to feed them, they dove for cover into the nearest shell. I was too large for them; my actions incomprehensible. They did not know that my acts were merciful. To change their perceptions would require a form of incarnation. I would have to become a fish and “speak” to them in a language they could understand, which was impossible for me to do.

According to the Scriptures, God, the Creator of the universe, did something that seems impossible. He came to earth in human form as a baby. “The world was made through Him,” says John, “and the world did not know Him” (John 1:10). So God, who created matter, took shape within it, as a playwright might become a character within his own play. God wrote a story, using real characters, on the pages of real history. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (v.14).

— Philip Yancey

All praise to Thee, eternal Lord,
Clothed in a garb of flesh and blood;
Choosing a manger for a throne,
While worlds on worlds are Thine alone. —Luther

God entered human history to offer us the gift of eternal life. 

ODJ: secure

Apr 25, 2014 in , , /by

April 25, 2014 

READ: Ephesians 3:12-21 

May you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high and how deep his love is (v.18).

His soft hair brushing against my chin, the tiny bundle snuggled on my shoulder. Though I’m well past the baby stage with our own children, I so enjoy these tender times with friends’ babies. Even when they’re fussy, I enjoy the opportunity to nestle them close—especially when I can feel the tension leave their little bodies as they relax in sleep. At the same time, these precious moments encourage me to let go of everything that previously seemed foreboding or demanding.

This picture is a reflection of God’s nurturing care for us. Psalm 68:19 says, “Praise the Lord . . . for each day he carries us in his arms.” A warrior king, David captured this same idea when he compared his submission to the Lord as being like that of a young child leaning against his mother (Psalm 131:2). Perfect, peaceful surrender. It’s the kind of restful place we all desire, especially when the storms of life seem strong (4:8).

When we get anxious about the future, we wonder how to exchange His yoke for ours (Matthew 11:29). Knowing He’s in control is not the same as living as if He is. In 1 John 4:17-18 we read, “As we live in God, our love grows more perfect” and “perfect love expels all fear.” So Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3 becomes a powerful call to a strong but restful life, one where fear can’t prosper (vv.14-21).

The more we know His love, the greater we trust Him (1 John 4:16). When we understand that we’re safe, we come “boldly . . . into God’s presence” and live expecting God “to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think” (Ephesians 3:12,20). —Regina Franklin

365-day plan› 2 Kings 5:1-27

MORE
Read Hosea 2:1-23 and consider the connection between love, trust and obedience. 
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Although you’ve wanted God to carry your burdens, how have you remained independent of Him? What are some of the challenges you face in understanding His love for you? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Never Let Down

Apr 24, 2014 in , , /by

April 24, 2014 

READ: Lamentations 3:13-26 

[The Lord’s] compassions fail not. They are new every morning. —Lamentations 3:22-23 

When I was a child, one of my favorite pastimes was playing on the teeter-totter in the nearby park. A kid would sit on each end of the board and bounce each other up and down. Sometimes the one who was down would stay there and leave his playmate stuck up in the air yelling to be let down. But the cruelest of all tricks was getting off the teeter-totter and running away when your friend was up in the air—he would come crashing down to the ground with a painful bump.

Sometimes we may feel that Jesus does that to us. We trust Him to be there with us through the ups and downs of life. However, when life takes a turn and leaves us with bumps and bruises, it may feel as if He has walked away leaving our lives to come painfully crashing down.

But Lamentations 3 reminds us that “the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end” (v.22 esv) and that God is faithful to the end even when everything seems to be falling apart. This means that in the midst of our pain, even though we may be lonely, we are not alone. And though we may not feel His presence, He is there as our trusted companion who will never walk away and let us down!

— Joe Stowell

Thank You, Lord, that we can trust in Your
faithful presence even when we feel alone.
Help us to wait patiently for You to manifest
Your steadfast loving presence.

When everyone else fails, Jesus is your most trusted friend. 

ODJ: roots that drink from heaven

Apr 24, 2014 in , , /by

April 24, 2014 

READ: Matthew 19:1-6 

Let no one split apart what God has joined together (v.6).

A man knocked on my office door and asked me if I would officiate his marriage. I asked him to sit down so we could chat about his plans, timing and spiritual life. “Oh, I’m not sure you understand,” he said, “I’d like you to marry me today, like in the next hour.” The story is complicated, but his fiancée was from a different country and was living in our country with a short-term visa. For numerous reasons he wanted to marry right away, but he didn’t want a civil authority to perform the ceremony. He wanted a church and a pastor.

While there were many factors at play in this man’s situation, he clearly understood that marriage was a holy thing. Even in his predicament, he wanted to ensure that he and his fiancée recognised God in their vows.

This impulse was right, for Scripture tells us that marriage is—at its core—not foremost about a human action but God’s action. Matthew described how the “Pharisees came and tried to trap [Jesus] with [a] question” (19:3) concerning the appropriate conditions for divorce (a question designed to force Jesus to take sides in a heated religious dispute). But Jesus refused to answer the question on their terms. Rather, He reasserted the central biblical teaching that the union of a husband and wife is not a matter of human creation or human dissolution (vv.4-5). In marriage, man and woman are “no longer two but one,” Matthew wrote, because “God has joined [them] together” (v.6).

Marriage is God’s idea. It’s one of the ways He makes His love visible in the world. The healing of broken marital relationships is His work. The poet Rilke described marriages as “roots that drink from heaven.” What a perfect description! —Winn Collier
2 Kings 2:13-25 ‹365-day plan

MORE
Read Genesis 2:18-25. Who’s the prime character in this narrative? Whose actions are on display? How does this inform your view of marriage?  
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What are the implications for you in the realisation that marriage is first and foremost God’s activity? How can a marriage reflect God’s love and character to the world? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Shout Hallelujah!

Apr 23, 2014 in , , /by

April 23, 2014 

READ: 1 Corinthians 15:50-58 

O Death, where is your sting? —1 Corinthians 15:55 

A few days ago, I spied my old friend Bob vigorously pedaling a bike at our neighborhood gym and staring down at a blood pressure monitor on his finger.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Looking to see if I’m alive,” he grunted.

“What would you do if you saw you were dead?” I countered.

“Shout hallelujah!” he replied with a radiant smile.

Over the years I’ve caught glimpses of great inner strength in Bob: patient endurance in the face of physical decline and discomfort, and faith and hope as he approaches the end of his life journey. Indeed he has found not only hope, but death has lost its power to tyrannize him.

Who can find peace and hope—and even joy—in dying? Only those who are joined by faith to the God of eternity and who know that they have eternal life (1 Cor. 15:52,54). For those who have this assurance, like my friend Bob, death has lost its terror. They can speak with colossal joy of seeing Christ face to face!

Why be afraid of death? Why not rejoice? As the poet John Donne (1572–1631) wrote, “One short sleep past, we wake eternally.”

— David H. Roper

For the Christian, dying is the last shadow of earth’s night before heaven’s dawn. 

ODJ: finish well

Apr 23, 2014 in , , /by

April 23, 2014 

READ: Deuteronomy 34:1-12 

There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face (v.10).

After my grandmother died, my husband and I were quizzed about death by our 5 year old twins. All I could think of to say was that she’d finished her work and then passed away. It’s a simple idea, but Scripture reveals that we have a certain number of days to finish our work on earth (Psalm 39:4, 90:10,12).

Moses had things to complete in his life. And he was 120 years old when he died! At the end, he spoke a blessing over the Israelites—who had cursed him and grumbled against him during their 40 years in the desert—and then he climbed a mountain, viewed the Promised Land, died and was buried by the Lord (Deuteronomy 33-34).

Deuteronomy captures the final days of Moses, an extraordinary leader who also experienced many weaknesses and failings. He committed murder, fled from his adoptive family, lied, lost his temper and at times exhibited a lack of faith. Despite all this, Moses finished well. “There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face” (34:10). He died in good health, strong and at peace with His Maker—the way I hope to die when my work on earth is finished. “His eyesight was clear and he was as strong as ever” (v.7).

Pastor and author Max Lucado suggests that life is less about finishing everything and more about finishing the right things well. The writer of Hebrews encourages us to “strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).

We have a race to run with things to do and—no matter our failings—we still have opportunity to make peace with God and people. We too can finish well!
—Ruth O’Reilly-Smith

365-day plan› 2 Kings 2:1-12

MORE
Read Deuteronomy 30:15-19 and consider what Moses instructed the people to do to make the most of their days. 
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What will you do to finish your life well? How can you know what God wants you to accomplish at this stage in your life? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Acts Of Kindness

Apr 22, 2014 in , , /by

April 22, 2014 

READ: Acts 4:1-13 

By the name of Jesus . . . , whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. —Acts 4:10 

I was traveling with some men when we spotted a family stranded alongside the road. My friends immediately pulled over to help. They got the car running, talked with the father and mother of the family, and gave them some money for gasoline. When the mother thanked them over and over, they replied, “We’re glad to help out, and we do it in Jesus’ name.” As we drove away, I thought how natural it was for these friends to help people in need and acknowledge the Lord as the source of their generosity.

Peter and John exhibited that same joyful generosity when they healed a lame man who was begging outside the temple in Jerusalem (Acts 3:1-10). This led to their arrest and appearance before the authorities who asked, “By what power or by what name have you done this?” Peter replied, “If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man . . . let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole” (Acts 4:7-10).

Kindness is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22) and a powerful context in which to genuinely speak to others about the Lord.

— David C. McCasland

Lord, help me to love with both words and deeds,
To reach out to others and meet their needs;
Lord, burden my heart for those lost in sin,
With mercy and love that flows from within. —Fitzhugh

One act of kindness may teach more about the love of God than many sermons. 

ODJ: heart decisions

Apr 22, 2014 /1 Comment/in , , /by

April 22, 2014 

READ: 2 Timothy 2:1-13 

Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them (v.4).

A young woman wrote: “I’ve fallen in love with an unbeliever, but I know it’s wrong. What should I do?” One of our authors posted her question and his answer on the ODJ website.

Three months later, the young woman made a comment in the same post. She said that even though unbelieving family and friends condemned her for not marrying the young man, she chose to break up with him due to her love for Jesus. She described the persecution she’d endured, but also the joy in doing what pleased God. Then—get this—she wrote that the young man had recently become a believer! She closed by writing, “Let us come to God with a pure heart, willing to obey.”

The apostle Paul wrote to his protégé Timothy, instructing him in what it takes to have a “pure heart” and to “keep [himself] pure” (1 Timothy 1:5; 2 Timothy 2:21). Paul knew that the heart decisions that led to purity before God were hard ones. Yet he implored Timothy to realise that “soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them” (v.4). In other words, doing what’s contrary to God’s commands (including marrying an unbeliever) is disobedience and sin that breaks God’s heart and leads to personal heartache.

Paul called Timothy to make heart decisions that might lead to suffering, but would also “bring salvation and eternal glory in Christ Jesus” (v.10). For if we “endure hardship, we will reign with [God]. If we deny him, he will deny us” (vv.12-13).

The young woman who wrote to ODJ made the hard decision. The result? A young man has now received Jesus as his Saviour. May we follow her example in all our heart decisions. —Tom Felten

1 Kings 22:29-40 ‹365-day plan

MORE
Read Philippians 1:12-14 and see the results of Paul’s choice to live for Jesus despite the persecution he faced. 
NEXT
What heart decisions have you been wrestling with? How do Paul’s words and actions give you hope as you seek to live a pure life for Jesus?  

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)