Entries by YMI

ODJ: “Christ” offends people

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December 30, 2013 

READ: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 

So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense (v.23).

A few years ago, a prominent Christian group removed the word Christ from its organisation’s name. The organisation defended its name change, citing research which revealed that 20 percent of non-Christians were alienated and offended by the name of Christ. So they stated that they were merely looking for a name that would make the organisation more effective in sharing the gospel.

It surprised me that only 20 percent of non-Christians are offended by the name of Christ. The apostle Paul warned that to preach “salvation through the cross of Christ” would offend people (Galatians 5:11). The Jews who were expecting a mighty conquering Deliverer stumbled over the suffering Servant. The world laughed at the ludicrous idea that a dead man could save. “So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense” (1 Corinthians 1:23). Even today, the name of Jesus is persistently and progressively being rejected and removed from schools, courts and all of society.

Like the believers in the early church, Christians will be intimidated, pressured and warned not to “speak or teach in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:18). But we must persist in proclaiming Him for two reasons:

Firstly, “there is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved” (v.12). “To those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24).

Secondly, “if anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father” (Mark 8:38). —K.T. Sim

MORE
What did Jesus say about the way we should live in a world that’s hostile to Him and His message? (Matthew 5:10-16). 
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Why is the name of Christ so offensive to those who don’t believe in Him? How are you lifting up His name to those around you? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Letter To A Child

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December 29, 2013 

READ: 3 John 

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. —3 John 4 

Even at the end of his life, C. S. Lewis showed an interest in the spiritual nurture of younger believers. Although in ill health, he took time to respond to the letter of a child named Philip. Complimenting the boy’s fine written expression, Lewis said he was delighted that Philip understood that in the Narnia Chronicles the lion Aslan represented Jesus Christ. The next day, Lewis died at his home in the Kilns, Oxford, England, one week before his 65th birthday.

The apostle John, in his later years, sent a letter to his spiritual children. In it we see the joy of a mature believer encouraging his spiritually younger disciples to keep walking in the truth and following Christ.

John wrote, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth” (3 John 1:4). Short by New Testament standards, John’s letter demonstrates the joy that comes in nurturing and watching the next generation’s spiritual growth.

Encouraging spiritual understanding in the next generation should be the pursuit of mature believers. Sending a note of appreciation, giving a word of encouragement, praying, or offering sound advice can all be ways of helping others on their spiritual journey with God.

— Dennis Fisher

To help another in Christ to grow
You have to pay a price
It takes the giving of yourself
And that means sacrifice. —D. DeHaan

The journey is better with someone who knows the way. 

ODJ: remember

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December 29, 2013 

READ: Psalm 105:1-5 

Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done (v.1).

Last week I took my adopted son Wasswa and his buddy Joseph (whom my friends adopted from Ethiopia) to the beach where I grew up in Florida. Watching the boys as they splashed in the gulf, played in the sand and curiously poked at a dead jellyfish that had washed up on the shore, I marvelled at God’s work in their lives.

Both boys had traumatic beginnings. By the age of four, while living in an impoverished village in Uganda, Wasswa had lost his mum, dad, twin brother and seven of his nine aunts and uncles. Joseph was abandoned and found near a river as a baby.

By God’s grace the boys survived and are now a tangible expression of Psalm 105:5, “Remember the wonders [God] has performed, his miracles and the rulings he has given.” I’ve applied this verse to the boys’ lives:

God’s wonderful works: the Lord orchestrated my meeting an orphaned child on the side of a road in Uganda. And He led my friends to Ethiopia on behalf of Joseph.

God’s miracles: Wasswa and Joseph are both alive and healthy.

The judgements He handed down: A Ugandan judge ruled that I am now Wasswa’s mother. An Ethiopian judge appointed my friends as Joseph’s parents. Indeed, “O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them” (Psalm 40:5).

When challenges come and I struggle to walk by faith, I’m hugely encouraged to think of these boys and remember what God has done. By reflecting on God’s past provisions, I (and you) will grow in trust and more aptly proclaim His good and faithful deeds. —Roxanne Robbins

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At a time when you felt your “life was slipping away” (Jonah 2:7), how did remembering God bring you comfort and hope? 
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Call a friend and list, between the two of you, at least three ways you’ve seen God work and provide for you in the last two weeks (Psalm 143:5). How has God’s goodness in the past strengthened your faith today? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: The Presentation

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December 28, 2013 

READ: Colossians 1:21-23 

He has reconciled . . . to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight. —Colossians 1:21-22 

My wife, Martie, is a great cook. After a long day I often look forward to the smell of spicy aromas that promise a tasty feast. Not only does she know how to prepare a meal, but she is also a master at the presentation. The colors of the food on the plate, beautifully arranged in a harmony of meat, white puffy rice, and vegetables welcome me to pull up my chair and enjoy her handiwork. But the food was not so attractive before she got her hands on it. The meat was raw and squishy, the rice was hard and brittle, and the vegetables needed to be scrubbed and trimmed.

It reminds me of the gracious work Jesus has done for me. I am well aware of my frailty and propensity to sin. I know that in and of myself I am not presentable to God. Yet when I’m saved, Jesus makes me a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). He takes me just as I am and makes me just as I should be—“holy, and blameless, and above reproach” (Col. 1:22). He presents me to our Father as a thing of beauty worthy to be in His presence.

May His transforming work on our behalf stimulate us to live up to the presentation and to be humbly grateful to Christ for His finishing work in our lives!

— Joe Stowell

Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me—
All His wonderful passion and purity!
O Thou Spirit divine, all my nature refine,
Till the beauty of Jesus be seen in me. —Orsborn

Jesus takes us as we are and makes us what we should be. 

ODJ: exploding misconceptions

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December 28, 2013 

READ: Luke 20:9-19 

Jesus looked at them and said, “Then what does this Scripture mean? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone’ ” (v.17).

How do you help people understand who Jesus truly is? How do you break through the half-truths and misconceptions?

You do what Jesus did—you tell stories.

Jesus told parables to shake awake hearts so they could see what they needed to see. To shake the self-righteous from their arrogance, He told the story of a good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). To shake the small-hearted from their coldness, he told the story of a father who threw a party for his son (15:11-32). And to those about to reject Him, He told a story about a vineyard owner who sent his son to collect the harvest, only to have that son killed by the vineyard’s tenants (20:9-19). Through this story Jesus sought to wake up the Pharisees who—blinded by their own misconceptions of the Messiah—would crucify Him to protect their own interests (v.19). By killing Him, the Son, the Pharisees were sealing their own doom. They would trip over the very stone they cast away (v.17).

Every age needs to be shaken out of its misconceptions of Jesus. Perhaps our age needs to be shown that Jesus isn’t the distant, otherworldly figure reflected in some of our cathedral artworks, the revolutionary able to be shoehorned into a favourite political cause or the feel-good guru happy to bless any and every lifestyle choice. No, Jesus is the One who loves lavishly and pronounces judgement. He’s dangerous but good.

Through his Narnia stories, C. S. Lewis sought to awaken an indifferent world to the Christ it thought it knew, but didn’t. Would it see the Jesus it had cast aside through the lion named Aslan? Would it see Him as the dangerous-but-good Saviour He really is?

Let’s all continue to tell the stories about the One who explodes all our misconceptions. —Sheridan Voysey

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Jesus’ own followers needed their misconceptions of Him challenged. Read about it in Matthew 16:21-28. 
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What popular misconceptions of Jesus most need to be challenged today? How can we reveal Him afresh? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: The Challenge Of Confinement

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December 27, 2013 

READ: Jeremiah 29:4-14 

Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. —2 Peter 3:18 

At the age of 86, Ken Deal concluded more than 3 decades of volunteer jail and prison ministry with a final Sunday sermon. His message to the inmates was about serving the Lord while incarcerated. Many of the examples he used came from prisoners, some serving life sentences. In a place everyone wants to leave, he encouraged them to grow and to share the good news of Jesus Christ with others.

After the people of Judah were taken captive by King Nebuchadnezzar and deported to Babylon because of their disobedience to God, the prophet Jeremiah sent them this message from the Lord: “Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands . . . that you may be increased there, and not diminished” (Jer. 29:5-6).

We may face some limiting circumstance today. Whether it is the result of our failure, or through no fault of our own, we can “go” through it or seek God’s strength to “grow” through it. The challenge of every confinement is to increase rather than decrease; to grow and not diminish. The Lord’s goal is to give us “a future and a hope” (v.11).

— David C. McCasland

I know, Lord, that You can use the circumstances
I am in for my good. Change me, and grow
me in my knowledge of You and intimacy
with You. Give me Your strength.

A limited situation may afford the soul a chance to grow. 

ODJ: stressed

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December 27, 2013 

READ: Colossians 3:22-4:6 

Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people (v.23).

Work for the believer is an opportunity to live out our God-given talents. At the same time, our jobs can be a significant source of stress. As we’re responding to different personalities or economic challenges in the workplace, our responsibility as believers is the same regardless of location or job description: love and reflect Jesus well.

Because Jesus is the “visible image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), we, His followers, should be like Jesus and reveal Him to the world. When we “set [our] sights on the realities of heaven,” everything becomes an opportunity for worship—including our work (3:1). Here are some practical ways to engage workplace challenges:

• Not every opinion we have should be voiced. What we say should be “gracious and attractive” (4:6).

• When our leaders make decisions that we don’t like, we must discern between true issues of right or wrong and those things that are simply an inconvenience for us (Hebrews 13:17).

• We don’t perform for man and God cares about stewardship. To take our responsibility at work too lightly is to misunderstand our accountability to God (Psalm 90:17; Colossians 3:23).

• We should understand where our responsibility begins and ends. We’re accountable for our choices, not those of others (Romans 12:18).

Ultimately, how we work should show that we belong to and love Jesus. Because we’ve been “made . . . alive with Christ,” this reality should pervade everything we do—even our jobs (Colossians 2:13). —Regina Franklin

MORE
Read 2 Thessalonians 3:5-15 to see the value God’s Word places on a strong work ethic. 
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What are some current challenges you’re facing in your employment? What truths in God’s Word can help you face these hurdles?  

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Be Present

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December 26, 2013 

READ: Job 2:3-13 

They sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great. —Job 2:13 

After 20 children and 6 staff members were murdered in a Connecticut school, the entire nation was stunned that such a horrific thing could happen. Everyone focused on the tragedy and the questions surrounding it: What kind of person would do such a thing, and why? How can we prevent it from happening again? How can we help the survivors? Amid the chaos, an unlikely group moved in and made a difference.

From Chicago came dogs— specially trained golden retrievers that offered nothing except affection. Dogs don’t speak; they simply offer their presence. Children traumatized by the violence opened up to them, expressing fears and emotions they had not spoken to any adult. Tim Hetzner of Lutheran Church Charities said, “The biggest part of their training is just learning to be quiet.”

As we learn from the book of Job, people in grief do not always need words. Sometimes they need someone to sit silently with them, to listen when they need to speak, and to hug them when their sorrow turns to sobs.

God may not intervene to change circumstances and He may not explain suffering, but He comforts us through the presence of other believers (Col. 4:8).

— Julie Ackerman Link

He’s with us in the valley,
Amid the darkest night
He tells us in our sorrow;
Faith will give way to sight. —D. DeHaan

Listening may be the most loving and Christlike thing you do today. 

ODJ: shea butter promises

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December 26, 2013 

READ: Psalm 12:1-8 

Many will say they are loyal friends, but who can find one who is truly reliable? (Proverbs 20:6).

Pastor Kofi has helped to plant 25 churches in Ghana and Burkina Faso, as well as a home for orphans and a school with 1,000 students. But he doesn’t have much money to manage all this.

So he welcomed an opportunity to provide a family member with shea butter for sale in America in exchange for a share of the profit. This versatile product of the shea tree has medicinal and cosmetic properties and is also used in cooking. Although common in Ghana, shea butter is hard to get in America and is in demand by West Africans living there.

At about the same time, a pastor of a large church in America promised Kofi’s ministry $1,000 (US). Understandably, Kofi anticipated a windfall for his churches and school. The days piled into weeks, which grew into months, but still no money came.

Then one day his family member in America called with an excuse about “unexpectedly low returns” on the sale of the shea butter. No money would be forthcoming. Nevertheless, he wanted to know if Kofi would package more shea butter and ship it. (He politely declined.)

And the pastor of the large church? Kofi never heard from him again.

Surprisingly, this Ghanaian pastor’s attitude remains upbeat. “By His grace, I know that God’s work will go forward,” he says, refusing to dwell on the broken promises.

“Help, O LORD,” wrote the psalmist. “The faithful have vanished from the earth! Neighbours lie to each other” (Psalm 12:1-2). But the refrain to the song rings out: “The LORD’s promises are pure . . . We know you will protect the oppressed, preserving them forever from this lying generation” (vv.6-7).

People will fail us in this life, but there’s a Promise Keeper we can always rely on. —Tim Gustafson

MORE
In the Sermon on the Mount, what does Jesus say about making promises? (Matthew 5:33-37). 
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What motivates you to make promises? Why is it important for you to fulfil what you promise? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)