Entries by YMI

ODJ: walls

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June 20, 2013 

READ: Nehemiah 1:1-4 

The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire (v.3).

Walls are designed to keep people safe. But walls also divide, keeping people apart. The 96 mile (155 km) Berlin Wall kept the East Germans in. The Great Wall of China, which was believed to be 5,500 miles long (8,850 km) and is now estimated to be 13,170 miles long(21,196 km), kept enemies out.

In 586 bc the Babylonians tore down Jerusalem’s walls and destroyed the city. Nehemiah experienced many sleepless nights as he considered the ramifications of the broken-down barriers (Nehemiah 1:4). But what was all the fuss about a broken wall? (v.3). Without the safety and security of the wall, very few Jews wanted to live in the city.

So Jerusalem, the city of God, remained a deserted and dead city, a disgrace and a shame. Her enemies taunted and mocked the people saying that Israel’s God was too weak to protect her (Psalm 79:1-4; Lamentations 2:15-16; Joel 2:17). In fact, lots were cast to force people to relocate to the city (Nehemiah 11:1-2). So it was imperative that the wall be rebuilt so that Jerusalem could once again be the glorious city of God (Psalm 48).

Today we need to be building walls if we’re going to survive and thrive in the broken and dangerous world around us. We need to build a wall of protection to keep us from the attacks of Satan, giving us safety and victory; a wall of separation to keep worldliness out, excelling in our purity and integrity; a wall of devotion to keep and protect our fellowship and communion with God, growing in our spirituality and maturity; a wall of unification to keep God’s people together, dwelling in unity and community.

What about your ‘Jerusalem’? Are your walls torn down and in need of urgent repair? “Let us rebuild the [walls] and end this disgrace!” (Nehemiah 2:17). —K.T. Sim

› John 3:22-36

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Ezra 4:6-23 tells of an earlier attempt to rebuild the walls that ended in failure. What might hinder or stop you from rebuilding the walls in your life? 
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What are you trying to keep in and what are you trying to keep out with your walls? What walls do you need to rebuild? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Play In Pain

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June 19, 2013 

READ: Lamentations 3:1-3, 25-33 

Though He causes grief, yet He will show compassion. —Lamentations 3:32 

Baseball Hall-of-Fame catcher Gary Carter was a follower of Jesus. During his 19-year career, he drew strength and endurance from his faith in God to compete day after day. In an article that appeared in the Wall Street Journal shortly after Carter died of brain cancer at age 57, writer Andrew Klavan told how Carter had influenced his life.

In the late 1980s, Klavan had sunk to a low point in his life. His mind dwelt on suicide. Then he heard Carter interviewed after a game. His team, the New York Mets, had won, and the aging catcher had helped by running hard at a critical point in the game. Carter was asked how he could do that with his aching knees. Klavan heard him say something like this: “Sometimes you just have to play in pain.” That simple statement helped draw Klavan out of his depression. “I can do that!” he declared. Encouraged, he found hope—and later became a believer in Christ.

The comforting truth behind Carter’s statement comes from Lamentations. We may face sorrow, pain, and hardship, but we don’t have to sink into self-pity. The same God who allows our suffering also showers us with His compassion (Lam. 3:32). With God’s love lifting us up, we can—if we have to—“play” in pain.

— David C. Egner

Along life’s pathway troubles come
That God will help us bear;
Then we can look beyond the pain
To those who need our care. —Branon

God will either spare you from suffering
or give you the grace to bear it. 

ODJ: watching

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June 19, 2013 

READ: Matthew 5:1-16 

In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father (v.16).

Watch me, Mum!” On any given day these words resonate through our house as our children seek to entertain us or attempt a new skill. Sharing moments of accomplishment with those who believe in us and stand ready to encourage our next endeavour is a beautiful thing. Lately, as my husband and I are going through a test of faith in our ministry lives, I have become aware that God is calling me to act in such a way that I can say to my children, “Watch me.”

One of the enemy’s greatest lies in the midst of tribulation is the idea that we’re alone. This false sense of isolation brings temptation on several fronts. We can nurture the wrong idea that God has somehow abandoned us to walk through a spiritual desert alone (Psalm 94:14; Isaiah 43:1-2). We can also incorrectly believe we are the only person who has ever faced such a situation (Ecclesiastes 1:10; 1 Corinthians 10:13). Finally, the enemy can get us so inwardly focused that we forget how our actions affect those around us.

Jesus knew the world would be watching those who claimed to follow His name. Prior to His challenge of being a light on a hill, however, Jesus spent a great deal of time talking about kingdom values, some of which centre around suffering and loss (Matthew 5:3-4,10-12).

When we face hardship in our lives, even moments of injustice, we must be aware that God and “a huge crowd of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1-3) are watching us. We remember this truth not because we fear failure, but because it encourages us to press on in the power of the Holy Spirit. He allows us to walk through any place in life in a manner worthy of the cross (Ephesians 4:1; 1 Thessalonians 2:10-12).—Regina Franklin

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After reading1 Corinthians 4:10-16and 1 Peter 2:19-24, consider both what it means to follow andto be someone who lives out the truth of Jesus. 
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Why is our first response to a challenge usually one of frustration or dismay? How does the knowledge that others are watching you transform hard situations into opportunities for God’s greatness to be displayed? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Every Word Matters

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June 18, 2013 

READ: Deuteronomy 4:1-10 

You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God. —Deuteronomy 4:2 

Kim Peek was a savant (a person with extraordinary memory) who memorized all of Shakespeare’s plays. During a performance of Twelfth Night, Peek noticed that the actor had skipped a word from one of the lines. Peek suddenly stood up and shouted, “Stop!” The actor apologized and said he didn’t think anyone would mind. Peek replied, “Shakespeare would.”

Words matter. But especially when they are the very words of God. Moses warned Israel, “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God” (Deut. 4:2). Moses often reminded Israel of God’s mercy and faithfulness to them in the past. But he also stressed the importance of obedience to God’s commands as they prepared to enter the Promised Land. He told them that obedience would result in blessings of life and a rich inheritance (vv.39-40). Every command and regulation mattered to God. The value His people placed on God’s Word showed their view of Him.

Today, when we value God’s Word, handle it with great care, and obey what it says, we give God the reverence He truly deserves.

— Marvin Williams

The Bible stands, and it will forever
When the world has passed away;
By inspiration it has been given—
All its precepts I will obey. —Lillenas

God’s Word needs no additions or subtractions. 

ODJ: place for the unfit

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June 18, 2013 

READ: Mark 2:15-17 

Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners (v.17).

Downsize Fitness is a health club with a uniqueniche. It caters only to people who want to lose at least 3 stone. Tara Lawton, a member of Downsize Fitness, quit her health club because she sensed she didn’t fit in. She said that people always seemed to be silently judging her. Then she found Downsize Fitness and loves it. Downsize is attractive to people like Lawton because it welcomes overweight people and then encourages them as they shed pounds and get healthy. Just as Downsize reaches out to the physically unfit, two millennia ago Jesus reached out to the spiritually unfit and used them to spread the good news about the kingdom of God.

One such person was Levi the tax collector. Jesus’ teaching, probably over a period of time, so captured Levi’s heart that he began following Jesus. The fact that Levi was a tax collector made his call to follow Jesus all the more amazing. Tax collectors were usually greedy, dishonest and immoral (Luke 3:12-13,19:8).As a Jew, Levi was despised and hated by his fellow citizens because he was a mercenary working for a foreign oppressor. Nobody but Jesus would engage the spiritually unfit like Levi. The religious leaders asked Jesus why He behaved in this way (Mark 2:16). He responded by saying that just as it was natural for a doctor to associate with sick people, so it was natural for Him to call and heal the spiritually unfit (v.17). The whole purpose of Jesus’ coming was so that the spiritually unfit (those dead in their sin) could receive a change of heart and life.

Do those we deem spiritually unfit find a place in our churches today? The church was established to welcome self-confessed sinners—love them, and walk with them as they follow Jesus and grow in Him.—Marvin Williams

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Read Acts 9:10-19 and see the story of how one man welcomed someone who was deemed spiritually unfit. 
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How will you practically embody the mission of Jesus to the spiritually unfit? How can you help your church to become a more welcoming place? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: No Risk

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June 17, 2013 

READ: Ephesians 2:1-10 

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. —Ephesians 2:8 

A colleague recently shared an experience I don’t intend to try personally—bungee jumping. I found his description of the event both fascinating and terrifying. To think of jumping headfirst from a bridge hundreds of feet in the air suspended only by a giant rubber band is not my idea of a good time. But his leap was not without support. He described not one, but two heavy-duty harnesses that secured him to his lifeline—and to safety. The careful design and proven testing of those harnesses gave him great confidence as he jumped into the air.

As I listened, it occurred to me that for the follower of Christ, living in a sinful world is not a blind “leap of faith.” We too have a pair of protections that can secure us in even the darkest times of life. In Ephesians 2:8-9, Paul wrote these words, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

It’s in these twin harnesses—God’s grace and faith in the finished work of Jesus—that our relationship with God safely rests. In the strength of these provisions, salvation is not a risky leap into the void. It’s an exercise of confidence in God’s Word and His unfailing love and protection.

— Bill Crowder

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed! —Newton

We can expect God’s peace when we accept God’s grace. 

ODJ: intimidation of the Bible

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June 17, 2013 

READ: Psalm 119:161-176 

O Lord, listen to my cry; give me the discerning mind You promised (v.169).

The Bible can intimidate me sometimes. Certain statements bring on the guilt. Here are just a few of them: “You are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48); “You must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy”(1 Peter 1:15). Psalm 119 elicits enough guilt to last a lifetime: “I have devoted myself to Your commandments” (v.45); “I rise at midnight to thank You for Your just regulations” (v.62); “I have more insight than my teachers, for I am always thinking of Your laws” (v.99);“I have done what is just and right” (v.121).

Yet, when read closely, Psalm 119 holds much help and encouragement for us. The poem expresses the longings and musings of a fellow struggler who constantly implores God for help. “Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect Your decrees!” (v.5). That’s a plaintive cry I can relate to. “I have tried hard to find You—don’t let me wander from Your commands” (v.10). Yes! That’s my prayer. “You made me; You created me. Now give me the sense to follow Your commands” (v.73). This guy speaks for me!

The ‘impossible’ statements—the ones that seem to make absolute declarations of fidelity to God and righteousness—comprise an ideal. They put words to the goal we’re to pursue. We hunger for a perfect God. Anything less would be—well—ungodly. Our uneasy awareness of God’s holy standard informs us of our need for a Saviour. We grow acutely aware of the fact that we can’t do it!

And so, this longest of psalms with its ‘impossible’ aspirations to spiritual greatness concludes so very humanly: “I have wandered away like a lost sheep; come and find me, for I have not forgotten Your commands” (v.176).—Tim Gustafson

MORE
Hebrews 10 blends some difficult warnings with some of the best encouragement in the Bible. Read verses 8-14 and ask yourself what makes you holy. 
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What’s causing guilt in your life, and why? What would the psalmist do with such guilt? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)

ODB: Strength Of A Man

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June 16, 2013 

READ: 1 Corinthians 16:9-13 

Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. —1 Corinthians 16:13 

Some years ago I found myself in an elevator with a couple of men. It was late at night, and we all looked weary. The elevator came to a stop, and a larger-than-life cowboy ambled in, wearing a battered hat, an old, stained sheepskin coat, and rundown logger boots. He looked us up and down, met our eyes, and growled, “Good evening, men.” All of us straightened up and squared our shoulders. We were trying to live up to the name.

On this day, which is given over to honoring guys, let’s talk about living up to the name man. We try to be strong and macho, but often it’s just a façade. For all our effort, we realize we don’t measure up. Underneath the bravado we harbor a host of fears, insecurities, and shortcomings. Much of our manliness is pure bluff.

Paul was man enough to admit it: “We also are weak,” he said (2 Cor. 13:4). That’s not pious chatter; it’s a humbling fact. Yet in what seems to be a contradiction, Paul insisted that we are to be “men of courage” (1 Cor. 16:13 niv).

How can we be the strong person that God meant for us to be? Only by putting ourselves in God’s hands and asking Him to make us that way through His power and enablement.

— David H. Roper

Come, Lord, and give me courage,
Thy conquering Spirit give;
Make me an overcomer—
In power within me live. —Anon.

True strength is the power of God in the soul. 

ODJ: village of eternity

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June 16, 2013 

READ: Revelation 22:1-21 

The throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and His servants will worship Him (v.3).

Journalist Tracey Lawson visited Campodimele, Italy, and dubbed it the “Village of Eternity.” The 1,000 year old town rests like a crown atop a mountain, and the average resident lives 95 years. The locals eat well—mostly simple, fresh food. According to Lawson, the village is a “little cluster of medieval houses [with] olive trees on the slopes in the background.” The main piazza boasts a panoramic view of the Liri Valley, and twilight patrons of the Moonlight Café can sit outside and watch the moon ascend like a slow-moving lantern.

So what’s to stop us all from buying one-way tickets to Campodimele? The promise of somewhere even better. This divine venue of the future in Israel and is called “the New Jerusalem” (Revelation 21:1-2). In this place . . .

We will interact directly with God (22:3). “The throne of God . . . will be there, and His servants will worship Him” (v.3). The word worship in this verse could be rendered serve. Either way, our acts of honour will be performed face-to-face with our Creator (v.4).

We will experience God’s glorious light (v.5). One day we’ll live in His radiance, which will negate the need for lamps, light bulbs and even the sun!

We will reign forever and ever (v.5). Our lives will go on indefinitely without the threat of evil (v.15). We’ll finally experience the wonder of the words: “Everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Christian writer C. S. Lewis said, “If I [have] a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the [best] explanation is that I was made for another world.” Do you desire limitless time and the continual joy that comes from God’s presence? (Psalm 21:6). If so, you were made for God’s ‘village of eternity’.

—Jennifer Benson Schuldt

› John 1:19-34

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Read Revelation 21:10-12 to learn more about the New Jerusalem. Read Ezekiel 1:26-28 to see the prophet’s description of God’s glory. 
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What does God’s presence mean to you as you consider the concept of eternity? How might the prospect of an eternity spent apart from God influence your concern for unbelievers? 

(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)