Featured Devotionals

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ODJ: groaning or grumbling?

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Ravi and Prakash received redundancy notices from their employer, an insurance company that was being downsized by its new owner. “Once again the little man gets squeezed,” sighed Prakash, “is this the thanks I get for 15 years of loyal service?”

Groaning that lacks this faith soon turns into grumbling, for we feel alone and defeated in the world. The Israelites complained dur

ODJ: making room

Our voices resonating throughout the living room. Last Christmas Eve was like many others as we read Scripture, took communion and sang together. However, the words of one song took on new meaning. Having recently sold our home, we had been living for the past month and a half with my husband’s parents. Graciously they had not only offered us the use of their home as they travelled but had even

ODJ: life or death


In early 2013 a man was arrested for stealing his father’s corpse. The man’s 93 year old beloved dad had died and his body had been laid in a casket and placed on cemetery grounds, being readied for burial. The son of the deceased, however, had other plans. He stole the casket and brought it home. The reason? He was hoping his father would be miraculously resurrected. Um, that didn’t h

ODJ: pursued

In the Middle East, where the Bedouin culture is alive and well, you’ll find shepherds who care for their sheep with great tenderness and watchfulness. I once observed some of these men at work, and I was amazed at their intimate care for their flocks. They protect their woolly friends from storms and predators, disease and hunger. And if one of the fluffy creatures ever goes missing, they’l

ODJ: feast or famine

You can walk into a Christian bookshop today and find rows and rows of books on the shelves. And without stepping into a church, you can listen to thousands of podcasts and sermons online. The massive amount of biblical resources available at our fingertips is astounding. So, is it possible during this age to experience a famine of God’s Word? Do we need to heed the warning for the prophet Amos

ODJ: measuring ourselves

We have a tendency to overestimate ourselves and inflate our positive qualities. Recently researchers asked nearly a million secondary school pupils to assess their leadership skills. Seventy percent rated themselves as above average, while only 2 percent rated their leadership skills below average. In another study, 94 percent of university professors rated their work above average. Psychologists

ODJ: leading integrity

In 2012 a group of experts held a search for 1,000 people of integrity in their country. From that group they identified 20 who they felt could become key governmental leaders. This was in reaction to the widespread dismay over the fact that one-third of the country’s regents and mayors were under investigation for corruption. In a country of hundreds of millions, there was no shortage of leader

ODJ: thief of time

Maneesh Sethi hired a woman to sit at his computer and watch him as he worked. Armedwith a list of his tasks, her job was to slap him if he tried to put off working by checking Facebook or scanning other websites. Later he employed a tall Swedish man to do the same job—that guy hit a bit harder, according to Maneesh. Oddly this rather extreme measure worked. Maneesh claims that his ‘slappers

ODJ: the way out

Shin was born in a North Korean prison camp, where he lived until he was 23. He never thought to escape, for he didn’t imagine that life was any different on the other side of the electrified fence. Then he met a new prisoner. Park told Shin about the outside world, especially that people enjoyed pork and boiled chicken rather than the rats that Shin ate to survive. One evening Shin and Park d