Featured Devotionals

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ODJ: the benefits of giving


Did you know that the apostle Paul never quotes Jesus in any of his New Testament books? Of course, he mentions Jesus throughout his letters. The Lord was his major topic. But not once does he directly quote Jesus in his epistles. In fact if you were to thumb through a ‘red letter’ Bible (where the words spoken by Jesus are printed in red ink), you might be surprised to find that outside of t

ODJ: not fooled


It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” —Mark Twain
A well known humorist of the 19th century, Twain wielded his biting wit to expose the ills in humanity. Often, though, his ideas simply echoed the truth already revealed in Scripture. Proverbs 17:28 says, “Even fools are thought wise when they keep silent; with the

ODJ: dying for Jesus?


The director at a missions conference challenged the participants to consider fulltime missionary work—calling for those who were willing to die for Jesus to stand up and to receive prayer. No one did. Discouraged, he complained to the senior pastor. The pastor said, “Don’t fret if no one is willing to die for Jesus. Worry if no one is wanting to live for Jesus!”


ODJ: don’t stop


He was alone for most of his ministry. It seemed that no one cared to hear his words. He was draggedoff against his will to live his final days in exile. He was a failure as far as how the world judges human achievement. Jeremiah (alias ‘the weeping prophet’) was his name. 
Reading about the course of Jeremiah’s difficult ministry, I’ve wondered if he ever looked back at the day God call

ODJ: clean conscience 


According to a 2008 character survey of nearly 30,000 secondary school students, 64 percent of them said they had cheated on a test in the past year, 30 percent had stolen from a shop, 42 percent said they would lie to save money and 83 percent said they had lied to their parents about something significant. One of the more interesting findings of the survey was that 93 percent of the students sur

ODJ: victorious faith


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Tukutana, the nonprofit organisation I direct in East Africa, is funding the education of a young lady named Acayo Sarah. She survived one of Africa’s longest running wars in history, but not without wounds. When Sarah was just 13 years old the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) rebels attacked her village in northern Uganda. After killing her mother and father in front of her, the ruthless men abdu

ODJ: the shrinking self


My boys like to play tag. For the moment I can still outrun them. One of our favourite spots to play is a place in our neighbourhood. It’s an oddly shaped, grassy area that narrows on both ends. My boys have the habit of running to one of the corners at the field’s edge. They think they’re creating distance from me, but they’re really only putting themselves into a corner. I give them room

ODJ: turning away


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His tears revealed the sincerity of his sorrow. My young friend, a member of the youth group I work with, was torn up inside. For years he had used drugs. Then he began selling them to others. Now, no longer dealing, his heart was broken as he considered the many children and youth that he turned on to drugs. He saw them sinking into self-destruction and he felt terrible.
We talked about the for

ODJ: second glance


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Alex Eklund likes beautiful women. He believes, however, that true beauty comes from the heart and character of a woman. In fact he says he would “rather have a Proverbs 31 wife than a Victoria’s Secret model”. He posted this comment after noticing the reaction to the Victoria’s Secret fashion show. Watching this event prompted some of his female friends to air feelings like these on Fac