ODB: A Blanket for Everyone

Linus Van Pelt, better known as simply “Linus,” was a mainstay in the Peanuts comic strip. Witty and wise, yet insecure, Linus constantly carried a security blanket. We can identify. We have our fears and insecurities too.The disciple Peter knew something about fear. When Jesus was arrested, Peter displayed courage by following the Lord into the courtyard of the high priest. B

ODJ: Stronger by the Spirit’s Power

I know a mum of two young children who has an interesting hobby—weightlifting. She can hoist 245 lbs. from the floor to a standing position! To set that personal record, she had to build strength in her lower back, quadriceps and hamstrings through exercises such as squats, straight-legged sit-ups and step-ups.If this strong woman had lived back when the apostle Paul was alive, I th

ODB: Praising Through Problems

“It’s cancer.” I wanted to be strong when Mom said those words to me. But I burst into tears. You never want to hear those words even one time. But this was Mom’s third bout with cancer. After a routine mammogram and biopsy, Mom learned that she had a malignant tumor under her arm.Though Mom was the one with bad news, she had to comfort me. Her response was eye-opening

ODJ: As Water Fills the Sea

The day’s news was discouraging. There was another terrorist attack. Two countries squabbled about a rogue nation’s nuclear weapons. A large Christian denomination divided over differences on marriage, while another split over how best to counter poverty and racism. Conflicts like these aren’t just discouraging, they’re exhausting. They persist—showing no signs of res

ODB: Listening to His Voice

I’m hard of hearing—“deaf in one ear and can’t hear out of the other,” as my father used to say. So I wear a set of hearing aids.Most of the time the devices work well, except in environments where there’s a lot of surrounding noise. In those settings, my hearing aids pick up every voice in the room and I cannot hear the person in front of me.So it is with our c

ODJ: Within the Hill

The view from our garden is what clinched the deal for us. Having house hunted for ages, the rolling green hill captured the hearts of my husband and I. One morning, as I stood in our kitchen and looked up at the hill, I noticed what seemed to be a monument at the top. We pulled on our hiking boots and set off to investigate. Instead of a monument, however, we discovered a ventilation pipe. Turns

ODB: Is Amazing!

In our natural state, we all fall short of it (Romans 3:23).Jesus was the radiance of it (Hebrews 1:3), and those who knew Him saw it (John 1:14).In the Old Testament, it filled the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34–35), and the Israelites were led by it.And we are promised that at the end of time, heaven will shine with it in splendor so great th

ODJ: Save One

The bundle of hyperactivity known as Liam was making a day of terrorising his older (and much calmer) brother. Finally, Mum had enough of it, and Liam earned the mother of all timeouts. Well, at least for the rest of the morning. Just before lunch, the boys’ mum spied a note on the biscuit tin with its dwindling contents. In the distinctive handwriting of the aggrieved older brother it read:

ODB: How to Change a Life

Sometimes our lives can change in a moment through the powerful impact of others. For rock ’n’ roll legend Bruce Springsteen, it was the work of musical artists that helped him through a difficult childhood and a persistent struggle with depression. He found meaning in his own work through the truth he’d experienced firsthand, that “You can change someone’s life