ODB: Ignoring Grace
January 31, 2011 READ: Matthew 7:13-23 Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. —Matthew 7:14 In the hectic downtown of one of Asia’s great cities, I marveled at the busy sidewalks filled with people. There seemed to be no room to move [...]
ODJ: God’s friend
The Lord is a friend to those who fear Him (Psalm 25:14).
READ: Genesis 18:16-19
If I were to tell you that the president of your country is my friend, it’s likely you wouldn’t believe me. You might even be tempted to call me a liar. But if your president were to go on national TV and say publicly that I’m his friend, then all doubts would fade away, right? The facts would back up my claim. Now, what if I told you that God is my friend? Let’s check the facts, starting with the reality that God once called Abraham “My friend” (Isaiah 41:8; see also 2 Chronicles 20:7; James 2:23). God said of Abraham, “I have singled him out” (Genesis 18:19). Other Bible translations render this as “I have chosen him” (NIV) or “I have known him” (NKJV). These words speak of divine election, of covenantal love, and of grace. Bible commentator H. C. Leupold translated the phrase this way: “For I acknowledge Him to be My intimate friend.” A friend is someone with whom we aren’t afraid to share our true struggles and intimate secrets. Friends listen as we share our pain. When we have a problem, to whom do we turn? Our closest friend. Amazingly, when God had a burden, He shared it with His friend Abraham (v.17). You and I enjoy the same covenantal relationship with God as the one Abraham experienced. We’ve been chosen by God to be in His family (Ephesians 1:4-7). And we’re chosen by Jesus to be His friend. For He said, “You are My friends if you do what I command. . . . Now you are My friends, since I have told you everything the Father told Me. You didn’t choose Me. I chose you” (John 15:14-16). Your very best friend is Jesus. Even if others let you down, He will be “with you always” (Matthew 28:20). —K.T. Sim
How would you describe your friendship with Jesus? How have you been showing Him that He’s your best friend?
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Loading ...The Pattern: A Thank You Note
The year was 1995. I was 11. I thought my world had come to an end when my father died. I found myself questioning God, asking why He planned this for me. And with my father’s death, I thought that my dream of visiting or studying in America would remain forever as only an illusive [...]
(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...ODB: Looking and Learning
January 30, 2011
READ: Deut. 11:18-21
Train up a child in the way he should go. —Proverbs 22:6
As an umpire stood behind the plate at a girls’ softball game, he heard a player’s mother start chanting: “We want a new ump! We want a new ump!” Soon, other parents took up the chant. The ump smiled, then turned toward the crowd and yelled, “I want new parents! I want new parents!” The heckling died away.
It’s important for parents to set a good example, because their children are watching them. Christian parents can encourage good habits and behavior by doing things like:
• Praying for and with them—so they learn how to talk with God. “Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it” (Col. 4:2).
• Reading and teaching them the Bible—so they learn God’s truth. “Teach [God’s commands] diligently to your children, . . . talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” (Deut. 6:7).
• Telling them about Jesus—and leading them to faith in Him. “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).
The best way to set a good example for our children is to live out our faith in front of them. While they’re looking—they’re learning about what matters most.
— Cindy Hess Kasper
Children may not inherit their parents’ talent, but they will absorb their values.
Source: Our Daily Bread
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...ODJ: prison break
You will free the captives from prison (v.7).
READ: Isaiah 42:1-9
I absolutely know that in anybody’s eyes I was a traitor,” Mosab Hassan Yousef told the Wall Street Journal before the release of his book Son of Hamas. “To my family, to my nation, to my God. I crossed all the red lines in my society. I didn’t leave one that I didn’t cross.” By “traitor,” Mosab—the son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a founder and leader of the terrorist group Hamas—refers to his radical conversion from an extreme faith to Christianity. It also reflects his departure from Hamas after more than a decade of serving the terrorist group alongside his father. Though the terrorists he once served now threaten his life, Mosab considers himself a free man, a man depicted in Romans 6:19 who was previously a slave “to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin,” but is now a slave “to righteous living so that [he] will become holy.” “I converted to Christianity because I was convinced by Jesus Christ as a character, as a personality. I loved Him, His wisdom, His love, His unconditional love,” Mosab says. “I found that I was really drawn to the grace, love, and humility that Jesus talked about.” Mosab relishes following and proclaiming the God who sent His Son Jesus to “bring good news to the poor . . . comfort the brokenhearted . . . proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed . . . [bring forth] the Lord’s favor . . . give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair” (Isaiah 61:1-3). A new man, Mosab now says, “My goal is not to defeat my enemy. It is to win over my enemy.” —Roxanne Robbins
Pray for your brothers and sisters around the world who are facing extreme persecution, even to the point of death, for following and proclaiming Jesus Christ. How will you proclaim the good news today?
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...ODB: Six Words from Solomon
January 29, 2011
READ: 1 Kings 10:23; 11:1-10
Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. —Ecclesiastes 12:13
SMITH magazine, an online community that “celebrates the joy of storytelling,” invited readers to submit six-word memoirs that describe their lives. Thousands responded with brief biographies ranging from the light-hearted “Sweet wife, good sons—I’m rich” to the painful “Sixty. Still haven’t forgiven my parents.”
Based on Scripture, I tried to imagine how King Solomon might have summed up his life in six words. As a young man, he could have written: God has given me great wisdom. But in his later years, he might have said: Should have practiced what I preached.
During a reign distinguished by peace and prosperity, Solomon developed spiritual heart problems. When he was old, “his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David” (1 Kings 11:4). The result was God’s displeasure and a sad end to a previously exemplary life (v.9).
The multiple times Solomon used the word vanity (or meaningless) in Ecclesiastes may indicate his disillusionment about life. This once-wise king who had it all, lost it all, and pondered it all, ended the book with this final conclusion: “Fear God and keep His commandments” (12:13).
Those are six words worth heeding.
— David C. McCasland
Obedience to God is the key to a life of blessing.
Source: Our Daily Bread
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...ODJ: embrace the cross
My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me (2:20).
READ: Galatians 2:17-3:7
If desperate situations call for extreme measures, then extreme measures are a sign that we are in a desperate situation. If a police car flashed its lights behind me, my wife might say in her disapproving voice, “What did you do?” If my car were surrounded by police and a TV news helicopter hovered overhead, my wife’s tone would likely become more accusatory, “What did you do?” If a jet fighter joined the chase, dropping bombs in the direction of our car, my wife might scream like the lead female actor in an action movie, “What did you do?!” Consider what God did to save us. He didn’t hand us a brochure, as if our problem were merely ignorance. He didn’t hold an intervention, as if our problem were merely stubbornness. He answered our need with the cross, which can only mean that we have messed up big-time. If the cross is necessary to save us, then What did we do? The cross is a dagger through the happy talk of “You’re okay, I’m okay” and if we just try harder, we can change the world. The cross informs us that things have gone horribly wrong, and they won’t be right unless somebody dies. That somebody is Jesus. He paid our penalty, absorbing the Father’s wrath so that we might live (Galatians 2:20). That somebody is us. Jesus died instead of us, but not without us. Karl Barth explains: “That Jesus Christ died for us does not mean, therefore, that we do not have to die, but that we have died in and with Him, that as the people we were we have been done away and destroyed, that we are no longer there and have no more future.” Salvation is free, but it’s not cheap. It cost Jesus His life; and if you accept His gift, it will cost yours. —Mike Wittmer
Extreme measures indicate that the situation is not only desperate but also important. What does the cross say about your value to God?
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...ODB: Earthquake City
January 28, 2011
READ: Acts 16:23-34
Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. —Acts 16:26
In his book A Crack in the Edge of the World, Simon Winchester writes of the small earthquake-prone town of Parkfield, California. Seeking to attract tourists, a hotel sign reads: “Sleep Here When It Happens.” A local restaurant menu features a large steak called “The Big One,” and desserts are called “Aftershocks.” But all humor aside, a real earthquake can be a terrifying experience. I know. I’ve lived through California earthquakes.
In the book of Acts, we read how God used an earthquake to open someone’s heart to the gospel. Having been falsely accused, Paul and Silas found themselves in jail at Philippi. Around midnight, an earthquake rumbled through the prison, opening the doors and loosing the prisoners’ chains. When the jailer learned that Paul and Silas had not tried to escape, he asked, “What must I do to be saved?” (16:30). Paul responded, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household” (v.31). That night the jailer and his family believed and were baptized. And it all started with an earthquake.
Sometimes life’s upsets can make people more open to the gospel. Do you know anyone who is going through a crisis? Prayerfully stay in contact with them, and be ready to share a sensitive word of witness.
— Dennis Fisher
Many are brought to faith by trouble.
Source: Our Daily Bread
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...ODJ: a time to learn
Work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away (v.10).
READ: 2 Peter 1:3-11
A video on YouTube captured a mother squirrel trying to teach her baby how to scale a cement wall. Over and over the mother squirrel patiently showed how it was done, but the wall was simply too big for the younger rodent to conquer. Eventually, a few college students intervened. They first placed a backpack up against the wall, hoping it would function as a step for the younger squirrel. But it wasn’t tall enough. Next, they made a higher step by placing a couple of sandbags on top of one another. Finally the little squirrel climbed on top of the sandbags and scaled the daunting wall— having learned a valuable survival lesson. This little drama from the animal kingdom reminds me of how God often deals with us. One of the reasons He doesn’t instantly resolve our struggles or take us out of seemingly insurmountable challenges is because they provide valuable learning experiences. For instance, after He brought Pharaoh to his knees through a series of crippling plagues (Exodus 12:31-32), God didn’t pack the Israelites’ bags and march them out of Egypt. They had to do it themselves, learning the valuable lesson that faith and effort often go hand in hand. Too often the Christian walk is seen as believers sitting back and letting God do everything for us. That’s rarely the case. While God is always God, and we can do nothing apart from Him (John 15:5), He’s not going to do all the work. Sometimes He will provide a “backpack” or a “sandbag,” but He knows there are lessons for us to learn through effort that will make us better in the long run. —Jeff Olson
What’s a lesson you’ve learned in the midst of working through a challenge? What would happen to you if God removed every challenge from your life?
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Pent Up Feelings
By Tabita Cioloca, 17, Romania I’m puzzled at how people can keep their emotions so well hidden. Imagine the buildup pressure due to the suppressed feelings. It’s like a time bomb, waiting to explode anytime. I doubt I could handle that sort of pressure everyday! But sometimes I find myself caught in such a predicament, [...]
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