ODB: An Open Book
January 18, 2011 READ: Jeremiah 31:31-34 You are an epistle of Christ. —2 Corinthians 3:3 Because I’m a writer, occasionally a friend will say to me, “I want to write a book someday.”“That’s a worthy goal,” I reply, “and I hope you do write a book. But it’s better to be one than to write [...]
ODJ: waiting for rain
Rejoice, you people of Jerusalem! Rejoice in the Lord your God! For the rain He sends demonstrates His faithfulness. Once more the autumn rains will come, as well as the rains of spring (v.23).
READ: Joel 2:18-32
Competing against the thwap-thwap sound of the windshield wipers, the rain beat a rhythmic pattern against the car. Driving out of town for a retreat with our youth leaders, I was thankful for the chance to spend time with them. The rain outside, however, fell in contrast to the desert condition inside my heart. His presence real, I felt that Jesus was near, but I wrestled with feelings of significant disappointment in ministry. Soil that had seemed to promise such beauty now seemed hardened by relentless heat and wind. Nettles of discouragement readily flourished in the dry, wounded places of my heart. Jeremiah 17:7-8 says, “Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.” In the moment of adversity, however, we sometimes believe that something has gone dreadfully awry. Wanting God to rescue us, we cry out in our pain. We wonder at His timing, at His seeming silence. All the while, in that place of confusion and uncertainty, our spirit presses through the hardened clay of surface living, pushes aside the gravel of self-focus, and—in a refusal to give up—finds living water at the point of desperation (John 7:38). He is real, and so are His promises. Jesus—who came and lived among us—“grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground” (Isaiah 53:2). In the certainty of His grace and the steadfastness of His hand, He can be trusted. The refreshing, restoring rains will come again. —Regina Franklin
What circumstances in your life have caused you to give up hope for change? How have your circumstances shaded what you believe God wants to do in you?
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Loading ...ODB: Driving in the Dark
January 17, 2011
READ: Psalm 119:105-112
Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. —Psalm 119:105
I’ve always thought that I could get through just about anything if the Lord would tell me what the outcome would be. I believe that “all things work together for good” in the end (Rom. 8:28), but I’d do a lot better in dark times if I knew exactly what the “good” would look like.
But God usually doesn’t show us where He is taking us. He just asks us to trust Him. It’s like driving a car at night. Our headlights never shine all the way to our destination; they illuminate only about 160 feet ahead. But that doesn’t deter us from moving forward. We trust our headlights. All we really need is enough light to keep moving forward.
God’s Word is like headlights in dark times. It is full of promises we need to keep us from driving our lives into the ditch of bitterness and despair. His Word promises that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5). His Word assures us that He knows the plans He has for us, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give us “a future and a hope” (Jer. 29:11). And He tells us that our trials are there to make us better, not bitter (James 1:2-4).
So the next time you feel as if you’re driving in the dark, remember to trust your headlights—God’s Word will light your way.
— Joe Stowell
You won’t stumble in the dark if you walk in the light of God’s Word.
Source: Our Daily Bread
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...ODJ: illumination
For His Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets (v.10).
READ: 1 Corinthians 2:6-16
It’s glossy and features the pics of people like Bono, Angelina Jolie, the Dalai Lama, and Che Guevara. If you glanced at the cover you might mistake it for a fashion magazine. What is it? A New Testament called The Bible Illuminated. The publishers, however, admit that they don’t “support a specific faith.” Many of the images of celebrities and well-known people are positioned next to specific verses to make political or social statements. The photos don’t “illuminate” the text. Instead, they mislead and confuse the reader. I’m grateful for the illumination that the Holy Spirit brings, so that we can truly understand God’s Word (1 Corinthians 2:10). He “shows us God’s deep secrets” as we read and study it. Like a lens that allows us to see what once was blurry and undefined, God’s Spirit helps us grasp the truths in Scripture that nonbelievers can’t possibly understand. To them it’s foolishness (1:18). As the Holy Spirit illumines God’s Word for us, we move from false and distorted views to the clarity of what the Bible’s authors are actually communicating (2 Peter 1:21). Then, after the Holy Spirit has opened our eyes to what the Word is saying, we can pray that He will also help us take it to heart and obey it. Now, when a particular passage of the Bible is highly confusing or hard to understand, it’s good to do two things: (1) Seek out helpful insights from godly commentators and theologians who have studied the Scriptures and experienced the Spirit’s illuminating ways; (2) pray for the Spirit to shed His light on the verses in question. For “we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us” (1 Corinthians 2:12). Now that’s illumination! —Tom Felten
How have you viewed Scripture through the wrong lens? How does the Holy Spirit open your eyes to the truths found in the Bible?
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Let’s Talk About Girlfriends & Boyfriends, Choosing Which School To Go To, And God’s Will
By David Wong, 21, Singapore “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.” —Deuteronomy 29:29 (niv) “O God, I feel attracted to him (in my case, her), and I think he’s a [...]
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...ODB: A Child’s Potential
January 16, 2011
READ: Proverbs 22:1-6
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. —Proverbs 22:6
Louis Armstrong was well known for his smiling face, raspy voice, white handkerchief, and virtuoso trumpet playing. Yet his childhood was one of want and pain. He was abandoned by his father as an infant and sent to reform school when he was only 12. Surprisingly, this became a positive turning point.
Music professor Peter Davis regularly visited the school and provided musical training for the boys. Soon Louis excelled on the cornet and became the leader of the boys’ band. His life trajectory seemed to have been reset to become a world-famous trumpet player and entertainer.
Louis’ story can be an example for Christian parents. The proverb: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6) can apply to more than the spiritual and moral aspects of our children’s lives. We should also realize that a child’s giftedness will often determine his or her area of interest. In the case of Louis, a little training in music resulted in a virtuoso trumpet player.
As we lovingly provide to our children godly instruction from God’s Word, we should encourage them in their interests and giftedness so that they might become all that God has planned for them to be.
— Dennis Fisher
Save a child, save a life.
Source: Our Daily Bread
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...ODJ: david and the dwarf
I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! (v.36).
READ: 1 Samuel 17:1-37,45-47
The towering enemy strides into the Valley of Elah. He stands more than 9 feet tall, with shining armor made of several hundred small bronze plates that glimmer in the sunlight. His spear is several inches thick, with a 15-pound spearhead (1 Samuel 17:7). It’s wrapped with cords so it can be thrown farther and more accurately through the air. Goliath looks—and feels—invincible. By contrast, Saul and his army have no iron weapons. They have no tall champion—except Saul. But he too is cowering at the rear of the lines in fear. No one will fight the giant. Then a ruddy shepherd boy walks up. He’s the youngest in his family and he lacks any form of military experience. Yet, he offers to fight the bigger-than-life enemy. Goliath looks and acts like a giant. But in contrast to the living God, David knows the monstrous man is a dwarf. He has the right view of God and the right view of his situation. The Israelites see Goliath as unconquerable (v.25), but David sees him as a pagan Philistine who is defying the armies of the living God (v.26). So David walks toward Goliath in shepherd’s clothes, armed with only his shepherd’s staf and sling. His confidence isn’t in what he has but in who is with him. He says, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defed” (v.45). We can have that same confidence in God and His power. We can be courageous in living boldly for Jesus in a non-Christian world. With His help, we can face any foes—for they’re all dwarfed by our great God! —Poh Fang Chia
What are the “giants” that may hinder you from living out your Christian faith? How does remembering who God is strengthen your courage today?
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...ODB: Freedom At Alcatraz
January 15, 2011
READ: Philemon 1:4-16
I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains. —Philemon 1:10
A tour of the federal prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay left me with some unforgettable images. As our tour boat pulled into the dock, I could see why this now-closed maximum-security federal prison was once known as “The Rock.”
Later, inside the legendary Big House, I stared at shafts of light coming through heavily barred windows. Then I saw row after row of cagelike cells that housed well-known inmates such as Al Capone and Robert Stroud, the “Birdman of Alcatraz.”
But another image made a deeper impression. Stepping into an empty cell, I saw the name “Jesus” scrawled on a wall. In another, a Bible lay on a shelf. Together they quietly spoke of the greatest of all freedoms.
Paul knew such liberty while waiting to be executed. Regarding himself as a “prisoner of Christ,” he used his incarceration to help other inmates discover what it means to be an eternally forgiven, dearly loved member of God’s family (Philem. 1:10).
Barred windows and doors represent one kind of confinement. Physical paralysis, inescapable poverty, and prolonged unemployment are others. Perhaps you endure another. None are to be desired—yet who would trade “imprisonment” with Christ for life “on the outside” without Him?
— Mart De Haan
To be under Christ’s control is to have true freedom.
Source: Our Daily Bread
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...ODJ: oscar for fathers
Father to the fatherless, defender of widows—this is God, whose dwelling is holy (Psalm 68:5).
READ: Romans 8:12-17
James Cameron, of Avatar and Titanic fame, has reportedly said, “Anybody can be a father or a husband. There are only five people in the world who can do what I do, and I’m going for that.” It isn’t only Hollywood directors who succumb to the siren song of success. Clergymen also put ministry ahead of family. And even King David committed flagrant errors regarding marriage. He violated the Lord’s explicit command not to take many wives (Deuteronomy 17:17). It’s difficult to fulfill the unity intended in marriage or to spend quality time with your kids if you’re rationing time between multiple women (2 Samuel 3:2-5; 5:13; 11:27). David may have been a man “after [God’s] own heart” (Acts 13:22), but as a husband and father, he compels us to seek a better role model. In my own life, I was blessed with a great adoptive father who loved and provided for me and my brother. But for many, “Dad” is absent, or disengaged, or emotionally or physically abusive. Where are we to turn when our fathers abandon, fail, or wound us? For those who turn in faith to Jesus, we have this remarkable comfort: “Father to the fatherless,” sings the psalmist, “this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families” (Psalm 68:5-6). And the apostle Paul elaborated, “You received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him, ‘Abba, Father’” (Romans 8:15). Abba is the Aramaic term for God the Father that conveys intimate trust and familiarity. Despite what Mr. Cameron says, it’s an unfathomable privilege to be a father—to enjoy the trust, mentorship, and intimacy intended for such a relationship. And God is our perfect example. He’s the one Father who will never let us down. —Tim Gustafson
Who are the role models in your life? Who sees you as a role model? In what ways can you be a better example to others?
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...ODB: Call It Good?
January 14, 2011
READ: Psalm 13
I have trusted in Your mercy. —Psalm 13:5
Can we really know whether to label life’s circumstances as good or bad?
For instance, your car breaks down right before you are to take a family road trip. But when you take the car to the shop, the mechanic says, “Good thing you didn’t take this out on the road. It could have caught fire.” Is that bad because of the inconvenience, or good because of God’s protection?
Or perhaps your child decides to pursue interests that aren’t all that interesting to you. You wanted her to play basketball and run track in high school. But she wanted to sing and play the oboe. You feel frustrated, but she excels and ends up with a music scholarship. Is that bad because your dreams weren’t fulfilled, or good because God directed her in ways you could not have predicted?
Sometimes it’s hard to see how God is working. His mysteries don’t always reveal their secrets to us, and our journey is often redirected by uncontrollable detours. Perhaps God is showing us a better route.
To make sure we benefit from what might seem bad, we must recognize and trust God’s “unfailing love” (Ps. 13:5 NIV). In the end, we’ll be able to say, “I will sing to the Lord, for He has been good to me” (v.6 NIV).
— Dave Branon
We may not be able to control events, but we can control our attitude toward them.
Source: Our Daily Bread
(3 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5) Loading ...
