ODB: Free 4 All
July 31, 2011 READ: Ephesians 1:7-14;2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. —Ephesians 2:8 In an effort to assist people struggling to provide for their families during tough economic times, the church I attend created a program called “Free 4 All.”We [...]
ODJ: unshackled
Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you? (v.10).
READ: John 8:1-11
Clad in bright yellow shirts, the women were hard to miss. Shackled and standing in line, some of the suspected prostitutes covered their faces with their hands. People who witnessed this spectacle of shame raged online, claiming that many women resort to prostitution to feed their families. The nation’s government responded by creating a new law to ban the practice of public disgrace for sex workers.
Jesus encountered a shame spectacle when the Pharisees dragged an adulterous woman to the center of a crowd and then suggested stoning her. Jesus responded, “Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone” (v.7). Forced into uncomfortable self-examination, the Pharisees slithered away . . . one by one.
Jesus then asked the adulteress, “Where are your accusers?” (v.10). This question showed that Jesus was not one of them. When we struggle with shame, Jesus doesn’t accuse us either. Rather, He defends us. As Christians, even when we sin, “we have an Advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ” (1 John 2:1).
As the woman’s Advocate, Jesus posed another question, “Didn’t even one of [your accusers] condemn you?” (John 8:10). When she said no, He continued, “Neither do I.” Jesus’ grace released the adulteress from her sin and, consequently, her shame. His grace does the same thing for us. “There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
After His public pardon, Jesus said to her: “Go and sin no more” (John 8:11). He was telling her how to stay free of shame. Because ongoing sin produces ongoing shame, we too have to give up the sinful stuff that breeds disgrace.
When we realize that Jesus is our gracious Advocate and abandon our sin, shame can’t shackle our hearts. —Jennifer Benson Schuldt
What is the danger of allowing shame to rule our hearts? Why is it important to avoid shaming people because of sexual sin?
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Loading ...ODB: Jupiter Falling
July 30, 2011
READ: Colossians 1:15-23
In Him all things consist. —Colossians 1:17
One day I bought an inexpensive model of the solar system for my son. Installing it required me to suspend each planet from the ceiling. After bending up and down several times, I was lightheaded and tired. Hours later, we heard a “plink” as Jupiter hit the floor.
Later that night, I thought about how our flimsy replica fell apart, yet Jesus sustains the actual universe. “He is before all things, and in Him all things consist” (Col. 1:17). The Lord Jesus holds our world together, maintaining the natural laws that rule the galaxy. Our Creator also upholds “all things by the word of His power” (Heb. 1:3). Jesus is so mighty that He keeps the universe in order simply by commanding it to be so!
As amazing as this is, Jesus is more than a cosmic caretaker. He sustains us too. He “gives life and breath to everything, and He satisfies every need” (Acts 17:25 NLT). While Jesus sometimes provides for us differently than we might expect, our Savior keeps us going whether we are brokenhearted, in need of money, or enduring illness.
Until the day He calls us home, we can trust that the One who keeps Jupiter from falling is the One who holds us up as well.
— Jennifer Benson Schuldt
The God who sustains the universe sustains me.
Source: Our Daily Bread
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...ODJ: personal and present
You have spoken in my hearing, and I have heard your very words. You said, “I am pure; I am without sin; I am innocent; I have no guilt” (vv.8-9).
READ: Job 33:1-33
If there ever was a person who had the right to ask, “Why me?” it was Joan Brock. As a young wife and mother, Joan went completely blind in a span of just 3 short weeks. If that wasn’t hard enough, 5 years later, her husband died of a rare form of cancer.
As Joan began to speak publicly about her story, many people asked her if she ever asked, “Why me?” Again, a part of me wouldn’t blame her if she did. Joan, however, chose to ask a different question: “Why not me?” She realized that she was no better than anyone else and not immune to experiencing tragedy and heartache.
What Joan Brock came to realize is the same thing Job struggled to see in the midst of losing family members and his good health. Throughout most of his Old Testament book, Job’s stance was that he was “innocent” (Job 34:5). To be sure, Job wasn’t suffering because of personal sin as his three friends insisted (32:1). He wasn’t a wicked man, but he also wasn’t perfect. The trouble is, he seemed to think he was good enough to be exempt from tragedy. He felt that God was the One to be blamed (19:6-7; 27:2).
Job maintained his innocence, until God revealed Himself in a way that exposed his pride. In the end, he was humbled and began to see himself, his losses, and his God in a whole new light (42:1-6).
Job went through a level of pain and loss that most people will never experience. His struggles, however, are a lesson to us all. When it comes to facing hardship in life, none of us gets a free pass. The question we need to ask is, “Why not me?” —Jeff Olson
How have you been prideful in loss? What have you learned from Job’s example?
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...ODB: The Good Life
July 29, 2011
READ: Micah 6:6-8
It is good for me to draw near to God. —Psalm 73:28
Philosophers ponder, “What is the good life and who has it?” I instantly think of my good friend Roy.
Roy was a gentle, quiet man who sought no recognition, who left the care of his life to his heavenly Father, and who occupied himself solely with his Father’s will. His was a heavenly perspective. As he often reminded me: “We are but sojourners here.”
Roy passed away last fall. At his memorial service, friends reminisced over his influence on their lives. Many spoke of his kindness, selfless giving, humility, and gentle compassion. He was, for many, a visible expression of God’s unconditional love.
After the service, Roy’s son drove to the assisted-living facility where his father lived out his final days. He gathered up his dad’s belongings: two pairs of shoes, a few shirts and pants, and a few odds and ends—the sum of Roy’s earthly goods—and delivered them to a local charity. Roy never had what some would consider the good life, but he was rich toward God in good deeds. George MacDonald wrote, “Which one is the possessor of heaven and earth: He who has a thousand houses, or he who, with no house to call his own, has ten at which his knock arouses instant jubilation?”
Roy’s was the good life after all.
— David H. Roper
No one can know the good life without God.
Source: Our Daily Bread
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Why Does Everything Have To Be So Hard?
By Betty Wambui, Kenya This is a question that all of us have asked ourselves at some point in our lives. Choices were presented and the main ones were: to give up or to keep on hoping. Many times, I have wanted to choose to throw in the white towel because I convince myself that [...]
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...ODJ: imperfect prayer studies
When He heard this, He sighed deeply in His spirit and said, “Why do these people keep demanding a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, I will not give this generation any such sign” (v.12).
READ: Mark 8:11-21
A 1988 study by Dr. Randolph Byrd found coronary care patients were 11 percent more likely to recover when they had received the prayers of others. A 2006 study led by Dr. Herbert Benson suggested there was no improvement for patients at all. A more recent study (September 2010) by Candy Gunther Brown at Indiana University reported significantly positive results for hearing and vision-impaired Mozambicans after they had received intercessory prayer.
I find such studies interesting, but—in my eyes—many of them have deep methodological problems. Some studies have used multi-faith pray-ers, so which “God” is being prayed to? Most have looked for a direct cause-and-effect result, so where does God’s will come into the equation? Frankly, I really don’t think God appreciates being part of lab experiments.
Jesus raises another concern about empirical approaches to the miraculous. Some Pharisees once demanded that Jesus perform a miracle to prove who He was. Actually, he’d already healed a demon-possessed girl (Mark 7:24-30) and a deaf man (7:31-37), and He had just miraculously fed 4,000 people (8:1-10) and 5,000 before that (6:30-44)—miracles the Pharisees had either seen or heard about. But these were not good enough. Jesus sighed deeply and declined their request (8:12).
He refused to perform miracles on demand. He wouldn’t give signs to those He knew still wouldn’t believe. Jesus wouldn’t do wonders for closed or merely inquisitive minds. His miraculous acts were done out of compassion (8:2) to the desperate (7:26), the believing (5:27-28), and even the doubtful (9:24-27), but never for the merely curious.
Prayer works! But it’s all about praying to the one true God in submission to His sovereign will. —Sheridan Voysey
Some prayer studies focus on the human act of prayer rather than the deity being prayed to. Why is this wrong?
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(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...ODB: For The God I Love
July 28, 2011
READ: Matthew 6:16-18
When you fast, do not be like the hypocrites. —Matthew 6:16
A couple of years ago in our church we did a sermon series on the Old Testament tabernacle. Leading up to the message on the table of showbread, I did something I had never done before—I fasted from food for several days. I fasted because I wanted to experience the truth that “man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord” (Deut. 8:3). I wanted to deny myself something I love, food, for the God I love more. As I fasted, I followed Jesus’ teaching about fasting in Matthew 6:16-18.
Jesus gave a negative command: “When you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance” (v.16). Then He gave a positive command about putting oil on your head and washing your face (v.17). The two commands taken together meant that they should not draw attention to themselves. Jesus was teaching that this was a private act of sacrificial worship that should not provide any room for religious pride. Finally, He gave a promise: Your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you (v.18).
Although fasting isn’t required, in giving up something we love, we may have a deeper experience of the God we love. He rewards us with Himself.
— Marvin Williams
Moving away from the table can bring us closer to the Father.
Source: Our Daily Bread
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...ODJ: trapped
The Lord looks down from heaven and sees the whole human race (v.13).
READ: Psalm 33:1-15
Last summer, 33 miners in Chile became trapped when the copper mine they were working in was rocked by a landslide. Entombed 700 meters (2,300 feet) below ground, the miners faced many weeks of mental and physical stress prior to their rescue. One man, however, experienced heightened anxiety when he learned that his wife and his mistress had met at a vigil being held for the miners. He was trapped in more ways than one.
Whoa! Talk about “your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23).
One thing that can provide great comfort to us is the fact that God is omniscient—He’s all-knowing. The psalmist wrote, “The Lord looks down from heaven and sees the whole human race” (Psalm 33:13). From miners cloaked in darkness to you and me basking in the brightness of a sunny day, God sees us all. He knows “everything [we] do” (139:3). So the fact that He knows every move we make can also be highly convicting. Especially if we’re foolishly trying to hide our sin from Him.
Our holy God is omniscient. As He sits on His throne (33:14) and views us, nothing is hidden from His loving, piercing eyes. “You spread out our sins before You—our secret sins—and You see them all” declared Moses (90:8). Although you and I might attempt to conceal our wayward ways from our Creator and Sustainer, it’s impossible.
In fact, the psalmist reveals that God knows our innermost thoughts and desires: “[God] made [our] hearts, so He understands everything [we] do” (33:15). He knows our hearts and what’s lurking within.
With that said, how are you trapped today? Does sin have you skittering for cover from God’s gaze? It’s time to repent and step into the light of His awesome, all-knowing presence. —Tom Felten
How have you recently been trapped by a sin? How does the fact that God is all-knowing affect the way you live?
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(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...
