ODJ: why we sing
[Sing] psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and [make] music to the Lord in your hearts (v.19). READ: Ephesians 5:15-20 Music is a kind of language—an experiential language. It allows us to communicate what we feel or to evoke what we hope to feel. When I want quiet—soft jazz helps me express that longing. [...]
ODB: An Amazing View
July 23, 2011
READ: Psalm 33:13-22
From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth. —Psalm 33:14
From my home in Colorado, I recently used Google Maps to “wander around” the neighborhood in Nairobi, Kenya, where my family lived 2 decades ago. A satellite image on my computer screen enabled me to identify roads, landmarks, and buildings. In some cases, I got a street-level view, as if I were standing on the ground there.
It was quite a view, but only a small taste of how the Lord must see our world.
The psalmist celebrated God’s view by writing these words: “The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men. . . . He considers all their works. . . . The eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine” (33:13-19).
Unlike an unfeeling satellite, the Lord sees with His heart of love as He considers who we are and what we do. The Bible reveals that He longs for us to trust Him and follow His way. We are never out of God’s sight, and He keeps a close eye on everyone whose hope is in Him.
For all who know the Lord through faith in Jesus Christ, it’s encouraging to realize that every day we’re part of His amazing view.
— David C. McCasland
Keep your eyes on God; He never takes His eyes off you.
Source: Our Daily Bread
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading ...ODJ: desperate
How can they hear about Him unless someone tells them? (Romans 10:14).
READ: Mark 2:1-12
Tom Thompson works for the charitable organization World Help. One day as he sat in a boat on the Ganges River, he saw people ceremoniously dumping ashes from incinerated corpses into the same water where people bathed, collected drinking water, brushed their teeth, washed their clothes, and disposed of sewage in the most old-fashioned way imaginable. (Don’t think too hard about it.) Yet no one thought anything about it, for the river is deemed holy.
Tom reflected on the desperation of anything that seeks ultimate fulfillment without Jesus, and he prayed, quite naturally, Thank you, Lord, for saving me from this. Then he had an epiphany: He had often thought about the fact that Jesus loves him. But he had forgotten that Jesus loves them.
Tom applies another desperate situation to the one he observed on the Ganges. In Mark 2, a group of men had a friend who was paralyzed. Jesus was preaching at a house in Capernaum at the time. Unable to get him into the house, the friends resorted to desperate measures. They climbed on top of the house, cut a hole in the roof, and lowered the paralyzed man in front of Jesus. “Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, ‘My child, your sins are forgiven’ ” (v.5). And then Jesus went the extra mile. He healed him physically as well as spiritually (vv.10-11).
Tom uses that point to challenge followers of Jesus to exchange their comfortable brand of Christianity for something radically world-changing. “Do something that scares you,” he says. “Step out of your comfort zone.”
Desperate times call for desperate measures. We may never cut a hole in a roof to bring someone to Jesus, but what are we willing to do or give up in order to bring others to Him? —Tim Gustafson
Where do you sense desperation in this world? In your own life? In others? How can this help lead you to radical Christianity instead of comfortable religion?
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(2 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5) Loading ...ODB: Our Best Defense
July 22, 2011
READ: John 9:13-25
Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see. —John 9:25
Thrown together as seatmates for an 8-hour train ride, a retired US ambassador and I quickly clashed as he sighed when I pulled out my Bible.
I took the bait. At first, we traded one-liners aimed at goading the other or scoring points. Gradually, though, bits and pieces of our respective life stories started creeping into the discussion. Curiosity got the better of both of us and we found ourselves asking questions instead of feuding. A political science major in college and a political junkie by hobby, I was intrigued with his career, which included two prominent ambassadorships.
Strangely enough, his questions to me were about my faith. How I became “a believer” was what interested him most. The train ride ended amicably, and we even traded business cards. As he left the train, he turned to me and said, “By the way, the best part of your argument isn’t what you think Jesus can do for me. It’s what He’s done for you.”
In John 9, as on that train, God reminds us that the best story is the one we know intimately: Our own encounter with Jesus Christ. Practice telling your story of faith to loved ones and close friends so you’ll be able to tell it clearly to others.
— Randy Kilgore
People know true faith stories when they hear them.
Source: Our Daily Bread
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...ODJ: invisible fire
[God] knows what lies hidden in darkness, though He is surrounded by light (v.22).
READ: Daniel 2:20-49
Marty, my hairdresser, told me about this guy she knows—he has flames tattooed on his scalp. With a full head of hair, no one can see the inferno on his skull. But, when he shaves his head, the fire is visible. It’s kind of a cool concept—now you see it, now you don’t. Unless he chooses to share it, the tattoo is his own little secret.
King Nebuchadnezzar had a secret. He refused to disclose the contents of a disturbing dream. He challenged his advisors not only to interpret the meaning of the nightmare, but to describe the events in the dream as well (Daniel 2:5).
As one of the king’s advisors, Daniel would be killed unless he could detail and decipher Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. Daniel prayed, and God revealed the dream to him in a vision (v.19). King Nebuchadnezzar responded by bowing down before Daniel and proclaiming, “Truly, your God is the greatest of gods . . . a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this secret” (v.47).
The point here is not that we should all expect to name and interpret dreams. It’s that God enabled Daniel to do this because “[God] knows what lies hidden in darkness” (v.22), and He sees everything—both our good deeds and the shady stuff we’d rather not discuss. He’s aware of our private addictions, corrupt thought patterns, and the double crossing that we think no one notices. God also knows that these kinds of secrets burn in our hearts like invisible fire.
Fortunately, there’s no “secret” so shocking that it can keep us from God’s love. He’s the righteous Judge and—at the same time—He is love (1 John 4:8). If we expose our secret sin and confess it to Him, He will “forgive us” and “cleanse us from all wickedness” (1 John 1:9). —Jennifer Benson Schuldt
When you remember that God’s all-seeing eyes are on you, how does that prompt you to stop some actions and start others? Why do we sometimes refuse to discuss our sin with God?
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(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...Three Reasons Why I Am Not Like Jesus
By Tracy Phua, Singapore I was getting myself a drink in the kitchen when I heard the familiar toot of a Nepalese bus horn. Just as I was wondering if the heat was causing me to hallucinate, I heard that characteristic honk again. Curious (and also hoping that a Narnia-like moment was awaiting me in [...]
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...ODB: Pain No More
July 21, 2011
READ: 1 Corinthians 15:51-57
O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? —1 Corinthians 15:55
For a good portion of my life, I shared the perspective of those who rail against God for allowing pain. I could find no way to rationalize a world as toxic as this one.
As I visited people whose pain far exceeded my own, though, I was surprised by its effects. Suffering seemed as likely to reinforce faith as to sow doubt.
My anger about pain has melted mostly for one reason: I have come to know God. He has given me joy and love and happiness and goodness. It leaves me with faith in a Person, a faith so solid that no amount of suffering can erode it.
Where is God when it hurts? He has been there from the beginning. He designed a pain system that, in the midst of a fallen world, bears His stamp. He transforms pain, using it to teach and strengthen us if we allow it to turn us toward Him.
He has hurt and bled and cried and suffered. He has dignified for all time those who suffer, by sharing their pain. But one day He will gather the armies of heaven and will unleash them against the enemies of God. The world will see one last terrifying moment of suffering before the full victory is ushered in. Then God will create for us a new, incredible world. And pain will be no more (Rev. 19:11–22:6).
— Philip Yancey
Pain will either turn us against God or draw us to Him.
Source: Our Daily Bread
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...ODJ: hurt to help
Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good (v.9)
READ: Romans 12:9-18
One of professor Haddon Robinson’s seminary students once came to speak with him about her husband’s assignments. She told him that her husband was under a lot of pressure and had been working hard, but he was running behind on getting his work done. But rather than asking Haddon to cut her husband some slack, she asked him not to. While she wanted him to do well and complete his studies, she also thought that people tended to go easy on her husband, and it wasn’t helping him to learn how to get things done on time.
This man’s wife wasn’t being vindictive. She was trying to help her husband—even though her intervention might have cost him a good grade.
Love seeks the best for others, even if it stretches them and makes them feel uncomfortable. It’s part of what Paul talked about when he wrote, “Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good” (Romans 12:9).
No one loves perfectly, but love is the standard Jesus calls us to seek (v.10; John 15:12). And even Jesus showed us that there was more to real love than simply making a person feel better. After His death and resurrection, Jesus took Peter back to the night that he denied Him three times (John 21:15-17). It was a deeply painful time for Peter to recall, but Jesus took him there so He could reaffirm Peter and his mission.
Even though it sometimes hurts, real love asks: “How can I be an instrument that God can use to challenge and confront someone else?” Our goal is to help them become more of what God intends for them to be. Will you be willing to hurt in order to help? —Jeff Olson
Where might God be calling you to “hurt” someone in order to help him or her? What’s the difference between hurting someone unnecessarily and speaking the truth in love?
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(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...ODB: Bedlam
July 20, 2011
READ: Romans 12:9-21
Those who leave the paths of uprightness . . . rejoice in doing evil, and delight in the perversity of the wicked. —Proverbs 2:13-14
England’s Imperial War Museum is housed in a building in London that was a former location of the Bethlem Royal Hospital, a care center for the mentally ill. The hospital was commonly known as “Bedlam,” which gradually became a term used to describe scenes of chaos and madness.
It’s ironic that the War Museum would occupy Bedlam’s former location. As you walk through the museum, in addition to stories of heroism and sacrifice in wartime, you also find bone-chilling accounts of the madness of man’s inhumanity to man. From the exhibits about modern genocide and ethnic cleansing to the one on the Holocaust, it is evil on display.
Solomon observed mankind’s propensity for evil, describing it as those who “rejoice in doing evil, and delight in the perversity of the wicked” (Prov. 2:14). While this may describe much of the world around us, followers of Jesus have a refreshingly different way to handle life. Paul challenged us: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21). Christ-centered actions such as living morally (v.17), making peace (v.18), and treating our enemies with care (v.20) will affect the world for good.
If each of us were to live as a reflection of God’s love, perhaps there would be a lot less bedlam.
— Bill Crowder
A despairing world needs caring Christians.
Source: Our Daily Bread
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...ODJ: the doubter’s prayer
The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” (v.24).
READ: Mark 9:14-29
Over the centuries, some biblical prayers have become particularly loved by Christians. The Lord’s Prayer is one them (Matthew 6:9-13). The Jesus Prayer (“Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner”), based on Luke 18:13, is highly regarded by the Eastern Orthodox Church. Today I give you my favorite. Let’s call it “the Doubter’s Prayer.”
Doubt and dimness surround its origin. Peter, James, and John had just seen Jesus transformed on Mount Hermon, but they missed the significance of the moment (Mark 9:5-6). They returned to find some teachers of the law (people hardly known for believing in Jesus) arguing with the other nine disciples (v.14). Jesus had authorized His team to cast out demons (3:14-15, 6:13), but something had gone wrong. A father had brought his demon-possessed son to the disciples, and they were unable to help him (vv.17-18).
Jesus was frustrated by the faithlessness of all involved. He called the boy forward, but the spirit caused him to have convulsions. That’s when the father uttered his desperate plea. “Have mercy on us and help us, if You can” (v.22).
“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus stated (v.23). Then the man offered what has become the prayer of so many doubting believers over the years: “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” (v.24). I wonder if the man’s faith had wilted once his hopes were dashed. What I love about the end of the story is that Jesus granted the doubting dad his wish and freed his son (vv.25-27).
I’ve prayed the Doubter’s Prayer often. I’ve lacked faith that God would come through in some matter, but I wanted to believe. Jesus is frustrated by faithlessness, yet He responds to the Doubter’s Prayer. And for that, I’m most thankful. —Sheridan Voysey
What are you struggling to believe God for today—finances, healing, deliverance, forgiveness? Why? What biblical promise can you hold on to while you pray the Doubter’s Prayer?
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(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...
