ODB: O.B.Markers
July 15, 2011 READ: Jeremiah 5:21-31 I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are right, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me. —Psalm 119:75 In the game of golf, out-of-bounds or O. B. markers designate when a ball has gone out of play. If a player’s ball goes out-of-bounds, a one-stroke penalty is imposed.The [...]
ODJ: should i?
David asked, “Will the leaders of Keilah betray me and my men to Saul?” And the Lord replied, “Yes, they will betray you” (v.12).
READ: 1 Samuel 23:1-14
Scene 1: David hears that Keilah is under attack. David: “Should I help the people in Keilah?” God: “Yes, go and help them.” David: “Are you sure? It may cost us our lives.” God: “Yes, go.” Narrator: So David went and delivered Keilah from the Philistines. Scene 2: David catches wind of Saul’s strategy to destroy him at Keilah. David: “Will the leaders in Keilah help me?” God: “No, they won’t. They will betray you instead.”
The Bible doesn’t tell us if David said anything to the Keilah leaders in light of their ingratitude (1 Samuel 23:4,12). But I know what I would have done. If I had been David, I would have been cursing them even as I bolted from the “walled town” with my men (v.7).
David, however, simply arose and left the city. His silence is instructional. It tells us that it doesn’t matter how people treat us; what matters most is the way we respond to God.
Four times we read that David inquired of the Lord. In the first instance, when David heard of the misfortune of others, instead of watching his own safety, he asked God whether he should go and help (v.2). In the second instance, he brought his question to God despite the passionate pleas from his men who had already made up their minds not to go (vv.3-4). In the third and fourth instances, David was in a tight spot because God had led him there. Yet, instead of getting angry with God, he prayed and awaited an answer (vv.10,12).
Do you want to be a person after God’s heart? David gave us a great example: Seek the Lord’s will and do it. —Poh Fang Chia
What will happen if you begin to inquire of God consistently in the big and small matters of your life? How have you been pursuing Him and His will?
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Loading ...Prayer and Worry!
By Apollos, Indonesia In our daily lives, encountering problems is never a rare occurrence. But sometimes, when the problem feels too big, we become fearful of how our decision may impact our future. We ask ourselves: Why did this have to happen? Why did God allow such a problem into my life? The typical response [...]
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...Hate waiting? Tell us why!
Hate waiting? Share with us why you feel this way! Is it the heat, the nerves or the plain ol’ annoyance? We’d like to hear about it!
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...ODB: Seeing The Person Inside
July 14, 2011
READ: 2 Corinthians 5:12-21
From now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. —2 Corinthians 5:16
On February 1, 1960, four students from an all-black college sat down at a “whites only” lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. One of them, Franklin McCain, noticed an older white woman seated nearby looking at them. He was sure that her thoughts were unkind toward them and their protest against segregation. A few minutes later she walked over to them, put her hands on their shoulders, and said, “Boys, I am so proud of you.”
Recalling the event years later on National Public Radio, McCain said he learned from this never to stereotype anyone. Instead he should pause to consider others and seek an opportunity to talk with them.
The first-century church, like ours today, was often fractured by divisions based on race, language, and culture. Paul wrote to the followers of Jesus in Corinth to help them respond to those who were more concerned with outward appearance than with what is in the heart (2 Cor. 5:12). Because Christ died for all, Paul said, “From now on, we regard no one according to the flesh” (v.16).
May we all look closely to see the person inside, for everyone is made in the image of God and can become a new creation in Christ.
— David C. McCasland
It’s what’s in the heart that matters.
Source: Our Daily Bread
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...ODJ: new way to be human
Put on your new nature, created to be like God (v.24).
READ: Ephesians 4:17-32
Last year, my wife Miska and I traveled to London. We enjoyed the standard sights (Westminster Abbey was a favorite), but mainly we spent our days walking the neighborhoods, visiting shops and cafes, soaking in a different way of life. We noticed how drinking tea provided a daily rhythm, how remarkably peaceful a subway (or tube, as they call it) station could be. At Portobello Market, we saw shopkeepers close their doors so they could enjoy 20 minutes of quiet. Other cultures demonstrate new ways of living in our world.
On a broader scale, this is precisely what the Bible offers. Scripture provides an invitation into another way to live—a better way of being human. The way of life the Bible describes does not make us less active or less engaged with our world (as though we are merely surviving until God evacuates us). Rather, embracing God’s life makes us more engaged with our world—more the person God created us to be. Paul put it this way: “everything . . . connected with that old way of life has to go. . . . Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life” (vv.22,24 The Message).
And this new life is immersed in everyday stuff, human stuff: marriages, relationships, work—life. There’s nothing abstract or theoretical here. God gives straightforward wisdom, emphasizing the basics. Nothing flashy—but all very human. Paul says we should “stop telling lies” (v.25). We should keep anger in check (v.26). And—I love this—Paul insists that anyone who steals should simply “quit” (v.28). We should speak and live with kindness, have tender hearts, and always be quick to forgive (v.32).
I wonder what our world would be like if we truly embraced God’s way of being human. —Winn Collier
What are your normal habits and patterns? How does God’s invitation to a new way of being human transform your view of real life?
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...ODB: Paul, The Aged
July 13, 2011
READ: Philemon 1:1-9
Being such a one as Paul, the aged, . . . I appeal to you for my son Onesimus. —Philemon 1:9-10
Celebrating my 60th birthday really changed my perspective on life— I used to think people in their sixties were “old.” Then I started counting the number of productive years I might have left and set the number at 10. I went along with this dead-end kind of thinking until I remembered a very productive co-worker who was 85. So I sought him out to ask what life after 60 was like. He told me of some of the wonderful ministry opportunities the Lord had given him over the last 25 years.
The apostle Paul, referring to himself as “aged” in Philemon 1:9, really resonates with my own sense of aging: “Being such a one as Paul, the aged, . . . I appeal to you for my son Onesimus” (vv.9-10). Paul was asking Philemon to take back his runaway servant Onesimus. Some scholars believe Paul was in his late forties or early fifties when he wrote this—certainly not a senior citizen by today’s standards. But life expectancy in those days was much shorter. Yet despite awareness of his mature years, Paul went on to serve the Lord for several more years.
While we may experience physical or other kinds of limitations, what really matters is that we continue doing what we can for the Lord until He calls us Home.
— Dennis Fisher
God can use you at any age—if you are willing.
Source: Our Daily Bread
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...ODJ: gored
But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! (v.44).
READ: Matthew 5:38-45
Seventeen-year-old Vinnie Huntington got his revenge on a bull that gored him on his family’s farm. As he sat down to eat the steak carved from the bull, he said, “I’m going to enjoy it, too.”
Unlike Vinnie, followers of Jesus who have been “gored” by the words, attitudes, and actions of others should have a different response when it comes to revenge. The Bible clearly indicates that there’s a standard. What is it?
Human revenge was unacceptable and forbidden in the Old Testament (Genesis 4:15; Leviticus 19:18; Deuteronomy 32:35). People lived by the principle of the lex talionis (the law of exacting like for like, see Exodus 21:23-25). This wasn’t a rule for personal revenge, but it ensured that judicial punishment was just and not malicious. Not only was personal revenge forbidden in the Old Testament, Jesus prohibited it as well (Matthew 5:38-45). He commanded His followers to love and pray for those who “gored” them, so that their character could resemble the nature of their heavenly Father. Jesus commanded this because there is a larger principle looming when it comes to personal revenge: Justice must be done, but it must be left in the hands of God or in the hands of authorities ordained by God. One way or another, God will avenge His people.
Instead of returning injury and insult, we should live by Christ-honoring alternatives: striving to live at peace with everyone (Romans 12:18; 1 Peter 4:8), moving on when needed (Matthew 10:23), accepting the injury (Hebrews 10:32-34), using the law and submitting to a spiritually mature mediator (Acts 22:25; 1 Corinthians 6:1-6), and forgiving and doing good to the person who offended us (Luke 23:34; Romans 12:19-21).
—Marvin Williams
Why is it so difficult for some believers to leave justice in the hands of God? What motivates you to not seek revenge?
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(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5) Loading ...ODB: Old School
July 12, 2011
READ: 1 Timothy 2:8-10;
I desire . . . that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel. —1 Timothy 2:8-9
As we hurtle through the first part of this new century, we see an increase in people questioning time-honored standards. This was plainly detailed recently by a teen pop star—a girl who professes faith in Jesus.
While discussing standards for modesty in how she dresses, she discounted criticism of her skimpy clothing by saying, “That’s so old school.”
This young woman is both right and wrong. In a sense, she’s right. The standards of dress for Christians are “old school.” They were written down more than 2,000 years ago. But her attitude that suggests ancient standards can be set aside is wrong. In the truest sense, the principles in the Bible are not “old” as much as they are timeless. While written ages ago, they are still fresh and applicable.
As to the question of modesty, when the Bible says women should “adorn themselves in modest apparel” (1 Tim. 2:9), it is still true today that we shouldn’t dress to draw attention to ourselves. A more general principle, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed” (Rom. 12:2), is a 2011 command that can guide the question of how we dress.
So whether you’re a pop star or a pew sitter, don’t worry about being “old school” if what you are doing is done according to the Book.
— Dave Branon
Do my choices bring glory to God or draw attention to me?
Source: Our Daily Bread
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...ODJ: starry night
The heavens proclaim the glory of God (v.1).
READ: Psalm 19:1-6
When poet, lecturer, and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson was asked what people would do if the stars came out only once every thousand years, he replied, “If the stars should appear but one night every thousand years, how man would marvel and stare.”
Building on Emerson’s response, author Paul Hawkins, in a commencement speech to the Portland University Class of 2009, said, “If the stars only came out once every thousand years, no one would sleep that night, of course. The world would create new religions overnight. We would be ecstatic, delirious, made rapturous by the glory of God. “Instead,” Hawkins lamented, “the stars come out every night and we watch television.”
Ever since God created the stars on the fourth day (Genesis 1:16), the brilliant lights haven’t ceased to shine. We, however, too often neglect to “stop and consider” these and other miracles of God’s creation (Job 37:14).
As we grow older, we tend to resemble Mark Twain’s fictional character Tom Sawyer, who remembered stargazing as an important part of his past but not his present. “We had the sky up there, all speckled with stars,” Twain wrote, “and we used to lay on our backs and look up at them, and discuss about whether they was made or only just happened.”
King David argued that an upward gaze is important regardless of our years or stage in life. For “the heavens,” David said, “proclaim the glory of God. The skies display His craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make Him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world” (Psalm 19:1-4).
Don’t wait 1,000 years to be dazzled by God. Instead, look into tonight’s evening sky and see what He has done! —Roxanne Robbins
Have you lost your sense of wonder? Direct your view toward the stars, and reflect on what God reveals to you about His creative handiwork and power.
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