ODJ: radical generosity
If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry (v.11). READ: Luke 3:7-14 You’ve likely heard the phrase: “He’d give you the shirt off his back.” It describes the kind of generosity displayed by someone who thinks of the needs of others ahead of [...]
ODB: A Debt of Gratitude
October 15, 2011
READ: Romans 16:1-16
[They] risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. —Romans 16:4
Dave Randlett was someone of whom I can say, “Because of him, my life will never be the same.” Dave, who went to heaven in October 2010, became a mentor to me when I was a new follower of Jesus in my college years. He not only invested time in me, but he took risks by giving me opportunities to learn and grow in ministry. Dave was God’s instrument to give me the opportunity to be a student preacher and travel with a college music team. As a result, he helped shape and prepare me for a life of teaching God’s Word. I’m glad I was able to express thanks to him on a number of occasions.
Just as I am thankful for Dave’s influence in my life, the apostle Paul was grateful for Aquila and Priscilla, who served the Lord with him. He said they “risked their own necks for my life.” In gratitude, he thanked them, as did “all the churches of the Gentiles” (Rom. 16:4).
You too may have people in your life who have taken risks by giving you opportunities to serve or who have greatly influenced you spiritually. Perhaps pastors, ministry leaders, friends, or family members have given of themselves to move you further along for Christ. The question is, have you thanked them?
— Bill Crowder
Source: Our Daily Bread
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Loading ...ODJ: i want to live
The Lord gives both death and life (v.6).
READ: 1 Samuel 2:6-10
My 6-year-old son, Wasswa, was outside riding his bicycle. I was in the kitchen when he came running to me with a cut under his left eye. As blood oozed, my scared child cried out, “I want to live! I want to live! I want to live!”
Wasswa wasn’t merely frightened by the blood, he was terrified that he was going to die. And while his reaction might seem extreme, a glance at his past explains his fear.
Before he came to live with me, Wasswa had felt the “sting” of death multiple times. When he was just 18 months old, his twin brother died. At age 4, he lost his mother and father when they died of AIDS. Seven of Wasswa’s nine aunts and uncles, living in the same village, also died during the first 5 years of his life. In his impoverished community, more people were dying of disease than surviving. So it’s understandable that Wasswa thought death was encroaching on him as well.
No one wants to die young. When death taunted King David, he pleaded with God to spare him. “He broke my strength in midlife, cutting short my days,” David recalled. “But I cried to Him, ‘O my God, who lives forever, don’t take my life while I am so young!’” (Psalm 102:23-25). In response, God continued to protect and preserve his life. As Samuel declared, He is sovereign over both life and death.
Because of sin, “all creation was subjected to God’s curse [death]” (Romans 8:20). The good news is that Jesus Christ gives us victory over death. Through Him we can take heart that nothing, not even “death . . . fears . . . worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love” (Romans 8:38-39). We can rest in His sovereign hands. —Roxanne Robbins
What promises in God’s Word give you confidence that Jesus has given you victory over death? Why do you want to live?
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...ODB: The Way We Walk
October 14, 2011
READ: Deuteronomy 11:13-23
Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. —Romans 6:4
A television program that I enjoy watching has a segment called Ambush Makeover. Two women are chosen to undergo 3 hours of pampering to update their hair, makeup, and wardrobe. The change is often dramatic. When the women step from behind a curtain, the audience gasps. Friends and family members sometimes start to cry. After all of this, the person with the new look finally gets to see herself. Some are so shocked that they keep looking in the mirror as if to find proof that it’s really them.
As the women walk across the set to join their companions, the former self becomes evident. Most do not know how to walk in their new shoes. Although they look chic, their clumsy walk gives them away. Their transformation is incomplete.
This is true in our Christian lives as well. God does the work in us to give us a new start, but to walk in the way of the Lord (Deut. 11:22) requires time, effort, and lots of practice. If we just stand still and smile, we can pass as being transformed. But the way we walk tells how far along we are in living out that transformation. Being changed means giving up our previous way of life and learning a new way to walk (Rom. 6:4).
— Julie Ackerman Link
Source: Our Daily Bread
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...A Different Game
By Bill Crowder, Sport Spectrum Chaplain I just returned from two weeks in Australia and New Zealand, where I once again had the opportunity (or challenge) to try and understand Australian Rules Football, or “Footy” as it is called down under. There is definitely more “foot” in Footy than there is in American football (which [...]
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...ODJ: online attention
Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness (vv.22-23).
READ: Matthew 6:19-34
If you’re reading this devo online, in a few minutes you might move on to other websites. As you do, pay attention to what grabs your attention. What pics or words prompt you to pause for a second look? What links do you click on, and why?
When Jesus said the eye is the lamp of the body (Matthew 6:22), He was alluding to the ancient belief that the eye was an internal fire. Light proceeds from the eye, interacts with the light emitted from the object of focus, and then returns through the eye and penetrates into the heart.
You become like whatever draws your attention. If your eye is “good,” literally “single” or “simple,” your commitment to purity and truth will flood your entire body with light (vv.22-23). But if you play both sides of the street—if you embrace provocative pictures, rumors, or vitriol, then your whole body will become shrouded in darkness. The virtual world can do real damage to your soul. What items on the Web light up your eyes?
Advertisers use sex, gossip, and greed to create sticky sites that are difficult to leave. An evil eye will rationalize hanging around. You know better than to click on that racy story, but you tell yourself it won’t hurt this once. And so you awaken the appetite of lust, and now every time you log on you hope to ogle something new, and soon your shriveled soul is harboring dark and shameful secrets.
Many sites get rich luring people to their destruction, so the most dangerous thing you can do is mindlessly surf the Web. Take Jesus with you online. When possible, use the Web in the presence of others. And remember that whatever lights your eyes can also change you. —Mike Wittmer
Are there any websites you should stop visiting? As a whole, does spending time on the Internet help or hinder your Christian life? Why?
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...ODB: Too Busy to Know God?
October 13, 2011
READ: Luke 10:38-42
She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. —Luke 10:39
One day when I was waiting to board a plane, a stranger who had overheard me mention that I was a chaplain began to describe to me his life before he met Christ. He said it was marked by “sin and self-absorption. Then I met Jesus.”
I listened with interest to a list of changes he had made to his life and good deeds he had done. But because everything he told me was about his busyness for God and not his fellowship with God, I wasn’t surprised when he added, “Frankly, chaplain, I thought I’d feel better about myself by now.”
I think the New Testament character Martha would have understood that stranger’s observation. Having invited Jesus to be a guest at her home, she set about doing what she thought were the important things. But this meant she couldn’t focus on Jesus. Because Mary wasn’t helping, Martha felt justified asking Jesus to chide her. It’s a mistake many of us make: We’re so busy doing good that we don’t spend time getting to know God better.
My advice to my new airplane friend came from the core of Jesus’ words to Martha in Luke 10:41-42. I said to him: “Slow down and invest yourself in knowing God; let His Word reveal Himself to you.” If we’re too busy to spend time with God, we’re simply too busy.
— Randy Kilgore
Source: Our Daily Bread
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...ODJ: near
Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to Him (v.13).
READ: Ephesians 2:11-22
Invictus, a film starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon and set in South Africa at apartheid’s end, tells the story of Nelson Mandela’s inaugural years as South Africa’s first black president. The opening scenes are grim, showing blacks playing soccer in a dumpy, dusty field, while whites, clad in crisp, clean uniforms, are playing rugby on a plush field directly across the road. As Mandela’s motorcade passes between the two (presumably heading to his new office at the capital), the white rugby coach says, “Remember this day, boys. This is the day our country went to the dogs.”
Human history is littered with horrific stories of one human set against another, one race set against another, one country set against another. For the Ephesians, the central division was between Jews and Gentiles. Hatred, fear, and pride (as well as a misapplication of God’s instructions) made these neighbors hostile enemies.
Even more dreadful, however, is the sad tale of the way we humans have set ourselves against God. Because of our arrogant ways, we have run from God’s love. As a result, Scripture says, we are “outsiders” (1 Corinthians 5:12). To be an outsider is to be separated, distanced—far from fellow humans and far from God. Paul sets the result in dire terms. Left to ourselves, we’re “without God and without hope” (Ephesians 2:12). Can you imagine a more lonely and despairing description than hopeless outsiders?
By God’s grace we haven’t been left in this predicament, for He came to us in Jesus. God, whom we had abandoned and pushed far away, came near. and “brought peace to us” (v.14)—peace with Him and, in turn, peace offered to all humanity. Wherever people face separation, hostility, or aloneness, God offers Himself. Peace is near, for God is near. —Winn Collier
What person do you feel distant from and how would obeying God bring you nearer to him or her? Where do you feel distant from God, and how do you sense God is pursuing you in spite of that distance?
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)
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ODB: Drained Of All Strength
October 12, 2011
READ: Isaiah 40:25-31
He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. —Isaiah 40:29
When I was a teenager, my dad and I went on many hunting and fishing trips together. Most became happy memories, but one fishing expedition was nearly a disaster. We drove up into a high mountain range and set up camp in a remote area. Then Dad and I trudged a long way down the mountain to get to a stream to fish. After a long day fishing in the hot sun, it was time to return to camp. But as we began to head back, Dad’s face grew pale. He was dizzy and nauseated, and he had almost no strength.
Trying not to panic, I had him sit down and drink liquids. Then I prayed aloud to God for help. Bolstered by prayer, rest, and nourishment, Dad improved, and we began to go slowly back up the mountain. He held on to my loosened belt as I crawled upward—leading the way back to camp.
Sometimes we find ourselves in what feels like a hopeless valley without the strength to go on. When this happens, it’s important to recall God’s promise: “He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength” (Isa. 40:29).
Do you feel drained? Exhausted? Ask God for help. Depend on Him for the power to go on and the strength to make it through the valley.
— Dennis Fisher
Source: Our Daily Bread
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