What do Jesus and Santa have in common?
Just how similar are Jesus and Santa? Find out in this video: What other differences can you think of? Share them below!
ODJ: prized
Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could He possibly be the Messiah? (v.29).
READ: John 4:1-29
When I was a child, my parents had a rule that I was not allowed to call boys. Considered unfashionable back then, the rule seems positively archaic according to current social norms. While I am not new to youth culture, I am increasingly perplexed and concerned at the level of aggressiveness I see in young women today. As they’re desperate to belong to someone, young women feel little reservation in approaching or befriending guys of whom they know little. However loneliness can sometimes be experienced even in relationship.
The well known story of Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well reminds us that His omniscience doesn’t diminish His love for us—it deepens it. While we don’t know her upbringing, we know that the woman lived in a society where her sense of identity, value, and provision came from her connection to a male (either through marriage or motherhood). Sadly, this woman had been married not just once but five times and had grown desperate enough simply to cohabitate with a man (John 4:17-18). Five marriages and a relationship of cohabitation had left her only more alone.
Knowing us more fully than we know ourselves, Jesus went to the root issues in her life. He understood that she needed to know that she could be known in all of her failings and still be loved (Romans 5:8). Yet He also addressed her man-made attempts to find satisfaction. To find restoration, she had to see the truth of where her decisions had brought her—moving from man to man, desperate to belong to someone.
She could have mouthed many excuses for delaying a decision; she could have tried to justify what she had done. Yet having encountered Jesus, she now had a choice—water from her well or Jesus’ living water. —Regina Franklin
When have you settled for less than God’s best out of fear of missing out on something? How will you go deeper into God’s well of provision today?
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Loading ...It’s Jesus’ birthday! What did you bring him?
Is this how we think of Christmas? Do we know what Jesus actually wants? Watch this video to see what Jesus wants for his birthday: How can you make this Christmas less about you and more about Jesus? Share your thoughts below!
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...ODB: The Pursuing God
December 23, 2011
READ: Galatians 4:1-7
God sent forth His Son, born of a woman . . . to redeem those who were under the law. —Galatians 4:4-5
Pastor Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan rightly observes that Christianity is unique among all religions for it is about God’s pursuit of us to draw us to Himself. In every other religious system, people pursue their god, hoping that through good behavior, keeping of rituals, good works, or other efforts they will be accepted by the god they pursue.
The British poet Francis Thompson catches the profound nature of this reality when he writes of the relentless pursuit of God in his life. In his work titled “The Hound of Heaven,” he writes that as he fled from God he couldn’t outrun “those strong feet that followed . . . with unhurrying chase and unperturbed pace.” But God’s untiring pursuit of the wayward is not just Thompson’s story. At the heart of the Christmas message is the wonderful truth of God’s pursuit of every one of us. As Paul affirms, “God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law” (Gal. 4:4-5).
And it’s not just the Christmas story. It’s the story of God’s pursuit of Adam and Eve after the fall. His pursuit of me! His pursuit of you! Where would we be today if God weren’t the “Hound of Heaven”?
— Joe Stowell
Source: Our Daily Bread
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...ODJ: no brown m&m’s
If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities (v.10).
READ: Luke 16:1-13
When rock band Van Halen was riding the wave of popularity, they insisted that a bowl of M&M’s be provided for them backstage at their concert venues. Yet every brown M&M had to be removed from the bowl. If the band arrived and found even a single brown M&M in the bowl, they would cancel their performance but still receive full compensation.
Since the band was rolling out as many as nine lorries filled with the latest in performance technology, there were many errors that could occur both in setup and presentation. If the promoters didn’t take time to read Article 126, the ‘no brown M&M’s’ clause, they certainly had not checked the entire production, and they were bound to run into life-threatening mistakes.
The ridiculous contract demand by Van Halen illustrates the principle of stewardship that Jesus taught in Luke 16. He encouraged His disciples to be faithful with their earthly wealth because it wasn’t theirs but God’s. Their ability to manage these possessions properly and be faithful over the “little” (earthly wealth and possessions) that had been loaned to them would be an accurate barometer of their ability to handle “much” (the true riches of eternal life). If they wrongly valued earthly possessions, they would certainly under value the significance of the kingdom of God.
Jesus is still calling His followers to pay attention to the “brown M&M clause,” that is, to carefully use, control, and manage God’s possessions, for it is a measure of our ability to handle true riches. It begins with recognizing that all we have belongs to God. He gives us the ability to produce wealth (Deuteronomy 8:17-18), and He commands us not to hoard our resources (Matthew 6:19-21). God expects us to release our possessions into His service by blessing others (Matthew 19:21). —Marvin Williams
How would you grade yourself as a manager over all that God has loaned you? What can you do to be a more faithful manager over “little” (material possessions) and “much” (true riches of eternal life)?
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Compassion, Not Charity This Christmas
Submitted by Cindy Tan, Malaysia No colored twinkling lights, no tinseled decorated Christmas trees, no Christmas carols, no Santa Claus. That was the first Christmas in the world. Jesus, the Son of God was born into our world in a stable because there was no room for Him in the inns. The world did not [...]
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...ODB: Hidden Treasure
December 22, 2011
READ: Colossians 1:27–2:3
In [Christ] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. —Colossians 2:3
A British treasure hunter discovered a huge stash of Roman coins buried in a field in southwest England. Using a metal detector, Dave Crisp located a large pot holding 52,000 coins. These ancient silver and bronze coins, which date from the third century AD and weigh more than 350 pounds, are valued at $5 million.
While Crisp’s treasure may cause us to dream about somehow finding similar riches, we as Christians should be on a different kind of treasure hunt. What we seek does not consist of silver and gold. Rather our quest is to gather the precious gems of insight so that we might gain the “full assurance of understanding . . . , both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:2-3). The hidden treasure of knowing the Lord more completely is found in the Bible. The psalmist said, “I rejoice at Your Word as one who finds great treasure” (Ps. 119:162).
If we read the Word of God hurriedly or carelessly, we will miss its deep insights. These truths must be sought earnestly with all the attention of someone seeking hidden treasure.
Are you eager to find the treasures stored in Scripture? Start digging!
— Dennis Fisher
Source: Our Daily Bread
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Lonesome Christmas Trees
Are you as lonesome as the Christmas trees in this animation during the current festive season? Don’t be hurting during the holidays, but fill your heart with the joy from Jesus!
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...ODJ: human race
I will also bless the foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord, . . . who worship Him and do not desecrate the Sabbath day of rest, and who hold fast to my covenant (v.6).
READ: Isaiah 56:1-8
The alarm clock goes off far too early. At least, that’s how it feels. A long day awaits you. First, you need to drop the children off at school. Then there’s a breakfast meeting to attend, followed by a whole series of urgent matters to deal with.
That’s a typical day for a lot of people. As someone once said, “That’s why we’re called the human race.”
Rest is one thing we crave but something we’re so poor at doing well. In the Old Testament, the Sabbath was often desecrated. In the New Testament, it was grossly misunderstood.
In Isaiah 56, Sabbath is mentioned three times (vv.2,4,6). We learn that keeping the Sabbath wasn’t for devout Jews only, but for anyone who desired to walk with God.
One Bible teacher explains, “Sabbath is the time set aside to do nothing so that we can receive everything, to set aside our anxious attempts to make ourselves useful, to set aside our tense restlessness, to set aside our media saturated boredom. Sabbath is the time to receive silence and let it deepen into gratitude, to receive quiet into which forgotten faces and voices unobtrusively make themselves present, to receive the days of the just completed week and absorb the wonder and miracle still reverberating from each one, to receive our Lord’s amazing grace.”
By establishing a Sabbath time, we learn that by subtracting certain distractions from our schedules, we can add meaning to our lives. By subtracting, we actually gain. By emptying our schedule, God can fill us anew.
In Exodus 16:29, we’re told, “The Sabbath is the Lord’s gift to you.” A Sabbath time isn’t simply a discipline; it’s a gift to be enjoyed. —Poh Fang Chia
When is your Sabbath time? How does true rest help us live more effective lives for God?
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...ODB: Rejected Light
December 21, 2011
READ: John 12:35-46
I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. —John 12:46
In the early hours of December 21, 2010, I witnessed an event that last occurred in 1638—a total lunar eclipse on the winter solstice. Slowly the shadow of the earth slipped across the bright full moon and made it appear a dark red. It was a remarkable and beautiful event. Yet it reminded me that while physical darkness is part of God’s created design, spiritual darkness is not.
Scottish pastor Alexander MacLaren said: “Rejected light is the parent of the densest darkness, and the man who, having the light, does not trust it, piles around himself thick clouds of obscurity and gloom.” Jesus described this self-imposed spiritual eclipse of heart and mind when He said, “If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matt. 6:23).
The great invitation of Christmas is to open our hearts to the Savior who came to end our darkness. Jesus said, “While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light. . . . I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness” (John 12:36,46).
The way out of our spiritual night is to walk in the light with Him.
— David C. McCasland
Source: Our Daily Bread
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