November 6 – Matthew 24

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Matthew 24. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word. Also above in the tabs is a link to the Bible reading plan.

Our reading today had the disciples seeking clarification on a teaching of Jesus after He predicted the destruction of the Temple. This clarification turned into a teaching on the coming days. Now many turn this teaching of Jesus into a discussion on the last days. I am not confident that this is a true discussion on the last days of this earth. O certainly there are elements that point to the last days, but the majority of the conversation points to what will happen to the disciples after the resurrection.

There are several reasons we read into this passage end times discussion. In a few places the text specifically talks about the end of days. In those instances that is probably the implied teaching. But we must be careful to only read that in those sections. Other sections are Jesus preparing His disciples for what they will face as they carry the message of the gospel to the world.

We must be careful when reading the Bible to seek the author or speakers intended purpose. Too many times we come to the Bible with our theological point of view regardless of the truth. Just imagine if you read the Bible each time for the first time, with no understanding of Christianity. How would that alter the way you read the Bible? I know for me it would be transformational. Next time you sit down to read, clear your mind and absorb the Bible with a fresh mind. 

October 14 – Matthew 13 & Luke 8

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Matthew 13 & Luke 8. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word. Also above in the tabs is a link to the Bible reading plan.

One of the tricks to reading the Bible is getting past the chapter and verse markings. They are valuable tools. They allow for us to easily locate any section of Scripture. It would be incredibly difficult to navigate the Bible without them. However, they are not God ordained markings. They were added by the hands of humans needing a referencing system. Sometimes they even hinder our reading. When doing a Bible reading plan we typically break the Bible down by reading through select chapters. We have done so in our reading plan. That is why we have had days with multiple chapters and days with very few. There are places in Scripture that the chapter ends, but the thought of the author does not. These issues present some minor problems to our reading.

Now that we are in the New Testament, and reading the Gospels, let me share with you a writing technique of the Gospel authors. Remember the writers did not put the chapter and verse notations in their works. They also at times wrote in chronological order. But at other times they left chronological order to highlight the teachings of Jesus. We know this as grouping. Sometimes the authors will take a topic of Jesus and group it together regardless of the chronological timeframe.

Each chapter we read has a general topic to it. Matthew 13 is heavily concerned with the coming Kingdom of heaven and its growth. That is the heart of the Parable of the Sower, or the Wheat and Weeds, or the Mustard Seed, or the Yeast. They all point to the coming kingdom and its growth. If we want to understand the growth of God’s kingdom one of the best places to turn in our Bible’s is to Matthew 13 because it is one grouping of Jesus teaching on it.

When we look at Luke 8 can we tell what the major thought from Luke is? This is a trickier one in my opinion. The reason we read Matthew 13 and Luke 8 today is because they both start with the Parable of the Sower. However, this is where the man added chapter and verses throw us off. Luke offers two themes in this chapter. The first is the Kingdom concept of Matthew 13. But the chapter continues with a few more stories … Jesus calms the storm, Jesus heals a demon-possessed man, Jesus heals a sick woman, and Jesus raises a dead girl back to life. What do you think Luke’s theme is here? It suggests to me and understanding of Jesus power over the natural laws. Jesus has power over nature in calming the storm, Jesus has power over the spiritual world in casting out a demon, Jesus has power over the sicknesses of this life in healing the woman, and finally Jesus has power over death.

Understanding this grouping concept allows us to get a fuller understanding of the individual stories. When one puzzles us we can look to those in front and behind, regardless of their chapter and verse markings, to gain a full picture of the authors intent. 

July 2 – 2 Kings 1-4

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from 2 Kings 1-4. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word. Also above in the tabs is a link to the Bible reading plan.

Photo Credit: Microsoft Clip Art

Most days I try to have something spiritual to say about our daily Bible reading. Every day the Bible teaches us great lessons. Every day there is a devotional thought we can pull from the text. But you know sometimes reading the Bible is simply fun. It’s like playing in the water while trying to give a dog a bath. It’s like going down that first hill on a rollercoaster. It’s like sitting down to read a novel that will take you to a far away land. It is simply fun. Today was one of those days. It’s not overly confusing. It’s not hard to get mental images of the text in your minds. The Bible paints a graphic image of an amazing exchange of prophetical leadership between Elijah and Elisha.

In fact it is here my wife’s favorite Bible story appears in the text … look back at the story in 2 Kings 2:23-25. I listen to the Bible on my iPad from YouVersion each morning while I am getting ready and when she heard this she shouted with excitement … “This is my story!”  Elisha is returning the Bethel, he is mocked by some youths where he decides to call a curse on them. Two bears appear mauling forty-two of the youths. I do not know why this is Crystal’s favorite story in the Bible but it is.

So do you find the Bible fun to read? Do you have a favorite story? Share in the comments below. 

April 29 – 1 Chronicles 7-10

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from 1 Chronicles 7-10. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word. Also above in the tabs is a link to the Bible reading plan.

In our chronological reading plan we are now entering a section where the same story is going to be shared in multiple places. We see that for the first time here with Saul’s suicide and the end of his kingdom. Let me encourage you to be careful not to gloss over these various accounts.

When you want to understand a situation you typically talk to as many people as you can, who were there, to get all sides. Why do we do this? Because we understand that one perspective does not paint a full picture. If I watch a car wreck happen, I am going to see something different from one street corner than the person who was on the opposite corner. I am also going to see something different because I possibly focused on a different aspect, maybe the face of the driver at fault, while another focused on the face of the driver blindsided. Multiple perspective help paint an accurate picture of what took place.

That is exactly what we will find as we read these various accounts from different books of the Bible. The chronological plan helps organize them so we come across them in the right order. But the different books give us a full understanding of what has played out, giving us a complete picture. So remember, just because it is a story you have read before in 1 Samuel, what we have here in 1 Chronicles might give a little bit more insight or a different insight.

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